I would like to upgrade to a fifth wheel camper and I'm just wondering how much weight some of you are towing with your 7.3L Powerstroke?? Let's see some pics. How does it tow? What have you done to the truck to help handle the load better? And what upgrades do you suggest to help with towing performance?
I just picked up this truck a few months ago. I have only towed my current trailer(7500lbs) with it twice and it did a great job. The only things I have done to the truck so far is a S&B intake, MBRP exhaust, and a 6.0 trans cooler.

 

my 27 ft toy hauler. about 7500 fully loaded. have dp tuner 60hp tune. could use more power for hills. tranni runs hot. need 6.0 cooler.

 

8500lb dry. I figure loaded its close to 9500lb. 32ft long 2 slides.
F250 loves to pull it anywhere! If I tow in overdrive and cruise it doesn't have a problem keeping speed. These trucks can lug up hills in OD and cruise off too. I get better mpg doing this.

My truck is stock btw

 

Toys all hooked up...



The lift is no longer on the truck, it's now back to stock height. The HiLo is a heavy SOB and comes in at a little over 8,000 lbs, although I've towed other trailers going up to 25K.

Mods are the standard intake and exhaust, plus... 38R, BTS trans, custom built fuel system w/fuel bowl delete, 6.0L trans cooler, 6.0L intercooler, 250/200 FFD injectors, and a few other nick-nacks. Pulls anything anywhere at any speed with ease. Currently almost 220K miles on the original untouched PMR motor.

She's got some dents and scratches but she just keeps firing right up every day. It's my Dirty Donk.

 

I initially pulled a 30' travel trailer when I bought our 2003 7.3L F-250, pulled it from Oklahoma to Florida to South Dakota. Two years later we switched to a 31' Outback 5th wheel and the highway towing was a much better experience. No more messing with the weight distribution hitch, the tail waggin' the dawg when the semi passes, longer overall length, etc. I really enjoy towing the 5th wheel with this setup (see my signature). Been running the setup in my sig for 8 years and have towed our 5th wheel to Colorado, Texas, Smokey Mountains, the Black Hills, etc....... Would do it agsin in a hearbeat.......

 

36' cedar creek weighing in at around 13,500.
21k gross on the cat scale.
Pulls great with 4:10's and my mods. From a power standpoint, it makes plenty. From a safety standpoint I would like to upgrade the truck brakes.

 

32 foot Copper Canyon pulled about 22000 miles so far, we head out at just under 21000 lbs. Like Franko72 said my only concern is not go, got plenty of that, Its stopping that makes me a very careful driver. I drove heavy trucks for a lot more miles than I care to remember, so not a novice. I'm happy with my truck at 238000 on original motor and trans.

 

Cryo treated rotors & Hawk break pads went on my F-250.

After adding all the power mods to get up the hill - I didn't like the "oh crap" feeling on the way down the hill........

 

I found some Keystone Montanas (5er) that fit my criteria for quality and layout, while keeping the max gross weight down to the legal limit for our trucks (about 12,000 pounds). I don't know if you're looking to upsize.

 

Nothing to0 crazy here....just a 20' car hauler and not even sure what the total weight is but assuming less than 7,000. Just did my first haul from Indy to the Smokey Mountains and back....did really well. Truck has a Bully Dog Six Shooter on it, and I know there are MUCH better tunes I could put on it but it seemed to tackle the hills down there really well in the 80 spot. I may tow 3-4 times a year so not sure I need to upgrade. EGT's rarely hit 1100 and EOT never hit over 205 (for just a minute or so).

I know this really chump change compared to some of the haulers above ;-)

 

37.5' Rapture Toy Hauler. Empty 11,800, Picture in signature

 

I have towed 15000 from the bumper and 20000 Gooseneck good power and good brakes on the trailer help a lot. I would say stay under 15000 and you will be fine.

 

I originally purchased the truck to transport trailers to the dealers from the manufacturer. I have hauled 12 ft to 40 ft trailers. The 40 ft was over Donner pass in Nevada / Cali.

My truck is a cab and chassis with a flatbed (shown below), and is bone stock except for the radio.

Bumper tow at 22k and 5th wheel at 25,270

 

Darrell when you were doing the transporting new trailers at what size or weight did you see that the truck was at it limits brake wise or other short comings?. I am sure that it was at different weights between TT and 5th wheel since they tow differently. But then again you having a 5 speed I am sure helped out with slowing heavy loads. I ask you since I am sure you have towed all kinds campers. I only do bumper pulls I don't have 5er set up so I am wonder where it starts to become a handful.

I have only towed up to 11k TT and boats. 11k on a TT camper was a cake walk but 11k boat and trailer with surge brakes wasn't fun. My boat & trailer only weights 8500lbs loaded which is no problem for my truck in stock form. But I must say I hate Surge brakes!!

 

I may not be the one to answer those questions.

I never found my "no go" limit with this truck. The bed is an incredibly heavy bed for this truck, and that makes a difference in truck / trailer weight distribution and how it pulls whatever weight you have behind it. My wet weight with bed tank (70 gal) is just shy of 7000 lbs. A trailer behind that behaves VERY well, and I can hardly feel the weight. Hills do not exist as far as my truck is concerned. I can pass anything on the road except a fuel station

I have many years and 1 million miles experience driving commercial trucks, and that makes a difference as well.

Using engine breaking (gearing) on a 7.3 with a manual trans saves the brakes immensely. In my miles of driving with TT (bumper and 5th wheel), I have never found overheated brakes, but that may just be my style of driving (or they were cooled before I checked). Long lead distances and engine braking learned from long haul driving keeps brakes cool and usable.

The bottom line is: if you are uncomfortable with the way it drives, don't drive it, or modify how you drive it.

As far as towing, a stiff rear axle suspension does help with control. My truck has a cab and chassis stock 1.5 ton suspension under the rear. No sag with a 24K 5th wheel on it.

Like I said, not a good comparison to most trucks for towing.