Do I have enough truck for a Solitude 346fls?

[Highsierra]

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?

[MoonShadow_1911]

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 damn 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?

You will likely be over your total CCC. The pin weight is calculated at 20% of the dry coach vehicle weight (in your case, you list 14,222 lbs). No propane, batteries, or water, from the factory.

This will INCREASE as you add things to the coach. I've never seen the pin weight decrease, unless you load everything behind the axles, and I mean everything.

Keep in mind the CCC if the truck does not include fluids (fuel and DEF if a deisel, without this had been debated several times on the forum), people, 4-legged-friends, tools, hitch, bed cover, etc.

So, the average adult American weighs 200 lbs, most of us carry about 300-500 lbs of "stuff" in the truck. So for two adults, 500 lbs of "stuff", about 150 lbs of hitch, you are over 1,000 lbs already. That number comes off your CCC for the truck.

Most Solitudes are at least F350 DRW territory.

This is just my two cents, adjusted for inflation; however, you will likely receive similar answers from others who will definitely chime in.

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[Highsierra]

You will likely be over your total CCC. The pin weight is calculated at 20% of the dry coach vehicle weight (in your case, you list 14,222 lbs). No propane, batteries, or water, from the factory.

This will INCREASE as you add things to the coach. I've never seen the pin weight decrease, unless you load everything behind the axles, and I mean everything.

Keep in mind the CCC if the truck does not include fluids (fuel and DEF if a deisel, without this had been debated several times on the forum), people, 4-legged-friends, tools, hitch, bed cover, etc.

So, the average adult American weighs 200 lbs, most of us carry about 300-500 lbs of "stuff" in the truck. So for two adults, 500 lbs of "stuff", about 150 lbs of hitch, you are over 1,000 lbs already. That number comes off your CCC for the truck.

Most Solitudes are at least F350 DRW territory.

This is just my two cents, adjusted for inflation; however, you will likely receive similar answers from others who will definitely chime in.

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Thank you for your response. I’ve had this sinking feeling what you said is probably true. It sounds like I’m pushing the line with the pin weight and exceeding my cargo weight limit. It’s frustrating getting different answers from different people. Even grand design came up with different answers.

[MoonShadow_1911]

Thank you for your response. I’ve had this sinking feeling what you said is probably true. It sounds like I’m pushing the line with the pin weight and exceeding my cargo weight limit. It’s frustrating getting different answers from different people. Even grand design came up with different answers.

Remember, they are all in the business to make money. I thank you for being willing to ask here, as we have no skin in the game. Personally, I'd rather share the road with someone towing safely than "going with what the salesman said" and being unsafe.

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[Redapple63]

First, Welcome! Glad to have you here!

Moonshadow pretty much nailed it.

This is solid drw territory.

Typical pin weights at GVWR is 20-25% of total weight of the rig.

At GVWR 20-25% pin weight is from 3360 - 4200 lbs.

If you calculate around 22% of gvwr that puts you at 3696lbs plus your hitch your stuff in the truck and you.

Even if you minimize the stuff, there is still the hitch and your family.

For me the cutoff to drw is around 14k.

Bill

[Captcolour]

Downside is you need to get a dually. Upside is if you get a dually, opens up more RV possibilities to choose from like the 380FL, which is the big brother to the 346FL.

[Highsierra]

I appreciate all of your responses. I’m going back to the drawing board. I regret not buying a DWR, but that’s kind of out of the question now. I own this truck outright and the idea of getting a new truck with how high the prices have gone coupled with the fact it’ll take up to a year to get it is very unappealing. I suppose I can look into it though. Or maybe just pick a smaller less heavy fifth wheel my truck can safely handle

[MoonShadow_1911]

I appreciate all of your responses. I’m going back to the drawing board. I regret not buying a DWR, but that’s kind of out of the question now. I own this truck outright and the idea of getting a new truck with how high the prices have gone coupled with the fact it’ll take up to a year to get it is very unappealing. I suppose I can look into it though. Or maybe just pick a smaller less heavy fifth wheel my truck can safely handle

I would recommend looking at the Reflection Series (not the Reflection 150 Series). We own the Reflection 320MKS and love it, except for the fact that we can't access the refer with the slide in.

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[Second Chance]

To build on what @MoonShadow_1911 has said, the Reflection 337RLS is a good floorplan and the bed, bathroom and the fridge can be accessed with the slides in (but not the pantry). It will put about 3,000 lbs. on the pin fully loaded. I agree with everyone else that the Solitude 346 is a DRW truck trailer.

Rob

[BobKilmer]

Highsierra,
Based on my experiences with a SRW truck you can stay within your truck weight limits for the 346 FLS if you pay attention to loading and configuration.

For some background, I tow my 2019 381M with a 2019 F-350 SRW short bed crew cab and have no issues with hitch weight. In fact, my concern is normally too little hitch weight versus too much weight. My situation is slightly different since I have a toyhauler RV, but based on multiple visits to the CAT scales I have never been over my hitch weight. I don't throw a lot of extra items in the truck as others have stated they do. I use the RV for that. I also have an Andersen hitch, which keeps my payload down. With this configuration I am always several hundred pounds below my payload.

The hitch weight that you are seeing from GD is for the unladen vehicle. This is not computed, it is based on the average hitch weight of the standard build. With a 16,800 pound max weight and an unladen weight of 14,222, you can add 2,578 pounds to the RV. Using the 20% rule of thumb for increasing hitch weight based on cargo weight, this means the additional hitch weight would be only 516 pounds. Adding this to the base hitch weight of 3,096 pounds gives a hitch weight of 3,612 pounds. This is 470 pounds below your truck payload.

470 pounds doesn't sound like a lot of margin, but remember this is at the maximum cargo weight of the RV. Looking at the 346 floor plan, many of the heavy items you are going to load will go either in the middle of the RV in the kitchen, where they don't impact weight as much or actually behind the rear wheels where they decrease the pin weight. With the kitchen in the middle the heavy items like dishes, food, and drinks are closer to the wheels so they don't add as much to the pin weight. For the back bedroom, if you add a washer/dryer it would actually decrease pin weight since as would all you clothes and personal effects. If you have heavy items you want to put in the external storage, I would put them in the rear storage area under the bedroom versus in the front as this will help decrease the pin weight as well. Finally, I would ask on this forum if there are people who have experience with 346 actual pin weights to see what their experiences to get some real data on this model. You can also go to the RV dealer and see what the actual weights are for any unit. As an example my particular RV came in 75 pounds under the hitch weight.

For the truck payload, Ford computes this with a full tank of fuel and a 150 pound driver and passenger as described here:

https://www.ford.com/cmslibs/content...ty_PU_Dec3.pdf

Your payload would be decreased of course if you and/or your passenger weigh more than 150 pounds and also by the weight of your hitch and other passengers. In my case, I use an Andersen hitch - it weight only 38 pounds. If you use a conventional hitch it could be 150 pounds or more, so I would recommend either the Andersen or going with a goosebox hitch.

The one item that you should address if you decide to go with this configuration is I would recommend you install a set of air bags on the truck like the LoadLifter 5000 or 7500. This isn't to increase the payload of the truck, it is to help keep your truck off of the overload springs. It will improve the ride quality and allow your truck to use the full suspension range while loaded.

If you have any questions on the above or my configuration please free free to contact me directly.

P.S. Before I receive countless answers on why a dually would be better, I agree a dually would provide more margin and more payload. What I don't agree with is that it is required as long as you pay attention to cargo loading. After three years with my SRW configuration I am quite happy with it and have zero issues with stability or performance. If I had the sudden need to add three people to the cab while towing or put 500 pounds of tools in the truck bed it would be different, but it works quite well for me.