Hello all, I am becoming a new owner of solitude 390 RK. Qusetion..to pull this 41 ft 16000 lb unit to i need a truck with Dual tires (aka Dually)? I am considering a Ford King Ranch long bed Diesel ( Not a Dually)
I am Not a newby to trailers,,But I am a newby to 5th Wheels
Your Thoughts Please..StevyG
Sorry for the Subject (Solitude Typo) Could not seem to Change
Short answer is yes...a Dually. Now, the long explanatory version. That trailer has a GVWR of 16,800 lbs, so if you load it up to or close to the GVWR of 16,800 lbs, that trailer will be putting a minimum of at least 3360 lbs of pin weight on a truck....and that number is based on 20% of the trailer's weight. Many times however, the pin weight can be higher than 20% of the trailer weight....sometimes reaching as high as 25%....depending on how things are loaded in the trailer and how much is loaded in the trailer. So just for sake of shared info here, look at that same 16,800 lbs of trailer weight and multiply it times the 25% number....pin weight could be as high as 4200 lbs. So, then the question becomes, how much payload capacity does your truck have....and there are many variables to that answer. The easiest way to find out is to look at the sticker on the driver side door post and find the white sticker with yellow highlighted areas and you will find the payload number for THAT truck. So let's say you have a truck with 3500 lbs of payload and assuming the 20% number for pin weight when the trailer is loaded up to or close to the GVWR. So you have 3360 lb of pin weight on a 3500 lb payload truck. That gives you a VERY slim margin right right off the bat. Now, you need to add up everything else, weightwise that the truck will be burdened with, like the 5th Wheel hitch, passenger or passengers, maybe a toolbox in the bed of the truck...maybe a load of fire wood, an aux. diesel tank, etc, etc. Only you know how much "extra stuff" you will be taking along with you, so make an estimate as close as you can to the total, then add all of that weight to the hitch weight, and the pin weight of the trailer. That will be the amount of available payload the truck will need...at a minimum.
One thing that most all of us do is to try and calculate a "worst case scenario" when trying to figure out truck/trailer matchups. Worst case scenario ALWAYS involves using the GVWR of the trailer, as the trailer may be loaded lighter than the GVWR, but should NEVER be loaded heavier than the GVWR. And pin weights on 5th Wheel Camping type trailers will almost always be at LEAST 20% of the trailer weight....and many times even more....21%..maybe 22-23%....and once in a while they go as high as the 25% number
So the short version answer that I provided was Yes...a Dually will be needed. The long version of my reply gives you the reasoning why and how to make a determination based on factual information that is real world, how it works 99.0% of the time. Personally, there would be no question for me on a trailer that size...I would have a truck that had at least 5000 lbs of payload capacity and in almost all instances, the would be a Dually One Ton truck. Hope this helps.
