I am planning on retiring soon and would like to purchase a 5th wheel. Can anyone tell me what kind of truck is needed? I saw a really neat F150 with King Cab and "shortbed" (I think) today, and wondered if it could handle a 5th wheel.

Any comments? P L E A S E?

I've never owned a truck and know absolutely nothing about them. Time to learn.



I want to thank you ALL for your very kind responses. While I can't even imagine understanding what some of you wrote, it certainly has opened my eyes as to how much I have to learn before investing in this adventure. Thank you again.

 

Well you'll get more response in the Towing forum for this type question.
This Forum 'questions about the site' is more along the lines of how the site functions, (i.e. 'how do I post a picture', 'why is my computer slow', 'where are we going and what are we doing in this handbasket?')

Anyway sounds like you are ahead of me timewise, I'm retiring in five years and will be touring the US of A in a big, fully functional fifth wheel.

The F150 makes claims to towing 9,000 lbs (properly equiped).
Realistically, the F150 shouldn't tow over 6,000 lbs if you want to be comfortable and enjoy your retirement years.

The F150 is a 'Light-duty' pickup truck.

A decent 5thwheel starts at about 7,000 lbs and goes up past 12,000 lbs.
I plan to be 'comfortable', 'safe' and 'happy' with no regrets.

Don't buy cheap house paint.
Don't buy cheap razor blades.
And don't buy no F150 to pull a fifth wheel.

You want a SuperDuty Diesel.
(I will also be getting the F350 Dually)

 

Hi Gama...

Like Raoul mentioned, I think you're going to have a better audience in the Hauling and Towing forum.

With that in mind, I'm going to migrate this one down that way...

Welcome to f150online.com! We're glad to have you aboard! I think you'll find that we are the standard among other F-Series based message boards for information. Please feel free to ask questions as they come to you and join in on other discussions!

RP

 

I would not tow a 5th wheel with a super crew, Box is to small at 5.5 ft....over hang on the trailer is to close to the back window, less turning radius, Thier are fith wheals on the market that compact/midsize trucks can tow, they might be less ditance from the rear window...Price out your 5th wheal first, do you want one with pop out's, how much do you want to tow...once you add the groceries, water, ect trailers can gain whieght...a super duty with a 8ft box would be my pick, and I would get the 6.0 powerstroke...

 

Shop your trailer first. That will dictate how much truck you'll need. I ngeneral, I'm with Raoul. You'll be suferring with anything less than a diesel powered heavy duty truck. Fithe wheel trialers have a lot of tounge weight, %15-20% of the trailer's weight typically. Take the smallest 5th wheel at 5k pounds, put 1k in the bed, plus 400 for the hitch itself, and you've got no payload left for you and passengers.

When going with a diesel, consider the payload of the 250 vs 350 or 2500 vs 3500. Diesels weigh more than gas engines which takes a bite out of payload.

Consider an 8' bed vs. the more common 6.5' bed. The front of the camper can hit the back of the cab if you don't use a slider hitch.

Check out the forums at www.rv.net for a lot more information. If you've never owned any truck before, do a lot of research before investing $50-100k on a truck/trailer combo. They both depreciate quickly, so you want to get the right stuff up front.

 

I will give you the best piece of advice in the worl on 5th wheel towing F250 0r 350. F150 have to light of beds and most 5th wheels are heavy, only a few rated low enough for a F150 and they do not have the nice superslides.
A superslide in a 27ft will put you way over the edge loaded. PERIOD. Go on and spend a 4 or 5 thousand more. 7.3 power stroke or a V-10 if you are considering a nice 5th wheel. ( If you are going to stay in a travel trailer style, some nice ones can be handled by the 150. I pull a 27 foot Flagstaff superlite with a 7 foot slide. 4200lbs dry and I am loaded around 5,100. I can pull that weigh anywhere, mountains or the beach with ease. SOOO.. if you are definitely a 5th wheel buyer. Go F250 Heavy or superduty and you will thank me later

 

I pull a 23' sportsman 5th wheel and it doesn't even breath hard, just make sure you have damn good trailer brakes!

 

Does your 23' 5th wheel have a 15' slide and a full upper bedroom with full stand-up room?

 

No, have a full queen bed up front, can sit on bed no problem but can't stand, Dry weight is 4295lbs.

 

Yep, trailer will determine the tow vehicle. If you're planning on traveling with the 5th wheel after you retire I would suggest a deisel 3/4 to 1 ton rig. If you're looking at trailers try to find an Open Road dealer. Open Road website These are the best trailers and 5th wheels for the money in my opinion. Of course I have no idea what your budget is. As far as a truck is concerned you might try finding a used low milage diesel. That will save you about $5-10K right off the bat. Taken care of a diesel will run a long, long time.

www.rv.net is really the best place to start looking for information on RVing.

Good Luck!

 

Mine does!! And In my experince my 2004 5.4L f 150 will smoke a 6.0L 2500HD GMC towing the same trailer both up hills and stopping. But it wont beat it in a drag race empty.. go figure. It might not be as good as a diesel or v-10 but Im satisfied till the budget allows more truck. Im maxed on my GAWR and at bout 90% of my GCWR and I could care less what the weight police think. If I was retiring and doing alot of travelling Id for sure go diesel or v-10, and had I known I was buying this trailer I would have bought more truck ,but since my tow duty is about 2% of my trucks use it actually works fantastic. Regarding RV.net, I find it a bit of a stuffy arrogant atmosphere, it IS the best place to go if you dont mind people making you feel your truck and trailer are inferior and its a great site for help with RV troubles and issues but unless you want every Tom **** an Harry telling you you NEED a dually diesel its IMO a waste of time for purchasing advice, but everyone has opinions! My advice and I feel its very good advice, is to read research and fully understand the weight ratings, try to stay under 80% of the max on any of the weight ratings, always include passengers,water, propane and cargo in your calculations, always buy a little more truck than you think you'll need(trailer mfgrs always sticker them with a UVW thats less than they REALLY weigh)and dont listen to trailer or car salesmens advice on tow vehicles and you'll do fine.

 

I have a 25' dutchman one slide out the living and dinning area 14' it is a high quility unit dry weight is 4900# the bed up front, queen size comfortable. 1200# of the camper sits in the box 6.5' the rv dealer installed an extention on the hitch so it will not hit the cab and did'nt have to shell more money for the sliding hitch. It is easy to pull never had any problems and fits the truck just write. and all hooked up and loaded sits the truck level.

back in the 60s and 70s did you ever hear who can pull what with what, rv'er back than had 30' airstreams and pulled them with the Buick 350s 400 455's didn't matter.

 

I here ya, I remember seeing pasenger cars towing trailers, across the country was common, My family traveled all over the western states and Canada towing a 5000 to 6000# trailer with a automatic 318 dodge polara with no mod's. Now it seem's you need a 500hp deisel to do the same thing, go figue?

 

Saw a '84-'88 Caddy pulling a 30' fifth wheel a couple of months ago, it had a neat fifth wheel attachment coming up through the trunk, was pretty cool, who needs a PS when you got a Caddy?