Considering New 5th Wheel Toyhauler-Concerns

[merc1100sc]

Morning all. I am considering selling my current tag work and play and purchasing a new 5th wheel toy hauler.
My concern is the hitch (pin) weight.

The model that has caught my eye as far as the size I would like is a new Heartland Fuel 335. Size is good. Price is fair. Dry weight not bad. The pin weight has me concerned. Showing at 3,400 pounds.

My tow vehicle is a 2018 GMC Sierra 2500HD Crew Cab Standard Box.

That pin weight puts my truck at max payload.
What do you guys think? Too much?

[odyknuck]

I have a 2017 Wolfpack 315 pack 12 with a seperate 12'garage. With my Can am X3 loaded my pin weight was at 1740#s - 12.5%. Not enough and was experiencing sway. So to get it higher I removed the Hapijack beds,couchs and the party deck fensing.
I relocated the spare from under the garage to under the bed above the Hitch and relocated as much weight foward to increase the pin weight t0 2120#s - 15.5%. Without the X3 loaded the pin weight is at 22% 600#s heavyer. I just bought new tires for the Toy hauler to replace the cheap Castlerocks with the hopes of having a better towing experience. I will find out next week as I am going on a 700 mile off road trip. So toy haulers with sepearte garages present you with a whole different set of problems. I tow it with a 2013 F250 Diesel 4x4 and would like to go to a dually however it will still not solve the light pin weight.

[twodownzero]

nayther wrote:

Vapor_Trails wrote:

nayther wrote:


Not even close to correct. There are NUMEROUS fifth wheel trailers and toy haulers that can be towed by single wheel 3/4 ton trucks. Just check payload capacity of your TV and pin weight both loaded and unloaded. Remember Toy Haulers' pin weights tend to go DOWN when loaded.

Is this just hyperbole, or are there really fifth wheel toy haulers with a 12'+ separate garage like OP wants that are within the weight limits of 3/4 ton trucks? If so, will you name a couple?

a lot are, just depends on how much you load in them. It's not "hyperbole" and "3/4" ton trucks are not all equal. Properly equipped "3/4" ton trucks have towing capacities in excess of 20k.

Tow capacity means nothing. They don't have enough gvwr for that to ever matter. Neither does my 1 ton srw for that matter.

[nayther]

Vapor_Trails wrote:

nayther wrote:


Not even close to correct. There are NUMEROUS fifth wheel trailers and toy haulers that can be towed by single wheel 3/4 ton trucks. Just check payload capacity of your TV and pin weight both loaded and unloaded. Remember Toy Haulers' pin weights tend to go DOWN when loaded.

Is this just hyperbole, or are there really fifth wheel toy haulers with a 12'+ separate garage like OP wants that are within the weight limits of 3/4 ton trucks? If so, will you name a couple?

a lot are, just depends on how much you load in them. It's not "hyperbole" and "3/4" ton trucks are not all equal. Properly equipped "3/4" ton trucks have towing capacities in excess of 20k.

[LowRyter]

No problem with mine, we can carry two bikes and have the essentials. Downside is no slide out. But we usually don't watch TV and stay outside and listen to music.

[Vapor_Trails]

nayther wrote:


Not even close to correct. There are NUMEROUS fifth wheel trailers and toy haulers that can be towed by single wheel 3/4 ton trucks. Just check payload capacity of your TV and pin weight both loaded and unloaded. Remember Toy Haulers' pin weights tend to go DOWN when loaded.

Is this just hyperbole, or are there really fifth wheel toy haulers with a 12'+ separate garage like OP wants that are within the weight limits of 3/4 ton trucks? If so, will you name a couple?

[dedmiston]

N-Trouble wrote:
The influx of what I call “land yacht” 5er THs over the last 10+ years has led to this thinking.

My wife and I were having the same conversation in the RV sauna after our squash game in the garage. It's just hard to know which features to do without.

(We literally laugh that ours came with a wine fridge. We stock it with beers.)

[N-Trouble]

nayther wrote:
I had a 30' Rage'n with a GVW of 13,500. Never took it to CAT scale but towed wonderfully with 2500 Duramax.

You're blanket statement regarding no 2500 has the capacity is just plain wrong.

The influx of what I call “land yacht” 5er THs over the last 10+ years has led to this thinking. Fortunately there are still some in the 12-13k GVWR that work perfectly with 3/4 ton.

[nayther]

I had a 30' Rage'n with a GVW of 13,500. Never took it to CAT scale but towed wonderfully with 2500 Duramax.

You're blanket statement regarding no 2500 has the capacity is just plain wrong.

[twodownzero]

nayther wrote:

twodownzero wrote:
Not even close. 3/4 ton trucks are not good for 5th wheel trailering. They do not have enough payload for anything other than a very modest 5th wheel. You will probably need a DRW truck for that toy hauler, although a lighter (2wd, regular cab, etc.) 1 ton SRW might squeek by.

Let me tell you as a new 5th wheel toy hauler owner, you definitely don't want to be pushing it on capacity. My trailer weighs about 800 pounds more than the UVW published by the company that made it. They are HEAVY!

Not even close to correct. There are NUMEROUS fifth wheel trailers and toy haulers that can be towed by single wheel 3/4 ton trucks. Just check payload capacity of your TV and pin weight both loaded and unloaded. Remember Toy Haulers' pin weights tend to go DOWN when loaded.

You're trying to make a factual argument but you haven't suggested any actual trailers with pin weights that would fit the capacity.

I personally wouldn't hitch any 5th wheel longer than about 24' to a 3/4 ton truck. "Payload" isn't just pin weight. You need capacity to keep stuff in the cab, too.

[ependydad]

N-Trouble wrote:
Find a 12k lb 5er TH out there with a 2k pin weight. Dont exist...

Dont mix non-TH with TH. They are setup differently.

As I said, I have had both; a TH and a non-TH that both had quite low pin weight percentages.

My current toy hauler is 15.5%.

Will you find that in a 12k fifth wheel toy hauler? No idea. But on my bigger one, it happens.

[N-Trouble]

Find a 12k lb 5er TH out there with a 2k pin weight. Dont exist...

Dont mix non-TH with TH. They are setup differently.

[ependydad]

N-Trouble wrote:

merc1100sc wrote:
I agree that everyone has their own opinion. I also realize once I load the garage up with **** the pin weight will drop noticeably. I just don't want to beat the **** out of the new truck weight wise. I'd like to stay in the 2K pin weight less than 12,500 Dry if possible.

Your numbers dont add up. You need to maintain a proper ratio between dry and pin weight. My 5er is 9k lb dry with a 2klb pin. You cant get that kind of pin weight on a 12k lb dry weight

Actually, you can. My toy hauler has a 21k overall weight but only 3,260 lbs is pin weight. It's right at 15.5%:

http://www.towingplanner.com/ActualWeights/FifthWheelCatScales/?w1sa=5320&w1da=7640&w1ta=17820&w2sa=...





Even my non-toy hauler bunkhouse hovered between 16-17%.

For the question weights, 2k of 12k is 16%.

[N-Trouble]

merc1100sc wrote:

Grit dog wrote:

merc1100sc wrote:
I kind of figured this would be the case. Time to look at different models I guess.
Bummer.

No, it is not necessarily the case. I urge you to read the multitude of payload arguments...I mean threads on here and talk to some folks and form your own opinion before canning the idea.
Too many variables to condemn the idea based on a couple posts from people who may or may not know what they are talking about.

I agree that everyone has their own opinion. I also realize once I load the garage up with **** the pin weight will drop noticeably. I just don't want to beat the **** out of the new truck weight wise. I'd like to stay in the 2K pin weight less than 12,500 Dry if possible.

Your numbers dont add up. You need to maintain a proper ratio between dry and pin weight. My 5er is 9k lb dry with a 2klb pin. You cant get that kind of pin weight on a 12k lb dry weight

[N-Trouble]

azdryheat wrote:
Don't even consider a 5th wheel toy hauler for a 2500/F-250. They're too heavy. My Voltage has 3500 on the pin.

One other comment, we had one of our dually tires go flat while my wife was driving. I can only imagine how things would have turned out if we didn't have the dually.

You're asking for trouble hauling that beast with a 2500.

Crazy talk... Not all 5er THs are land yahts. Just have to know what your looking for