New to 5th Wheel RV campers...

[Lizard333]

I have 1996, Ford F350 Dually Long Bed, Diesel, that will be pulling the new 2021 Reflections 31MB, when it arrives. I currently have a goose neck hitch, and a fifth wheel hitch on the rails in the bed of my truck. The GVRW of the trailer is 11995, and the rating of my hitch, a Valley 7054, is at 16K, with 4K of weight. With this trailer I am not going to be anywhere near that. Now with my long bed, do I have to worry about this hitch set up? I have pulled 5th wheel trailers, and goose neck trailers, but it appears there are a lot of guys on here needing sliding mounts and the such, is that because they have short beds? Is there anything I need to know prior to picking up my camper and towing it for the first time?

Thanks in advance for the help, I appreciate it.

Doug

[Brother_Bluto]

You don't need a slider with a long bed. Your 31MB has a GVWR of 12K# which will put somewhere around 2,400# on the pin. You'd have to look at your door sticker to see what you can carry for payload (weight of pin, hitch, people, fuel, add'l stuff in or on truck). You should be good on the hitch side of things.

[Rgkeaney]

You don't need a slider with a long bed. Your 31MB has a GVWR of 12K# which will put somewhere around 2,400# on the pin. You'd have to look at your door sticker to see what you can carry for payload (weight of pin, hitch, people, fuel, add'l stuff in or on truck). You should be good on the hitch side of things.

I honestly don’t know what to make of the pin weight on my 2020 31mb. Fully loaded with water, a bumper rack with 95 lb generator, and my pin weight is 1830. Less than what the advertised pin weight on that rig is. I know everyone talks about that advertised pin weight being on an unloaded rig, but it somewhat doesn’t make sense. Unless as someone suggested in another thread, the water tank is slightly behind the axels along with the generator and offsets some of the front pin weight. But my experience is that you wouldn’t need to front load a ton of extra stuff to hit a 2400lb pin weight.

Definitely don’t need a slider with long bed.


+++++++++++++++++++
2016 Ram 2500 Cummins
Andersen ultimate
2020 GD 31MB
Champion dual fuel 3500 generator
Steadyfast stabilizers
Dinosaur electronics ignitor board
MicroAir Easy-Start

[larry0071]

There is no yellow door sticker on a 1996, that is a fairly recent addition to trucks/cars.

If you want to know your payload you look at your registration that shows the GVWR on trucks (I think was 11,200 back then on the F-350), then drive to a local scale (scrap yard, CAT Scale, whatever) and get the unloaded truck weight ( I expect around 8,000 lbs). Subtract truck weight (unloaded) from the GVWR on your registration (GVWR can be below the door tag, many people downgrade registration GVWR to save on annual registration costs) to see the difference. It is likely around 3000 lbs. of payload for you, the family and all your stuff, the hitch parts and the pin weight.

Your truck (F-350 Dually) is around 8,000 lbs empty, as in no tools.... nothing. Shake it over a trash can to be at 8,000 lbs.

The 1996 F-350 7.3L trucks had 2 gear choices, the gear choice effects the gross combined weight rating:
3.55 rear end, it is a 16,000 GCWR. (F-250 or F-350)
4.10 rear end, it is a 20,000 GCWR. (F-250 or F-350)

Side Note : I believe that the 1996 era F-250 SRW had a 8,800 GVWR (not the 10K we have today in 3/4 ton models), so you could never put a 5th wheel over that heavy of a truck (around 7,200 LBS empty empty) due to the 1600 lbs left for payload.

You'll need to check me on this, I am subject to memory fade and confusing my facts over time. I quite playing with old Fords about 15 years back when my buddy passed away, he was my partner in crime doing restorations, building sled pull competition trucks and doing engine swaps, once he died I lost the desire. So it's been a while....

[Lizard333]

There is no yellow door sticker on a 1996, that is a fairly recent addition to trucks/cars.

If you want to know your payload you look at your registration that shows the GVWR on trucks (I think was 11,200 back then on the F-350), then drive to a local scale (scrap yard, CAT Scale, whatever) and get the unloaded truck weight ( I expect around 8,000 lbs). Subtract truck weight (unloaded) from the GVWR on your registration (GVWR can be below the door tag, many people downgrade registration GVWR to save on annual registration costs) to see the difference. It is likely around 3000 lbs. of payload for you, the family and all your stuff, the hitch parts and the pin weight.

Your truck (F-350 Dually) is around 8,000 lbs empty, as in no tools.... nothing. Shake it over a trash can to be at 8,000 lbs.

The 1996 F-350 7.3L trucks had 2 gear choices, the gear choice effects the gross combined weight rating:
3.55 rear end, it is a 16,000 GCWR. (F-250 or F-350)
4.10 rear end, it is a 20,000 GCWR. (F-250 or F-350)

Side Note : I believe that the 1996 era F-250 SRW had a 8,800 GVWR (not the 10K we have today in 3/4 ton models), so you could never put a 5th wheel over that heavy of a truck (around 7,200 LBS empty empty) due to the 1600 lbs left for payload.

You'll need to check me on this, I am subject to memory fade and confusing my facts over time. I quite playing with old Fords about 15 years back when my buddy passed away, he was my partner in crime doing restorations, building sled pull competition trucks and doing engine swaps, once he died I lost the desire. So it's been a while....

Doing some research here... I cant find my specific truck as there were not a lot of my particular model made, and even fewer left. I found the same configuration but without my four wheel drive. Mine has Dana 80 Axels with 4:10 in the rear, and dana 60's up front.

GVRW Front axle 3565
GVRW Rear axle 6800
GVRW total is 10,365
Dead Weight for 5th wheel hitch is 2000.
5th wheel max trailer weight 12500
Gross combined weight rating of 20000 pounds.

There is no doubt I am at the higher end of the trucks capacity stock, but it is more than happy to tow it. I have a mild tune, added the intercooler, it has an exhaust brake, electronic shift kit for the automatic transmission, fuel system upgrade, downpipe and 4 inch exhaust. I may not get there the fastest, but I get where I am going everytime. My last camper, a little lighter than the one I am looking to get now, was taken up over Tioga pass into Yosemite, 10,000 feet, without problems. She may not pull the hills as fast as the newer trucks, but I sure do love her, she has always taken care of me. The best part, at 26 years old, she only has 192,000 miles on the 7.3 Powerstroke, so I still have another 800,000 miles left on the odometer. Lets see a for 6.4 owner say that!

[Lizard333]

Picture for reference.

[larry0071]

I'm sure that your very proud of your truck and that it will do all that you ask of it. I was just giving some information as I was once really into the Ford truck world spanning from the late 70's to the mid 2000's models.

Camp onwards!

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[Lizard333]

I'm sure that your very proud of your truck and that it will do all that you ask of it. I was just giving some information as I was once really into the Ford truck world spanning from the late 70's to the mid 2000's models.

Camp onwards!

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

What made you switch to a Dodge? Don't get me wrong, I have a really good friend that has an 06 cummins that has a six speed manual that pulls like a freight train.. It definitely has me liking that truck. If it wasn't for the problems with the transmissions.... I would probably own one. I do own a 1991 M939 5 ton military truck that has 8.3 Turbo charged cummins that runs like a champ.

I do appreciate the help earlier.

[larry0071]

What made you switch to a Dodge? Don't get me wrong, I have a really good friend that has an 06 cummins that has a six speed manual that pulls like a freight train.. It definitely has me liking that truck. If it wasn't for the problems with the transmissions.... I would probably own one. I do own a 1991 M939 5 ton military truck that has 8.3 Turbo charged cummins that runs like a champ.

I do appreciate the help earlier.

I've had the Ford 99 and 00 7.3L trucks, 05 6.0L, 05.5 Ram 5.9L Cummins and that was enough for me. The Ram was total garbage. Not worth a bucket of urin. 3 Cummins engines and 7 transmissions in that thing, almost ruined my marriage!

I've had turbo failures, injector failures, high pressure pump failures, transmission failures in every single one at least once...

I'll never buy a diesel again in my life. I don't need to race you up the side of the mountain. I'll get there in the right lane.

Ram has, in my opinion, the very best interior and a really good looking truck. Ford has the best and toughest looking rig to me, but the inside is not near the Ram. I tend to sit inside my trucks [emoji23]

Chevy... Never saw a GM truck I would own. Never liked the body styling out the inside.

So, I'm a gas guy, and like the Ram interior.... The new 8 speed is great and not at all made by Chrysler/FCA.

And I don't ever plan to own one more than 2-3 years.

I'm very happy with the Ram, it pulls well and had plenty of power and the styling as well as creature comforts in the near loaded truck is very pleasing.

I'll leave the diesel trucks to ya'all. I'm good with that.

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