I'm not very clear on the towing capacity of my 2003 f250 7.3l crew cab with short bed. This truck has 3.73 gears. It's GCWR is 20,000, GVWR is 8,800, front GAWR is 5200. rear GAWR is 6084, Ford says it can tow 12,800 pounds.

I though I was in the clear with this truck until I started looking at the numbers closely. I have an interest in buying a Jayco 5th wheel trailer 345 BHS. with a dry weight of 10,945 and GVW of 14,500. I planned on not going over the 12,800 weight. The pin weight of 2,400 (according to the listing of the RV)


The problem I hear is the payload weight of the truck or pin weight. I'm told the pin weight is between 15% to 25% for 5th wheels. These numbers would put my truck over the GVWR of 8,800 even before weighing it empty to figure out the payload available for the trailer.

Is it expected that I fall within all parameters for towing and for safety reasons. Looking for a little clarification with this..thanks

 

figure pin weight closer to 2900 lbs. that 2900 goes against payload. Most over the rear axle.

So current axle rating is 6084. Your axle unload (just truck and occupants) is probably 3K.

So...it would appear if the 5er was in fact loaded completely to the GVWR you would be ok. Have to figure for the max load.

Your next issue is GCVWR of 20K.

20K is the max...next subtract the truck weight. We will assume 8200 lbs. that means you have 11,800 left before you reach the GCVWR.

You need to get the truck on the scales to truly know the numbers.

 

So I need to grasp this a little better. You think my numbers may be ok? It appears that this truck would be over weight unless I went with a very little 5th wheel. The GVWR is 8,800 pounds. The trucks real weight is most likely about 7,000, and that would leave about 1,800 payload left for the pin? Am I not understanding how this works?

 

Yes you are understanding how it works. My self I would be concerned with the combined numbers and going over your axle ratings and tire ratings.

The 8800 number for the truck I would not be worried about.

Is that 8800 on the door cert or just your registration?

 

Double post...sorry.

 

When I was shopping for TT what I decided to do is keep the GCVWR of my vehicle in mind. Meaning, I went shopping with my GVWR and really payed attention to the GTW of the unit I was looking at. If the two numbers exceeded my combined weight, it was a no-go. I did not want to put myself in an over weight situation with cargo maxed out. What I ended up with is my truck (GVWR 9600) and the TT in my signature (GTW 8871), for a combined weight of 18,471. My GCVWR for my truck is 19,600, so in a maxed out scenario I am 1129 under. Now my only concern is how and where I load cargo so I don’t exceed the tongue weight, or GVWR’s of either the truck or the TT. It took me A LONG time to understand all this so it’s not easy, good luck!

 

I had the truck weighted today. The truck had .5 tank full of gas with no passengers. The truck had our everyday items in it, including our backflip cover. We have a gross weight of 7,460 pounds. I'm now hopeful to figure out how much trailer I can tow.

 

Details about Truck:
2002 f250, 7.3l
3.73 axle rating
156" wheel base
crew cab
short bed
GVWR: 8,800
GCWR 20,000
front GAWR 5,200
rear GAWR 6,084
Actual Gross weight of truck: 7,460
(.5 tank of diesel, everyday items, no passengers)

Looking at 2009 Jayco Eagle 344 BHDS with:
Dry Weight (lbs/kg) 10945
GVWR (lbs/kgs) 14500

thoughts?

 

You are going to be over the combined wt of 20K. Other than that I think you will be fine.

 

is that a travel trailer or a 5th wheel?

i can't find a "Jayco Eagle 344 BHDS" so i'm not sure what you are looking at.

if it is a 5'er you are going to have problems with being over on GVWR.

 

Sorry its a Jayco Eagle 345BHS, 5th wheel.

I'm starting to get the feeling this truck is not going to tow many 5th wheels due to the ratings. The GVW and actual weight don't give much pin weight and the axle ratings are low.....I wish I knew the limitations of this truck before purchase.....I'm going to assume this 5th wheel is out due to exceeding the capacity of the 7.3...just a bit frustrated I guess

 

drop down to something around 13K for a trailer and then the numbers would work much better

 

are there any 5'ers that run 10% on the pin?

if he can find a 13k 5'er with 15% on the pin, he is still going to be over on GVWR, but he may stay under his RAWR.

i don't know... if he wants to do it right, and he says he does, then he's in travel trailer land, IMO.

if you figure 12% TW, he can go up to 11K on the hitch before going over on GVWR. if he can get it down to 10%, he can go up to 13k behind him.

13k behind him would put him over the suggested GCWR of 20k, but that wouldn't bother me as a "safety issue", GCWR's are more a manufacturer's suggestion, IMO. (GVWR, GAWR are not, though, in the eyes of the law for sure)

so if he wanted to find a big travel trailer (over 10k), he could always upgrade his hitch to a class 5, and make it safe while staying under his GVWR. Curt makes a class 5 good to 20k. i think that's the route i would go if you want to go big.

all of this predicated on the statement that you wanted to do it right.

 

My plan was to do the "right thing" when I purchased the 7.3. I heard from day one that the 7.3 was a work horse, but useless if you can't really pull anything g with it. I'm not going to travel cross country with a travel traiker so I will have to find a 5th wheel that works or is safe.

What are the legal weight limits that I need to follow?
What are tge safety requirements that I need to follow?
What can I ignore or be a little more flexible with When picking a 5th wheel?

 

my opinion only.

you NEED to stay within your RAWR
you NEED to stay within your Tire Ratings
you SHOULD stay within your GVWR.

in order to do that you will need an empty weight on the rear axle. CAT scales can provide that.

an 8800 GVW with a diesel is a screw job to be sure. all your payload is used up with the darn engine.

i'd take my (RAWR - Empty weight) x 0.90 and shoot for a pin weight of that much or less. that would give you a 10% safety factor and some room some of your cargo in the 5'er to end up on the pin weight. the 10.5 axle is reported to be a 9,750 lbs axle, so don't go over that, for sure. check your tire capacity and NEVER exceed that, no matter what.

as i hear it, don't trust the mfg's data. scale it. if they won't let you scale it, go somewhere that will -- that is if you are going to try and max out your RAWR.

there is some safety factor built into the RAWR as compared to the true capacity of the rear axle as well, so you would be safe IMO.

again, others may have other ideas, and i'm not an expert by any means .. but i can do math, so that's where i get myself in trouble