2006 RAM 3500 Tow Limit 16250 lbs

Great post. You addressed the towing capacity but didn't mention the truck's payload capacity. Payload has to be figured when towing a trailer. Some of the trailer weight is going to be carried on the truck as hitch weight.

10%-15% of the trailer's weight should be on the tongue of a "bumper-pull" type hitch (including receiver hitches mounted under the bumper). 5th wheels should have about 20%-25% of the trailer's weight on the hitch. In my '99 owner's manual Dodge claims you need a 5th wheel hitch to tow any trailer heavier than 10,000 lbs. If you have a trailer that weighs 13,400 lbs it would have to be a 5th wheel with a minimum 2,680 lbs hitch weight. Can a 2500 series truck handle more than that? Is there a payload difference between the SRW 3500 and 2500?

As a tow vehicle, yes... but look at the difference in payload capacity between a 2500 and a 3500SRW. Now think "pin weight" instead of "payload", and you see now where even a 3500SRW is advantageous as a tow vehicle.

About 900lbs.

Payload rating is one area where you really see some major differences (and advantages) of DRW over SRW and to a much lesser extent the disadvantages of the Quad & Mega cabs vs. the Regular cab. Here it's all about weight and where you plan to put it and how you plan to support it.

Comparing 3500 configuration extremes (maximums vs. minimums), the DRW 4X4 Std cab and LB has a payload rating of 5,100 lbs. By contrast, the same truck except with SRW, 4X2 and Mega cab the payload rating drops to 2,510 lbs. Almost 2,000 lbs of that difference is DRW vs SRW.

Those differences become significant numbers when you're looking to set a

5th wheel in there with a pin weight of 2,300 lbs. After having spent the better part of yesterday afternoon walking my legs off at the Houston RV Show and talking to a lot of folks, it became apparent to me that a Dually is pretty much called for. While you can certainly do it with SRW, the folks who pull the heavier 5th wheels with SRW (both 2500 and 3500) report more occurrences of catastrophic tire failure from tread separation long before the tires are otherwise worn out. You're also going to sink a lot deeper in the mud with SRW.

I think the bottom line is get a Dually.

This is one of the reasons I got mine. My 2500 swd would also get blown around in the wind and such, since I got my dually, i don't have that problem anymore.

See anything good at the show, I went to the Fort Worth one about 2 weeks ago and didn't see anything better than what I have already (2005 Montana Mountaineer 3-slides 35 footer)

I've been wanting to see the Artic Fox or Cat, but can't seem to find one around Nortex. BTW, one of the deelers in Houston will get you a hell of deal if you tell them your prolly gonna buy from Meyers RV in NY State. If they hadn't made me great deal last year, I would have bought from the guy in Houston rather than FunTime in CLeburn.

The Montana is nice. Didn't see anything ultra-special at the show, at least nothing beyond what we're just about ready to cut a check for. Looks like our "new dream home" will be a Holiday Rambler 36' Presidential. Wife likes the 36SKQ I like the 36RLQ.

Artic was very well represented at the show & we checked a couple of them out. Nice, but I think we're pretty much sold on the HR Pres. We know what we want, just not sure how soon we're going to pull the trigger.

We're working w/Holiday World out West on I-10 and they seem pretty aggressive on pricing. Their first offer to us without any haggling was $10k below sticker. We're originally from the midwest and not at all opposed to driving up to Elkhart, IN to avoid the $1700 delivery. (I'm also not opposed to picking up a new Dually in Laredo if it will save a significant portion of the $900 delivery). Since we'll be on the road I see no reason to establish any specific dealer relationship unless someone is ready to make us an offer we can't refuse.

That's the Houston dealer we were dealing with also. Big Bob I think was the salesman. They were 6 grand cheaper than FunTIme and Myers in New York State was 14000 cheaper. We took 4 days off and drove from Dallas to Churchville NY to get it. It was worth the drive. You might want to check them out before you buy, they have a new showroom around San Antonio I'm told. But I haven't been to it yet.

Thanks for the tip!