2500 diesel towing question

[Zecura]

Hey Guys,

I have an 06 2500 Mega Cab Cummings 4X4 with 71,000 miles on it.

I want to tow a GVRW 14,000 Lb. 5th wheel 3 car hauler.

My quesiton, is my truck capable of towing this trailer and load?

Thanks for any help you guys may offer.

The rig will be used in South Florida and there will be no need for towing on an incline or in the snow.

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r68/Zecura/imagegd_big_inside.jpg

[sumncguy]

Best resource Ive found is www.trailerlife.com .. look towards the bottom right of the page for the towing specs.

[OldGuy]

Proceed! My 2001 Quad Cab 2500 24 valve 5.9L Long Bed has a GVWR 8800# on the Drivers Door Post and is outfitted with a B&W turnover Ball and 5th wheel to tow either a Gooseneck up to 25K or my Fuzion 393 ToyHauler which has a 16,500 GVW . The rear axle wt at public scales with fuel and people but otherwize empty is 2700#. The Allowable rear Axle wt 6084# from the door sticker with stock LT245R75R-16E tires.
Truck is fitted with LT285/75R-16D tires which are marked on tire 3505# single or 3000# dual @65psi. These are UniRoyal Liberator tires which are on/off road with agressive tread. They ride very smooth and quiet at low or high speeds at least up to 80mph. Surprisingly with these bigger tires my truck gets 24mpg empty and 18mpg towing at speeds around 70mph. My fuzion393 hitch weight when loaded is 2750#, so truck rear axle wt is around 5500#. There is 1 leaf the bottom on spring at this setup yet to take on any weight. No airbags. This truck had 120,349 miles on it when we got it. Now it has 150,580 and runs and pulls way better and is much more comfortable than my 454 Chev Dually, with which I towed a 16,000# race trailer all over the country and only got 10mpg on gas empty or towing.
So I'd say weigh your rear axle empty. Maybe upgrade your tires if necessary and or add airbags if necessary, and maybe load the forward car on the hitch with light end to the front to reduce hitch weight. The other thing would be to have 3 axles with brakes on all, rather than 2 on the trailer for additional braking. I just had a front tire fixed at the local tire dealer (leaking stem) and he checked my pad wear and said I have about 80% remaining which I think is very good for a truck with 150,000 miles on it. Incidentally TOYO OPEN COUNTRY MT tires LT285/75R-16E are rated 3740# @80psi. They also cost about 2x the price of my Walmart UniRoyals (about $500 set of 4 installed) which in 30,000 miles don't show any signs of wear yet. I can tow up to 19,000# without going over the 26,000# limit requiring a Class 1 license. :)OldGuy

[1999dodge1500]

u should have no problems !

[DrivinDave]

If your '06 is a dually, ya got it made, if not you may need to make a change. Fully loaded, you may have too much weight over your 2 tire single rear axle. Ask yourself if you like replacing rear axle seals. Definitely check the Trailer Life Towing Guide, it can be found online.

[DrivinDave]

btw, here's a link to the Trailer Life 2006 Tow Guide .pdf

http://www.trailerlife.com/images/towratings/2006/TowingRatings_p20_33.pdf

Hope this helps ya out.

[OldGuy]

DrivinDave--I gotta say that the TrailerLife stuff just parrots whatever the factory publishes. My opinions are from lots of miles of towing and talking with others who tow for a living. If you don't exceed the rear axle weight limit it should not have any effect on the rear axle seals. That was the reason for my suggestion about loading. --OldGuy

[DrivinDave]

Hi OldGuy,
I wasn't meaning to kick ya in the shins, your reply has alot of useful information and I found it right on after re-reading the post. The times that I have run above the manufacturer"s ratings I was damaging my vehicle. Of course, maybe it's not a good idea to pull a potato chip van with an '82 Isuzu Diesel P'up! <-- equals blown seal.

I have noticed from past experience at work (FoodService Truck Driver) that when we are running maximun loads we experience more wear on our equipment.