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Old 04-29-2020, 07:08 AM   #1
danielm300
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Pin Weight Question

What percentage of total 5th wheel weight are you seeing on your hitch? I am running a 325RL (11995# GVWR). It weighs in at 10560# fully loaded, but I have 2587# on the pin (24.5%). This is higher than I expected. I don’t have a washer/ dryer, but I did upgrade the mattress. Looking for ideas on how to load to reduce pin weight.

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Old 04-29-2020, 07:14 AM   #2
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24.5 % will not be a problem UNLESS it causes your truck to be over weight or too much squat on the truck. Mine has ranged 19-24% on 3 different Montana fivers but the truck wasn't over capacity.
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Old 04-29-2020, 07:15 AM   #3
CADman_KS
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We have a 3741FK, and fully loaded we are 14940#, and our pin weight is 2840#, for 19.0%.

One thing that we can do with our unit, however, is unload our pin weight to a certain extent by putting almost everything in the rear basement slideout tray. So, almost all of our cargo weight is behind the rear axle...
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Old 04-29-2020, 07:17 AM   #4
danielm300
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I'm looking to upgrade to a 2018 3500HD SRW to fix my truck GVWR issue.
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Old 04-29-2020, 07:20 AM   #5
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How much fresh water do you run with? The H2O tank is behind the axle
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Old 04-29-2020, 07:25 AM   #6
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Originally Posted by danielm300 View Post
How much fresh water do you run with? The H2O tank is behind the axle
Wasn't for sure if you were asking me or not. On our unit, the water tank is actually in front the axle. We never carry any fresh water, but never boondock either. If we go someplace that doesn't have fresh water at the pedestal, we fill up when we get there...
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Old 04-29-2020, 07:27 AM   #7
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Originally Posted by danielm300 View Post
I'm looking to upgrade to a 2018 3500HD SRW to fix my truck GVWR issue.
I'm no expert on this by any means, but make sure that the 2018 has enough payload for your pin weight. I know that it was less in 2018 vs. 2020, but don't know by how much it was less. On our 2020 3500HD we are under the payload, but not by a lot...
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Old 04-29-2020, 08:51 AM   #8
danielm300
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My 2500HD cargo capacity is 2404# and 3573# for the 3500HD were looking at. The 3500 gives me 295# of margin with current pin weight. I'm also looking at packing smarter to gain more margin. If I can get the pin weight down to 20% I would be at 770# margin
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Old 04-29-2020, 09:08 AM   #9
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According to Etrailer, rule of thumb for fifth wheel pin weight should be about 20%.

And good for you for even knowing your weights.
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Old 04-29-2020, 09:16 AM   #10
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The 20% is a general "Rule of Thumb" number. Typical can generally run anywhere between 20% to 25% depending on options and amount of stuff in storage.
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Old 04-29-2020, 10:42 AM   #11
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Our 3160RL loaded to 15480has 3870 pin weight with out the washer combo.
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Old 04-29-2020, 11:45 AM   #12
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....According to Etrailer, rule of thumb for fifth wheel pin weight should be about 20%...
Agree, and that's 20% of the GVWR, not the empty weight.
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Old 04-29-2020, 03:55 PM   #13
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Agree, and that's 20% of the GVWR, not the empty weight.
I believe it's 20% of gross weight, in other words actual weight, not GVWR.
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Old 04-29-2020, 04:01 PM   #14
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I believe it's 20% of gross weight, in other words actual weight, not GVWR.
That's what I've always thought.

Ours is 20% loaded (gross)...
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Old 05-06-2020, 01:52 PM   #15
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So did you all weigh your trucks with the trailer on or did you use the published spec? My trailer weighs 2690 on the pin per spec but I don’t know if that is at gross weight or empty weight.
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Old 05-06-2020, 02:19 PM   #16
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So did you all weigh your trucks with the trailer on or did you use the published spec? My trailer weighs 2690 on the pin per spec but I don’t know if that is at gross weight or empty weight.

Brochure claims empty hitch weight of 2620# for 3790RD. Actual fully loaded (CAT scale): 3500-3700#


The bulk of the extra weight upfront comes from the 5500W Onan, four GC-2 Batteries and 40# propane tanks upgraded from 30s among stuff in the front closet and pass-through.
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Old 05-06-2020, 02:43 PM   #17
CADman_KS
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Brochure / website claims hitch weight of 2560# for our 3741FK.

Actual on the scales is 2840, and that's AFTER putting everything in the rear basement BEHIND the rear axle. We have less than 300# in front of the axle for anything that we put in, including food / dishes / "stuff"...
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Old 05-06-2020, 04:14 PM   #18
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Pin weight.

I’m pulling a 2017 3791RD with a 2016 3500HD dually diesel and my gross weight is 24,800 with 109 gallons of fuel. My trailer axle weight is #11640. (14,000 max)
Hitch pin weight-# 3680
Truck axles are - Front axle truck- #5240 (5600 max)
Rear axle on the truck-#7920 (9375 max)
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Old 05-06-2020, 05:21 PM   #19
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2019.5 3761FL, with all rear storage the FW tank needs 3/4 full to get to even 17 - 18%.
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Old 05-07-2020, 03:47 AM   #20
danielm300
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Thanks For the Responses

Thanks for the input. Always an interesting discussion. We're on our way to pick up a lightly used 2019 3500HD Duramax. I plan to stop by the CAT scale on our way home and get an actual weight of the truck before I put the hitch in and put all of the other stuff on board. Drivers side sticker shows a cargo capacity of 3573 and a GVWR of 11,500. We'll soon see how close it comes to those weights.
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