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2500 and 5er pin weight

RAMNC76

RAMNC76

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New to the forum. A bunch of information here that has been very helpful. But I'm curious!! Owners of 2500's and 5th wheels, what is your pin weight? I bought my '19 CC CTD to tow our 34' TT. But we are contemplating moving up to a 5er. I don't want to get into the whole discussion of payload capacity on sticker vs axle ratings ,blah, blah, blah. There are 1000's of those posts everywhere!! Just want to know what real world pin weights are on the 5er you are towing with your 2500. Thanks in advance!!!
 
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Don't you really want to know the pin weights on 5th wheels? Won't matter what truck it's hooked up to.
 
@Brutal_HO I am still back and forth between a 5th wheel and tow behind but I'm surprised to hear the hitch abd "bed gear" is so heavy. I was planning to do a gooseneck ball on mine anyway but I'm surprised to hear it's so much. Those 5th wheel hitches are usually what 150-200lbs? Assuming you're carrying extra fuel?

I agree with your comment though. If you were to put that kind of weight on a 2500, I'd for sure want bags to help with the weight, regardless of legality.
 
Brutal_HO said:
2018 303RLS, just under a 12K GVWR rig, our load usually pin is around 2100-2200.

Add in the hitch and bed gear around 600lbs. That's 2800.

That's a lot of payload for a 2500 (without air springs) and if it matters to you, not necessarily legal.
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I have a 2500 with bags which is what I’m assuming you are talking about when you say air springs? Why do you say it’s a lot if you don’t have air ride? My payload is still only 2100


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Sir Snacksalot said:
I have a 2500 with bags which is what I’m assuming you are talking about when you say air springs? Why do you say it’s a lot if you don’t have air ride? My payload is still only 2100


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What I meant was aftermarket/add-on air bags. I tend to say air springs because airbags are what you have to keep you from exceeding your steering wheel payload with your face.
 
Brutal_HO said:
2018 303RLS, just under a 12K GVWR rig, our load usually pin is around 2100-2200.

Add in the hitch and bed gear around 600lbs. That's 2800.

That's a lot of payload for a 2500 (without air springs) and if it matters to you, not necessarily legal.
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So of all the reading I have done, SHOULD IT MATTER, is the question?? If I stay within the axle and tire capacities and add air bags, could I reasonably carry a 5er with a 2500lb pin weight and do it safely?
 
RAMNC76 said:
So of all the reading I have done, SHOULD IT MATTER, is the question?? If I stay within the axle and tire capacities and add air bags, could I reasonably carry a 5er with a 2500lb pin weight and do it safely?
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You're not going to get a concrete answer to this as you mentioned in your initial post there is a lot of differing opinion on the topics. There are a handful of guys that won't go above 80% of the payload sticker to "leave a margin of safety", I find it sort of absurd but hey it's their call. There are a handful of guys that think anything over 7k requires a dually with a HO. There are some guys that toss caution to the wind and tow dually weights behind stock 2500s, without bags.

I've done a lot of reading and posted similar questions and you just never get the sort of concrete answer you're hoping for. Personally, I have decided to get my truck on a scale, and use the axle rating as my guide. I'm not sure if the whole of the suspension is accounted for in axle rating but it used to be, and since literally everything is the same between a 2500 and 3500 sans coil vs leaf spring, I feel comfortable.

Your milage may vary. You're gonna have a hard time finding a concrete answer on any forum though.
 
UglyViking said:
You're not going to get a concrete answer to this as you mentioned in your initial post there is a lot of differing opinion on the topics. There are a handful of guys that won't go above 80% of the payload sticker to "leave a margin of safety", I find it sort of absurd but hey it's their call. There are a handful of guys that think anything over 7k requires a dually with a HO. There are some guys that toss caution to the wind and tow dually weights behind stock 2500s, without bags.

I've done a lot of reading and posted similar questions and you just never get the sort of concrete answer you're hoping for. Personally, I have decided to get my truck on a scale, and use the axle rating as my guide. I'm not sure if the whole of the suspension is accounted for in axle rating but it used to be, and since literally everything is the same between a 2500 and 3500 sans coil vs leaf spring, I feel comfortable.

Your milage may vary. You're gonna have a hard time finding a concrete answer on any forum though.
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Yeah. That's what I'm learning. Thanks for the honest reply!
 
I towed a 14k gvwr toybox 5'er with a 2016 Ram 2500 cummins with coil springs AND aftermarket air springs. Pin weight varied from ~2400 to ~2800 lbs depending on how loaded down we were.

The drivetrain handled the weight just fine (motor/trans/axles), but driving the truck was NOT confidence inspiring with the soft rear end. Add in the fact that i was technically illegal every time we towed the trailer and I realized it was time to upgrade to a 1 ton.
 
gimmie11s said:
I towed a 14k gvwr toybox 5'er with a 2016 Ram 2500 cummins with coil springs AND aftermarket air springs. Pin weight varied from ~2400 to ~2800 lbs depending on how loaded down we were.

The drivetrain handled the weight just fine (motor/trans/axles), but driving the truck was NOT confidence inspiring with the soft rear end. Add in the fact that i was technically illegal every time we towed the trailer and I realized it was time to upgrade to a 1 ton.
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Coil rear end is gonna have a bit more swap than leaf for sure, especially with the factory sway and links and all. Idk about you but my truck has a payload of 2200, so only 200lbs over on a 5er is surprising that you felt it was that bad, especially with aftermarket airbags. Not question/challenging, just an observation.
 
UglyViking said:
Coil rear end is gonna have a bit more swap than leaf for sure, especially with the factory sway and links and all. Idk about you but my truck has a payload of 2200, so only 200lbs over on a 5er is surprising that you felt it was that bad, especially with aftermarket airbags. Not question/challenging, just an observation.
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Agree.... but remember i wasnt only 200 over listed payload.. i was probably 8-900 over including weight of all passengers and all other cargo in the bed of the truck. Probably 1000 over if the trailer was loaded near its max and pin weight was closer to 2800.
 
gimmie11s said:
Agree.... but remember i wasnt only 200 over listed payload.. i was probably 8-900 over including weight of all passengers and all other cargo in the bed of the truck. Probably 1000 over if the trailer was loaded near its max and pin weight was closer to 2800.
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Fair point, I was thinking of just you. When you're close to 2x over I think it's well worth the step to a 1 ton.
 
RAMNC76 said:
New to the forum. A bunch of information here that has been very helpful. But I'm curious!! Owners of 2500's and 5th wheels, what is your pin weight? I bought my '19 CC CTD to tow our 34' TT. But we are contemplating moving up to a 5er. I don't want to get into the whole discussion of payload capacity on sticker vs axle ratings ,blah, blah, blah. There are 1000's of those posts everywhere!! Just want to know what real world pin weights are on the 5er you are towing with your 2500. Thanks in advance!!!
Click to expand...
Like you I was concerned when I bought the truck, 2021 Bighorn crewcab diesel, with a payload sticker of 2154 lbs., knowing we wanted to get a 5th wheel. We ended up with an older Artic Fox 27-5L fifth wheel. I have weighed everything at a CAT scale. Just the truck with full tanks, steer axle 4940, drive axle 3180, total 8120 with actual payload capacity of 1880 lbs. With the trailer hitched with the wife and dog and all the gear and full tanks, steer axle 5020, drive axle, 4880, trailer 7780. Actual pin weight is 1780 lbs. Total truck GVR is 9900 lbs. and total combined is 17,680 lbs.

According to the door stickers, I have pretty much max'd out the truck. In actual use however, I have more weight on the front axle than the rear, the truck squats less than two inches, and I haven't noticed any problems with the truck handling the weight. If I was going over 2000 lbs. of pin weight., I would consider adding timbrens or airbags.
 
Our 2017 Cedar Creek shows a dry pin weight of 2700#. We checked actual weights at weigh station to make sure we're not overloaded on the axles and entire trailer. Trailer GVW is 16740#. Our Pin weight was actually 3500#, but total trailer weight was 800# under GVW.
 
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