I'm on enough towing, RV and truck forums to safely affirm that "the general consensus is that buyers should purchase enough truck to legally handle any future trailer purchases." Can you honestly disagree with that advice?

I guess if I go on a Prius forum and ask if I can tow 3000 lbs and more than half of the respondents say yes, it must be O.K.?

It's your prerogative to pick and choose words, but I stand by what I said. I'm not going to encourage someone to do something that could open him/her up to a serious amount of liability.

I'm out.....

 

Those forums are full of weight police fear mongers that arm chair engineer more than actually tow. Most of us won't go anywhere near them. If those are the folks you feel most comfortable around, go for it. (By the way, go to a flat earth society forum and guess what the consensus is there?) Personally, I won't even read on RV forums, never mind post due to the lack of sense and sanity. As to your question, no I don't agree with that advice. I think you should be concerned with physical limitations. Legal issues are EXTREMELY rare and if they do happen AND are your fault, that's what insurance is for. Getting sued for over your coverage limits is even more rare. So, no... I have no worries about a scenario that rare happening to me. Getting struck by lighting is far more common. I also don't hide in my basement fearing that. In the end, it's a personal decision about risk tolerance and not safety. Said risk is so low, I have no fear of it at all. All that said, the OP already knows his ratings and wasn't asking for your opinion about legal liability at all as I said in an earlier post. So, I don't understand why you keep returning to repeat an opinion that was unsolicited and off topic as pertaining to why the thread was started?

 

Any discussion about exceeding your recommended towing weight brings the weight trolls out.

My bottom line is that the OP will have no issues with the proposed load and law enforcement will not bother him. If the truck looks like it can safely tow the load you won't be bothered by anyone but the keyboard commandos.

 

Out of curiosity, I did some looking around regarding lawsuits and overloaded vehicles. There are a plethora of law firms that advertise and specialize in exactly this scenario, overloaded trucks. The majority of the lawsuits involve commercial carriers. Commercial carriers = deep pockets = nice payout.

However, I was able to find three cases where an overloaded pickup truck owner/driver was sued, lost, and had a substantial payout of up to $8 million.

Whether or not your insurance policy will pay if you are overloaded is a matter of how your policy is written. Esurance, for example, will not pay a claim if your vehicle is overloaded.

Yes, a 250 will easily haul more than its rating suggest. No, it isn't legal. The choice of whether you do or do not haul what is legally defined as overloaded is up to you. From what I've been able to determine, the risk of being sued is rather low. But if you're one of the very few, the financial consequences can be devastating.

The OP's reasoning for buying a F250 over a F350 was ride quality. If one were overly worried about being overloaded and wanted to have the better-perceived ride quality of the F250, buy the F350, put the F250 springs on it for ride and airbags for the load. Better ride, legal weight stickers, everyone happy.

In my personal experience of hauling stuff over the past 30 years, I've been put on the scales once. I was legal. No worries.

 

Do a search for getting struck by lighting and see how many cases you find. Then compare that to overloaded pickup truck towing an RV lawsuit search results. See which comes up with more hits. Given enough opportunity, time, and lawyers, anything is possible. I usually consider the odds of something happening when evaluating risk though. Towing over the speed limit is just as "dangerous" and "illegal" but a lot more folks seem to be fine with that than being a couple hundred lbs over an artificially low truck rating.

 

When I had my F250 I registered it for 12K. Had a 10K door cert.


DOT cares about registration, axle rating and tire ratings. Stay within those and you are fine.

 

I guess I'm not sure why anyone buys the 350 if the 250 is basically identical. A lot of suckers out there, I guess.

I also love that the only differences are apparently the rear axle and "slightly softer springs" yet people buy the 250 because the ride quality is just so much better. Doesn't seem to add up.

People are funny... Plain and simple.

To the OP: You seem to have made your decision. Enjoy your truck and camper. Happy and safe travels to you!

 

Actually, if the 250 has the HD tow, the rear axle is the same and the only difference is the rear springs. I bet blindfolded you couldn't tell the difference in ride quality between that and a SRW 350 though. That said, why a 250 is made is because many states go by GVWR registration wise. So, commercial guys love them to save money. Some states also do this for non commercial registration. So, no, not funny. Just a different rating to fill a different market segment.

 

I purchased the 350 because I needed the DRW due to the fact that I'm towing a 18,000lb 5th wheel. Much more stable platform with the DRW and better 5th wheel towing (can handle the weight starting and stopping)

Take care,

 

My line about the 350 was sarcasm. I'm one of those foolish 350 buyers.

 

Your insurance will pay for damages incurred while you drive drunk.

You will be cancelled, but they will pay.

Why would they not pay an overloaded claim?

 

Maximum Load vehicle ratings are governed by the various States and Federal Authorities.

When did the States and Feds cede their authority to Fiat, Generic Motors and Ford? I must have missed that. They make Law now??

The Manufacturers are just giving you recommendations, that's all. Ford doesn't make Law. The States and the Feds do. duh

You get Dewey, Cheatum and Howe to sue me because I'm over a manufacturer's RECOMMENDED Load rating and the Judge will laugh him out of Court. Then I'll take everything he owns for filing a frivolous lawsuit.

Now..... There is reckless and dangerous and that is certainly actionable. But just being a few pounds over a Manufacturers recommended weight, towing, whatevs?? Silliness

Some of you people need to get a life.

4cereal

(I mean that in the nicest possible way )

 

Stuff happens. Why leave a window open for an attorney to go after you. If there's a fatality in an accident everyone will be sued and its likely that the award will exceed your policy limits. Juries will not like the fact that one knowingly drove overloaded.

That's one of the reasons why I carry a 2 million dollar umbrella policy.

 

Whether or not your motor vehicle insurance covers you depends on the particulars of the incident and exactly what is stated in your policy. All underwriters have caveats in their policies. Some companies are known for vigorously seeking a reason to deny coverage. Others seem to be more reasonable.

Life is not without risks. Only you can decide what you consider a reasonable risk and what isn't. But when making that decision, you should always try to be fully informed.

As for DOT and weight ratings, yes, the government absolutely does recognize the manufacturers GVWR or GCWR. If you are a commercial operation, a USDOT number is required for a commercial motor vehicle if the vehicle has a GVWR or GCWR of 10,001 lbs. or more. Legally, you will be overloaded if you exceed that vehicles GVWR or GCWR by a single pound.

If you own a 350 and run, say, a landscape company, you absolutely need a USDOT number for that vehicle. If you have a 250, you would need a USDOT number if you pulled a trailer with that truck as part of your business.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
And here it is right here!!!! It is all about *reading* the fine print in your policy *before* signing on the dotted line!!! If there is an exclusion written into your policy and you did not read it, don't blame it on other things!!! If one is not covered for xxxxxxx, there will be a statement in the policy somewhere stating that one is not covered for that reason, or there will bde a statement saying that one is *only* covered for yyyyyyyy incidents.