When we decided to become full time RV’ers we discussed whether or not to purchase a new truck at the same time. We decided to find the lightest 42′ 5th wheel trailer with a second bedroom and try to pack it light to postpone the new truck purchase for 3 years. So that’s what we did. You might be wondering what truck we started out with. It was a 2004 Dodge 2500 with the 5.9 Cummins and a 4 speed automatic transmission. 
We purchased this truck after purchasing our first 5th wheel which our 1995 Chevy 3500 SRW with a 454 couldn’t tow up any hill without over heating, including an ant hill. Dodgezilla, as we call it, was perfect for the job with plenty of power and torque. It rode a bit rough and loudly, but was pretty good for a lifted truck with 37″ tires that had also been straight piped (no muffler or catalytic converter). We knew that the max towing for this truck was just under 13k pounds but with air bags to help with the extra weight it would in reality tow more like a 2004 3500 SRW. I figured we wouldn’t be in a rush to get anywhere and just take it easy on it. Thinking all would be well, we started getting ready to tow our new trailer. We removed the 6″ lift and replaced the 37″ tires with some barely larger than stock. Below are some pictures of it in Monument Valley at it’s close to stock height.
Fast forward to Jun 3rd 2018. We had just spent the winter in sunny Florida and were just outside of Price, UT about 40 miles from our new home for the summer and I heard a big bang. The whole truck torqued from side to side and all of a sudden I couldn’t make the truck move under it’s own power. Luckily, we where on the down hill side of our trip so I could coast to the shoulder of the highway. 
From there we were able to get the truck and trailer towed to our new campsite but there wasn’t enough room for the tow truck, Dodgezilla and Rudy (name we gave our large trailer) to pull through our campsite. After a few calls, we were lucky to find a friend with a truck and gooseneck hitch we borrowed to move the trailer from the street into our spot. Thanks to Jeff and Tori for helping out a friend in need.
So we had a decision to make. Do we fix what’s wrong with Dodgezilla or do what we probably should of done to begin with and purchase a truck that can tow much more than our trailer could ever weigh…… So we found ourselves at the Dodge dealership purchasing a 2018 Ram 3500 dually tradesman that has a max trailer weight of 30,320 lbs, nearly double our trailers max weight of 17,500 lbs.
Things brake from time to time, so having a brand new truck under warranty, plus a few extras like the engine/exhaust brake, helped us make this decision. Also, watching an old Chevy dually take flight over some rail road tracks in the 1981 film Cannonball Run is what first hooked me on big trucks and made this my dream truck.
If you where wondering what broke on Dodgezilla, it was the flex plate. We
ended up fixing that and using Dodgezilla as a trade-in on the new truck. We’ve not come up with a name for the new truck but I’m sure we will.