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Old 10-10-2019, 04:35 PM   #1
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About to buy Redwood RW36FL

Hello all! So this is going to be a long story.... I had a 2008 keystone Montana for about 5 years that just recently got totalled out by weather. Me and my family lived in it for about 2 years and it did fine for our needs. Not super nice but it worked. Well we found a used 2013 rw36fl for a good deal and we are thinking about buying it. My concern is the pin weight on a front living fifth wheel. In my Montana I learned how to load it to where I had 2480 pin weight on my pickup but the trailer weighed in at 14k. The reason I'm concerned is because I have a 2014 ram 2500 and it's such a good deal on the Redwood it's hard to pass up but are currently in no situation to buy a new pickup. Any front living owners out there that know the actual pin weights of these monsters? Any help would be appreciated
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Old 10-10-2019, 05:04 PM   #2
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Hello all! So this is going to be a long story.... I had a 2008 keystone Montana for about 5 years that just recently got totalled out by weather. Me and my family lived in it for about 2 years and it did fine for our needs. Not super nice but it worked. Well we found a used 2013 rw36fl for a good deal and we are thinking about buying it. My concern is the pin weight on a front living fifth wheel. In my Montana I learned how to load it to where I had 2480 pin weight on my pickup but the trailer weighed in at 14k. The reason I'm concerned is because I have a 2014 ram 2500 and it's such a good deal on the Redwood it's hard to pass up but are currently in no situation to buy a new pickup. Any front living owners out there that know the actual pin weights of these monsters? Any help would be appreciated
Any Redwood will have a gross of 16-16.5k so at the usual 20-25% pin weight of a 5th wheel it's minimum of 3200 pounds. Plus if I recall the FL models are pin heavy, hopefully someone that has will chime in.
Not sure there was/is a RW built that was towable by a 3/4 pickup, most are in the dually weight range. But I've seen it done with triple axle toy haulers & some of things folks have hitched up to 1/2 tons scare the hell out of me!
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Old 10-10-2019, 05:15 PM   #3
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Hey thank you so much for the reply! Good information, Redwoods, all of them, are super nice. I'm trying to do a little homework before we pull the final trigger. I was really hoping for a different answer! We were starting to get excited
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Old 10-10-2019, 05:56 PM   #4
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Not sure there was/is a RW built that was towable by a 3/4 pickup, most are in the dually weight range.
The 31SL will work with a 2500HD if loaded correctly (barely). Any other model will require at least 3500. SRW vs. DRW will start the argument over again (lets don't do that).

BTW I tow my 31SL with a 3500HD
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Old 10-10-2019, 06:15 PM   #5
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The 31SL will work with a 2500HD if loaded correctly (barely). Any other model will require at least 3500. SRW vs. DRW will start the argument over again (lets don't do that).

BTW I tow my 31SL with a 3500HD
Ok thank you and everyone else for the feedback. Yes I agree we don't need to start any arguments! It's just frustrating seeing a good deal pass by like that! The current owners pull the fifth wheel with the exact same pickup same color/year/options only theirs says 3500 on the side. Bummer
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Old 10-10-2019, 09:40 PM   #6
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Here's my take: It sort of depends on your usage, will you be using it full time? Traveling lots of miles? I wouldn't do it.
If only being used for short trips it can be done, BUT you have to take the responsibility if anything were to happen. There are lots of people pulling things with trucks they shouldn't, but only you can make the decision to do it or not.
A '13 RW is a good buy as the '12 to '14 years are probably the best for production.
Best wishes on what ever you decide.
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Old 10-11-2019, 03:14 AM   #7
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Here's my take: It sort of depends on your usage, will you be using it full time? Traveling lots of miles? I wouldn't do it.
If only being used for short trips it can be done, BUT you have to take the responsibility if anything were to happen. There are lots of people pulling things with trucks they shouldn't, but only you can make the decision to do it or not.
A '13 RW is a good buy as the '12 to '14 years are probably the best for production.
Best wishes on what ever you decide.
Well we are planning on full timing in it when the house sells. The reason I'm concerned with the pin weight of the fiver is because my pickuo has the factory air bags. And on the 2500 it's just air bags, no coils or springs. The air suspension I've read disables the compressor with more than 3k lbs of payload I've heard. The only time I've seen it disabled was when I hitched up to the in laws 44 foot tiny home built to spec. It was a mess to say the least! Over 30k lbs and they ended up towing it with a semi lmao. I appreciate the feedback thank you
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Old 10-11-2019, 04:08 PM   #8
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The hitch weight on the 2013 RW36FL is 2480lbs. My 2013 31SL is 2160lbs and I can tell you that I had a 2004 Dodge 2500 with diesel when I purchased it and it pulled it just fine but was overweighton the rear axle so I chose to go to a Ford F 350 single rear wheel which is within weight limits for the 31SL but would probably need dually for all other Redwood models to stay within weight limitations. I didn't want to chance pulling overweight and have an accident which could result in who knows what. We really liked the 36FL but didn't want to go to a dually and it does not have as much basement storage. Good luck in your decision.
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Old 10-12-2019, 01:28 AM   #9
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If the trailer is a great deal , would you consider finding a good used truck to pull it?
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Old 10-12-2019, 03:52 AM   #10
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If the trailer is a great deal , would you consider finding a good used truck to pull it?
Yeah we have thought about it. We have been looking at duallys for a couple days now but the price of pickups these days is crazy! We aren't sure if we want to pay that much per month. We have some talking to do we might buy the coach and have someone haul it home for us it's only 35 miles away. Then sell our 2500 and buy a 3500. That seems to be the plan now. But we are definately buying the Redwood! It's to good of a deal to pass up and it's waaaay to nice.
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Old 10-12-2019, 03:48 PM   #11
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You sound like a very logical person. Maybe you can negotiate with the seller to deliver it.
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Old 10-13-2019, 06:17 AM   #12
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You sound like a very logical person. Maybe you can negotiate with the seller to deliver it.
Yeah they are awesome people so I'm sure that won't be a problem. I have a few buddies that have 3500s as well that said they would haul it for us. Just put our 2500 up for sale! It's been a great pickup and we are sad to see it go.
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Old 10-20-2019, 03:00 AM   #13
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needing a truck for your 36fl

I know nobody wants a dually but it will make a world of difference on the highway. The semi trailers do not push you around and the stability is awesome. The parking and driving a dually will be a small pain in the butt after awhile. I do not think a 4x4 cc dually will make much difference in mileage from a regular 1 ton. Better to have enough truck and be safe. Also check to see what tires you have on the Redwood
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Old 10-21-2019, 01:08 AM   #14
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Not only is the pulling an issue, but stopping is an issue with the wrong truck. A 3500 dually takes a lot of stress away!
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