I know I will probably get my *** chewed for asking this but how bad of an idea is it for me to tow a 8000lb 5th wheel with my f150. My truck is a 2000 f150 5.4 4x4OR with 3.55ls, fipk, magnaflow exhaust, xcal II, hi flow cats, larger injectors, shift kit, 4r70w, prodigy brake controller, B&W gooseneck hitch 5th wheel adapter and 140000 miles. I would only be towing 1 a month for 90 miles round trip. There will be a few hill for about 12 of those miles other than that flat west texas land. I maintain the truck well with tranny fluid changes every year, oil every 3000, ect,...

 

Bad. Very bad. You'll be way over your GVWR and GAWR. The mods will help you get going faster, but not stop and handle better.

 

I have a gooseneck hitch in my truck. I don't know how much this trailer weighs but I pulled it with my truck. (bone stock)
My truck pulled it fine. It didn't want to pull it over 65mph with O/D on. It would pull it 75mph fine with O/D off, but it didn't like it very much. I wanted to pull with O/D on, so I slowed down to 62-65mph. It didn't pull ANY different with a horse in it, as opposed to it being empty. (yeah, only 1 horse in that huge trailer!) The truck handled the weight on it's back fine, even with the horse tied up in the front of the trailer. You'd be surprised how much tounge weight you can have with a gooseneck. It handled like a dream too. Instead of trying to push the truck around when I put on brakes, it pressed down on the front tires. It was a pleasure to pull, and easy to navigate. I pulled a smaller bumper pull version of the same trailer before. It sucked. It was harder to pull, (even though smaller) and it tried to steer my truck for me when I put on brakes hard. It also squatted the back axle severely.

 

F-150's are not designed for 5th wheel towing, desptie what Ford says. Can they do it? Yes. Will you be over Ford's ratings? Yes. Will you be safe?

 

Mine is.
NO. A heck of a lot safer than with a bumper pull with half the weight/load. Have you ever pulled something with a gooseneck? They pull WAY better than bumper pull! MUCH more stable! The truck will stop it MUCH better than a bumper pull too,(even a heavier gooseneck) cause it puts weight on the front of the truck, instead of picking up the back of the truck.

See, a gooseneck ball is supposed to be mounted in the bed of the truck in front of the axle. So it actually splits the weight between the front and rear axle. They pull like a dream. Granted, 8,000lbs is a lot for an F-150 on a big hill, but with a brake controller, I think the issue of safety is well taken care of. It'd be better than a bumper pull, that's for sure.

 

I wish we had private messaging availible here. Anyway...

Chester, how is your F-150 designed for towing 5th wheel towing?

How would an F-150 towing an 8000 pound fth wheel not be over Ford's GVWR?

Do you understand how weight distributing hitches work? They transfer some of the wight to the front axles as well. Although not as effectively as 5th wheel trailers, they do work quite well. A 8000 pound 5th wheel will not tow as well as a 4000 pound bumper w/ properly adjusted WD hitch, at least not with an F-150. The springs are too soft to handle 15-20% of a 5th wheel weight plus the people & cargo in the truck itself. The 10-15% of a bumper pull trailer combine with a WD hitch is better for F-150's.

 

We do. Click on my name, and press "send private message"

Cause I had my machine shop build me a gooseneck ball mount. They cut a 1 inch thick steel plate and welded it to my frame. The plate sits flush withthe bottom of the bed. The ball is screwed onto the plate. How are f-350s designed for it then? Do they come from ford with the above mentioned setup? NO.

You said that they weren't designed for 5th wheel pulling. I didn't say anything about the ammount of weight he was gonna pull. All I said is that F-150s handle loads much better with gooseneck/5th wheel hitches. Even if it's over the GVWR, it'll still be a lot safer than a similar load hooked to the back of the truck.

Yes I know how they work. No, I don't like them, and NO they're not better. They are still hooked to the rear of the truck. A heavy trailer tends to command the truck, and you don't have that as bad with a 5th wheel. Dude, take a look at semi trucks. Do they have WD hitches? Take a look at Big campers. Do they have WD hitches? What makes you think that a WD would be better on an F-150? WD hitches are a cheap way to make a bumper pull trailer easier on the truck. Gooseneck/5th wheel hitches are a whole other category.

Have you ever pulled anything with a gooseneck hitch? If you haven't, they how can you say this? If you ever try it, you'll yank off that WD hitch and throw it in the dumpster.

I'm not saying that WD hitches don't help. I'm just saying that a gooseneck hitch helps a lot more, and they're a lot safer if you're gonna max out the truck with 8,000lbs. Heck, they're safer anyway. But it requires a gooseneck trailer, and if you only have a bumper pull, and can't get a gooseneck, then I understand why you have the WD hitch.