Most newer Dually trucks are capable of pulling the heavy 397TH. Personally I like the FORD and GM trucks more than Dodge. I have had some sketchy experiences with Chrysler service departments and tend to stay away from their vehicles because of it.
I started the research into what truck to get about 2-years before we were ready to buy our coach. I did extensive research into all of the vehicles. Knowing that we would be spending hours and hours driving I wanted to get something a bit more luxurious to ride around in. That pulled me into the GMC line. The Denali is as close to riding in a Cadillac as you can get with a truck. It is beautifully appointed and very comfortable. Ours didn't come with the fancy camera system like the FORD's have now days (and the newer GMC's have), but I did order it with the trailering camera package that added cameras in the exact same locations (mirrors, truck bed, behind the camper).
I also knew that we would be going with a Toy Hauler Fifth Wheel trailer that was certainly going to be heavy. That put us into a Dually with a long 8ft bed. There really isn't a safe option for towing a big trailer with anything else.
As far as capabilities go, the GMC 3500HD is a workhorse. It is incredibly powerful. It has the Duramax 6.6L Turbo Diesel that delivers 910 ft. lb. of torque to a rock solid Allison 6-Speed automatic transmission. It has a 3.73 gear ratio, which is perfect for getting the 397TH moving and being able to haul it up the mountains while maintaining reasonable gas milage. Although the diesel and the interior appointments add weight, it still has a payload of 4930 lbs and a trailering capacity of 22,700 lbs.
I know I am biased, but I think the GMC and 397TH look very good together. I see a lot of campers and Dually trucks, but it is rare to see another GMC set up like ours or 397TH on the road.
Yes, we use a Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TMPS) that watches both our GMC Dully tires and all 6 397TH tires. There are a lot of options out there for TMPS systems. We went with the EEZ RV Products TMPS System. We chose EEZ vs TST and others on the market due to their reputation and longevity in the industry.
We started out with the original EezTire TPMS system on our old coach that had a black and white display. It was a very reliable system and easy to read in direct sunlight, but it started to get dated when others such as the TST came out with a color monitor for their units.
What is nice about using a well respected vendor like EEZ RV Products is their components all work together. When we got our new 397TH we initially moved the sensors and components over to it and all worked day one. EEZ RV finally released a new device that has a color monitor. It worked perfectly with our existing system. All we had to do was change the display and program the old sensors into the new device.
Here's a link to the new color display system. This is the display only. You also need sensors (one for each tire). You can click on the picture to see teh product details on Amazon.
For a long coach like the Momentum 397TH you also need to have a repeater. We installed ours in the front battery compartment.
Our GMC 3500HD has a GPS and so do our phones, but we can't rely on either of them completely. There are a number of challenges with GPS's. The first being connectivity.
Phone-based GPS systems like Google or Apple Maps are useless if you are Boondocking or anywhere that does not have data connectivity. I have had many occasion to be out somewhere and the phone goes haywire and has no idea where it is. Most of the time that is due to being outside of cellular coverage, but any interference with reception such as driving through mountains or the city will cause issues with accuracy. Internet connected apps work so well it is easy to forget that the map data is in the cloud. When cloud access is lost the maps are lost as well. Turn your phone into Airplane Mode to see exactly what happens when data connectivity is lost.
There are apps that have databases that download and install onto the phone. CoPilot GPS is one that is used fairly often in the traveling camping community. The challenge with CoPilot and many of the apps is they license their routing algorithms from third-party providers. Licensing is expensive. At the end of the day someone is collecting the height and width of every road to make routing work. Small businesses like CoPilot do not generate a lot of revenue. The end result is they use suboptimal routing systems that can get you into a situation you may not be able to get out of. Apps are nice for planning, but not for actual driving.
Our truck GPS is fantastic. Many of the issues such as data loss and routing work very well. GM can afford to license legit technology that works for most of their customers. The problem with the vehicle GPS is bridges, tunnels, tight roads, etc. Onboard GPS systems simply do not take into account anything other than the vehicle it is installed in when routing. It is another great system for planning, but it is useless when actually on the highway.
So what do we use? The industry standard system – Garmin. Garmin is a Goliath company. They produce GPS systems for Aviation and Transportation. The systems they build are rock solid and reliable. They license their data from a company called Here Technologies that maps planet earth. Here generates millimeter accurate data for locations throughout the world. Their coverage far exceeds Google and anyone else that maps roads. Garmin is a smart company. They license data for everything from Here, including bridge heights, traffic, road grades, railroad track locations, etc. Here is a Big Data Internet of Things company. They map everything. When you are using a Garmin unit, you have access to the same data points.
The system we actually use is the Garmin RV 785 with Traffic. The system not only takes into account the length, height, width, propane, etc. it also has an onboard dash cam that saves money from having to buy a camera to record the road in front of us. We highly recommend Garmin products. The best of the best for RV travel is the 785 with Traffic. Here's the link to Garmin 785 system we use.
The answer is it depends on the home state (e.g. the state that issued the Drivers License). There are some states such as Texas that require a Commercial Drivers License (CDL) to tow a vehicle with a combined weight of 26,000 lbs or over. Some states also have length restrictions that put a vehicle into a commercial category. However, there are many states including Florida and Illinois where we are from that exempt Recreational Vehicles from commercial drivers licensing requirements.
Federal Law requires all states to honor licensed drivers from other states. What this means is that if you are licensed in a state that does not require a CDL license then you can legally drive through a state that does. Under my Illinois drivers license I can tow this huge rig through Texas legally while someone who lives or is domiciled in Texas would need a CDL to do the same. Of course that does not except us from the traffic laws in the state. We cannot carry more weight than our truck is rated for, we may not be able to go into a tunnel with propane on board, we may have to follow a truck speed limit, etc. It is always good idea to research the laws of the states you will be traveling through to make sure you are aware of what is legal and what isn't. If in doubt call and ask. The state police is a good source to call.
