What are you pulling with you 3//4 diesel truck?

[Racine96]

I was going to buy a new Ram 3/4 diesel this weekend when I got a message from the dealer that the service dept. manager was telling them not to sell it. Because the fifth wheel has a 14,000 GVWR they say is too much pin weight for it. I was surprised as we were about to close the deal. The question is are they right? What are you pulling with your 3/4 diesel? Are the coil spring rear suspension the cause for this?

[Tom46]

2012 F250 Ford Superduty Crewcab Diesel. Best truck I have ever owned 16K gross rating although I have had 23K on it hauling hay with a tandem axle duallie goose-neck flatbed. I have 5 different trailers, goose-neck and bumper pull. The Ford handles all of them with no problem.I just bought a Torgue TQ325 toy hauler and hauled it home in a snow storm over mountain passes no problem!

[Racine96]

Thank you for your responses. I am looking at a Chevy 3500 diesel and a RAM 3500 diesel this week. The fifth wheel I am also buying has GVWR of 14,000 or at least 2,800 pin weight. The 2500 RAM Diesel I was looking at had 2,300 # payload.

[DJsFolly]

General rule of thumb, 5th wheel pin weight is 15 - 20% of total trailer weight. A 10,000 trailer usually has 1,500 - 2,000 pin weight. So a 1 ton truck payload could have 1,500 in the bed and 500 in gear and people. You may be able to tow over 10,000 but total load your truck can carry is 2,200 - that's 1 adult. Something weird, a diesel 3/4 ton?

[kaydeejay]

MM49 wrote:

Racine96 wrote:
I was going to buy a new Ram 3/4 diesel this weekend when I got a message from the dealer that the service dept. manager was telling them not to sell it. Because the fifth wheel has a 14,000 GVWR they say is too much pin weight for it. I was surprised as we were about to close the deal. The question is are they right? What are you pulling with your 3/4 diesel? Are the coil spring rear suspension the cause for this?

This sounds all to rich for me. Imagine an auto dealer reccomending "don't buy my vehicle. This is just a line of BS.
MM49

While we can't be 100% sure sure this isn't a line of BS, I think we need to give the OP the benefit of the doubt until we hear the end of the story.......................
Which I am hoping is he bought (at least) a 3500 SRW, has hitched up, been the the scales and is under all his truck ratings with the rig loaded for his first trip.
Racine96 - what say you??

[MrVan]

up2nogood wrote:

MrVan wrote:
The dealer is probably correct and probably should be referring you to a 3500. But I've been pulling a 2006 Keystone Montana 3400RL for 7 years with a 2003 F250 7.3L diesel. All it took to handle the pin weight was air bags. Check out what the real differences are between a 2500 and a 3500. It may be nothing more than an extra leaf in the rear springs.

I shudder at the thought of towing my 2008 3400RL with anything less then a 1 ton SRW, but many tow overloaded with 3/4 tons. While air bags will help level the truck, they do nothing to increase load capacity.

Would you say the same if the same rear spring setup from a F350 were installed on a F250? I'm not talking about the door sticker, I'm talking about the actual load carrying capacity of the truck. In many cases the only difference between a F250 and a F350 is one leaf in the rear spring and maybe a taller riser. If those were installed the load carrying capacity would be identical to the F350 no matter what the door sticker states. No difference in engine, no difference in the whole drive train including the same transmission, rear end, brakes, tires and rear axle. So how can you say it doesn't have the same load capacity? I suspect one could even get the state to change the door sticker in some cases after submitting the certified changes to them.

[MrVan]

MM49 wrote:

Racine96 wrote:
I was going to buy a new Ram 3/4 diesel this weekend when I got a message from the dealer that the service dept. manager was telling them not to sell it. Because the fifth wheel has a 14,000 GVWR they say is too much pin weight for it. I was surprised as we were about to close the deal. The question is are they right? What are you pulling with your 3/4 diesel? Are the coil spring rear suspension the cause for this?

This sounds all to rich for me. Imagine an auto dealer reccomending "don't buy my vehicle. This is just a line of BS.
MM49

Have you been lied to by dealers so long you no longer know how to handle the truth

[rhagfo]

MM49 wrote:

Racine96 wrote:
I was going to buy a new Ram 3/4 diesel this weekend when I got a message from the dealer that the service dept. manager was telling them not to sell it. Because the fifth wheel has a 14,000 GVWR they say is too much pin weight for it. I was surprised as we were about to close the deal. The question is are they right? What are you pulling with your 3/4 diesel? Are the coil spring rear suspension the cause for this?

This sounds all to rich for me. Imagine an auto dealer reccomending "don't buy my vehicle. This is just a line of BS.
MM49

Well maybe he is one of the few that want the buyer to get the correct TV, rather than having him come back *****ing about it squats too, much or it doesn't handle well, or doesn't want the factory to voide the warranty and have an unhappy customer.

[MM49]

Racine96 wrote:
I was going to buy a new Ram 3/4 diesel this weekend when I got a message from the dealer that the service dept. manager was telling them not to sell it. Because the fifth wheel has a 14,000 GVWR they say is too much pin weight for it. I was surprised as we were about to close the deal. The question is are they right? What are you pulling with your 3/4 diesel? Are the coil spring rear suspension the cause for this?

This sounds all to rich for me. Imagine an auto dealer reccomending "don't buy my vehicle. This is just a line of BS.
MM49

[Slownsy]

where did anybody ask if truck could pull it.
Frank.

[avvidclif1]

up2nogood wrote:

2oldman wrote:

chevor wrote:
Do you see anything wrong with this.

The truck is dwarfed by the 5er? A strong side wind will put you in the next lane?

Pretty common setup, right or wrong they are everywhere I have been, seen bigger toy haulers then this setup behind 3/4 tons. I guess air bags work magic

Spoken by someone who has obviously never pulled a 5th wheel. They are a different animal. Mine, while dwarfing the tow vehicle, is no problem in side winds, passing trucks, or whatever. Busses are the worst but still won't move me a lane, maybe less than a foot, if I don't see them coming from behind.

Realize my rig is matched as far as all parameters, GVWR, RAWR, GCVWR, etc. No air bags. I don't know about overloaded vehicles.

[GramaofAAAA]

We tow our 2003 29' Holiday Rambler Alumascape 5th wheel with our 2011 3/4 HD 4X4. Our trailer weight is 9400 unloaded...don't think we would want to go any bigger or heavier.

[LostinAZ]

2oldman wrote:

chevor wrote:
Do you see anything wrong with this.

The truck is dwarfed by the 5er? A strong side wind will put you in the next lane?

We pull a 38' 5th wheel with a 3/4 ton with airbags. Have been in strong side winds on I10 between Blythe and Indio/Palm Springs, CA. So strong the Interstate was eventually closed. Yes, some buffeting but nothing so drastic as causing us to change lanes. I suggest not trying to over sell the benefits of a 1 TON SRW or even a 1 Ton with DRW. I suspect there is some improvement but not nearly quite as much as you are trying to promote!

[cummins2014]

2oldman wrote:

chevor wrote:
Do you see anything wrong with this.

The truck is dwarfed by the 5er? A strong side wind will put you in the next lane?

Pretty common setup, right or wrong they are everywhere I have been, seen bigger toy haulers then this setup behind 3/4 tons. I guess air bags work magic

[2oldman]

chevor wrote:
Do you see anything wrong with this.

The truck is dwarfed by the 5er? A strong side wind will put you in the next lane?

[notruffinit]

Had a 2500 duramax. Got a new 13,000 lb 5er. I pulled it 300 miles. Traded for a one tonner. Do it right the first time and get the larger truck.