Looking for a little help. Last year I ordered an F150 Screw with 6.5 box, Off Road and trailer tow packages with the idea of pulling a travel trailer. Well I am now looking at the possibility of a fifth wheel and was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on how my truck would pull it. I have the 5.0 with 3.73 gears. The 5th wheel is a Cougar 27 SAB with a pin weight of #1100 and GVW of around #7500. Any ideas as I am new to RV'ing.
Thanks, Don

 

Well, the weight police would jump on you with those specs over at RV.NET. Many members there have good advice on what you need to consider when picking a 5th wheel. I suggest you check it out. In directly answering your post, you should think of a few things:
1. How much is your truck "REALLY" hauling? How much is the pin weight when you load your trailer full of water, gear, food? 1100 lbs now could easily balloon to 1700 lbs later. A gallon of water is about 8 lbs. So 50 gallons of water alone is 400 lbs if you drive around with a full water tank.
2. How much does your hitch weigh? You have to factor that into your truck's payload. The brace and hitch itself will add a minimum of 100lbs to your truck, most likely 150lbs for lighter duty.
3. How much does all your payload weigh? Basically, the weight of you + family + gear + whatever else you plan to keep in your truck.

The easy way to answer this is to look in your door jam. You should have a VIN sticker that shows your GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) which is the maximum weight that Ford rates your truck at. There is also a tire placard that shows what payload you can handle given the current tires you have. I prefer to use the GVWR weight. Next you need to go to some place and get your rig weighed with a full tank of fuel and yourself in it. Then you have a good idea of what your truck weighs. Then to figure out what additional payload you can handle, subtract your scale weight from your GVWR. Chances are, your GVWR should be anywhere between 7200 and 7700 lbs. When I weighed my truck, I figured that my truck could handle a total payload of 1800 lbs (full tank of fuel, no people). Then you add yourself and family, then you're left with whatever else you have room for. A 5th wheel or trailer wasn't going to work in my case with the RV's my wife liked. So I ended up trading for a 1-ton truck since I didn't want to play the upgrade game anymore and wanted to just have the largest truck that I feel comfortable driving on a daily basis and on trips.

additional thought: Airbags don't "ADD" capacity to your truck. They're meant to level the load and make the truck handle better when burdened. Read what all the airbag manufacturers state on their product, basically stating to follow the manufacturer's weight rating. I know that the rear axle has some margin to it, Ford rates it at 4050 on the non-max payload vehicles, however I've read somewhere that the axle itself can actually handle 4500 lbs. It's just the other stuff such as springs and fasteners that bring the weight a little lower.

 

+1 I completely agree with Jus2shy. I would not pull a fifth wheel with an F150.

 

I agree and understand 99% of what Jus2shy said....except a gallon of water weighs exactly 8.34 lbs.

 

I have a 2010 f150 with a 5.4 and tow package. I was told by the dealer that I could pull a 5th wheel. I just returned from our first camping trip(ever). We had a blast! On the way back the rig was bucking a lot. I had a full tank of gas and 50 gallons of water on the way their and no water on the way back. anyone got any ideas on this?

 

Chucking is a different issue. It can come from many things but the root cause is the trailer wanting to push down and the truck wanting to rebound up. Unfortunately I can't offer any first hand experience, but it seems like many 5th wheel owners tend to get a pinbox that uses air bags to help take some of the chucking out (usually this is the last thing in a line of upgrades). Another thing they tend to do is upgrade the shock absorbers as well. I had bilstein 5100's on my truck and they greatly improved how it handled loaded and unloaded. They were firm and made the F-150 drive a lot like a Bimmer unloaded. I like the firm ride that I got, but others buy F-150's because they want a softer ride. So it will be give or take. Air bags won't solve the chucking issue, as you need to dampen the bounding and rebounding that's going on.

 

The pin weight (assuming its accurate) wouldn't be too bad, although it WILL squat the truck and you might want to consider airbags to reduce that. The total weight of the trailer is probably the biggest factor in this equation, in my opinion. With 7500 lb. behind a 5.0 you're going to really be wheezing on the hills. If it had a 6.2 with the 6-speed auto, that would be another story.

 

Thanks for all the replies. I am not one to jump into anything without researching it a bunch so I thank everyone for their input. I am new to RVing and want to make sure I am doing everything safe and correct from the start. I am not one to believe everything from a dealer as they have said that this fifth wheel is 1/2 ton towable, hence all the researching as I am just not sure and do not want to be disappointed after a sale. My truck is rated to pull 9300#'s and has a payload of 2300#'s so I will continue to look at what other options are out there.
Thanks again for the replies.

 

Just double check what your payload says on the sticker inside your door jam. That is taking into account all the add ons etc. and your tires.

 

With an F-150 and a Travel Trailer, it's easy to hike the back of the truck up by putting more tension on the trunion bars, but with a Fifth Wheel the weight is the weight. Also the more weight in the camper, the more weight on the back of the truck, and because a 150 has limited payload, it can be a potential issue. Air bags and suspension mods can help combat the squat and ride issues, but then there are weight limits on things like rear axle and tires and such. There are plenty of 5'ers out there that F-150's can safely pull, but the payload and GVWR shouldn't be overloaded.

 

Do you have the HD payload pkg on your truck? 2300lbs seems very high for available payload? Is that the number off the yellow sticker inside your drivers door jam?

 

That trailer sounds a little big for your truck. I saw a guy pulling an 8.5k fifth wheel with a 150 on our first outing and it didn't look good at all. I pull a 27 ft fifth wheel with my 09 5.4 6 speed and it does really good. The dry weight is 5600 and that was about the max I was comfortable going with. It does squat the rear end a little further than I would like so air bags are in my future. Also if you do some Google searching their are F150 fifth wheel threads in other forums that had a ton of info that I used to make my final choice. I have had 2 tt and I like the way the fiver pulls allot better along with having a shorter rig overall I wouldn't go back. Good luck and don't trust the salesman they are just trying to make the sale do you research and you will be fine.

 

+1

check the sticker in the door. 2300 with max payload/max tow would be about right for an XL with no options. but if you optioned up the truck when you ordered it, you may find it is considerably lower.

either way, if you DO have the max payload package, you can at least consider a 5'er. just don't let your eyes get too big. pin weight sneaks up on you in a hurry.

 

I have towed quite a bit in the past and have found that having your tanks empty or full can make a big difference. 50 gallons is over 400 pounds. When they are empty, your total tow weight is less, but if the tanks are behind the axle, your pin or tongue weight is more...etc. I had a problem with my trailer swaying on a long trip once and I took my spare tire from the rear (32 foot trailer) and threw it up front. Made all the difference. It doesn't take much sometimes...you'll find out what works for you eventually.

 

You can do it just make sure you stay below your max as far as pin weight and total payload. Always tow in tow/haul mode and make sure you have a good hitch set up, don't go cheap buy the best you can afford. I went with the B&W Companion hitch system. As you can from the photo the F-150 can do it. My truck's specs are higher then yours but then my pin weight is at 1650 lbs/2850 payload total and my tow max is 11,300 lbs, my trailer is 10,500 lbs. I have just a little wiggle room. As stated in other posts, I am not a "Run all over the Country RV'er" I move it from time to time. Happy RVing, Chris