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Cracker · 05-16-2021, 08:18 AM

[QUOTE=RickV;448908]I ran into the same problem about 7 years ago. I had a 2003 F250 PS 7.3 that I used to pull my first 5ver a 30' Rockwood. in 2014 we updated to a 36' Crusader empty I was just under the GVWR of the F250 with the pin weight of Crusader. It was fine with the GCVW. The truck had no problem pulling it and my Wife called me the weight Nazi because I wouldn't want to load stuff in the front storage areas. I decided I wanted to be legal and found a 2003 3500 Duramax Dually problem solved. Since then with the new 5ver had to upgrade to new TV because the Duramax was limited to 15600 lbs of 5ver weight. Bottom line is you can never have too much TV because as soon as you think you got it covered you make a change and are overweight again.[/QUOTE

I had the same 2003 Diesel Dually long bed crew cab with 4wd. Absolutely loved the beast, but I removed the overload springs, when I bought a 30' Airstream, just to soften the ride for the Airstream. The front axle was always real close to maximum load with just the wife snd I onboard. All you can do with a load-equalizer hitch on that truck was, once again, just add enough pressure with the bars to smooth out the ride. You can never transfer much load to the front axle due to the rear axle being so far back and the length of the chassis being so long. Accordingly, I only used 600 lb bars for a 950 lb hitch weight. It was one heck of a smooth ride and the guy I sold it to bought it specifically to tow another 30' Airstream. I tried to find a 5th wheel that I liked, and that it could tow, early in 2003 - but they were all too heavy. My wife fell in love with the Airstream and that began a happy 10 years!

05-16-2021, 08:18 AM	#19
Cracker Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2018 Location: Maine Posts: 103	[QUOTE=RickV;448908]I ran into the same problem about 7 years ago. I had a 2003 F250 PS 7.3 that I used to pull my first 5ver a 30' Rockwood. in 2014 we updated to a 36' Crusader empty I was just under the GVWR of the F250 with the pin weight of Crusader. It was fine with the GCVW. The truck had no problem pulling it and my Wife called me the weight Nazi because I wouldn't want to load stuff in the front storage areas. I decided I wanted to be legal and found a 2003 3500 Duramax Dually problem solved. Since then with the new 5ver had to upgrade to new TV because the Duramax was limited to 15600 lbs of 5ver weight. Bottom line is you can never have too much TV because as soon as you think you got it covered you make a change and are overweight again.[/QUOTE I had the same 2003 Diesel Dually long bed crew cab with 4wd. Absolutely loved the beast, but I removed the overload springs, when I bought a 30' Airstream, just to soften the ride for the Airstream. The front axle was always real close to maximum load with just the wife snd I onboard. All you can do with a load-equalizer hitch on that truck was, once again, just add enough pressure with the bars to smooth out the ride. You can never transfer much load to the front axle due to the rear axle being so far back and the length of the chassis being so long. Accordingly, I only used 600 lb bars for a 950 lb hitch weight. It was one heck of a smooth ride and the guy I sold it to bought it specifically to tow another 30' Airstream. I tried to find a 5th wheel that I liked, and that it could tow, early in 2003 - but they were all too heavy. My wife fell in love with the Airstream and that began a happy 10 years!