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When I order my 2017 F-350 last year, I was so excited. We have a 12,500 lb 5th wheel and it tows it great. BUT, we were looking to upgrade our 5th wheel and I called Ford to check on the towing capacity and to say I was highly disappointed is an understatement. My F350 SRW with 6.7L Turbo Diesel can only tow up to 15,000 lbs for a 5th wheel. I was looking at some trailers that were in the 16,000 lb range and now I have to rethink if I even want to upgrade. What a sham it is that Ford boasts greater towing capacity in their trucks. I had a better towing rating with my Dodge Ram 2500 with the 6.4L Hemi.
To be fair, the manufacturers don't hide any of the numbers and there are good third party sites to help with vehicle selection. e.g. 2017 One Ton Truck Tow Ratings Reviews. But your salesperson may not have been very helpful here also.
It's not clear what is limiting your tow capacity without more information. For a fifth wheel, most folks find that it's not the tow (pulling) capacity of the truck that is the limiter but the payload (suspension) capacity of the truck. The dual rear wheel 350s increase the payload considerably without generally impacting the pulling capacity of the frame/engine.
I recommend educating yourself more on the various parameters that impact truck limits for fifth wheels and in particular pay attention to the tongue weight of the fifth wheel vs. the available payload capacity of your truck. The site linked above is very useful.
If you want more help from the forum, it would be incredibly useful to post the exact numbers from your yellow capacity sticker (driver door frame) and more details on your fifth wheel so we can estimate tongue weight. The fifth wheel also should have a weight sticker.
The attached file, has good info on all the weight ratings, tire selection etc,, I'd also suggest looking at the yellow door sticker on numerious models to see effects of options, engine etc..
There has been many posts about this exact same topic, review the info on here....
When I order my 2017 F-350 last year, I was so excited. We have a 12,500 lb 5th wheel and it tows it great. BUT, we were looking to upgrade our 5th wheel and I called Ford to check on the towing capacity and to say I was highly disappointed is an understatement. My F350 SRW with 6.7L Turbo Diesel can only tow up to 15,000 lbs for a 5th wheel. I was looking at some trailers that were in the 16,000 lb range and now I have to rethink if I even want to upgrade. What a sham it is that Ford boasts greater towing capacity in their trucks. I had a better towing rating with my Dodge Ram 2500 with the 6.4L Hemi.
Any heavy duty with a gas motor will have a higher weight rating because the gas motor weighs so much less than a diesel. You need to compare apples with apples before making invalid comparisons.
I have a question on this myself. I understand how to calculate towing capacity based on the GCWR rating, but that guide Ford prints is confusing. What exactly do the dashes mean? Not applicable? Or the previous above value?
I have a question on this myself. I understand how to calculate towing capacity based on the GCWR rating, but that guide Ford prints is confusing. What exactly do the dashes mean? Not applicable? Or the previous above value?
You'll likely hit GVW/payload before tow limits. Here is my rig at full load (full water tank, 300# of firewood) with a mere 15.5k trailer. My F450 is 1000# heavier than a SRW F350. I have 13,480# on my truck. With a SRW, that'd be 12,480, or 1000# over the F350's GVWR.
