Greetings,

I would like opinions of a Jayco Eagle that comes with a Reese Revolution already installed and my purchasing of a Reese sliding fifth wheel. I own a 2011 super crew 4x4 f150 and new to RV towing. Do you think the equipment stated above is sufficient for RV towing?

In addition, from reading previous post; I am finding that my truck does not have a transmission dip stick and I would have to take it to the dealer to check. What is the recommend status in terms of transmission check. I have maybe 8900 miles on my truck and bought it new in 2011. Had one oil change from jiffy lube at 3700 miles and another at 7200 miles at the dealer before the dealer told me I get free oil changes. My next oil chane is 17,000 miles according to the dealer. That seems strange: any comments?

One last thing: does my truck have a transmission cooler already installed? I do have a tow button on the shifter: and what exactly is the tow button used for when I'm towing my RV? Remember, I'm the new Kidd on the block.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

For my going on 15 years as a RVIA Master certified tech my opinion of Jayco is very low in general. The revolution or Sidewinder is a pretty solid setup we have sold hundreds of trailers with them and people like them. I am not a big fan of sliding hitches they serve a need but the question is do you even need one? the second question is can you even use one since most of the sliding hitches we have installed in the 5.5ft boxes require removing the tailgate to use them. The Revolution is going to want around 30in behind the pin because it moves the pivot point back 22in. now you want to slide it back another 10 to 12 in depending on which hitch you get and your pivot point is now over the tailgate. If you have 32 in from the pin on the fifth wheel plus the 22in in the Revolution that means you have 54in on center which would let you put a 102 wide trailer at a 90deg angle. Most of the time with the Revolution style setup we just try and get 31 to 33 in back from the cab even if that means being a couple in behind the rear axle. Odds are your going to need air bags any how so save the money from the sliding hitch you likely can't use and get bags. Yes your truck has a trans cooler but your probably gonna need a extra one. Oil change on my 09 is every 6000 so he might be thinking 3rd oil change should be around then if you have reset your oil life it should tell you when it wants to be changed. or perhaps they have extended it due to all the new oils having longer life. I hope that helps

 

I don't care what all the RV dealers say, I still say that 1/2 ton trucks should not tow a 5th wheel trailer, especially with a 5.5' bed.

 

With the light weight trailers there are options with a 1/2 ton however the 5.5ft bed is pretty much a deal breaker for most. We sell the Super Glide 12k hitch and have a used one in stock which is the best choice for that truck but not with a Revolution on the trailer. A 27 Jayco Bunkhouse is gonna max out the truck the question is can he mount the hitch far enough back to clear the cab or else he can't turn. The slide hitch most likely won't work unless he can shove it forward far enough to not have it take out his tailgate when he slides it back. If I was planning on towing a 5th wheel I would not pick that truck. However he asked if it could be done and the answer is Probably. My first choice would be a lighter trailer with a extended pin box and a Super Glide 12k. When you add in water and all the stuff people put in a camper you need to plan on at least 3500lbs of extra weight beyond what the setup weighs empty. The trailer and hitch is going to drop a easy 1000lbs on his rear axle so bags may be needed. From my point of view the sales guys always say sure you can tow it then I have to get my guys to do it or be the bad guy and say no you can't the owner does not like me being the bad guy. However he will usually agree with me if I am right it is those gray areas that cause conflicts. Like hooking a 4600lb trailer to a vehicle with 5000lb max towing and having to tell the customer to pack light.

 

Thanks guys! I am not going to haul water but dump it on site before I leave to go to another site. The Jayco HT( stands for half ton towable)!s 7135 pounds. The only thing I plan on carrying full are the two propane tanks. Plan on using plastic knives n forks, paper cups to cut down on weight. My trucks max is 9300 pounds and it's just me n the wife and may carry a few out of 9 grandkids that can safely fit in the cab, maybe 4@ 65 pounds apiece. This should be really interesting... Picking up the trailer soon from the dealer. Ordered the sliding fifth wheel n should arrive today and will have it installed tomorrow.

 

That is under ideal conditions. You will be over one of the other ratings long before you reach 9300.

 

I don't know all the measurements but I still tend to think a slider is not needed and adds extra weight to the setup. You are going to be so close to overloaded it may suck to travel and have nothing when you get there. We start bumping guys down in trailer size when they hit 65% of towing max for empty weight of trailer. The numbers I am using have you at 84% with out any people or gas in the truck. And that's with not much more than a overnight bag for 1 person. My personal bet is by the time your wife gets her stuff and some food loaded you are over loaded. You will still tow it however you will be one of those people everyone complains about. What we sell to a lot of 1/2 ton owners is Sportsmen S235RK or S245RK they are both under 6000 empty and around 7000 loaded

 

What engine is in your 2011?

 

5.0 V8. With propane tanks full and generator gas, the Jayco 27.5 BHS will weigh 7751 ibs which leaves me with 1549 ibs left. Add water = an additional 960 pounds. I will be close to 9300lbs.

My plans are not to carry water but dump and fill at the next site, thus leaving empty tanks when returning home for the longetivity of the truck. Besides, when I bought the truck, I bought an extended warranty as well.

 

Hardly, you are totally ignoring all the other numbers you need to stay below.
What is your payload? Subtract the weight of the hitch? subtract the weight of everything else that you are carrying, including yourself and other passengers? Subtract the pin weight of the trailer? I would be willing to bet that that payload has become a fairly large negative number. The tow number is an over optimistic number that can be reached only in ideal situations, which never seem to happen. You must also stay below the GVWR (gross vehicle weight, possibly about 7200lbs). What does your vehicle weigh empty with only full fuel? You also need to stay below the GAWR (gross axle weight rating, probably about 4000lbs for rear). You also need to stay below the GCWR (gross combined weight rating, weight of vehicle and trailer loaded, probably 14 - 15k). Only if you stay below those can you tow the max tow rating.

 

Very good post Kingfish The RVIA supported a group called A Weigh We Go years ago and they took portable scales to RV rallies what they found was close to 90% of all RV's are overloaded. The results caused one Motorhome manufacture to stop production of a popular model when it was found to cause the drivers side front tire to be nearly 4000 lbs overloaded due to the slideout configuration. We can plate trucks to 160,000 here in MI however the most we were able to ever get completely legal was 153,000 due to axle and bridged weight between axles restrictions.

 

You are looking at around #1600 pin weight with a #7800 5th wheel.. (figuring at 20% pin weight).

What's your yellow payload sticker say on the F150? I noted on the PDF brochure for that rig, it states for the F150, "Ford F-150
Reg. Cab, Short Bed, 2WD, 5.0L V-8"...

How much do you plan on tossing in the bed of the truck? How many other passengers?

Paper plates and plastic utensils won't save that much weight!

What else do you plan on putting in the 5vers 'basement' area? They usually have a lot of inviting storage space and will make it tempting to fill that space after you've made a trip or two..

Will your truck get down the road hitched up to that rig? Sure it will... How well it's going to do it is subjective to your own performance expectations, but I'd say in general, it's not going to be that much fun..

I think you will also find that you'll want to take more and more stuff as you go out and enjoy your RV, since that's the point of having a nice rig like that, so you don't have to scrimp and do without because it 'weighs too much'...

Anyway, I know it says it's "half ton towable" and all, but my truck is a 'half ton' too and I don't have the payload for even half that pin weight....

But, it's been said already and only you can determine what 'specifications' you wish to go by, so best of luck in whatever choice that is..

Mitch

 

So you are the guy who hooks up the sold trailer to the customer's truck?

Wouldn't it be nice if there was a web site that you plug in your truck's payload capacity, tire size/ply rating, GVWR, bed size, and whether you were 5th wheeling or tag along, and probably some other data and have it spit out the max pin weight and trailer weight of the trailer to buy.

Or is that what you do???

 

Just took a look at the Jayco website. The model you are looking at is 7135 WITHOUT options. GVWR of the trailer is just under 10,000lbs. Never use the "unloaded" weight for calculating whether the vehicle can handle as it will never be unloaded. With that trailer, you will be well over just about every limit the F150 has. Not very safe fort carrying around your grandkids.

 

Ford F150 super crew 4x4. 5.0 V8