[luckyhat12]

I gotta tell you... I am being honest as a full time RV'er.

I have the 3500 single rear wheel and I have been trying since my first couple of pulls to figure out how to get more capacity in the rear tires. I have airbags with my 3500 and I needed them even with the overload springs. I did get the quad cab long bed and with the new style of front caps on the Heartland Cyclone, the Keystone Fuzions and the Raptors the long bed isn't as necessary as it used to be. They have designed them for short beds. I really like having the long bed but it causes some wind issues because of the setback of the pinbox since they are designing them for the short bed trucks. enough wind issues that I am looking for wings to try and move my bug line up higher on the front becaue with no wind I get 10-12MPG hand calculated and if I hit headwinds I get 7-8. I would say that those numbers were a fluke but it has happend on more than one pull with more than one tank of fuel.

If I had to buy again I would probably get a 2006 5.9 mega cab dually. I would deal with the slider hitch for a while until I could spring for the long bed conversion just because I like long beds. I would get the manual like I have and the 3.73 gears. I am actually going to gear down and put the 3.42's in mine as soon as I can. I can tow just fine but I am overloaded with my 38ft cyclone. Mostly on the rear tires. I was 610 lbs overloaded on the rear axle tires when I weighed on my trip to El Paso last month. I can get by with the Nitto Dura Grapplers in the 285 size and still technically meet the weight ratings but I still want the extra security of the dually or I am going to get 19.5 wheels.

I have pulled up and down Alabama and all the way over to El Paso, TX and back over to Dallas. I have pulled my camper over 5,000 miles this year and still have several more thousand to go. I have a smarty on my 5.9 and the muffler delete and it pulls better than it handles. I have airbags and would do that again even with the dually because it levels the truck back out even with just a little bit of air and it accomplishes two things. First it picks the back end up and puts the headlights back somewhat normal and secondly it keeps the back from squatting and puts some more weight back over the front axle like a weight distribution setup would do. I also have an exhaust brake that is dang near *mandatory* with the manual tranny and this heavy of a load. I crossed the scales on the way to El Paso at 25k even truck and trailer fully loaded. Just so you know. that means my trailer was 16,885 lbs. My truck weighed 7640 with me in it and the tank full before I installed all my hitches. 275lbs in hitches and my 200lb brother subtracted from 25k puts me at that number.


If you get a single rear wheel anything I would recomend an air ride hitch. It takes a ton of stress off the truck and could save you a blow out because it softens the bottoming out of the camper and truck when you hit big bumps. I invested in a used one and it has been worth double the money that I paid for it.


That is my $.02. I live the same lifestyle and I do enjoy it, but had I known then what I know now I would have sucked it up and gotten a dually even though I don't want one for daily driving.


*Edit* I would also make sure you have gauges. I have been much hotter than I expected even stock than I ever would have thought. I have a manual tranny and installed the tranny temp sending unit and it is a lot hotter in that manual than you would believe.

 

[luckyhat12]

I looked on ebay and there are several on there that aren't that much. If you don't need the mega then I would get the quad long bed.

eBay Motors: Dodge : Ram 3500 (item 320269954338 end time Jul-12-08 09:56:17 PDT)

The other thing that I forgot to mention is to be selective on your tool box choice if you are towing the 5th wheel. I have always had the over the rail toolbox and I still love my over the rail toolbox but it is making it hard to find the kind of wind deflector that I want to put on it. If you aren't going to be towing that much then it may not be worth it but it is something to consider.

 

[luckyhat12]

I bought a brand new truck and a brand new camper and after the fact I wish I had gone used for both to a point. I would definitely look for a used camper. I freaking hate having so much to fix on a brand new camper and there are no lemon laws for 5th wheels where I am from. Only lemon laws are for coaches with motors.


I would seriously look at a used truck. Be able to finance more and put the necessary upgrades on it that make it work for you. Go ahead and spend the money on an exhaust brake and whatever other things you need on it. Mine extras were spent on a good 5th wheel hitch, airbags and the exhaust brake. Everything else is just extra for me.

I would stay away from the 4.10's if you get the manual. I would honestly look for the 3.42's if you get the manual. I have the 3.73's with the G56 and I am considering changing to the 3.42's

 

[luckyhat12]

U Connect is like a $300 upgrade. You would definately be getting screwed... hard. There are tons of used trucks out there. If you are dead set on buying new then you were fudging on the initial statement about not having a ton of money.

I don't mean for that to sound as harsh as it probably does but if you go in for 40+K for a truck and then you spring for a new Raptor or Cyclone then you are looking at over 100k in debt for a truck and trailer. it isn't worth it! that is coming from a full timer man.

You can go used on both and save enough overall cash to pay for that new truck. I know where a 38ft toy hauler is for 30k or less and you can get a 3rd gen quad cab dually with whatever transmission for 20-25k these days that still has a ton of life left in it. That puts you with house and hauler for about 12k more than you are trying to spend on a truck before interest.

Just doesn't make sense to me.

 

[luckyhat12]

I agree. that truck already has bags, gauges and a programmer. At least he did it right and put the gauges on there so that you know your truck is doing. Put an exhaust brake on there and that thing will be set.

I also agree with the 4x4. I use my 4x4 frequently with my rig behind me. I tend to spin in 2wd when I am backing in gravel or on lighly wet grass even though there is 7k lbs on my back axle. Dad watched it one day and he said that he could see the whole earth move when I let off the clutch. It took a section of ground that looked like a sod strip and just moved it out from underneath the tires. He said it was cool. I didn't know because I was driving trying to get that massive thing in its place.

Another thing to think about. I don't know how tall you are, but a lot of companies are going with a mid profile front cap that shortens the ceiling height in the front of the campers. The adrenaline and the victory lanes come to mind. I am just over 6ft tall and I had to be selective on which campers I would buy because I would hit my head when I went to the front closet. That just doesn't work for me every day so I made sure I had one with the full front cap.

here is my setup parked in the Wal-mart parking lot in Vicksburg, MS. The gap that is between my cab and the camper causes some serious wind drag but you shouldn't have as much of an issue because of the mega cab if you are going that way. the new designers are designing the campers to be towed with short bed trucks so they are setting the rigs further back with extended pin boxes. I am still looking for a replacement king pin that will get it a little closer but I may go the wind deflector route instead.

 

[luckyhat12]

i gotta go with rookie. My truck isn't rated to tow my real world weight figures but it does a pretty dang good job of it. The only thing I wish I had was another set of wheels in the back that I don't have. that is why I am suggesting them so strongly. Not arbitrarily.... I just know what the real world weights of these rigs are now. you can do it with a 2500.... I don' tthink it should be done with a 2500 and I sure wouldn't want to take off across the country with one of these on the back of a 2500 even though I know the only thing separating me from one is some springs. It does make a difference. I like the manual and don't regret it at all. especially towing. You can pick a gear and stay without all the hunting back and forth of an auto. That is a great clutch. Mine stock one was slipping after pulling through the mountains in New Mexico so the upgrade is a welcomed one. I will be upgrading mine before pulling to Indianapolis in September. At least that is the plan. If you and your family are going to be living in it you are going to be pushing the max limit on that trailer. I would make sure that you check the weight ratings on the tires of the trailer as well. make sure that they are 16" wheels on the trailer because a lot of folks tried to pass off the cheap 15" wheels on them and they weren't cutting it.

I agree... that is a nice truck. You may not get a better one with the mods already on it for the money that is relatively close to you. There are a ton in TX it seems but that would require you coming down here to get it and driving it back. You never know though. You may find a trailer down somewhere between here and there as well and just get both in one trip.

 

[luckyhat12]

Well we're talking roughly 13,200lbs empty so I don't know what it would be full I figured between 16-17,000 lbs. Lucky has a trailer just like what we're looking at. We're also looking at the Enduramax 40 by Gulfstream it's a really nice trailer and they've got a pretty good price on it.

Me and only me living in my 38ft cyclone with the gray and black tanks drained, half a tank of fresh water for the dry camping on the way to my destination, 15 gallons of gasoline in the trailer tank for the generator, my sportbike, scooter, and dirtbike in the back of the garage and all my junk that I like to have with me for camping and playing.

My gross across the scales was 25,000lbs even. My truck weighted 7640 initially before hitches and my brother so I add 470 to the truck for that extra that was in it and that puts my truck at 8110. That puts my camper at 16,890 with just me living in it. I know that some of the same things will be used for more than one so there won't be redundant weight but things like clothes and toys are for each individual so you can easily meet that 18,000 weight rating of the trailers that you are looking at.


Just some real world numbers.

 

[luckyhat12]

oh... and when they say 13,200 empty... that is stripped down witout options. I pulled off the lot and went straight to the scales because they were a mile away and were on the way back home and I weighed 14,000 even on the initial weight.

I added a second air conditioner, slide out awnings and a few other options from the factory that pushed the weight up on the trailer.

Just another reason for the dually. That truck will handle it nicely. The only thing I am ever worried about are my rear tires at this point. I have a great brake controller, the exhaust brake and I can nearly stop truck and trailer in an emergency in a similar distance as with the truck without the EB unloaded. It is impressive. I had a guy riding with me when I had to bring it back from the shop for some repairs and we got in a quick stop situation because of some traffic ahead and he couldn't believe how fast I could shut it down with those options. To tell you the truth I couldn't either but that is what good components can get you.

Chris

 

[luckyhat12]

BD exhaust brake. Jason at Diesel Nut took care of me and Dave was great to work with when I was installing. I installed my own exhaust brake in the driveway so it isn't that hard to do. just takes a little time.

here is a good thread about them
http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/towing-hauling/32604-bd-vs-pacbrake-exhaust-brake.html


As far as the clutch. I haven't decided between Valair or South Bend. I like the thought of the South Bend but I can drive and pick up the Valair from the factory because of where I am currently living so it is up in the air. Either way it will be a dual disk and I am going with the 3600lb pressure plate. That 3250 is a super clutch too and will probably hold more than I will ever throw at my truck.

Either way this truck is already setup with what you would want except the exhaust brake. some upgrades are pretty well mandatory and it looks like this guy knew what he was doing with his. He may even be a member on here and you can see the history of it.

 

[luckyhat12]

as far as a tool box in the mega cab bed. You can get one that will fit even with the slider hitches but I would be careful getting one that goes over the bed rails. I did and now I may run into problems mounting a wind deflector with mine because of the height of the toolbox over the rails.

 

[luckyhat12]

I am not going to say that it can't be done, but that is the one thing I wish was different about my truck. I weighed in with 7000lbs on the rear axle of the truck when I was on the scales. If each Michelin has a load rating of 3195 that puts you at 6390lbs of capacity on the tires. I had 7000 so I was 610lbs over weight on my rear tires.

I have done it, but I would rather have a dually for this load. I have pulled with both. My dad used to have a stroker dually and it handled the weights better than my single rear wheel.

Just so you know, there isn't much difference between a 2500 and a 3500 SRW... just some overload springs that you will make up for with air bags.

I have 19.5" wheels on my wish list to compensate for the lack of a dually on my truck. I don't really want the dually but I do want the weight capacity to be in the margins.

I know you want a new truck but we aren't kidding about the used truck values right now. I just wouldn't want to see anyone get in over their head and not be able to keep it all. I have spent significantly more money trying to equip my single rear wheel to be as safe as it can be to tow than I would have had to in order to make a dually pull it as safely.

Chris