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vgoulette
Shallowater, Texas
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Joined: 06/01/2007
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We currently have a 29 foot Jayco TT, and want to purchase a Keystone Challenger 33DBB (bunkhouse) 5er. We tow the TT with our Suburban, and will definitely need a new pickup if/when we are ever able to buy the Challenger. DH's Ford F-150 won't even begin to do it!!
What I know that we want is a four door, diesel, automatic, long-bed (DH doesn't want a short-bed). Sooo, what do we need to look at?? DH was ALWAYS a Chevy man till he bought the Ford, but, Dodge, Chevy, Ford, whatever, doesn't matter!!
Spec sheet info on the Challenger lists it as: shipping weight, 11,441; carrying weight, 2,689; and hitch, 2,130. Do you need more info, or is this enough? We want enough "guts" to pull even the steepest hills with ease. We went to Fun Valley, CO this summer, and didn't know if we were going to make it up a couple of those passes with our Suburban. DH had it floorboarded and could only get about 20-25 mph out of it!! Kind of nerve-racking!!
Thanks for all your help,
Vickie
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kaydeejay
SE Michigan, USA
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Joined: 07/26/2004
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2130# is the dry pin weight which is meaningless. (You won't be pulling an empty trailer!) You need a truck to carry the "loaded" pin weight which could easily be 500# more.
Not only the pin weight but the truck needs to carry the weight of the hitch, passengers, fuel, tools and other stuff.
Just make sure the truck you buy can do that. The truck you are looking for (4-door, long box, diesel etc) will probably have a lower payload than its 2-door, short box, gas siblings.
Now is the time to get it right, not regret "Not enough truck" when it's too late.
I suspect you will be looking at a 1-ton, but not necessarily a dually.
But only you can do the math to be sure.
Keith J, Retired from GM Engineering
1999 Sunnybrook 27RKFS Fiver
2005 GMC Sierra 2500HD SLE 2WD/CC/SB/DA, 52 gal Titan tank, Bilsteins, Line-X, Westin steps, Prodigy, Retrax, 16K Superglide, 5th-Airborne pin box, Multi-vex mirrors, TST TPMS.
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Sinterior
BC Canada
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Joined: 04/05/2004
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Hi, there should be a sticker on the drivers doorpost of the truck that tells you that particular trucks Cargo Carrying Capacity. However thats just with fuel in the tank and a 150lb driver. Add the weight of everything else and deduct that from the CCC to get the real world ability of the truck.
For example, if you want to stay within factory limits, my old Chev 2500, Ext cab 4X4 Duramax/Allison short box the sticker said 2509lbs CCC with a GVWR of 9200lbs, which leads you to believe the truck weighed 6691lbs. However with me, DW, ( we are average size) bedliner, 5th wheel hitch, aluminum toolbox with 150+-lbs "stuff" a small dog and his stuff, step rails and a full tank of fuel, weighed 7600lbs, so 9200lbs minus 7600lbs, left 1600lbs for real world CCC or pin weight.
And, like the poster above said, the pin weight of that fiver will be at least 2500lbs when it's loaded to go.
Personally I suspect you will need a 1 ton dually to stay within factory specs, thought the final decision will be yours.
Peter
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donn0128
Pronounced Ore-gun
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First off, ignore any terms such as "shipping""dry" or" unloaded" weight, as they mean nothing!
Instead look strictly at the trailers GVWR.
This will give you a good place to start with the numbers game.
20% of the trailers GVWR is the approx pin weight. That is the amount of weight that you will add to the truck after you have loaded all the people,pets and junk onto the truck.
Now, and this is very important. Depending on what numbers YOU choose to rely on you can pick any truck you like. Personally I like to stick with the manufacturers GVWR rating of any truck. But you decide what is important to you.
As a gener rule of thumb, IMHO it boils down this way.
1/2 ton trucks + no fiver towing
3/4 ton trucks + towing a fiver up to about 30 feet in length and no heavier than about 10,000 GVWR
1 ton SRW trucks + towing fivers up to around 13000 GVWR and maybe 32-33 feet long.
1 ton dually trucks + the larger heavier fivers up to around 15000 pounds GVWR.
Again, if you take a typical 3/4 ton Crew cab 4X4 GM product with a diesel motor it will scale ready to camp right at pretty close to 7500-8000 pounds. This truck will have a manufacturers GVWR os 9200 pounds. So if you subtract B from A you see that it's net payload is quite low. Which by it's nature will limit your fivers size/weight. Again it is up to you to decide what it is worth to you in terms of safety/sanity/comfort so don't let people persuade you into something that YOU are not really comfortable with.
Personally, I have a 35 foot fiver that scales ready to camp at 13,350 pounds. I originally pulled it with a 3/4 ton truck and it was no fun. Traded that for a dually and the difference is like night/day.
Bottom line, do not listen to pundits here, or any salesman. Do your own research using GVWR numbers to be safe and enjoy what ever you get.
Donn
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jkbrea
Riverside
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Joined: 06/05/2006
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3/4 to 1 ton diesel should do it. I have 33 footer and my 3/4 ton Ford diesel pulls it great. That being said, I wouldn't buy a Ford diesel again. Way too many problems. Two turbos replaced, egr valve, egr cooler, fuel injection problems and several other repairs. A diesel mechanic told me the 6.0 is a piece of junk and the new 6.4 is a bigger POS. I would go with an '05 or newer Chevy/GMC or Dodge diesels. You will notice a big difference on the pulling power of a diesel going up grades. Duallys aren't really necessary, especially when it comes time to replace tires. Good luck.
* This post was
edited 08/29/09 10:36pm by an administrator/moderator *
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timandsusan
San Antonio, Texas
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Joined: 11/15/2006
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For my 37 foot 5er that weighs in loaded at 13,500# with a king pin weight of 2200#, I bought a 1 ton single rear wheel, long bed, crew cab, diesel Ford (2006). We have been out on the road towing from Florida to Alaska and a lot of places in between over the past 3 years and the setup is GREAT! I bought the 5er first and then a truck that would do the job and it does. We have been thru every state that the Rocky Mountains are in and we had no problems. Hope every thing works out for you.
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BB_TX
McKinney, Texas
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Joined: 04/04/2005
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Any of the big 3 will be good for what you want. Just which one you like best. Get a 350 or 3500. There is very little price difference between the (so-called) 3/4 ton vs 1 ton. I say so-called because the payload capacity of the trucks has been increased so much over the years that those designations don't mean much anymore.
I prefer the long bed also so I can put larger stuff like bicycles in the bed. But it takes an acre to turn it in a circle.
Single rear wheel will be more than adequate. Get a dually if only that is what you want.
For what it is worth. We have an '07 F350 6.0 CC LB SRW pulling an approx. 12,000# (loaded) 34' 5er. We tow it to Fun Valley every summer. No problem on Raton Pass or La Veta pass. Top those passes at 55 without putting my foot in it. And towing on flat highway, it cruises in overdrive with no problem.
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plascell
Lynchburg, VA
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Joined: 01/13/2002
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You might get away with 3/4 ton diesel on flat land, but the 1 ton diesel dually make a lot more sense. You being in TX, you will want to add an aux fuel tank. Othersise any weight margin you have can be erroded very quickly by the little things you add.
I've had two GM 3500 with the same body style. The 2000 was 7.4L gas, and 2006 a Duramax. Sure wish I knew the benifits of the diesel back in 2000 and I wouldn't have had to try the after market Banks kits to improve performance. I now run the 2006 D/A stock and never wish I had more pulling 30' RV, even in the Blue Ridge mountains.
Pete W4WWQ DX70 IC-2800 Pressure-Pro X-10 camera
2006 Chevy 3500 CC LB 4WD DRW Duramax auto-6
2003 Cardinal 29WB LX EU3000is Roto-Choks 300W from www.amsolar.com
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newk
Gillette, WY
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Joined: 08/18/2007
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You want a bunkhouse, so you must have kid(s). Go for the 1-ton dually at a minimum. It won't *pull* any better than a 3/4-ton, but it'll stop faster and be more stable. I'd go with the crew cab and long box. If you're buying new, I think any of the trucks -- Chevy/GMC, Ford or Dodge would be fine. (Personally, I'd go with a Chevy/GMC as first choice, Ford as close second choice.)
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vgoulette
Shallowater, Texas
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Joined: 06/01/2007
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plascel, curious -- why do we want/need an aux. tank since we ive in Texas? Maybe I'm overlooking the obvious, and, we are relative newbies (RVing for two years now), but I don't understand why we'd need an aux. tank.
Thanks,
Vickie
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