Anyone pull a 15k pound 5th wheel?

 

No, but I've had my dump trailer near that and it's not an experience I'd want to be touring the country with. But that is not a 5th wheel. My 5th wheel fully loaded would be near 10k. That's about the perfect weight for my truck which has a 5th wheel rating of 14k. But that's with one 150lb driver and nothing else.

Same model year F550 (2008) is in the 17,500 range (even the 2018 CC are the same) with 4.88 but that's a different axle entirely.

An actual 15k/lb 5th wheel would make for a miserable towing experience with anything other than a chassis cab V10 and even then it wouldn't likely be that great. Those weights are really in another territory. Unless both your routes are completely flat ground with good tail winds.

 

Read this....

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...5th-wheel.html

 

I respectfully disagree. I've been full time (24/7/365) for 8 years now, towing a fifth wheel trailer with my 2010 F-350 4x2 SRW 4.30 truck. The first 1.5 years I had an 10K trailer. The past 6.5 years I've had a 35' Hitchhiker with a max gross weight rating of 15,600 pounds, but I've got it loaded to around 14,000. My all up weight, with the truck, trailer, fuel, passengers, etc. is about 22,250 based on my last trip over the CAT scales.

We've been from Florida to Washington and from Texas to Maine, spending most of our summers in the Rockies. We've been up and down most every major pass in the Rockies and the truck handles it just fine.

Mileage is nothing to write home about, and a stiff headwind will test your patience a bit, but I've never had a "miserable towing experience" with this truck.

 

Now tow a 2018 Montana HC at about 12,600 with my 08 F250/V-10

 

Nice to see some heavy towing with the v10

 

I have a 2016 Cruiser that is 36’4” and weighs about 11,500 lbs empty. I’m guessing that it weighs around 12,500 fully loaded. I tow this with a 2010 F250 V10. It has Firestone air bags, 275 65 r20 tires, and I changed the gearing to 4.88’s. Wow what a difference the gear change made! It had 4.10’s and pulled pretty good but with the 4.88’s it rarely downshifts to 4th except for steep hills. 65mph is around 2300 rpms and 70 is around 2500 rpms. This is my second V10 and I really like that you can get in and go with little maintenance needed compared to a diesel. Mileage with the 4.88’s actually is better by 1 mpg averaging about 9mpg when towing. Daily driving mileage is 1 mpg less now.
I know diesels have more low end torque and perform better at higher elevations but for towing as often as we do which is about 10 times a year it suits us just fine.

 

here's a pic of mine setup. About four times a year there is a 18' deep-v fishing boat behind it as well.


For everyone that has 5star tuning and towing, does it help?

 

I put a 5 Star 87 tow/performance tune on mine, and it makes all the difference in the world. I'm only towing a 6000 lb bumper pull however. Unloaded, the truck feels like a hotrod compared to the stock tune.

 

For me, the shift schedules were the most noticeable improvement with the 5 star tune, might have picked up some HP, but can't say for certain it was a huge leap. Its as though I can control the shift points with the gas pedal when climbing steeper grades, but there still are still times when I'll just pull it into 2nd to keep it from hunting gears.