I am looking to move into the 5th wheel crowd. Little confused about towing capacity of my 03 F250 4x4 crew cab 6.0. What is the magic number I shouldn't cross? Is it dry weight, gvw or some other measurement? The truck is also a short bed so I guess I need a slider hitch?

Thanks for keeping it simple.

 

Yeah, slider hitch. That is the easy part.

imho, you need to be concerned about your axle limits and tire/rim limits first up. So..on the door cert what are the axle limits.

On the tires, oem rims? And then what is the rating on the sidewalls? I assume you have a SRW?

For the 5er you need to concerned about the GVW. Not the dry weight. And don't pay attention to what they say is the king pin wt either. They usually underestimate it. Figure 20% of the GVW.

For the combined truck and 5er I would try my hardest to stay within the GCVWR for the truck according to ford. Do you know that number?

 

Do not know what the GCVWR of the truck is. It is a single wheel truck w/E rated tires on stock rims. The door sticker recommends Lt 265/75/16 but I up sized to LT285x75/16. The rear axle weight is 6800 lbs

 

Towing guide you can get here:

Towing Guides | fleet.ford.com

Your GCVWR is 20K with a max of 12,700 for a 5er. Your rear axle is not 6800. I find that strange they would list that number on the rear axle rating. More like 6K or 6100 lbs is the common number for a F250. Although the axle will hold 6800 lbs.

so on your sidewall for the tires your load rating is probably about 3195. X 2= 6390. That number you cannot exceed without potentially having a blowout on the tires.

So read through the towing guide a bit and get the truck on the scale. I'd imagine unloaded your rear axle weight is currently around 3100-3200 lbs. So that leaves you with around 2800 lbs payload. King pin is payload.

A max 5er of 12,700 GVW gives you 2540 king pin. That plus hitch and a few other things puts you right at the max.

 

Rear axle is 6084. Measurement got lost in translation with walk from garage to computer.

Thanks for the help.

 

With the info given if I stay with a gvwr of the 5th wheel around 12,500 I should be good?

 

I think so. Now to find one with a floor plan you like.

I would still recommend a trip to the scale to ensure where you stand. Just always a good idea.

Also on a 5er it is also possible that some of the weight will transfer to the front axle. Which is a good thing. Helps keep you firmly planted on the road.

Not to worry on your front. It is probably somewhere around 5100 lbs right now.

 

I read about this several times and always thought that I could spend my money on something better - I do not ever remember anyone discussing the cost of a "trip to the scales". Does not mean no on ever mentioned it, I just do not remember seeing it.

So to get that cleared up it's only ten dollars $10.00 to get the truck weighed at a public scale at a truck stop along the interstate. At least that is what I found on the east coast along I-95.

For ten dollars - everyone should have a base weight of their truck as they keep it equipped on an everyday basis. It does not take much to add a couple hundred pounds of "stuff" to a truck. Add some tools, on board air, keep a hitch locked into the receiver, anyways my point is for $10.00 get the truck weighed as you keep it everyday.

When you get the truck weighed they will give you up to four weights, the front or as they call it the steer axle, the drive axle, the trailer axle and the total weight of the vehicle. By having or knowing exactly what your "normal" everyday weight of the truck is, when you get it weighed with the trailer attached you will know how much of the trailer weight is being distributed to the steer axle and is on your drive axle.

Remember - get your basis weight with a full tank of fuel and with whatever normal stuff you carry around in the truck. A full tank of fuel will weigh over 250 pounds.

 

Scales were about 20 minutes from me and it cost $10. With a full tank of fuel, me and normal stuff in the truck......

Steer axle 4660lb
drive axle 3100lb

gross weight 7760lb

Those are my numbers

 

That is only 260 lbs of available payload. Wouldn't he be way over?

Hitch and miscellaneous can easily push over 200 lbs.

That leaves you 60 lbs for yourself, any others in the vehicle, etc.

Really think how much weight your putting in the truck (including people, pets, etc) You will be surprised how quickly it adds up.

Because of the year, does the truck not have Cargo Capacity on your tire sticker?

What is your GVWR? It should be on the truck. Based on that document Senix referenced, is your GVWR 8800lbs? That leaves with just over 1,000 lbs for hitch and pin weight.

 

Your referring to the door cert. It maybe 8800 to 10K. Hard to say. Maybe the op will chime in.

I never mentioned it as that to me is not the important issue. You can always up the registration if that matters.

I have never found anything that indicates that is the max amount.

 

GVWR=8800 lb according to door sticker

 

That does mean that you have about 1000 lbs of additional capacity for your truck (after you weighed it with yourself and cargo in it).

That 1000 lbs needs to be divided up by additional passengers, hitch weight, and pin weight. As you can see, that's not a lot of pin weight available.

My suggestion is to go with a TT over a FW. For the same weight in trailer, you get half the weight on your truck with a TT.

FW's are just truck heavy. And diesels eat up a lot of payload. Keep working the numbers and I think you can find a very nice TT that you can haul safely.

 

Already have a 28ft travel trailer. Wanted to move to a 5th wheel. Can't swing a new truck and trailer.

 

That's a beautiful combo right there. Color coordination between the truck and trailer.

Why did you want to go FW route?