Do I have enough truck for a Solitude 346fls?

[Second Chance]

Solitudes and Momentums are two different animals when it comes to pin weight.

Rob

[BobKilmer]

Solitudes and Momentums are two different animals when it comes to pin weight.

Rob

I didn't say they were the same. I did the math and showed him the facts versus just making general statements. The facts show he can stay within his pin weights. He has a SRW truck with a higher than typical payload that supports the required payload if he loads it properly.

[robob1949]

Buy the truck! You'll be happy you did..

Hello, I’m new to the RV world. I’ve been shopping around for used grand designs for a while. I found a 2021 Solitude 346fls for a pretty [expletive deleted] good price. I’m on the verge of pulling the trigger, but I’m not completely sure if I have enough truck. My truck is a 2021 Ford F-350 long bed SRW with a max cargo weight of 4082 lbs. it’s max fifth wheel tow weight is around 21,000. The solitude 346fls has a dry weight of 14,222, a gross weight of 16,800, and a pin weight of 3096. I really wish GD would specify if that pin weight is based off of the 16,800 gross weight or the 14222 dry weight. I’ve called a couple gd dealers who claim its based off of the gross weight and that more than likely I’d be under 3000 pin weight unless I loaded it up to the max. I know they’re salesmen and may not have given me accurate information. I called grand design customer service and spoke two different times to a representative and I got two different answers. The first guy said it’s based off of dry weight, and the second guy I spoke to said it was based off the gross weight of 16,800 lbs. in general everyone I spoke to said my truck would be fine and have no problem. My question is for the experienced people on here who have owned this or similar models, and whether or not you think my truck is good to go with this particular solitude model 346fls?

[Doubletowing4life]

Buy the truck! You'll be happy you did..

Personally when we bought our 310gk back in 2019 we had a 2017 f350 lariat with the power stroke. We used that for a summer then when we came across a brand new f450 for a good deal in march 2020 we pulled the trigger. You can do what you want but a dually will be less stressful.

[Overtaxed]

There are really 2 questions wrapped up into one with the "enough truck" question. The important question is "Can you tow it safely" (IMHO). The easy question is "Can you tow it legally" (IE, within the weight capacity of the vehicle). We often focus on the legal question because it's the easy one.

If you're trying to figure out if you can safely tow it (not overload components on the truck), you need to start doing some digging. The first place is the tires and rims, what are they rated for? F350s come with quite a few different tire/wheel combos, you need to understand what they are rated to take.

The next question is the axle. This is typically not a problem, most are rated way above the tire/rim; but you should check.

If you're still in the "good to go" on tires/rims/axle, at this point I'd argue you can tow the RV safely. You're not exceeding any numbers that are based on mechanical limitations; you might be over the "sticker" but the sticker doesn't mean safe/not safe. My sticker is 14K lbs, if I have bald tires and bad brakes, I couldn't tow a 500lb log splitter safely.

If you go down this route, you probably want to get airbags to help level the truck and control the load. It helps quite a bit when you're heavy.

I would never exceed tire/rim limits, that's asking for something awful to happen.

Now, the counterpoint, no matter what you decide, you WILL be safer (and more comfortable) towing an RV that size in a DRW. Full stop, no question about it, it's better in pretty much every way for a towing platform. And it's also safer, again, without question, because of the redundancy and wider stance preventing the RV from pushing your rear around. And, also, you will very likely be over your sticker ratings, and that could cause you some issues if you were pulled over the cop wanted to press the issue.

I towed a 351M with a 2019 F250. It was fine, the truck handled it well. I was about 1000lbs over my GVWR, and about 500lbs under my tire/rim ratings. I traded the truck for a F450, and the 450 is clearly better and more comfortable towing an RV this size.

[Second Chance]

Just in case some folks aren't reading through all the posts, the OP posted back on 11 April that he is not trading trucks but is "going back to the drawing board" and looking at lighter trailers.

Rob

[moterbiker]

And I think a wise man once said to me “nobody ever says they bought too much truck”! Really enjoying your old 337, more solar to come this summer Rob

[Second Chance]

And I think a wise man once said to me “nobody ever says they bought too much truck”! Really enjoying your old 337, more solar to come this summer Rob

Where are you going to put it - on the sides?

Rob

[manaya1127]

II have the 2015 solitude RE 345 and I pull with 2015 f-350 dually with air bags and it does fine.

[moterbiker]

Bought another 1k watts, 4 used 250 watt panels for $232. They will be for ground deploy use, I’ll put an Anderson connector on each side so I can put them where needed. Once I get back to NC I’ll get a hitch basket and weld on supports to store them