377RLBH Advice

[mwilliams1623]

New to the forum and have never towed anything even close to this so I'm looking for helpful advice and feedback.

My family and I are going to full time in this 5er in about a year. What are you guys towing this with? We're considering the GMC as our TV. Towing guide gives the following for the 3500 standard bed SRW crew cab: 17400lbs 5th wheel towing, 4000lb kingpin weight max. Payload published at 4159lbs and GCWR of 24,500lbs. Curb weight is listed at 7200. On paper this looks a little tight...but definitely capable. Loaded 377 max is under 16k and published dry hitch weight is 2915lbs.

Would prefer SRW over DRW as when unhooked it'll be our daily driver. Anything else out there more capable than the GMC? From all the published numbers, this TV has higher marks in all the noted capabilities.

Looking for real world input from all of the experienced people out there!

Thank you!

[Fairenatic]

Originally Posted by mwilliams1623

New to the forum and have never towed anything even close to this so I'm looking for helpful advice and feedback.

My family and I are going to full time in this 5er in about a year. What are you guys towing this with? We're considering the GMC as our TV. Towing guide gives the following for the 3500 standard bed SRW crew cab: 17400lbs 5th wheel towing, 4000lb kingpin weight max. Payload published at 4159lbs and GCWR of 24,500lbs. Curb weight is listed at 7200. On paper this looks a little tight...but definitely capable. Loaded 377 max is under 16k and published dry hitch weight is 2915lbs.

Would prefer SRW over DRW as when unhooked it'll be our daily driver. Anything else out there more capable than the GMC? From all the published numbers, this TV has higher marks in all the noted capabilities.

Looking for real world input from all of the experienced people out there!

Thank you!

A one ton should do. My sig should explain my preferences in a TV. You may be able to play with the rear gear ratios to give yourself a little more margin of safety.

[nhfire152]

I pull my 375BHFS with a 2500 Diesel. It does a fantastic job and I feel very safe. While it's not the same trailer, they are very close.

[RobinA]

Our Tow vehicle is a 2011 Ford F-350 diesel long bed.

[dalengail]

The 3500 SRW with the diesel, Allison transmission and standard 3.71 rear end will do an amazing job for you! When hooked up towing and using the engine brake and cruise set at 65 mph, you can not appreciate how well that truck will work for you until you actually do it. It does fantastic getting you up and over mountains with power to spare.

I am a little bias because, I have one. However, at this time, any of the 3 main manufacturers are competitive and will do the job for you.

[norty1]

My only reservation would be the dry hitch weight. You can figure that it will be hundreds of lbs more when packed for the road. A scale will be your friend as they say because it is hard to compute.

See my sig, I pull with a 1 ton and my actual pin wt. loaded is just over 2800lb. The dry wt listed for my rig by Jayco is 2250, so you can figure my cargo adds approx. 600 lbs to the dry wt. That is why I went with a 1 ton truck.

Just things to consider.

[radjayco]

I've been researching this myself, as I'm planning to purchase the 377RLBH soon. Payload seems to be the limiting factor to consider when looking at tow vehicles, given the pin weight of this trailer. The listed dry pin weight is 2,915 lbs with total empty trailer weight of 13,075 lbs (That's a pin weight of about 22% total trailer weight). My best estimate for a fully load pin weight would be 3,561 lbs (22% of the max trailer weight of 15,975 lbs). Also, remember that the payload for the truck not only includes the pin weight in the truck bed, but also the passengers and gear up front.

Keeping that in mind, the best payload of SRW trucks I've found is the 2013 and newer Ram 3500. Although I love my current Ford F150, the F350 SRW doesn't come close to the payload of the SRW Ram. I also like the Mega Cab of the Ram, which has more cabin room for passengers and a shorter bed (yes I know that will require a sliding hitch, but a shorter bed is more drivable and parkable).

I also would prefer to go with a SRW tow vehicle, as now it will also be my daily driver. Ultimately I think I will go with a 2013 or 2014 Ram 3500 Mega Cab SRW, although I am still considering the DRW. I will likely upgrade to the DRW when I can afford a second vehicle and the truck can be my dedicated tow vehicle, and not my daily driver.

See attached pic for comparison of Ram 3500 and Silverado 3500 payloads. All models of both brands have adequate fifth wheel towing capacity.

[Hoojs12840]

I have a 2016 377RLBH. Fully loaded with generator. We full time so we carry everything we need. With all that my pin is a shade over 4,000 lbs with fill fresh water tank, full propane and gasoline tank on the generator. I currently tow with a 2013 GMC Sierra 2500 cc 4x4 regular bed. We are going to upgrade to a 2016 3500 SRW Sierra this spring, but more so due to having 60,000 miles on the one we have than the payload.

As far as Ford/Dodge. They make perfectly capable trucks. I went with GMC because the Duramax/Allison is the most proven drivetrain out there for pickups. So far my out of pocket maintenance is less than $1,000 and I have the dealer due all the maintain r by the book. *(first 3 oil changes were free)

[Stephan]

We looked at a Jayco North Point 377 RLBH today. WOW! We thought we had another 5th wheel camper pick out from another company, but really like this Jayco model! What do you guys think about the your Jayco campers. Good or Bad!! Need some reviews!

Help

[nhfire152]

I went with the North Point 375BHFS which is the full bunkhouse version.

Absolutely hands down the BEST decision we made. We came out of a Rockwood travel trailer into this fifth wheel and love it! I liked the 377 model, but figured we would outgrow the smaller room fairly quickly.

[oldmanAZ]

Originally Posted by Stephan

We looked at a Jayco North Point 377 RLBH today. WOW! We thought we had another 5th wheel camper pick out from another company, but really like this Jayco model! What do you guys think about the your Jayco campers. Good or Bad!! Need some reviews!

Help

Welcome to the JOF. As you probably already know, there are lots of Jayco fans and Jayco help on this site.

[Justin]

I tow our 377 with a SRW 2015 Ford F350 crew cab long bed with air bags.

[Magnolia Tom]

I pull my 377 with an 06 F350 DRW. That's a big heavy trailer. You could do it with a SRW, heck even a 3/4 ton (I've done it) but I don't think you'd feel as comfortable as you would with a dually. My .02

[3'senough]

I have always pulled with a DRW and like the stability and extra rubber on the road. My current TV sinks about 1 inch when I hook up my 3K pin weight to it. Difference in SRW vs DRW is going to be margin and Axle rating. Spring packs are the same in either.

One thing that will also vary from SRW to DRW and manufacturer to manufacturer is axle configs offered in each diesel option. Ram is limited in SRW with 1, but offers 3 in DRW.