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lathe11

What size truck?

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Read my post of April 1st....It's best to figure weights at the max...at 16k, a 3/4 ton will be way over the cargo capacity of the truck.  

Do the numbers and look at the sticker noted above.

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We found a good reason to have a 5er over a motorhome in 2014.  WE had to have the engine in the truck replace and were off the road 3 weeks.  The trailer was towed to an RV park and the truck to the shop.  Had a rental car, but we had a place to live that was not a motel.

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Pros & conns!  There are days I would like mine to be a 5'er Toy Trailer,  then there are days my best friend, who has one, want's mine!  Told him, we need  to name one "Never Satisfied", the other "X2"! LOL

Had a Cigarette Boat with that name!  A 47' Scatter called "Wave runner"!  Both raced domestic and international competition....wish I had that $$$ back. :rolleyes::)

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Any after market suspensions cannot increase the cargo capacity of the truck.  Only the manufacturer can do that.

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I have never owned a 5th wheel but have towed heavy trailers with all kinds of pickups and vans. I had a Ford Powerstroke 3/4 ton dually, nice truck. I was towing a 24 foot trailer with approxamately 6,000 pounds of rock in pallets, wire wrapped. It was all tied tight untill I hit the brakes pretty hard and the load shifted enough that it stood the pickup on its tail, litterally! 

I learned something from that incident and replaced it with a Ford Factory built 1 ton dually long bed and Powerstroke. I was moving rock from a private quarry in the mountains of Colorado to a home I was building. I stopped at the weigh station to see what I had put in the bed just for grins as the truck did not look all that loaded. Well surprise surprise, ther was 6,800 pounds in the bed. The truck weighed in over 13,000 pounds. It did not act like it either. 

Point being a 3/4 may pull it but if you have to do something evasive or out of the ordinary, that second set of rubber, and the heavier springs on the back of a 1 ton or greater will save your butt and keep the load behind you. The 3/4 ton is not adequate and the 1 ton marginally. Now the 450s have much better and larger brakes may be smarter yet. It is not all about pulling it...stopping is the bigger issue.

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When considering a TT or TV purchase you need to do some math and NOT depend on the salesperson to have your best interest at heart.

Watch THIS video and be an informed owner.

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On ‎5‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 8:26 PM, rsbilledwards said:

is not all about pulling it...stopping is the bigger issue.

Amen Bill! Way back in the late sixties, I bought a city bus to transform into a diner, I had to move that beast 80 miles, and over a mountain, the truck was a 3/4 dodge with a six cylinder motor auto transmission. Going up the mountain the motor got so slow I could literally count the rpm's, going down the mountain, there was no stopping it, thank God, he was looking after me, because I was praying all the way down that mountain that if I survived, there would never be another stupid move like that again.

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Think Kay figured that out, on the way down..:lol: I want to know, did you build the diner and how did that work out. 😎

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With that 5er you're in dually territory.  Take it from a guy who towed a heavy 5er (24,780 lbs combined) with an F250 and now realizes his mistake.  Our current rig is just north of 30K lbs combined and our RAM dually with Cummins 6.7L turbo diesel, Aisin medium duty transmission and 4.10 gears handles it like a boss.

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My F350 7.3 Super Duty which I ordered and ordered with 4.10 diff, I am not sure I would do that again probably go taller as it is effortless pulling away but the top end suffers drastically. I am not a polky guy unloaded and at times wish it had longer legs that 92....I knoooow but a lot of open real estate heading west that the 1 ton Dodge I had prior would just chew up. I am not a Dodge guy but that truck would really haul/fly. 

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On ‎9‎/‎7‎/‎2018 at 7:30 PM, WILDEBILL308 said:

Do you still have it and can we get a discount?

Sorry for the delayed answer, have been camped since early Sept., with poor to no internet at times. That was in 1970, and no I don't still have but if you visited today would be free, same invite if you ever pass this way, I'd love to take U out to eat.

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On 3/31/2018 at 8:54 AM, lathe11 said:

Looking at a cedar creek 40’ 13000 dry, 16000 gross, what size truck can handle it? 3/4 ton or one ton? What is others towing with?? 

RAM 3500 DRW TBD

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efotnamvet.  Welcome!

"Anything?"  There are 5'ers that a F-350, 3500 Ram or Chevy 3500 can not pull safely or comfortably!  "Anytime?" Snow, Ice, Sand or Mud, or is that aimed at the Interstate on a dry day?  I'm not a fan of blanked statements...I have gotten stuck on 2 different ranches, to many times, with all the above, hauling 4 bales of hay and all it takes is wet grass! :(

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Been down that road. We bought a 40', 15,500# GVWR 5er. We had a 1996 3/4T Dodge CTD already.  The drive from the RV dealership was agonizing for me, mild grades really slowed the truck down, handling was poor. The very next week I bought an 02 Chevy dually Duramax. Towing that 5er was easy and comfortable, even though the duallly was right at its maximum GCWR, and GVW capacity.

Yes, medium-duty trucks(shoot the Ram 1T dually diesel runs about $70,000) are very expensive, thus the move by many to buying a used HDT and modifying it to tow a recreational 5er.

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