I have a 2012 F250 6.7 Looking to buy a 5th wheel trailer that weighs 16,000 loaded. I have beefed up my rear springs by adding another main leaf an two helpers. How can I raise the towing capacity on my 250 higher than 16000. I have the basic Michelin 18 inch tires. Dont want to max out the truck. My 5th wheel now only weighs 8,000 lbs and I dont even know its there when towing. Any suggestions???

 

I don't have the actual numbers in front of me. There are two sides to this story: Your safe weight capability, and your legal weight capability. Safely speaking, considering that I have routinely hauled 16,000+ lb gooseneck trailers with my '99 F-350 SRW 7.3, I think you have nothing to worry about with even a bone stock 2012 F-250 since the newer trucks are much more buff compared to my old '99. The main thing to look at is legalities for your state and states you travel through. Regardless, always keep your max GCWR below 26,001 lbs unless you have a CDL.

The problem with the newer Fords that are capable of moving mountains is as I understand it, the laws now add the trailer weight rating if it is 10,000 lbs GWR or over with the trucks weight rating. For example: Trailer with three 7,000 lb axles = 21,000 GWR + truck with 10,000 lb GWR = 31,000 lbs GCWR meaning even if your rig only weighs 19,000 lbs actual weight, they can still give you a ticket.

That is so incredibly stupid even for laws that I really hope I am mis-reading it, however every source I come across tells me the same thing. To me it forces people to use lower rated rigs to move the same loads which takes away a huge safety factor.

I am not 100% sure the above info is correct, hopefully someone who is more experienced with this legality issue can help you out, but something to think about before you buy a new trailer.

Anyway, mechanically, I think your truck will handle a 16,000 lb trailer happily!

 

You can't change the weight ratings on your truck. No matter what you do, what's printed on the sticker and in the book is what it is. While I don't think there has been a "legal" case yet for an overloaded truck, if you were to get into an accident with that rig, the insurance company would probably have a field day with you.

That being said, you didn't say much more about your truck other than 2012 F250 6.7. Crew Cab? Short bed? 3.31? Here is a link to the towing guides for your reference:

http://dcd96xmek71bc.cloudfront.net/...ide_lo_res.pdf

If you already know you're going over the GVWR or GCVWR for your truck, maybe you need to look at a bit smaller of a 5th wheel. There is one configuration in the guide for an F-250 CC SRW 4X4 that gives you 16,100. So it's going to depend on your specific configuration.

 

i think you'd be surprised how comfortable 16k lbs would feel.

regarding GVWR's, i think it depends greatly on the state in which you live.

here, South Dakota, any driver can legaly drive any legal vehicle combination, at any legal weight, so long as it does not have comercial plates.

one of my wife's uncles uses a semi tractor to haul his 5'er. he does not need a commercial license because the truck wears regular plates.

however, if you haul something for someone, then it is a commercial enterprise and you need the commercial licene appropriate for your vehicle combination. and that is striclty GVWR and GCWR dependant, as stated above.

bottom line, i think you'd be fine safety wise. but it wouldn't hurt to call you motor carrier enforcement department to ask them. they are usually pretty nice to guys who try to do it right .... get caught doing it wrong, and they are sometimes not so nice. give 'em a call and ask. my guess is, that unless you are hauling for hire, they wont care what you do.... but that's just my guess.

 

Just my opinion, worth what you are paying for it, but it is foolish to pull a 16k fiver with a single rear wheel truck. You should be thinking about a dually for that much load. This is supposed to be recreational, right? A bit different than pulling hay trailers around the farm lands.

I don't believe you will ever be cited for being over weight with an RV.

I do believe you risk civil liability if someone is hurt in an accident involving you with an over loaded truck, EVEN if you did not cause the accident.

Nothing you can do to your truck will change the manufacturers ratings.

 

i can agree with everything except the highlighted above.

i would agree that there is nothing you can do to change the GVWR of a vehicle. any modifications you make to spring rates only makes the truck capable of handling its rated load *better*, but as for the amount of weight you can carry, you are limited to the GVWR. In theory, you could lighten your truck by ditching accessories, thus adding payload capability, but that will only get you so far, and is not very realistic for the most part.

regarding towing capacity, that is something you can change. if you have lower gears, your tow rating goes up with no other changes. so if your truck had 3.73 gears, and you add 4.30's, your tow rating would increase up to the number listed in your manual for a truck so-equipped. you would be limited, then, by the GCWR for a vehicle with your GVWR and gear ratio.

i agree, a 16k 5'er will put a lot of weight on the truck and may put you over your GVWR. the only way to know is to scale it then decide what to do from there.

 

Towing is not the problem, stopping is?! My 2 cents worth anyway, for what it's worth and I know it's worth a hill of beans.

 

Trick is to not overload your axles and tires. Correctly caluate what will go against the payload of the truck and work within the capabilies of the tires and axles.

 

Especially with a set of airbags installed under the rear springs and inflated appropriately (to whatever makes the load level). I pull goosenecks at that weight with my 6.7L and love it, with Firestone bags and an Air Lift 72000 wireless controller system. It's so much better than its 6.0L predecessor with no bags. Only thing that would make it better would be a dually, but even then I hardly ever notice any "squirm" or rear push.

 

No, it won't go up.

When that truck leaves KTP, Ford certifies the gross weight and GCWR. Once set, you cannot LEGALLY change the GCWR of a vehicle. I don't care what suspension, gearing or engine you on the truck, the factory GCWR is what you are rated to haul/tow.

 

Why? Even without airbags or any other goodies, a 6.7L CC 4WD F250 is rated for towing 15.7k lbs (aka 16k) worth of 5th wheel...

 

The problem is RV 5th wheels tend to have a higher percentage of weight on the pin. 25% pin weight on a 16k 5ver is 4000#, there's no way you're staying under the RGAWR of an F250 with that. It's going to depend a lot on the trailer, if it's got a lot of heavy bedroom junk right over the pin then 20-25% isn't out of the question, it's not a flatdeck where you can roll the load back 3 feet to make the pin weight 15%. You can pull a lot more weight if you can control the pin weight percentage, but on an RV that's pretty much fixed from the factory.

If his trailer is going to run something like an 16% pin weight, he might can get away with it. If it's 23%, having the wider stance and roll stability of a dually with a rear sway bar will help stop that higher weight from swaying. An RV has a lot of weight high up right over the pin, it'll want to roll. Depends on his roads too, flat highway it won't matter as much, start throwing in curves and grades and the dually's better roll resistance will be nice. It's not all a question of weight ratings, control figures in at some point.

Gearing matters too, if he's in CA stuck at 55mph or constantly pulling grades in the mountains, the 3.73s would be nice. Flat lands, 3.31s or 3.55s might be fine. Again, depends on his situation.

IMO if he can come in under his axle weights... in Texas he's fine, in Colorado he's not.

 

Heh, that really depends on where in Texas you happen to be

 

Depends where in Colorado too.... half the state is flat You get what I'm saying though, if he's planning on the long-distance equivalent of winding up 46 from Boerne to Pipe Creek or up Independence Pass, CO... gearing and stability will be too important to pass on a dually. If's he's dragging it down I-27 south of Amarillo.... heck, a Tundra could probably do it (not legally) because the only hills for a hundred miles were built by ants.

But still, if it's got a pin weigh greater than 18-20%, there's no way he'll come under the GRAWR of an F250 if he plans on having any people or gear with him.

 

i respectfully disagree.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...ination-2.html

check out post #28. if anyone on this forum can be considered an expert on this subject i would say Mark would qualify.

GVWR is printed on your door sticker and cannot be changed (realistically speaking. there are some companies that rebadge and recertify trucks, but it is mostly bigger trucks and i can't immagine that anyone in thier right mind would bother doing it to a pickup)

GCWR is located in your owners manual and is not printed on the door sticker. GCWR varries based on drivetrain configuration, mostly gearing.

for the sake of the OP, it don't matter too much. he will be over GVWR with this load. he wont overload axles or tires, but he will be over the GVWR. mostly because these weigh too much for the GVWR's they carry.