Or a Dodge, or a Nissan HD (their real trucks, mostly sold via
commercial sales

 You didn't mention brand, but that sounds very light, as in it may not
be built very well. Have you done research on the quality of the rig you
are looking at (hint, see below, don't believe the salesgeek)

  If not, look into the RV Consumser Group http:/www.rv.org

  Here are some weights of well thought of, quality rigs.
  Sunnybrook Titan 34BKS  loaded weight 16,000 lbs
  Artic Fox 32-5S                       13,000 lbs
  Excel Classic 33RSO                   14,000 lbs
  Excel Limited 33CLO                   18,700 lbs
  Alpinelite 36RL                       16,000 lbs
  HitchHiker II-LS 34.5 RLTG            13,995 lbs
  HitchHikeer Priemer 35 RLTG           16,000 lbs

  You will note how much heavier these are then yours

  If these are too heavy, look at a smaller rig, another thing, a 37
fter is not going to fit in many older and public campgrounds.

 Only weight, and use the full-load weight. Check the CGVW rating
(truck plus trailer) rating of the truck, add the loaded weight of the
truck to the loaded weight (use the max rating) of the trailer. As long
as this is lower then the rating of the truck, you should be OK

 Good plan, you start out -not- believing him.

I would want an F-350 Ford dual rear wheel truck for something
this heavy. You will have considerable pin weight with this trailer and
the extra tires on the back are a good safety measure.

I might even step up to an F-450 or F-550 for the additional capacity.
You do not want to be towing with a truck that is at or above its load
carrying capacity. It is stressful and dangerous.

Mashall
I was thinking about the same topic back in Feb.  read
(Fulltimer advice sought (finding a tow vehicle) posted by Lifelists.
There you can see many responses to my question about a tow truck
for a large size 5er.  I was interested in using the LDT or MDT (light duty
truck, medium duty truck) as an everyday ride when not towing.  Some
thoughtful stuff came up.  Glad I asked...

I did not choose to buy this year.  Things to attend to for the next few
months came up so our class-c will have to do.  Pretty nice alternative
come to think about it. :-)
Good numbers.

Hi,
With 5th wheel's your tow truck has to meet at a minimum two
criteria.  One is that it can handle the pin weight of the 5th wheel
which is usually around 20 percent of the fully loaded weight of the
5th wheel.  For example if your 5th wheel weighs 12,000 fully loaded
your tow vehicle would have to be able to carry at least 2400 lbs. in
the bed of the truck plus the weight of any people and fuel and other
stuff in or on the truck including the 5th wheel hitch and remain
under the trucks GVWR.  If your tow vehicle had a GVWR of 8000 lbs.
and weighed 5600 lbs. empty you could not legally tow a 12,000 lb.
fully loaded 5th wheel because the weight of the hitch, you and your
passengers and fuel would put you over the GVWR.

The other thing is to look at the tow trucks GCWR.  This is the
maximum weight the fully loaded tow vehicle plus the weight of the
fully loaded trailer can be.  So if your truck has a GVWR of 8000 and
the 5th wheel has a GVWR of 12,000 lbs. and the GCWR of the truck is
18,500 lbs. the trailer is to heavy for the truck.  Using the GVWR of
the trailer and tow vehicle to determine weights is a good idea
because you then know the maximum weights.

Some other things to check is to make sure that the pin weight
doesn't put the vehicle over the maximum rear axle weight.  Also many
people consider towing only 75-80 percent of the max tow rating of
their trucks.  This gives them an added safety margin and causes less
wear and tear on the equipment.

Vehicles with dual rear wheels can carry more weight in the back of
the truck but have a little less overall towing capacity due to the
extra weight of the added wheels.   Dual wheels are more stable when
towing a 5th wheel however.  Four wheel drive vehicles also usually
have less towing capacity then 2 wheel drives for the same reason.
But 4 wheel drive can come in handy to help get you out of some mud or
grass after a rain.

IMO, for a vehicle to pull your size trailer you might want to check
out the ratings for a 3500 series truck with dual rear wheels, or
maybe something even bigger.  A 2500 series truck (3/4 ton) would
probably be marginal.  I would check the GVWR weight on the 5th wheel.
My 30 foot travel trailer was almost as heavy as this 37 foot 5th
wheel.

If you plan on doing a lot of traveling around, putting on a lot of
miles, then the diesel is the way to go.  You will get a little better
fuel milage and it will tow the heavier load better.

Lastly, not talked about very much is licensing.  If you can tow a
vehicle over 10,000 without getting an endorsement on your drivers
license.  This depends upon the state you live in.  In Pa. for example
if you tow a trailer that has a GVWR of over 10,000 lbs. you need to
get a Class B endorsement on your drivers license.  These laws are not
strictly enforced but if you have an accident it could come into play
if you don't have the correct license.  Again what you need as far as
license is dependent upon your state laws.  It is something you might
want to check into.

Hope this helps.  Take care and Happy Campin...
RichA
"We Get Too Soon Olde and Too Late Smart"

 I don't know the weight of the rig you intend to pull by saying larger
5th wheels. At a minmum you need a 1 ton dualie be it Ford or Cheby. The
Ford has an available Tow Boss package with lower 4.30 gears and is
rated to pull up to 18,000 lbs, I believe. Three axles weight class
means a F 450 or larger.
Don't try pulling with a 3/4 ton rig withou dual rear wheels anything
much over 10,000 lbs in spite of what the brochure rates it to pull.

Rule #1: You know the salescritter's lying when the lips move.

Rule #2: When "shopping" for a tow vehicle, plan for the towed vehicle's
GVWR - not the advertised weight - since you'll probably load it that
heavily at least once.

When we were in "shopping" mode, we had looked at a number of trailers in
the 34+ foot range and had, finally, decided upon our "ideal combination".
When we went down to our "friendly Ford Dealer" to see if the long-promised
model had finally entered production [an F-450 Pickup with a factory - not
aftermarket - bed] we found that the company had placed the project "on
hold" where it is still.

Since I wanted to get the truck first and _then_ get a trailer that the
truck could handle, this meant downsizing the maximum GVWR to something
that would be within the truck's GCWR.

Our 37' 10" Montana 3655FL's 14,100 GVWR fit in nicely with our '03 Dodge
3500's 23,000 GCWR.

BTW, the "as-built" weight of our trailer was just over 11,000.

With a 5th wheel you have three concerns.  First, is the truck rated for the
pin weight of the 5er.  Second, is the truck rated to tow the weight of the
5er.  Third, the trucks Gross Combined Weight Rating (the weight of the
truck, everything in the truck, weight of the trailer and everything in the
trailer) shouldn't be exceeded.

Don't listen to salesmen who may or may not be knowledgeable about the truck
ratings.  Check the manufacturers ratings shown in their publications or web
sites.  Some people swear by the "75%" rule.  That is don't tow more than
75% of the manufacturers rating.  If you adhere to that rule you will never
be unhappy by your trucks performance when towing.  However, when talking
about modern diesel 3/4 ton and 1 ton trucks, the 75% rule in my opinion is
garbage.  Just stay within the manufacturers ratings and you will be able to
safely tow your 5er on almost all highways.  I say almost all because
someone will come up with some stretch of state or county road with 15%-25%
grade and say you can't tow over that road.  The reality of roads most of us
are likely to encounter are a maximum of 6%-7% on interstates and perhaps up
to 10% on other highways.

Duallies are more stable than single rear wheel trucks especially when you
have strong side winds.

The '05 Chevy 3500 Duramax Diesel Crew Cab Longbed 2x4 Dually with the
Allison Automatic Transmission has a GCWR of 23,500 lbs, a tow capacity of
16,000+ lbs., a 5th wheel pin rating of 3,500 lbs. and a truck load capacity
of 5,000+ lbs.  Ford and Dodge 1 ton trucks have similar ratings.  Find out
about what your load will be and select the truck that meets or exceeds
those loads.

Ron
'01 Chevy 3500 Crew Cab Longbed Duramax Diesel 2x4 Dually with Allison
Automatic Transmission
'01 Alfa 35' Triple Slide 5th Wheel
Towed over 29,000 miles averaging 9.75 miles per gallon

Marshall,

We've got a Chevy 2500HD LX Crew Cab, Long bed, 2WD, loaded, with a 5th
wheel tow package, for sale.  We just used it to tow a Carriage Cameo
LXi 35' 5th wheel for the last 8 months and it was perfectly wonderful.
Those trailer are mid-line and are built tough.   The trailer weighed
in at GVWR 13,400 lbs, the truck is rated to tow 15,900 lbs.  No
problems at all.  If you are interested in our truck, you can look at
it at www.cindyandmark.net  and give us a call if you like what you
see.  We would be willing to deliver it within a days drive of where we
are which is Roanoke, VA.  Happy hunting.