Sliding Hitch

[ted 95]

Will take delivery shortly of our new truck.
A 2016 Denali 3500 SRW Diesel 6'6" box.

We are about to order a 2016 36RL loaded with besides the nice things like Gen -3 Airs - Toppers - Dishwasher and so on. We added 8000 lb axles with "H" tires along with the disk brakes. Cause of all the these extras I felt we would be up there in basic weight.

My question is what is the best "auto sliding" 5th wheel (hitch) out there. I feel I will need at least a 20,000 lb rated unit. Also I would like a unit that is easily removed and leaves the bed clean when not needed. We plan as of fall 2016 to be about 8 months a year in the unit

All suggestions will be a great help. and thanks in advance

[brenkco]

I had a Pullrite superglide. It is an automatic slider, 20k available. I used a garage, ceiling mounted winch to remove it. I highly suggest an automatic slider.....too many folks with the manual dent the truck and pop out the rear window.

Ken

[Shane Wood]

congratulations and welcome to the group. Your new Rl is going to be pin heavy. Mine is 4280LBs with gen, washer dryer etc. You may want to check your load rating on your rear tires and rims. I got rid of the same truck because I was overloaded on the rear and bought a dually. The long box dually rides better than the SRW shortbox. go figure. Good Luck

[brenkco]

I, like Shane also traded in my F350 SRW as it didn't have enough payload capacity to handle the Redwood. It was 1000 lbs overweight.

Ken

[johnboytoo]

If you are near DFW Texas - I'm just saying that I have a pullrite in the garage towed the 38gk just fine.

[mhs4771]

I'm with others, having had a 36RL the pin weight on them runs 4K +/- depending on what's loaded in the basement and if you're carrying anything in the holding tanks.
I would highly suggest seeing if you could change to a Dually before taking delivery of that new truck.
Also, a good move on the 8K axles and 17.5" wheels, BUT did you include the Disc Brakes?? They are a life saver pulling that much weight.

[atom ant]

Regardless if you overload the truck payload, you are most likely going to be running over the Max load pressure on those rear tires.

[Jim & Mary]

I'm one on these forums who have towed our 36RL with both a SRW and DRW and the reason we traded a perfectly good F350 SRW for a F350 DRW was the rear axle and tire overload, even though we didn't carry water or full waste tanks, and didn't have the onboard generator. The ride sometimes seemed squirrely, but after I weighed we traded trucks. The difference in the feel of the tow with this truck is amazing.

[Dan]

All I can say is nice redwood dangerous truck

.

[RWJSIM2003]

Originally Posted by Dan

All I can say is nice redwood dangerous truck

.

I second that quote

[ted 95]

thanks for all your posts. i agree it is always hard to keep the carry cargo weight down. But if one keeps the GVWR of the unit to 16500 then you would have to be over 24% pin / hitch weight to hit the 4000 lb. The Denali 3500 SRW has a box /hitch rating of 4000. I can agree also a DRW would have less sway. thanks again we will see. i just can't see driving around all the time with a DRW

[ted 95]

can you tell me the rating on the unit you have. you can email me at wc.dm@comcast.net

[atom ant]

I can completely agree with about not wanting to drive around in a DRW - they are a pain in the butt and I've surrendered to having another vehicle to use daily.

The 36RL is nose heavy, as others say, especially with the water tank being directly under the basement. When I was running a SRW F350 (3,700 lb payload), I was pushing 7,000 lbs on the rear 7,000 lb drive axle, and was within 300 lbs of over-running the tire max load, and I hadn't loaded water or full gear yet. We ended up going to a dually.

If it helps, here are our Cat scale weights for the 36RL with a generator and washer and dryer after we bought our first dually. The first is our old 2008 DRW Ford weight, the second is the weight with the trailer with no food, clothes or water, and the third sheet is fully loaded.

[brenkco]

Ted,
I made the same mistake with my Dodge, relying on specs rather than actual weights. Remember, you have the weight of the hitch, rails and capture plate along with the passengers, tools, etc. The other thing that the specs don't allow for is the weight of optional equipment.

With my first truck and trailer, I thought (with specs) I might have been about 300 lbs over. In actuality, I was about 2000 lbs over. I couldn't believe it so I removed the hitch, filled the truck with fuel and weighed it, no passengers, no cargo. The net carrying capacity was about 800 lbs LESS than specs.

I weighed my Redwood with a F350 SRW and I was just over 1000 lbs over weight. Brad's cat scale weight was just about the same as my 38GK.

Just my personal experience......

Ken

[piper guy]

Ted - hate to pile on, but my experience is the same as Jim's and Ken's. A person in Nebraska got a very nice 8 moth old F350 SRW because I was almost 1400 lbs overweight on the rear of the truck. And that was with no gen or W/D at that time. Your biggest concern will be rear tires on the truck.

Forget published weights in the brochure. My 36RL was at 14,209 empty weight as shipped. I still don't have a mounted genset but if I fill water tank I'm pushing 4K pin weight.

Bottom line - if there is ANY way to do it - do the Dually. You will not rage it, it tows night and day better, and it takes about a week to get used to "hips"

[piper guy]

Was supposed to be regret it ...... Damn autospell

[GA1817]

Originally Posted by ted 95

thanks for all your posts. i agree it is always hard to keep the carry cargo weight down. But if one keeps the GVWR of the unit to 16500 then you would have to be over 24% pin / hitch weight to hit the 4000 lb. The Denali 3500 SRW has a box /hitch rating of 4000. I can agree also a DRW would have less sway. thanks again we will see. i just can't see driving around all the time with a DRW

I read your post immediately after you posted it but refrained from jumping on you. It did not take long for the sharks to jump you.

You will be shocked in what that 36 RL is going to weigh. My 2012 weighed 14,400 bone dry with only a washer and dryer, 7K axles and disc brakes. You are adding a third AC, Generator, and dishwasher to that weight. For comparison the hitch loading on my RAM is 5900 ponds!!!! Those two extra wheel make a huge difference. Plus the hips are sexy and the long box is smooth riding! You will end up adding a couple $1000 dollars in aftermarket accessories trying to make it work but you will always be overweight.

[piper guy]

Ted ~ please don't think we're jumping on you. I know none of us intended it that way Only trying to save you the MANY $$$$ that it cost all of us the hard way.


I spent about $2000.00 in sway bars, airbags and a couple other things on my 2012 F350 SRW CC SB trying to make it a good tow truck for the RW. It never had that warm, fuzzy feeling when towing, even after the mods. Then I had it weighed and that sealed it's fate. Last thing I wanted to risk was a rear tire blowout on the truck while towing.


If at all possible, do the Dually. You will not regret it and the safety and handling increase is night and day. If anyone would have told me that my daily driver would become a Dually and, that I would love the truck, I would have told them they were nuts. Suffice to say, 40k miles later, it is a great ride.

[rob_fla]

I agree with others, I too have towed a SOB 5th Wheel that was 41 Ft long and weighed over 16k lbs. with a 3,700 lb. Pin Weight (manufacturers brochure said 2,400 lbs. pin weight) with a Chevy SRW Truck.
Added Air Bags and other suspension upgrades to the SRW, still was "White Knuckles" hang on and hope for the best type of ride.
About a year before we traded for our Redwood, we traded the SRW Truck for our current GMC DRW, now it is a pleasure to tow our Redwood, very stable and ride is much better.
We pulled our SOB 5er and now our Redwood coast to coast with our DRW GMC and it has performed excellent in all weather and road conditions.

[brenkco]

Vaughn,
I agree, no one intended to pile on or attack....just trying share experiences and trying to be helpful and informative.

Ken