So like dummies we just purchased a new fifth wheel RV and believed what the dealer said when he told us my 2014 F-250 can haul it easily. It pulls OK but man does it bounce and jerk. The trailer is a 42 ft Open Range fifth wheeler.

Here are the fifth wheel specs, again I am new to fifth wheels so bare with me if I don't at first understand all this.
UVW = 12850
Dry Hitch Weight = 2305
Dry Axle Weight = 10545
GAWR = 14000
Gross NCC = 3455
Net NCC = 2669

Master Hitch Pro Series 16K
16,000 capacity and 4,000 pin weight

Is there a formula for dummies that will tell me if I am out of capacity for my F-250?

 

This site has a good comprehensive listing of the towing capacities of trucks.

Trailer Towing Guides | Trailer Life Magazine

Of course looking at your picture it looks like you added some bigger tires, which plays with your effective final drive ratio unless you had it regeared to match the larger tires. If you did not regear, then I would recommend looking at a formula that looks something like this:

Towing Capacity = Stock Towing Capacity *(Stock Tire Diameter/New Tire Diameter)*0.9

That will show a reduced capacity based on your larger tires.

 

Don't want to "bare" with you unless you are a good looking woman...

What truck exactly do you have? Mods to it?

And what is the GVWR on the trailer? And will you be maxing it out?

It does sound to me like you are going to be really pushing your truck's limits with that trailer though.

 

Those numbers are often not what the manufacturer reports them to be. Take it to a scale that will weigh the steer axle, drive axle, and trailer axles separately and report back with those numbers. (like a CAT scale at a truck stop)

Sent from my HTC ONE using IB AutoGroup

 

Also tongue weight of trailer?

 

Been there, done that, and have the trade in figures to prove it

CAT Scale Locator | CAT Scale

and post those numbers with your truck and rv set up as if you were going camping...

Also, what are the specs and ratings of your truck ?
they will be on the door sticker... give us all they have fawr, rawr, gvwr, etc....
is it a crew cab? 4x4? options ? etc....

and we can help...
At a minimum you will probably needs air bags....

 

You are probably at or very near max capacity for your 250. Do you have helper springs or air bags to level your truck? That may help.
Have you ever pulled a heavy 5er before? They can jerk you around a bit.
I was right where you are; pulling a 41 foot toy hauler, 12,500 empty weight, had air bags to help but.........still maxed out. Traded for a 350 dually; night and day.
Of course the 250 had the 6.2 gas with 3.73 gears also....not the best setuup; and the new 350 has the 6.7 diesel with 3.73 gears and all I can say is WOW!!!
Best to you and yours

 

Well, the OP hasn't revisited the thread to supply any more info, so we are all just stabbing in the dark.

 

He hasn't logged in since he made the original post and his last post before that was 9 months ago, so it may be a while before we get some more info

 

He probably forgot where he posted it... I sent him a reminder email to see if he comes back

 

^^He left us and bought a Ram..

 

I think his issue is more of a gas engine vs diesel. He doesn't share which engine he's pulling with, but even though the trailer is a whopping 42 footer, it's only a 14k gvw rated.

Most any f-250 with a diesel shouldn't really struggle. Air bags, a good thing but if he's running at max wt with big tires and a gasser, he's the guy in the slow lane crawling up that hill.

 

No, not 14K gvw, he shows it as having a GAWR of 14K, it could be well over 16K GVWR.

 

Thanks for catching. Yes, at uvw of almost 13k, that's a heavy trailer once loaded.

 

Actually hadn't paid enough attention to that myself, an unladen weight of 12,850 probably means a GVWR in the 15.5K to 15.8K range. So, it actually shouldn't be too heavy for a diesel F250. Of course we don't know that either, whether gas or diesel.