Heavy 39' 5'er on '05 2500~Any advise?
 

I recently bought a 2005 Alfa See Ya 5'er. It's 39' in length.

Here are the specs..
Gross Weight 18,500 lbs
Unloaded Weight 12,820 lbs
Carrying Capacity 3,704 lbs
Hitch Weight 2,380 lbs

Got that off the net. I am planning on towing this with my 2005 QCSB 4X4 Auto 2500, it has 20" wheels and 35's. It has leveling kit too.

I am taking care of the performance end of it, but its the pure size and weight I am worried about. I never gave much thought to towing it when I bought it, but reading all these towing posts, I am starting to wonder if the truck is capable. My father in law pulled it when I bought it, coming through the mountains he had to grab 2nd gear in his '96 Ford Crew DRW Powerstroke. His truck is stock with exception of downpipe and exhaust, but I have never seen it where we had to grab 2nd before. But as stated my truck now having enough power is not my concern here. I was planning on airbags and exhaust brake. Anyother ideas or concerns?

your tranny would be my concern. I pulled a load 40k gross weight and had no problem. I pulled quite a few hills and all had to grab 3rd a couple times but nothing to serious.

I will have a built tranny.

should be fine then. I wouldn't worry about it just go on and pull

I have a 30 ft camper that weighs about 9000 lbs and have no problem so, you should be fine. I would watch your temps when pulling hills and when/if you have a programmer, I wouldn't have it turned up all the way. When looking at the weights of campers, you watch for the dry weight which, if you have a 39 ft alfa the dry weight is only 14000 lbs. Have fun camping....

That's close to what my 36' Toy hauler 5th wheel is. I tow with a 2004 Dodge 2500 CTD w/ 6 speed handshaker. I added air bags to the rear of my truck to help handle the load better, as it squatted the truck more than I like. As far as pulling power I have never dropped below 5th gear (unless traffic conditions warranted it) driving in WV, VA, NC, KY and TN. You definately want to have somesort of EGT gauge if you are modding the engine. With my Diablo Sport Predator Programmer i had to keep an eye on the gauges in the mountains. I recently changed over to Smarty Jr. but havent towed the camper since the change. The only other changes I have made are a cold air intake and lost my muffler. I think my truck handles it very well.

Honest advice...you're gonna be under-trucked.

Not from an ability to "pull" standpoint--as you could effectively move the trailer in a forward direction with a big block Camaro and air bag helper springs--but stopping, cross wind handling, steep downhill sections taxing the brakes, etc....a light duty pickup truck is outclassed when the heavy 5th wheel trailers get involved. You blow a tire or lose a hitch on that big trailer going down someplace like Cabbage Hill/Deadman Pass in eastern Oregon and you'll wish your truck was a big heavy underpowered pig to keep everything roped in.

I know this will probably be an unpopular reply, but to me if your trailer creeps into that size/weight range, you should be looking for a truck in at LEAST the F-550/Ram 5500 range, moreso into FL70/F-650 territory.....something with duals, better than load range E tires, big brakes, the right suspensions, etc. It might not be fast, but going fast isn't the important part of pulling a load.