I am new to this forum and looking to by a Ford truck to pull a 5th wheeler we are looking at. I have been reading and talking with various people and I have become sooooo confused.

I thought it would be a simple thing to look at upgrading our truck to a new one for a new 5th wheeler we are looking at. I am hoping to get some feedback from you seasoned Ford folks. I will list the heavier of the two 5th wheelers and hopefully someone can confirm what I am asking or what I need to do.

Dry Weight of 5th wheeler: 8,935 lbs
Dry Hitch Weight: 2,135

I have been told, just add another 1,000 lbs for a safe guard and make sure your truck has 500 to 1000 lbs more available to pull for the good measure.

The F150 ecoboost can pull 11,200 and my brother-in-law keeps pushing me that way, instead of the F250 (11,700 lbs) that I was looking to do.

Between various dealers giving me different ideas, my brother-in-law with his knowledge and me reading so many things, I again am so confused.

I am hoping somone or a bunch of you could give me some direction of which way to go.

Thank you all ahead of time for your wisdom and feedback.

 

Personally I'd go with the f350 diesel......

 

Trying to tow a 5er that heavy with a F-150, even with the max tow package, will put you over max payload/GVWR, the hitch weight is too high. You need a F-350.

 

Tell me more about this GVWR and how to calculate that. I was told the 15o was fine and the 250 would be overkill. Now your telling me f350? Enlighten me.

 

I agree with GLC. Get an F350 single rear wheel and never look back.

Payload, payload, payload. That's the issue with RVing and half ton trucks. Remember that the tow rating for every vehicle is for all types of trailers. Towing a 10k pound boat is significantly easier on a tow vehicle than a 10k pound RV, be it travel trailer or 5th wheel. You can ignore that tow rating for a 5th wheel. This is how the math works based on estimates of fictitious dry weights:

Pin weight: 2135
5th wheel receiver : 250 pounds
You - driver: xxx pounds
Spouse - passenger - yyy pounds

This is over 2500 pounds before loading anything in the large basement storage of the RV, anything in the bed of the truck around the receiver (firewood for example). This does not include anything else you want to carry inside the cab, pillows, blankets, emergency supplies, kids, etc.

All the pin weight must be supported by the truck's suspension. 2500 pounds is rare for even a stripper 2WD extended cab F-150 with the 8200 pound GVWR package. You can probably make it work with a regular cab truck and the 8200 pounds GVWR, but you run into another problem. Every pickup that carries enough weight ti put it at GVWR with just weight in the bed is sagging a lot. You'll want some kind of suspension help, like air bags, helper springs, Timbrens, etc. Now the 8200 pound GVWR F-150 has similar payload as the F-250, in the 2000-3000 pound range. Diesels generally are lower. This is why I say F-350 with actual real world payload of 3500-4000 pounds. Plenty for a loaded 5th wheel RV, people, and gear. The cost difference between a similarly equipped 3/4 ton and 1-ton single rear wheel is about $600. The unloaded rides are generally the same as most trucks have overload springs for the 1-ton which do not come in contact unless at least 1500 pounds on the rear. Take a look at the Yellow Tire and Loading sticker on every vehicle 2006+. When you find truck with at least 3000 pounds listed, add it to your potential list.

So while I love the F-150 EB, recommend it for up to its tow rating, and would love to own one (pretty please put it in an HD Expy), the F-150 still does not make sense for many in the RV world, especially 5th wheel owners.

 

I would like to thank you for the reply APTS. This is why I getting confused with all the things I have looked at. I was looking at the F250 gas at first and then thought the F150 looking at the ratings. Just when you look at the manual, they still don't have any numbers for 5th wheelers.

I think I am going to push back on the wife and keep the 6000 lb trailer we currently have and love. Look at getting a deal on the 2011 F150 Ecoboost for pulling that and wait until the kids get a little bigger and then get a bigger trailer.

We are talking a lot of money for the new truck and trailer right now. I think we need to be happy with what we have and go from there.

 

I tow a fifth wheel that weighs 11k with an 06 Crew Cab 4x4 F350 6.0 and you know it's back there I can't imagine trying to tow it with an F150. The other thing that they forgot to metion the GCVW (Gross Combined Vehicle Weight) my F350 weighs in at 8200lbs with me, full tank, hitch, and everything else I carry in the truck so that puts me at just shy of 20,000lbs combined and the gross comined weight limit is at 23,000. So not only do you have to think about about the other weight ratings but you have to think of it as a combined unit as well.

 

The Ecoboost will pull a 6000# bumper pull almost like it's not back there and it will be WELL within limits. I'd still recommend the max tow package.

 

The f150 will tow it, with all the max tow options; but the f-250+ has a full float rear axle that is made for towing, vs the semi float rear axle on the f150. If you were towing the trailer say less than 10-20 times a year the f150 would be fine. If you're traveling all over the US with the 5ft wheel you're going to want a f250+.

 

I don't think so - what do you think a 5er advertised at 8935# DRY is going to weigh loaded up and ready to go? That advertised 2135# pin weight is going to be substantially higher. With a hitch and a normal load in the truck (people, cargo, a full tank of gas) you are going to be so far over the GVWR, rated payload, *AND* rear GAWR that it will be dangerous.

 

An F150 can and will tow a fifth. Have you looked at any lighter alternatives ? We tow a fifth with our older supercrew it is a lighter unit and tows far better than any travel trailer because the wheight is directly on the frame and over the axle so it is just more stable. The new F150's have better capacities than mine and therefore there is a better choice of units now available for them. Dont forget that even an F250 / F350 can easily be overloaded if your not carefull.

 

Ok just for grins and giggles lets say....

Dry weight 8935 + pay load 2500= 11435 gross trailer weight x .25= 2859 pin weight

That's not taking into account the 250-300lbs added for the hitch plus occupants of the truck. You are right at F350 territory to tow that trailer and keep it in the weight ratings of the truck. Just going off of the 2012 F350 towing specs payload is 3550lbs and trailer weight is 14000 you would be very close on the pay load number towing that trailer.

 

I am thinking of now going with the F150 . . and keep our 6000 lb trailer.
It will pull that with no issues . . I will get better gas mileage for daily travel to and from work (28 miles) and will calm my wife with a new truck.

She has wanted a new truck (have a 2005 GMC Crew Sierra with 79K on it). But she wants me to have a new truck, to eliminate any GMC issues in the near future. They have seem to come about after 80K.

So the simplier fact is to get a new truck to keep her happy and keep the current trailer and in a few years, maybe upgrade the trailer and the truck.

I was just hoping to do it now, with the Ford dealer giving me 6K off both model trucks (F150 & F250) and the 5th trailer price dropped from 43K to 27K.

But the reality is, keep things simpler and get a new toy to pull the current trailer and enjoy life.

Dave, if you could give me more info on how to do the calculations, I would love to find out more. This whole thing gets so confusing when you do a fifth and I would like to learn more about it. So if we look again at a later time, I will be at least better educated and will be able to keep my wife in check with size.

 

Glossary of terms:

GVWR = gross vehicle weight rating. This is the vehicle, contents, and tongue or pin weight.

GAWR = gross axle weight rating. Expressed as front and rear.

GCWR = gross combined weight rating. This is the total weight of the whole rig with the trailer on it.

Max payload = how much you can put in the truck over and above a completely empty, dry vehicle. Includes tongue or pin weight.

Max tow rating = the heaviest trailer you can tow UNDER IDEAL CONDITIONS. The odds are almost 100% that you will exceed one of the other ratings long before you hit this max.

All the ratings can be found in a combination of the towing specs and on the door jamb sticker. A truck scale is the best way to determine where you are exactly at. You run the rig across and get the slip with the weight of each axle and the total weight.

Front axle should not exceed the front GAWR.
Rear axle should not exceed the rear GAWR.
Front + rear axle should not exceed the GVWR.
Total weight should not exceed the GCWR.

 

Jaybird, a fifth wheel will put between 15-25% of the weight of the trailer on the pin and this depends on a few things. The rest is just simple math and knowing the ratings of the truck you are looking to tow with.


Length of trailer
Where they put the axles
How many axles, tandem, triple, or quad. Most tripple and quad axle trailers need to be towed by an F550 or greater.
Where the waste and water tanks are located in the trailer chassis.
Where the kitchen is on the floor plan. I have a rear kitchen and our trailer is tail heavy.