2012 36fb

[dabruzr9527@yahoo.com]

I just purchased a 36FB and pulled the unit from Baton Rouge , LA with a 2500 HD and had no issues other than finding out that the fresh water tank was full, 826 pounds in the nose.
I will be living in the unit for woRK with an occasional pull from project to project.
Will the tow vehicle be sufficient?
Taking care to not overload.

Thanks.

[830hvacman]

Welcome!! I think I would scale your truck 1st, then the truck and RV without water and your personal items - then check your manual as to what your truck can tow..
Then you can make the decision..
Good luck and Safe Travels!!

[xtasee]

I agree that you should weigh everything and refer to the tow vehicle's owners manual to make sure. That said, there are very few trailers built by Redwood that should be towed with a 2500. I may be wrong but after seeing real weights posted by our members, I don't think any of the 36's work with a 3/4 ton truck.

It is less about pulling than tire, suspension and braking safety.

That is the main reason I ordered the 31SL. Even so, I still recently moved to a 1 ton. YMMV.

[piper guy]

Your biggest issue will be the rear axle rating and rear tires on the truck. When we bought our '13 36 RL I had a 2012 F350 Shortbed CC that I loved. Pulled it ok, but never had that real warm fuzzy feeling. Got rig weighed and found I was almost 1200 lbs overweight on rear axle but more importantly was more than 1100 over what the tires were rated for. And this was with about 20 gals water and no genset or W/D.
Someone in Nebraska got a very nice 8 month old truck and I got a Dually and never looked back. Can't even imagine having single wheel now.

[Rick and Mindy]

I doubt very much that any 2500 will pull any Redwood without being overweight in several areas. Pulling is not the issue as already stated, it is whether or not your axles and tires are overweighted. I do pull my 31sl with a srw F350 and I am under in all weight categories but not by much. I do not pull with anything in any of my tanks and my wife and I are very cautious in what we carry. If not needed, get rid of it! We choose to carry only the necessities so we don't have to make the jump to a dually. Get everything weighed and check your maximum weights!

[Rick and Mindy]

On another note, if we all listened to the RV salesman, we would all be pulling our RVs with a half ton!

[travelin' texans]

Originally Posted by Rick and Mindy

On another note, if we all listened to the RV salesman, we would all be pulling our RVs with a half ton!

That's the best advice right there. DO NOT take anyone's word for it, do your own homework with weights & vehicle information.
Salesmen are there for 1 reason, to sell, could care less if it's what you need & don't have a clue as to what will work for you. There's lots of folks out on the roads towing with vehicles that aren't near enough to handle what they're towing, but the salesman said "Oh yea, that vehicle can handle that, NO problem!!".

[RCAircraft]

Originally Posted by piper guy

Your biggest issue will be the rear axle rating and rear tires on the truck. When we bought our '13 36 RL I had a 2012 F350 Shortbed CC that I loved. Pulled it ok, but never had that real warm fuzzy feeling. Got rig weighed and found I was almost 1200 lbs overweight on rear axle but more importantly was more than 1100 over what the tires were rated for. And this was with about 20 gals water and no genset or W/D.
Someone in Nebraska got a very nice 8 month old truck and I got a Dually and never looked back. Can't even imagine having single wheel now.

Ditto. I purchased a 2013 F350 SWD short bed based upon the posted weight. My truck's GCWR was far exceeded after weighing. Now have a 2016 Silverado 3500 HD High Country long bed dually. Now I have a little wiggle room. Someone got a very low mileage F350 Lariat that I loved. Short relationship!! I also increased my safety margin with H-rated 17.5 inch tires with TPMS and Titan EOH disc brakes after losing 12- feet of side wall from a blowout at 63 MPH. These Redwoods are beasts so be prepared.

[dabruzr9527@yahoo.com]

Thanks for all of the advise.
Will be going to the CAT scales and weighing the truck front and back axles with hitch and full tank.
Will then weigh hooked to the unit and see exactly where I stand.
Just added Air Lift air bags to help level the truck.
Fortunately my out of town project will be in three weeks so with that said, I will go with the weight information and see where I stand.

Great forum.

[Dabruzr]

Originally Posted by dabruzr9527@yahoo.com

Thanks for all of the advise.
Will be going to the CAT scales and weighing the truck front and back axles with hitch and full tank.
Will then weigh hooked to the unit and see exactly where I stand.
Just added Air Lift air bags to help level the truck.
Fortunately my out of town project will be in three weeks so with that said, I will go with the weight information and see where I stand.

Great forum.

Weighed the vehicles as recommended, weights below:

Empty
Steer axel: 4060
Drive axel: 3020
Gross Weight: 7080

Loaded with camper:

Steer axel: 4140
Drive axel: 5740
Trailer axels: 10920
GVW: 20800

Conclusion:
Trailer Pin Weight: 2720
Trailer empty weight: 13720

Not overloading rear suspension, makes me feel a little better for the tow to Nashville.

Will be very carefull loading the unit, take my time and watch tow vehicle tire temps, multiple stops along the way and take my time.

Will be purchasing 3500 in the near future for future tows.

Thanks all for the great information, your advice is very much appreciated!