Ok need some major help, I have a 2011 F250 4wd Diesel CC KR and am having a heck of a time with Fifth Wheel Towing Limits!!!

I have read limits as high as 18,000 lbs to as low 11,200lbs maximum RV/Trailer weight. This is our first fifth wheel and am completely lost and confused at this point. The number of conflicting info, rating, forums and even fords is in a word "Overwhelming" is an understatement.

Anyone who can help or has similar set up in use, would be very very very appreciated. I want to purchase a Large fifth Wheel Toy Hauler (35') plus if my truck can handle it. Anyone who can recommend Fifth wheel Toy haulers make and models, input also appreciated as well.

Do I use the Fifth Wheel RV's GWVR, as the amount of trailer weight being towed, or is it another number?

Thanks so much in advance!!!

 

GVWR is not the amount of weight you are towing, it is the maximum allowable weight of the trailer loaded with cargo. You should always be under the GVWR.

This article does a good job explaining what all of this means, it should help with your confusion.

http://changingears.com/rv-sec-tow-v...derstand.shtml

 

Welcome to the forum! And congrats on having a fine truck.
What does your owners manual say? You need to consider GVWR and GCVWR. Do you have a particular 5th wheel in mind? Give us more info and we will do our best to help you.

 

Your maximum Fifth-wheel tow rating is 15,700lbs.
When purchasing a trailer you should look for one with a GVWR of 15,700lbs or under, even if when fully loaded its only 14,000lbs. Its just easier that way. Its not hard to make a trailer very heavy really quick.

Now, just because you are rated to tow 15,700lbs, doesn't mean that's the end of your story. You need to look at your GCWR (Gross Combined Weight Rating). Yours is 23,500lbs. The GCVWR is the maximum weight your truck may way when hooked up to a trailer in any configuration. Take your GCWR and subtract the weight of your truck (including fuel, passengers and cargo). The number that comes up is the remaining towing capacity.

For example

23,500lbs - 10,000lbs = 13,500lbs
(I used 10,000lbs as an easy example. You will need to get your own weight at a scale)

 

If you drop down to the towing section there are alot of us who are there alot and can answer a bunch of questions.

 

Good information there. I think that 15,700 tow rating is figured by subtracting the curb weight of the truck from the GCWR. 23,500-15,700=7800. Sounds about right for that truck. Any passengers or cargo being carried in the truck adds to that 7800 lbs, and therefore decreases the amount of weight you can tow.

Another very important thing to calculate with a fifth wheel is pin weight. This is the amount of weight actually being carried by the truck. For most fifth wheels, this is about 20% of the trailer's total weight.

To find your maximum pin weight, you will need to weigh your truck with a full tank of fuel and all passengers and other cargo you would normally be carrying in the truck. You will need to do this on a scale that weighs each axle separately. You will need to make sure that the pin weight doesn't pit the truck over it's GVWR or the rear axle weight rating.

Chances are you will max out the pin weight before the GCWR, so that's also going limit the size of what you can tow.

 

^^^THIS!

That pin weight is going to be the only important number on an F250. You will max the rear axle rating on the F250 before you get even close to the maximum trailer GVWR or the trucks GCWR. In that sense the Ford charts for fifthwheel weights are at best misleading, and cause a lot of owner regret.

Of course, we know the rear axles are the same for F250 and F350, but the tires may not the same and the sag from the load will not be the same. So if you're stuck with an F250 and want/need a larger fiver, you have to get creative with air bags, timbrens, blocks, tire upgrades, etc.

A stock F250 with a 10k# GVWR realistically should be pulling up to about 10k# GWR trailers to be within Ford specs.

 

watch the pin weight and even then the camper brochure pin weight may not be accurate.

I bought an 2011 F250 4x4 SRW CC just to pull a 33' toyhauler.
It is the F33AKSG listed below.


The manufacture has now changed the pin weight from 1700lbs to 2880lbs.
Not sure why or how it can be this different.....

I bought this truck based on these specs from Ford at the time of purchase (also posted above, by A/Ox4).


Now I see Ford has changed the ratings to this truck having a capacity of 14,400lbs. Check it out here : http://www.ford.com/resources/ford/g...erDtyNov18.pdf


Just soo confusing !!!!!
So I bought a truck based on the toyhauler manufacture's specs and those turned out to be WRONG on pin/hitch weight.
Then now Ford has changed the specs and the F250 falls below the GVWR of the toyhauler.
I can't catch a break.....

Good question on what is the correct numbers for our trucks.

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Interesting that they lowered the 5th wheel ratings. I wouldn't worry about it though.

 

Historilcally there are many instances of weight ratings being changed as they relate to RVs. At times those have been due to warranty considerations (the manufacturer wants more cushion, in my opinion) and at other times manufacturers have changed suppliers. The only sure way to know how much anything weighs is to weigh it.

It does make things tought as the weights are often moving targets and there have been lawsuits about this issue within the RV industry, although they are not well publisized. You also can go to the NHTSA website to see if there are any recalls affecting the model in which you are interested.

You might also want to consider checking to see if there is an owners' forum online for the particular model in which you are interested and see what their actual weights are running as I am sure you will find some of them have weighed their campers. Based on my actual experience with loaded weights, the overwhleming majority of towable owners dramatically over, under estimate the weight of what they haul in their towables. That is to say, most towable owners, in my experience are not exceeding the weight limits of their campers.

Best of luck,

Steve

 

I'm not sure about the other manufactures but fords ratings are very misleading. How can a truck that weighs close to 8k carry you, passengers, gear, and 15-20 percent hitch weight of a 14.5k trailer without going over your 9600 or 10 k gvwr ? It's nearly impossible. The pin weight alone could put you over. Just an observation though because we all know the trucks have and will pull what ever they are rated for and more.

 

They aren't misleading... they are configuration dependent.

A regular cab gasoline F250 will carry about 3,000#

3,000# is a whole lot of room for a driver, fuel, luggage and pin weight...

 

That's what I mean, most people who buy a 250 cc 4x4 diesel for example, look at the tow rating given by ford and not the payload that goes along with it. They automaticly think that the towing number ford gives for there truck is the max, when as stated before they will run out of payload before hitting max GCWR.

There was another thread a while back where a guy with 250 cc diesel 4x4 was kinda pissed because he weighed his truck and it was about 8200 without much in it so that didn't leave alot left for pin weight.

 

Yeah, allot of 11 owners or individuals looking at the 11's were kinda upset about the towing capacity being lowered from what the 08-10's were when it was originally published.

 

That statement doesn't make sense.....



The 2011 towing specs were 15,700 and the 2010 towing specs are 15,300.

2010 specs here :
https://www.fleet.ford.com/showroom/...FifthWheel.pdf

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