I need your advice please! Towing Capacity Exceeded

[DennisK]

I suddenly have that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I ordered a 2015 Solitude 369RL and it is due to be here within a couple of weeks. I am trading my 2012 Jayco Pinnacle in on it. Here lies the problem... The hitch weight of the Jayco is 2460 lbs and the hitch eight of the Solitude is 2600. The max payload for my 2013 Ram 2500 4X4, is 2291 lbs. I realize I was exceeding it by appx. 150 lbs. with the Jayco but am now looking at exceeding it by 300 lbs. I did have the Onan 5K generator installed on my Jayco and will not have that on this. I now it is all relative to passengers, fuel, "stuff" etc. Should I cancel my order? Trading for a different truck is out of the question. I have no idea why I didn't connect the dots on this earlier. Anxious I guess.

Please note that I do not exceed the towing capacity. My truck is rated for 17,100 and the Solitude comes in at 16,000.

We travel on quality roads so jarring is not a concern. My truck has the Cummins and exhaust or"jake" brake. It pulled my Jayco (and stopped) without effort.

Help!

Dennis

 

[luckeyd1]

Find out what your rear axle max load capacity is, then go from there. The pin weight of 2600 is the unloaded weight. You do realize it will increase. Hope it works for you. There is always a Reflection line, not as big not as heavy.

 

[DennisK]

Find out what your rear axle max load capacity is, then go from there. The pin weight of 2600 is the unloaded weight. You do realize it will increase. Hope it works for you. There is always a Reflection line, not as big not as heavy.

My rear axle capacity is 6000 lbs. I am thinking I will be okay. I never exceed 60mph when towing.

 

[luckeyd1]

Sounds like you are about to have much fun. Enjoy the journey. Welcome to the Grand Design family.

 

[chris-MGRV]

Dennis,
I guess it all depends on what the weak link is. But I'll tell you that my 369RL has not weighed what they say it does since I purchased it. With the stuff I have in the basement, and the front compartment, bedroom, etc...and the truck loaded with 3 adults, two children, and two dogs with a 3/4 full water tank, I calculated my pin weight at 3500. That's not completely accurate, but it is within 200 pounds. I'm not a weight weenie, but I'd be a little nervous with the 2500. That was why I went with the 3500, and almost went with the dually.
Ct..

 

[cgoodnight]

Dennis,

You will be exceeding your payload capacity by a lot more than 300 pounds. I have read on other forums that payload capacity assumes a driver and fuel. Add in your fifth wheel hitch and a passenger and you are a lot over. I have also read that in case of an accident, the first thing that will be checked is the plate inside the driver door that lists your payload capacity.

Towing is not the problem. Your truck will certainly pull the load. There are a few others on this forum that pull 369's with 3/4 ton trucks, but most seem to use 1 ton trucks.

I looked at a 369, loved it. Then test drove 3 1 ton trucks. Decided to get a F250. Wanted to get a Reflection 303, but my wife really liked the 337. So got that, and I am way over on my payload capacity. Especially with a 45 gallon aux. tank. Going to consider a F350 next January is I still have the trailer. In the meantime I will be very careful towing the 337.

 

[Steve and Cill]

Dennis, check out this website: www.fifthwheelst.com There is a lot of good information on towing and weights here.

Steve

 

[luckeyd1]

I misread his 2500 as 3500 my mistake.

 

[rocketmx]

FYI - according to the factory, the empty pin weight on our 369rl is 2900lb. A trip to the scales pretty much confirmed it. Not sure what other owners are seeing.

 

[thompsons 369rl]

FYI - according to the factory, the empty pin weight on our 369rl is 2900lb. A trip to the scales pretty much confirmed it. Not sure what other owners are seeing.

Last time I hit the scales, my drive axle weight was at 6460. After subtracting the drive axle curb weight (added a few hundred lbs for wife and dogs) for my truck, I figure my pin weight for a fully loaded rig (with empty holding tanks) at 3300 to 3400 lbs.

 

[Retread68]

Not wanting to sound like the "weight police", but this discussion is exactly why I ended up with a Reflection 303 vs a Solitude 369, plus the fact I'm pulling with a gasser vs diesel. The dealer told me he wouldn't be concerned about the weight since my truck has airbags. My response was something like, "of course you wouldn't be concerned, because you're not the one paying for truck repairs." I've had more than my share of trucks, mainly GM and can say that 3500 SRWs have the same axle as 2500 SRWs with one additional leaf in the spring. The payload capacity is not increased much due to the axle and tire capacity. The extra leaf in the spring only limits the amount of compression (noticed by bed drop) and maintains a better drive shaft alignment. The same vector forces on the axle and tires are the same.

The payload increase comes with the 3500 DRW because the axle is different, hub difference, and wheel/tire capacity increases.

All the major branded trucks have engines that will tow almost all RVs, but tranny / rear end and suspension parts have a tendency to fail prematurely when overloaded. The best thing (IMO) is to weigh your truck (with full tank of fuel), then weigh truck & trailer, so you have no doubt how much weight is on the axles, both truck & trailer. Then if possible, you can shift some weight aft if necessary. I have even carried water in the fresh water tank for ballast ! (different 5er than GD 303)

Some folks will get different mileage from this post. No offense toward anyone is intended. Your comfort level may be different from mine. Be safe and enjoy the RV experience.

 

[WhittleBurner]

One more thing you never hear mentioned are the brakes. like you said most trucks are built to tow a lot but what about stopping. just because you can tow it the most important thing is can you stop it without white knuckles when something happens suddenly in front of you.

 

[thompsons 369rl]

True. Stopping ability is very important. 3/4 and 1 ton trucks usually come with pretty hefty brakes to start with but they can only do so much when trying to stop an extra 10 to 14 thousand lbs. Diesels have an advantage over gas when braking simply because of higher compression and in some cases additional exhaust brakes. Trucks with a tow/haul setting (which automatically downshifts the transmission under braking) also help. Setting up the trailer brake "gain" properly can also make a world of difference.