Weight Surprise !!

[Charli]

We finally got to the scales and what a surprise we had. Given that we have a 3/4T truck and that we are pulling one of those X-lite 5ers (see sig) I was sure that we would be fine and could look at a bigger 5er with the same truck.
The Dodge Bodybuilders Guide states the following for the truck: Tow rating 12,800#; GVWR 9000#; GCWR 20000#; Payload 1,970#.
Here is the real numbers:
Ratings on door panel / Truck only. / Truck with trailer
GAWR-F. 5,200. / 4,629. / 4,608
GAWR-R. 6,010. / 3,174. / 4,982
GVWR. 9,000. / 7,803. / 9,503 = 1700# pin wt.
GCWR. 20,000. 9,503 + 6,812 Trailer axles. = 16,402# total wt.
Total trailer weight 1,700 + 6,812 = 8,512#
The truck only wts include myself, DW, dog, hitch and our stuff. The truck with trailer is the same but with the trailer hooked up.
So we are 3600# under the GCWR but the truck is overweight by 500#. So if we get a bigger 5er, say another 3500# which would bring us up to an average mid profile 5er and add 20% (700#) of that to the existing pin wt and the truck would weigh approx 10,200 which exceeds the 10,000#GVWR for a Ram 3500.
So what gives. Am I doing the properly. I have seen some pretty big 5ers being towed with 3/4T and they look fine. Is everybody out there overweight. Do airbags compensate enough to be 1200# overweight and still be safe?
Your comments would be appreciated. In the meantime I'll start my search for a Kenworth.

[schwalbach]

I had a similar experience, here is my weights


Steer axle:3999
Drive axle:5258
Front trailer axle:3700
Rear Trailer axle:3500
Total weight of : 16457


1997 Dodge 2500 diesel w camper package

I too thought I was going lighter, but was very surprised.

[diugo]

Schwalbach, I have the exact same truck you have.

My weights are:

Steer axle 3800
Drive axle 4725
Front traiier axle 3600
Rear trailer axle 3400
Total 15525
GCWR 16000
Pin weight 1525

I was overweight in my previous trailer but now I'm within limits.

If the truck is over its GVWR but the combo is still under the GCWR, you might consider raising the hitch, which will shift weight off the pin (and truck) onto the trailer wheels.

[rhagfo]

I don't post my weights any more too many flame throwers come out.

I will post that I am about 1,500# under my axle ratings, 500# front and 1,000# rear, also have a Camper Special with 3500 springs, and brakes, also upgraded to larger tires 265/75-16s. I am also under 20,000# GCVW, Pac brake no issues slowing or stopping. Just came back from the Oregon Coast long steep downgrades, never touched the brakes, just the sweet rumble of the Pacbrake working to retard our speed. The truck is also NOT Bagged! They are not need, the 3500 springs do a great job supporting the pin.

[JRTJH]

Charli,

You will get a lot of people telling you that you'll be "just fine" (and that may very well be the situation). I will say that a number of those people who are towing overweight 3/4 ton rigs are some of the most vocal against half ton trucks towing fifth wheels. They claim that half ton trucks will be "overweight" if you hitch a fifth wheel to it, yet they also say it's "OK" to tow "overweight" as long as you have a 3/4 ton truck and don't exceed your axle weights.

While I won't argue either way, I will tell you what I just did. We previously towed a 6800 lb fifth wheel with a F150 and were within the weight limits on axles, GVW, GCWR and had no "extra equipment to help" About 2 months ago, a tree fell on our fifth wheel and the entire roof needed to be replaced. We decided that it was a good time to buy a larger fifth wheel. I looked at the 2014 Cougar XLite 26SAB, the same trailer you tow. It appeared ON PAPER to be a good match (empty). However, we started looking at actual tow weights for that trailer and realized that it just would be too much for our F150. We traded the truck for a 2013 F250 gas engine with a 10,000 GVW. That upgrade opened the size of fifth wheels "a little bit" and we settled for a Cougar 27RKS. It is at the dealership now, we pick it up early next week after they finish all the modifications we want done. Realistically, we are looking at a pin weight as we load our RV of around 1700 to 1800 lbs (advertised pin is 1230). We are thinking that once we load, fill the fresh water tank, full truck with the generator, a bit of firewood and the obligatory folding chairs, awning mat, etc that we will be pushing very close to the truck's GVW. I'm not suprised that with a 9,000 GVW, you're where you are on weights.

What to do? I don't think, if I were you, that I'd wring my hands and rush out to buy a new truck or downsize my perfectly good RV, but I certainly wouldn't go looking for something larger and heavier. Rethink how you load your 26SAB. It's nearly the same floorplan as our 242, and there's not much storage along the back wall, the rockers and a little bit of overhead storage is all that's there, but you can move some of the front compartment weight aft if you can figure out how to store it either inside or on a cargo rack on the rear bumper/trailer hitch. Lightening the pin weight will most likely keep you much closer to your GVW and depending on what you store in the truck bed, you may be able to get almost to GVW just by some thoughtful rearranging of cargo.

Good Luck

[Charli]

Thanks for all the feedback. I already have the bikes on the back bumper (actually a 4" receiver we had welded on to the frame cause the bumper is like paper and wouldn't even carry the wt of the spare tire) but there isnt much room for storage behind the axles. I'm going to go to a few places next week that specialize in truck suspension mods and also talk to the dealer (not a salesman cause we know what he'll recommend) and see what they suggest.
Will probably list the trailer and see what we can get and then decide about the truck. Have seen a few 2011 F350 and they sure look nice. They have the new Ford diesels which are supposed to be a big improvement on the old 6.4L.
We have one more year before we join the snowbird crowd so have some time to get this right.