Driving Classes- 5th wheel

Hello all
I just purchased a 37 foot 5th wheel which I plan on towing with my 2500 Ram Diesel I purchased day after the 5th wheel.  Can you all point me to resources, guidance on driving classes. I will be using a RV hauler to move my RV to the RV resort I'll be staying at the next few months. In the meantime, I'd like to take classes to familiarize myself with towing, parking, backing in etc.  Any suggestions, guidance is greatly appreciated.  Jenny

Welcome to the RV Forum, Jenny, and congratulations on your new home on wheels.

We took the RV Driving School lessons when we got our first diesel pusher.  Even though we had driven motorhomes for years, we learned lots of new "tricks" and felt it was worth every penny.  The name is now RV School at http://www.rvschool.com/school-locations/

ArdraF

ArdraF,  Bless you for your response and a quick one at that. I'll be clicking that link right after my thank you response (this post).  I'm a bit nervous given this is my 1st RV, 1st vehicle other than a car (have driven trucks from time to time) and will be living in the 5th wheel full time which is another 1st.
Jenny

Boy I sure wish you had come here first.  Unless your fiver is an ultralite you will not be a happy camper.  While the truck is capable of towing the trailer. It is definitely not likely going to be able to safely carry the load.  I'm willing to bet you made a couple of mistakes.  First is looking at the unrealistic dry weight numbers, and second listening to salesmen.  If it is at all possible, STOP!  Do not pick up or sign for anymore untill you get some realistic ideas of actual weights.

OK, I just looked at the specs.  That fiver has a GVWR of nearly 13,000 pounds.  Thst means in the real world your going to drop 3000+ pounds directly over the rear qxle.  Not counting the hitch weight.    That truck is going to be at the limits and very likely over loaded before you add much stuff for living full time.  I think your going to be really disappointed going down the road.

^^^ ) ) )

It is not a question of can your truck tow the RV, it is a question of can it tow it safely. That means will it be able to stop the rig without overheating the brakes, can it tow it going up a mountain at a reasonable speed and how will it handle in cross winds and when a semi passes you. If you can't get out of the deal for the RV you should consider stepping up to a one ton truck.

I have to agree,that's too much for a 2500

Thanks all yes I did listen to the personnel at the dealership, provided the weight specs. My understanding is it is a 'ultralite' (not sure that's right word) but I will be looking into this further.

RV salesmen would lie to their mother to sell an RV. Ultralite is a meaningless term made up by marketing people to fool beginners. No RV is light.

I'm confused and a bit disappointed in myself since I purchased my Ram 2500 Cummings Diesel V8 ( might be a I6 not V8) 6.8L with the thinking that the maximum towing capacity is 18,000 pounds.

Don't beat yourself up, it happens all the time. Salesmen are such dirtbags. One other option you have is to pay someone to move the fiver and only move about once every three or four months. It is easy to find people to move it by looking in Craigslist. I bought a fiver in March and paid someone to move it to my park, since I will be staying here indefinitely. It cost me $250 to get it moved 75 miles.

Like Seilerbird I am having a RV hauler move it to the RV park I'm staying at indefinitely. Only about 20- 30 miles yes the cost is about $250 for me too. It's times like this I miss my grandfather's and father who were all ASE master mechanics who I learned from,  watching them in the family's full service auto repair business unfortunately they all have passed.

Good idea Jenny. Now you don't need the truck or driving classes. BTW, my fiver is 20 years old and it is an awesome residence. I had owned a bunch of motorized RVs prior to the fiver but once I made the decision to hang up the keys and stay in one spot I knew I needed a fiver. I have nothing to tow it with, I drive a rice burner.

Well I have the truck love driving her traded in my sedan that I had. I will look again at the Occupant and Cargo Carrying Capacity Label, Federal Certification Label and Tire and Loading Label. I still would like to take classes about handling, driving a 5th wheel can't hurt to increase my knowledge. Interested in learning more about the exhaust brake on my diesel, trailer brakes etc.

J_5th_wheel-is_home said:

I'm confused and a bit disappointed in myself since I purchased my Ram 2500 Cummings Diesel V8 ( might be a I6 not V8) 6.8L with the thinking that the maximum towing capacity is 18,000 pounds.

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If you have a Ram thenmypu have a Cummins, not cummings I6 6.7L diesel.  The truck probsbly has a GVWR of 10,000, a loaded ready to go weight with driver and full of fuel (not gas) right around 7500 pounds.  Thst can vary a bit based on cab, and how much stuff you have.  Best to scale it loaded ready to go.  A closed state DOT truck scale usually are turned on even if closed, at least here on OR and WA there on.  Drive across one, get an accurate weight.  Look on the drivers door post for the GVWR, GAWR, FAWR, and RAWR numbers.  Compare those to the numbers you scale.  Then you will have a good idea of how much you can load on the truck.  Remember, fifth wheel towing has little to do with towing and much to do with load carrying capacity.  A fifth wheel RV will place approx 20% of its actual weight directly over the rear axle.  Dont know how much your trailer weighs?  No problem.  Outside near the left front corner you will see a tag giving you the trailers GVWR.  Use 20% of that number and you will be safe.

Donn, thanks for the tips I remember the yellow tag on my 5th wheel states loaded RV gross combined is 12,950 after it's loaded. I believe there was warning on the sticker that 12,950 does not include weight of full tanks. I'll look into driving to one of the scales think there's one close on Highway 16 between Port Orchard and Gig Harbor.

Look at the decal on the pillar drivers side of the truck its yellow and states the weight capacity of the truck and occupsnts must not exceed xxxx
It will give you a number less than 2500 lbs

As a new 5er owner but with 25 years of driving big rig trucks, and 10 year experience pulling TTS. I never had trouble being careful with bed rails as most of you know that can be a problem with 5ers in some situations. I have such a situation at my mountain home in Boise Idaho. I drag my Keystone 5er 29RL up to about the 4500 foot elevation and the roads are dirt but wide enough to negotiate all the turns, but there are some that are pretty tight, Because of my truck driving experience, I have no problem bringing Mustang Sally up the mountain. Well to make this thread short let me say that when I back my 5er I have to back it down a pretty good slope to Mustang Sally's parking spot. I do have the luxury of backing it using the driver's side advantage for backing her into the spot. The bed rail situation comes into play when I start to cut the trailer into the spot. As my 2500HD GMC starts to turn it has to dip down to the side angle slope of this driveway and that causes one side of the truck to dip and thus causing the clearance of the opposite side of the truck bed rail to diminish. Because the 5er axles and wheels are in a different plain (level) the truck bed dips up to the one side of the 5ers nose. Having said all of that the bottom line is when the truck dips to one side or the other then the bed rail becomes an issue. Just be careful when backing or turning forward when the rear axle of your truck dips to either side. Your truck axle can only be at a certain angle before the bed rails become a problem. The wife watches my bed rails when I make this backing maneuver and I know about how much dip my truck bed can make before the nose of Mustang Sally gets dangerously close to my bed rails Go slow when in this scenario and have some one spot the bed rail distance to be sure you maintain a safe clearance.