The 80% of trailers were with 5th wheel ones on SRW trucks. Do the math on the actual load of the 5th wheel you are planning to buy on the pin and then see how much weight is likely to be on the rear axle and its tires. Duramax trucks now have a maximum payload of 3,625 lbs, maximum pin weight for gooseneck towing is 3,260 lbs and the towing capacity is 21,600lbs.

Two 3750 rated tires support a load of 7500 lbs and subtracting the weight of the truck provides about 4,000 lbs of load capacity at the rear axle, or more than the pin load rating for these trucks. If you stay with a pin rating for the trailer of less than 3260 lbs all will be OK. The use of a gooseneck compensates for the poorer turning radius of a crew cab truck. The Duramax trucks have since 2011 had a special reinforced strong spot on the frame to manage the load of a gooseneck.

With a 5th wheel trailer a pin box that has shock absorbers will greatly increase the ride comfort when towing for you and your passengers. One is the Curt Air Ride. A friend who tows a 13,000 lb 5th wheel trailer found this upgrade made a great deal of difference in the cab.

 

Thanks for all that. I will definitely have to check on the expected load on the king pin from the manufacturer of said 5th, and that air cushion hitch looked real good on a vid I just watched. I am hoping that the base for such can be easily removed from a flatbed, like some I have seen. I have read that load range F or G tires with a load rating of 4400 to 6000 lbs can be run on a 4500, but I can also imagine the ride comfort being of concern. The idea of SRW does appeal to me for a variety of reasons. More digging is in order. Cheers. john

 

The tires from Nitto and Toyo and others can provide 3750@ 80 PSI which is all that is needed. One can go to higher load rated tires but tread options are very limited and they often need to be at 110 PSI. Even my Nitto tires needed to be at 80 PSI which meant having to carry a compressor in the truck. The gas station air compressors provide at best about 55 PSI and that is fine for passenger tires that only need 35 PSI but not good enough for my truck tires.

Take the time to do the math as a SRW is all that is needed for up to a 15,000 lb 5th wheel trailer and the majority of these trailers have a gross weight rating of less than 13,500 lbs. With DRW a flat on the highway is a major pain and so is rotating the tires when there are six of them.

There are a few good RV forums online where there are owners of 5th wheel trailers and their owners tow vehicles. The people at etrailer.com are a very good source for informed information on towing.

 

Good points. I have not yet looked into the high load range tires, but 110 psi is not going to be particularly comfortable with an empty truck. I have been reading/posting on a few other forums and learning a lot. The 5ths in the length I am looking at are about 10K lbs, so that gives me 5K lb of insurance. I had dual rears on a motorhome we just sold, and always knew it would be rough with a blowout on a rear inner. Thankfully we never had that problem. Thanks again. john

 

As I mentioned there are many knowledgeable people on the RV forums who have first hand experience with towing 5th wheel trailers. An important consideration is bed length in terms of maneuverability of the trailer and versions of pin boxes that slide when needed. Important in deciding whether the short or standard length bed is the best choice at this time. The forum folks and the people at etrailer are good reference sources.

With my truck I added SuperSprings to increase payload which also reduced sway in turns. On turns the lateral shift in the center of gravity resulted in the outer wheels having to support more than half to payload forces. For the ride and handling I replaced the factory shocks with Rancho XL adjustable shocks that have 10 different settings. I would have the front shocks on 5 and the rear ones at 10 with a heavy payload. This eliminated any porpoising with even a 3700 lb slide in camper load. With the bed empty I would change the rear shocks to a setting of 5 and no problems with the ride. The change of the rear shocks setting took only a couple of minutes and no tools needed.

 

Elk: I can see this isn't your first rodeo. I have much to think about, and also time. Many thanks for sharing your knowledge. j

 

Important decision is the bed length for your truck. The shorter the bed the more complicated it can get in selecting a pin box. Some slide which can make it easier to back into a trailer space. No worries with a 6.5 or 8 foot bed but more of a consideration with a 5.5 ft bed. This is where the experiences of others pulling 5th wheels is important and why one should invest time in a researching the RV forums and talking to the people at etrailer.com.

You are being smart in researching the tow vehicle first as too many people do not and then are unhappy with their choice.

With 2011 and newer 2500 and 3500 trucks from GM you get the stronger frame and better brakes and high load capacity rear axle. For braking the engine brake on the Duramax engines is as good as you can find and the engine braking if setup properly will greatly reduce your need to use the truck brakes on downgrades.

 

I'm keeping my 2019 Chevy 3500 and hauling a trailer; ordered it today. I may have a flatbed installed on it so I can build a topper, but will first check to see if that can migrate to a 2025 or 2026 down the road. We had to do something, and a trailer seemed the best for where we are on an RV. I still like the 5th wheel concept, but it just ain't in the cards. Thanks again for all the info, folks. If nothing else, I learned some cool stink. Cheers. j