Going to look at our first fifth wheel today.

After purchasing an Rpod last year, do to the towing limitations on a jeep wrangler. we realized it was to small for family.  We have since bought a 2017 Silverado crew cab 6.2L suppose to be able to tow 11,200 pounds.  We are looking at an eagle HT 26.5 RLDS. Any thoughts?

When pulling a trailer, a tow vehicle must not only tow the weight, but must also carry weight from the tongue weight of a trailer or pin weight of a fiver. Loaded, that fiver will be putting at least 2000# of weight in the bed of your truck. Open the driver's door and look for the infamous "yellow sticker". How much payload does that sticker say you have? Unless you go with an Andersen hitch at about 40#, add about 200# for a hitch, then add up the weight of the passengers, and everything they will be carrying, the weight of anything else added to the truck since it rolled off the factory floor, things like bed liner, heavy floor  mats, all the "stuff" that normally stays in the truck, etc. Is that weight still below the payload specified on the yellow sticker?
Know how to tell if a salesman is lying? His/her mouth is moving. They will tell you go by the dry weight. Not good, no one goes out with an empty camper. A lot of sales people will tell you that you can pull anything on the lot just to make a sale. Folks here don't have a dog in the fight except the safety of our families and ourselves. Who ya' gonna believe?

Gross vehicle weight is 7300, Hitch weight on the camper is supposed to be 1550

https://www.jayco.com/products/fifth-wheels/2018-eagle-ht-fifth-wheel/265rlds/

According to the above from the manufacturer, the dry weight is 7875#, and the GVWR is 9995#. That published pin weight is for an unloaded trailer from the factory. Again, no one goes camping with an empty trailer. The suggested pin weight on a properly loaded trailer should be 20 to 25% of the trailers weight.

Is the truck a 1500?  If so forget any fifth wheel.  Fivers drop too much weight on the rear axle plane and simple.

Mb190e said:

Gross vehicle weight is 7300, Hitch weight on the camper is supposed to be 1550

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You require the numbers for the TRAILER as shown by kbdgoat. That translates to a pin weight of just under 2000 lbs minimum (20%). (We use the GVWR of the trailer for convenience and doing so  gives  you a margin of safety even though you may never actually load it to that weight)

So I drive through the campground and I see 1500 after 1500 with fifth wheels, every manufacturer makes a half ton towable, but then people say if you have a half ton don?t even think about it.  Nobody believes that the max towing on a vehicle already has a safety margin built-in.  How can the manufacturers  advertise a half ton towable when just about everyone of them have a tongue weight of 1500 pounds or more?

these are old heads on this forum---listen to 'em if ya want correct info


                                         

Mb190e said:

So I drive through the campground and I see 1500 after 1500 with fifth wheels, every manufacturer makes a half ton towable, but then people say if you have a half ton don?t even think about it.  Nobody believes that the max towing on a vehicle already has a safety margin built-in.  How can the manufacturers  advertise a half ton towable when just about everyone of them have a tongue weight of 1500 pounds or more?

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So I drive down the freeway driving 70 mph, the legal limit, and I get passed by dozens of vehicles driving much faster. So by your logic I should also be driving much faster than the legal limit since everyone else is doing it and no one is in an accident so it must be safe. ???

It's your choice of whether you tow overload or not. As I was told when I joined the military, there is no right or wrong, but you will have to be accountable for your decisions and actions. You asked a question, and I answered it to the best of my ability. Now the decision is yours to make. Yes, people pull overloaded every day, but as 'bird said, just because people do, doesn't make it right. I also agree that safety margins are built in, but what happens to that safety margin when something goes wrong? Just a little thing like a shock mount fails, or you get a flat tire? You have already used your safety margin, so there's nothing left to handle the issue.

Guy parked next to me yesterday is pulling a pretty good sized 5th wheel.  Looking at the truck it looks like a 2500, which in my opinion is too small for the 5er.  Then I notice all the badging is removed from the truck.  Dollar to a doughnut the guy took all the badging off to keep others from telling him his truck was too small.  Have seen many 1500's pulling 5er's, some with the back bumper dragging on the ground, but they do it.  Nothing worse than losing control when the brakes fade.  Some like the thrill I guess.  My F150 is rated to pull 11,000, would I do it?  No way.

Overloading a pickup of any configuration, 1/2, 3/4, or 1 ton, is dangerous.  The overload condition may never cause any issues, or it may be fatal because one loses control over the truck or trailer.  The risk to the loved ones in the vehicle and the other people you share the road with should be considered.

Not an RV story but similar in nature to what can happen when overloading a pickup.  Back when I was all of 16, my dad told me to take a load of beans (soybeans) to the local co-op about 7 miles away.  He gave me STRICT instructions NOT to go over 15 mph and told me to plan on plenty of stopping distance.  We had a 1976 K25 GMC truck (3/4 ton).  The wagon was loaded with 150 bushel so just the beans weighed about 9000 lbs; not sure on the wagon but probably 1,500 - 2,000 lbs.

As I EASILY went down the gravel road at 30 MPH, I wondered "why the grandpa speed....geez...this thing pulls like a breeze!"  I crested the hill about 250 yards from the stop sign at the bottom....slight grade...nothing serious.  I hit the brakes....I swear I went FASTER!  Nothing but flying gravel and very little speed reduction with all 4 tires locked up.  as I crossed the highway, still in panic mode with all 4  tires locked up leaving serious skid marks, I entered the lawn of the farm house (lucky for me no ditch).  I stopped with the wagon just off the road...with the semi that went behind the wagon angrily laying on the horn.  A few seconds later and I'd have been dead.

Lesson: it's not necessarily how much you can pull but how much you can safely stop.  Now, the wagon did not have brakes, but, still a good lesson in control over your load.

By the way...I told my Dad about this....about 6 months ago  :-X

Spring Creek said:

as I crossed the highway, still in panic mode with all 4  tires locked up leaving serious skid marks,

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I'll bet you had serious skid marks someplace else too.  : ;D

We pulled  Fifth wheel for years. I made sure I had plenty of truck and it paid off. It was a 38' foot fifth wheel I towed with a dodge 3500 dually. We had friends with us one trip they were pulling a 35' with single wheel f250. We were traveling on the interstate and hit straight line winds out in front of a storm. I caught mine by the shoulder. They were in the ditch but luckily they came out and had no damage. If you are just planning on running around local it will probably be no problem. If you are on the road traveling I would not want to risk my family's safety. Not trying to sound judgmental. Just the way I felt. We passed SRW 3/4 tons all day that were struggling on the highway with wind, truck drafts and just in general pulling hills.

Mb190e said:

So I drive through the campground and I see 1500 after 1500 with fifth wheels, every manufacturer makes a half ton towable, but then people say if you have a half ton don?t even think about it.  Nobody believes that the max towing on a vehicle already has a safety margin built-in.  How can the manufacturers  advertise a half ton towable when just about everyone of them have a tongue weight of 1500 pounds or more?

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I agree it's misleading. The manufacturer says 1/2 ton towable, but nothing about 1/2 ton carryable. Some bare bones 1/2 tons can tow them. I think every salesperson should be trained on how to determine if a particular vehicle can tow a particular trailer or fiver, and be held personally liable if something happens and it's determined that the vehicle was overloaded. That of course will never happen. Most of the vehicle salespeople don't know any better either.

I have had 1500s, 2500s and 3500s.  Personally, I would not pull ANYTHING other than a little landscape type trailer with a 1500. There is no comparison to how well a ruck carries a load with dual rear wheels.  I like to have a gracious plenty "margin of safety" that the others have spoken about.  It is not only getting the load moving or getting it stopped, but also how well you can handle it an emergency maneuver.

I tow a 27 foot 5th wheel with a Ram 1500. I have had it fully loaded and put it on the scale, with my wife and I and two dogs in the cab. We were RIGHT ON the max weight of the rear axle. I have pulled that all over, thousands of miles and I have never once felt out of control, the back of the truck sags about three inches, although I did put in rear air bags to fix that.

Point is, to say no half ton truck can pull a 5th wheel is simply incorrect. Some can.

Welcome to the Forum!

We are here, in part, to help new folks avoid newbie mistakes.  Goat has given you excellent advise I will not repeat.  He is exactly correct.

Trailer salesmen will say anything to make a sale.  Most truck salesman are not up to speed on trailer towing weight calculations.  Advertising folks use strange math.  Read the fine print.

Manufacturers may CLAIM this FW is ? ton towable because the bare naked nothing on board dry wt is only 7845# and the pin wt IN THIS CONDITION is only 1550#.  Many (but certainly not all) ? ton pickups have a payload greater than 1550#.  With their logic, that makes it ? ton towable.
The TRUTH is even empty, you need a 200# hitch to tow it, and the weight of all passengers must be included, as well as all the other stuff goat correctly listed.  Load up a family of 4 (600#) plus the hitch and pin wt, and we are already at 2350#.  My guess is less than 10% of all ? ton trucks have a payload over 2350#.

If you want to do it safely and within manufacturer's weight limits, follow Goat's advise.

All is not lost.  A FW places 20% of its' weight squarely in the bed of the truck.  A TT places only 10% of its' weight on the tongue.  Assuming a 1800# payload and 800# of people, pets and other cargo in the truck, the biggest FW you could handle is one with a 800# pin wt or a 4000# FW.  800# pin, 200# hitch, 800# people & cargo = 1800# payload.  By comparison, that same truck and family could handle a 9,000# TT.  900# tongue wt, 80# WD hitch, 800# people & cargo = 1780#.

OK with your advice and a little more research the 26.5 Eagle is just too much trailer.  I was able to find another one that more closely matches the truck 2018 Grand Design Reflection 150 Series Fifth-Wheel 230RL  Hitch weight of a 1195 dry weight of 6945

You purchased an R-pod because of the towing limitations of a Wrangler.  So you want to upgrade to a 10,000# 5W and pull it with a 1/2 ton PU?

Did you learn anything? 

And your justification is everyone else is doing it?

I just don't get why so many people are willing to drop $40-$50k on a trailer that will hardly be used, but balk at purchasing the correct vehicle to pull it.

Many 3/4 ton trucks can't handle that trailer.  You need to understand the difference between pulling and hauling.  They're worlds apart.  A truck manufacturer will boast what their truck can tow (or pull).  But it's all meaningless if the truck is overweight hauling the load.  Welcome to marketing 101