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Greeting. Hope everyone is doing great! I am looking for assistance to determine 5th wheel tow rating requirements
I am looking into buying a 5th Wheel RV (GVWR: 15,500 lbs)
I have a 2018 F250 4x4 160' WB 6-3/4" Box and 3.55 Axle Ratio (3J axle code) and payload of 2,335 lbs
I am not sure how to determine if my truck can safely pull this RV. The owners manual states 25,700 for GCWR (as general statement) and other websites have it at around 14,000 lbs capacity.
You can google the specs. From what I just read you are just a few hundred lbs under. I see 16100-16800 lbs. Start adding people and the essential “stuff” and you’ll be over but not much. You may have a squat but all sorts of rear suspension help is available.
Happy camping and welcome to the forum.
This is from the 2018 tow guide, highlighted is your f250 160' column.
Which doesn't mean you can't tow the 5th you just might not like how it handles or stops.
Thank you all for the quick responses! This is extremely helpful. I like the 16,800 answer! I just looked at the RV specs and it has hitch weight of 2,474 lbs. which I think is more that the Truck's payload capacity.
Wrong truck for this application. Or, the wrong trailer for the truck.
With a trailer GVWR of 15,500 you're looking at a minimum pin weight of 3,100 lbs (20% of the GVWR). General rule of thumb is 20% to 25% of the GVWR will be what your "loaded to camp" pin weight will be. Consequently, you are exceeding your cargo capacity by 25% and that's without adding any cargo or passengers to the truck.
As shown in the table provided by scraprat, no F-250 has a trailering capability over 14,700 lbs. (I'm assuming he highlighted the correct column)
It’s also worth noting that the “14,700 lbs.” spec is not an absolute rating. Specifically, the “Tow Rating” assumes an XL trim truck, no extra passengers, no options, no cargo, and no tools, coolers, or sandwiches. The weights for these items must be deducted for the “Tow Rating” spec. The spec does allow 300 lbs. total for a driver and a passenger. Here’s the fine print from the 2018 RV and Trailer Towing Guide:
As noted above, other gates to get past are to not exceed GAWR specs or the vehicle GCWR.
How much traiiler you can drag down the road isn't the limiting factor; most of the time it's the limited cargo capacity that's the deal breaker.
A 5vr rated at 15.5K needs a 20% pin weight (3100#) up to 25% pin (3875#); that may even be taxing to a SRW F350.
You could easily exceed your payload (2335) with a 10K fifth while carrying people, cargo, pets, tools, etc.
So most fortunately you asked BEFORE you purchased this mistaken combination.
Side note, which engine are you equipped with? I assume 6.7 diesel - but only you know until you tell us.
Great Point! I see three different weights in the 160' column, 14,000, 14,100, and 14,700. which one applies to my truck. I have an XL.
Those line items depend on other options built in to your truck - just examples but things like cargo packages, towing packages, plowing packages, etc.
If unsure then be prudent and err on the side of safety.
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