I have a heavy duty 3/4 ton 4 wheek drive pickup truck with towing package. It has a 7.4 L. gas engine & is an extended cab with an 8 ft. bed. I am thinking about buying a 31-35’ fifth wheel trailer, will this pull it ok ? Do I need to ‘beef it up’ ? What tires are recommended ?
How much will this trailer weigh, what will it be used for, how often will you be towing it? How much does the trailer coupling weigh? Look in the owner’s manual - what is the maximum weight rating for the vehicle? If the weight rating is a good bit higher than what the trailer, its contents, and the coupling weigh, then you’re fine. If it’s within a couple hundred pounds, it’s iffy, since you still have to account for the weight of yourself, any passengers, etc. I would say a 500lb buffer zone would be good.
GVWR of the trailer is 12,400. I will be towing it a couple of times a month for trips to the lake. What about tire requirements ? Should I put heavy duty shocks on the truck ?
Verify the tow capacity of the truck, but most likely you are OK. The tow package is generally enough beefing up already. I would check my tires and go to Load Ramge E, to be on the safe side, but only when I need tires in the future, not necessarily now, unless they are already due for replacement. Some of these trucks come with load range E anyway, so you may be OK doing nothing.
What year and make of 3/4 ton 4x4? Auto or standard tranny?
Most RVers pulling 5th wheelers use diesels and HD trucks.
What rear end gear ratio has it got?
What is it’s rated towing capacity?
What is the GCWR (weight of truck and trailer gross load), you also need to find the trailer pin weight. (The weight on the nose of the trailer)
You have to install a fifth wheel in the truck bed and have it weighed as well so you can add that weight to the total weight on the rear axle.
More questions than answers before you go on the road.
You may find this site interesting reading: http://www.rvtowingtips.com
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The truck is a 1994 HD Chevy with a 454 gas engine & tow pkg. I bought it new & it has been WELL maintained. The tow capacity is 13,400 & the rear end gear ratio is 3.73. The pin weight of the trailer is about 900 lbs. I will be using it mainly for lake trips within 100-200 miles.
Thanks, I figured that out…
The truck is a 1994 HD Chevy with a 454 gas engine & tow pkg. I bought it new & it has been WELL maintained. The tow capacity is 13,400 & the rear end gear ratio is 3.73. The pin weight of the trailer is about 900 lbs. I will be using it mainly for lake trips within 100-200 miles.
Be sure to include the weight of the gear, water etc in the trailer estimate.
Be sure to set the tire pressures for the load. They used to put tables in the manual for that.
Ah crap, missed that. Thanks Mr. Proctor.
I must have still been thinking tow vehicle (tv) when I did that. I just fixed it now.
djolang,
You’re cutting the weight issue awfully close if not maxed out when loaded.
You won’t have much (if any) room for weight safety.
As a rule we take the GCVWR (Gross combined tow vehicle and trailer loaded weight) and take 80%-90% of that weight to haul safely and save excess wear and tear on the tow vehicle.
I use an ‘02 Tahoe 4x4 5.3L (285 hp) with the same 3.73 rear end, but the trailer is a 21’ Trail Lite that grosses out at 4200 lbs. So I have lots of safety factor and the truck doesn’t have to kill itself pulling.
You can probably do it but stay on reasonably flat ground if possible and run in third gear to save your tranny.
Personally, I wouldn’t tow that weight with that truck, simply BEcause of the weight involved. But that’s JMHO.