Questions on pulling a Solitude 310GK with a 3/4 ton CHEV truck

PatGP

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Hi: We would like some thoughts on matching our 2022 Chev 3/4 ton diesel Duramax 6.6 HD to pulling a 2024 Solitude 310GK. We've included the truck stickers. The weight of the 310GK is: Pin Weight/Hitch 2,350 lb., UVW 12,100lb., GVWR 15,000lb.
We'd appreciate any advice on this. Thanks
 

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My pin weight that adds to the payload weight is 2600 lbs. my B&W hitch is around 200 lbs plus gear and passengers, you would be quite over your payload number. People do it but its not safe for you or others on the road...in my opinion.
 
I’ll just go ahead and say it straight out - a 3/4 ton truck is not enough for a Solitude. Not a GM, Ford or Ram.

My pin weight is 3300 lbs. But I have a W/D combo and carry 2 Honda 2000 generators. Without those I suppose I would loose about 300 lbs. So still right at or over 3000 lbs.

My first weighing was 2700+ lbs. So, no way you can expect to get under you truck’s cargo weight with you, hitch, family. I had a short bed to begin with; including truck cargo, hitch & RV I was a bit overweight. All better now with a long bed, no hitch and aux fuel tank.

Get a 1 ton long bed.
 
Hi : We are definitely taking your advice about towing a 310GK Solitude, but we are now wondering what is the maximum hitch weight, in a 5th wheel ,we can look at? Is there a formula we should be using? We are now considering an GD Influence 5th wheel which has a hitch weight of 2,190lb. Thanks again.
 
Welcome to the forum, I would start with look at the GVWR and take 20% to 22% of the pin weight and don't forget your hitch, gears, fuel, people, etc and that will give you an idea of what to look for, good luck.
 
All hitch weights and tongue weights listed for fifths and trailers by manufactures are severely under real life. They are based on an optimal empty trailer.
A rule of thumb for a fifth is to assume 20% of the trailers GVWR in the bed of the truck - plus hitch, people, tools, anything added to the truck since the factory (bed liners, rust proofing, mats, running boards, old french fries, etc.) Some fifths may come in slightly less, but 20% gives you a reasonably safe margin of error, especially if you don't load up the fifth to its max GVWR.
 
I have to ask the question: How in love with your truck are you?

Being an owner of a 310GK, I can say that my wife and I absolutely LOVE it.

My point is: you are not going to be living and sleeping in the truck, you will be living in the camper and getting the right camper for you and your family should take priority over settling for a lesser camper simply because your current truck won't handle it. Realistically, how many years till you are going to trade in this truck for another one? If you really shopped around, you might be able to upgrade your truck and get the camper you want.

PS: Our 310GK pulls like a dream with our F350 Dually and GooseBox hitch.

PPS: Whichever 5th Wheel you choose, I strongly recommend you consider the GooseBox hitch.

Good Luck and please let us know what you decide.
 
Thanks for your advice.
Tip: If you use the "Reply" button under a post, it will quote the person to whom you are replying.

Now, I'll add my two cents worth: DON'T DO IT! Solitudes are 1-ton trailers. If you have a late model 1-ton you might get by with a single rear wheel truck. Our 310-GK puts 3,300 lbs. on the pin when loaded for travel. You then have to account for the weight of a hitch, passengers, and anything else you put in the truck.

Rob
 
Hi: We would like some thoughts on matching our 2022 Chev 3/4 ton diesel Duramax 6.6 HD to pulling a 2024 Solitude 310GK. We've included the truck stickers. The weight of the 310GK is: Pin Weight/Hitch 2,350 lb., UVW 12,100lb., GVWR 15,000lb.
We'd appreciate any advice on this. Thanks
I was in a similar situation with my Ram 2500, we wanted the Solitude 378MBS. I was confident I could pull it but knew I would be grossly over weight. Took 2 years looking for a dually that I could afford, now have the 378MBS and would not want to tow this with any lesser truck.
 
I was in a similar situation with my Ram 2500, we wanted the Solitude 378MBS. I was confident I could pull it but knew I would be grossly over weight. Took 2 years looking for a dually that I could afford, now have the 378MBS and would not want to tow this with any lesser truck.

When I was searching for my truck, it didn't take me long to realize I needed a Dually. First, while my 310GK was 16k (+/-) I decided I wanted a truck capable of towing 20k plus. I wanted this extra capacity not only as a safety factor, but also as a "someday we might get a different camper" and need more truck factor. Second, it didn't take me long to figure out looking at the towing capacity tables that a Single Rear Wheel truck was going to be a bit light when it came to towing my 310GK.

And Last, the SRW trucks ride higher than the DRW trucks and both my wife and I liked that the Dually was lower and easier to get into (and it is not because we are short [I am 6'4" and my wife is 6'1"]), we just liked getting into the Dually better than the SRW.
 
When I was searching for my truck, it didn't take me long to realize I needed a Dually. First, while my 310GK was 16k (+/-) I decided I wanted a truck capable of towing 20k plus. I wanted this extra capacity not only as a safety factor, but also as a "someday we might get a different camper" and need more truck factor. Second, it didn't take me long to figure out looking at the towing capacity tables that a Single Rear Wheel truck was going to be a bit light when it came to towing my 310GK.

And Last, the SRW trucks ride higher than the DRW trucks and both my wife and I liked that the Dually was lower and easier to get into (and it is not because we are short [I am 6'4" and my wife is 6'1"]), we just liked getting into the Dually better than the SRW.
And I agree with you on this, with my North Point 310RLTS, when I had my 3500 Chevy LB SRW I was 150lbs from been over on my rear wheel weight rating, I didn't like that because I like been good on all of my weight rating.

So now since we are on a cross-country trip now seeing my mother I knew that I would be over with my SRW, I know that a lot of people don't care about that and that's okay, so I went with a dually and I can tell you going cross country is just like night and day, for me.
 
I tried this combo with 2022 Chevy 2500 High Country. Empty off the dealers lot I was under all the truck weights. Packed for a week of camping with my family and dogs, about 400ish over GVWR. I ran my airbags about 40psi to level. In perfect weather it did great and gave a really nice ride. Any direct crosswinds over 20mph I could feel it moving. Not to the point I was scared, but the combo just didn’t feel planted. Just felt unstable. Passing trucks were felt as well. That weight and wide body had a lot of influence on my 3/4 ton truck.

A few thousand bucks later I ended up with a DRW. My ride towing and empty isn’t great, but the stability is night and day better. If I only did local 2-3hr stuff the 3/4 ton would’ve worked ok. But just ok. I considered a SRW 3500, but that didn’t make financial sense as I was just getting the same truck with beefier rear leafs and I already effectively had that with airbags. Same everything else except also a larger ring gear in the rear end, but that has no effect on stability. Just pulling and I was way under that number.

And it sits about an inch lower which helped some with being nose high. As shown in this photo of both trucks parked back to back the day of purchase.
 

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For sure, the 310GK is 1 ton territory. I didn’t go for the dually (personal preference) but I haven’t had any issues with my 2020 3500 Denali SRW. We don’t usually travel outside of the state (CA) but we have been to the Badlands and up to Montana with this setup.

My hitch weight using the CAT scales came in at 2,980. I don’t have the washer/dryer or generator (but prepped for both). We travel on the lighter side and this was a one week trip up to Cave Junction, Oregon from our home in Windsor CA.

On the downside, due to some health issues, we will be selling the truck and trailer ?

If anyone has advice on selling their rigs, that would be great. I don’t care for Craigslist or Facebook marketplace. ?

Good luck on your decision and happy travels!
 
I fully agree with everyone that recommends going to a 1-ton to pull the 310GK. I'm doing it with a SRW short bed and am always either 50 lbs. under or over my yellow sticker (3390 lbs.), depending on the trip (washer/dryer, small portable generator). A dually would make towing easier, but it's hard enough finding a place to park the truck that I have!
 
For sure, the 310GK is 1 ton territory. I didn’t go for the dually (personal preference) but I haven’t had any issues with my 2020 3500 Denali SRW. We don’t usually travel outside of the state (CA) but we have been to the Badlands and up to Montana with this setup.

My hitch weight using the CAT scales came in at 2,980. I don’t have the washer/dryer or generator (but prepped for both). We travel on the lighter side and this was a one week trip up to Cave Junction, Oregon from our home in Windsor CA.

On the downside, due to some health issues, we will be selling the truck and trailer ?

If anyone has advice on selling their rigs, that would be great. I don’t care for Craigslist or Facebook marketplace. ?

Good luck on your decision and happy travels!
Sold our fifth wheel and my inlaws class A on RVTrader. Good luck.
Rich
 
We have the same truck basically and I struggled with what 5er I could safely tow without having to upgrade my truck. We ended up landing on the 303 and so far it tows very nicely. That being said I am still bumping up against my max payload. Once I saw the numbers on the Solitudes I quickly moved on, just don't have near enough truck for the Solitude line. Good luck with whatever decision you make.
 

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