Hello and thank you folks for letting be apart of this super cool site. In middle school I would fight that my dad's chevy was better than their dad's ford, I have three fords in my yard now. lol I bought my first ford in 1990, f250 4x2 diesel auto. Great truck but tranny went out about six years into normal use. I said then never another auto tranny for me. My next truck was a 2000 f250 4x4 six speed diesel 7.3 L and it was awesome. If I typed what it's milage was on the road you nice folks would think me untrue. I was picking up a new horse trailer in Atlanta in 2002 when my lustful eyes came across what I drive today. Oh man was she hot! 2002 f250 black 4x4 off road 7.3 L turbo six speed on the floor 3.73 gears. She never got the mileage of the 2000 but she has been the truck love of my life. She has not been babied, more a daily driver than a work truck but she has pulled my featherlite 4 horse trailer across several states so great. As of now 269,000 miles.

Now...sorry so long...My doctors say I have a lung problem, they thought cancer but not sure now. They think it's Sarcoidosis attacking my lungs. I can't get in to see the sarcoid specialist till September. We, my wife and I, have always wanted to travel and see this great country but we've been raising kids. We have three, one finished with school and doing great, one in med school and the youngest in year two of her bach. degree. We just bought a new 5th wheel, Jayco 315 rlts North Point. We need a truck this thing can't push around. I've been looking at the f350 srw but the rear gear is a 3,55 and I can only find auto tranny. My old truck just pulled it to the gulf coast and did great but I can reall feel the weight behind me and pushing me at red lights. It;s not hitch weight, my truck hardly goes down when we hook up. We will need to add fresh water, generator and a few other things. On the trip to the beach she got a average of 10 miles/gallon. On the interstate I was OD most of the time, but I fear the MTS out west will be tuff plus legally we are overloaded based on Ford's little door sticker.

So we'll be towing about 16,500 +/-, but I'm really not sure that 2018 f350 with auto tranny and a 3.55 gear will do much better. Please share.....

 

You won't find a stick anymore, because sticks suck when compared to modern automatics.. especially for towing.

According to the 2018 tow guide, you should be rated at 20k or more even with a SRW.. If you want to trial it - rent one from Enterprise Truck Rental and hook up your trailer.

https://www.ford.com/cmslibs/content...tyPU_Nov27.pdf

 

 

Can it tow the weight - yes. Will it handle the payload capacity - maybe. That 5er will have a fully loaded pin weight somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,000#. Check the door sticker for payload which is your pin weight, hitch weight, passenger weight, fuel and other stuff you carry in on on the truck. I know the 3.55 is an option with a diesel, and you can very easily go over the payload capacity with a diesel F350 combined with that 5er - it will depend on the truck configuration. Mine would be over before I ever loaded up the family. A gasser will increase payload capacity by about 900# compared to a comparably optioned diesel.

Good luck and enjoy your new 5er!

 

 

 

 

Raven17 - i think Enterprise finally gave in.. if you check the Enterprise Truck rental page, it now says towing is allowed.

 

As soon as someone mentions "push around" I suggest getting a DRW.
The stability offered by a dually is way beyond that of any SRW truck.

 

A 2018 F350 6.7L with 3.55 and six speed automatic transmission will do just fine. If you keep your speed around 60 mph while towing, you'll see around 12 mpg on average.
If you feel the camper pushing you at red lights the trailer brake controller is set too low. When you stop you should not feel the camper dragging you down or pushing you. You want them to brake as closely to a single unit as possible.
I haven't pulled a camper yet that the brakes weren't up to the task of stopping the unit properly.
A dual rear wheel truck will feel more stable than a single rear wheel.
I had a perfectly good F250 6.2L that I traded for the DRW diesel because I needed more truck, not because I wanted it. I didn't think I'd like a diesel or DRW. Turns out that towing with this thing is entirely stress free. If anything, my biggest problem is now over-confidence!
BTW - a DRW will give you the option of steeper gears, too.

 

I agree with wrvond. I tow a bigger and heavier 5ver with my 2017 SRW, SB, 3.55 and after 15k miles of towing it with my current truck, I've never once been pushed around by it. I also towed it 10k miles with my 2012 of almost the same configuration (which was less capable) for 2 seasons without issue. You will be AMAZED at the difference between you current truck and a new 6.7. Don't sweat the 3.55's either. That's really all the gear you need with the amount of torque put out by the current diesel...


Welcome to FTE, good luck with the purchase, and hope the docs get you sorted so you can enjoy your new truck/RV for a LONG time...

 

In 2015 the doc said I had Lymphoma. Turned out to be sarcoidosys. Took Prednesone for a few months and fixed the lung problem. The real problem is the lymph nodes on the outside are restricting the lung expansion when breathing. Not the nodes inside the lungs. Flared up again this summer. Took Pred for 3 days and it went away. Sarcoid is always with you. But it's almost not noticable.

Btw. My 3.55 '18 350 pulls better than my 4.30 '17 450 powerwize.

 

Sarcoid for me has manifested in the lungs once, stopped by a round of prednisone, but mostly in my kidneys and liver (kidney stones on a regular basis). If I keep my diet right I'm usually in tip top condition. Supposedly caused by exposure to chemicals and such, medically retired from the military for it. As for the truck, get a low trim level dually and don't look back.

 

I have a 2017 F350 CC SRW King Ranch 4x4 with the diesel and 8' bed and pull a 2018 377RLBH North Point. I have never felt uncomfortable pulling. The truck has performed as expected which includes highway travel with the cruise set at 70.

Their is no doubt that the combination is below the trucks GCVWR and below the 20,000 towing capacity. The problem these loaded (options) trucks run into is that little yellow sticker on the door frame. I am only to carry about 1,900 pounds total. I went to the scales and weighed the truck and trailer and all is good but the rear axle may be near or a little over its max capacity but not by much, The tires are under their weight rating. The king pin on my trailer based on the 16,750 GVWR probably comes in at 2,500-3,350.

Since I only tow recreationally, I have no reservations about towing with this truck. I think if and when we go to full-timing, I may chose to switch to a DRW truck.

Love the stories about your previous trucks. My first Ford was a 1995 F250 Supercab 7.3 Power Stroke with the stick and manual t-case. Had a few F350 Super Duties with the stick before they stopped making them available in the higher trim levels. I have a 2017 Fusion Titanium, 2016 Explorer Platinum and a 2018 Escape SE that I recently purchased for my daughter. Coming up next is a 2019 Edge ST and a 2019 Ranger Lariat. I bleed blue.

Good luck with your new rig!