I will be purchasing a large boat which I will need to tow from time to time.
The boat dry weight is 13,500 I guess the trailer is about 1,500 for a total of 15,000. Does anyone have any experience with kind of rig I will need? Diesel
4x4 f350 with Dual rear wheels?

Thanks,

Steve

 

sstarnes:

You need to get LOTS more info before you can decide on a tow vehicle.

How much fuel does the boat hold (6.7# per gallon)?
How much water does the boat hold (8.2# per gallon)?
Any dealer-installed options/accessories (weight)?
How much gear/equipment do you plan to carry (weight)?
How many people will be in the tow vehicle (weight)?
Is the boat over 8' wide? If so you probably need a permit to tow it.

That trailer weight sounds low for a boat this size - your best bet is to get the whole rig weighed instead of guessing. If you have an accident and your insurance co. finds out the tow vehicle was overloaded, guess who pays? I like to keep towed/cargo weight to 80% of the vehicle's rating - that gives me some pad.

Good luck!

 

Wow, 15000 lbs. Thats alot even for an F350 diesel dually. Actually that, together with the weight of the truck, will definitely be over the 20,000 lbs GCWR of even a brand new diesel dually with 4.10 axle (they weigh over 7000 lbs empty). Max tow rating on the F350 diesel Dually is about 12,000 lbs. If it was a one-time deal of needing to move this trailer to a destination over a short distance and that's it, you could probably get away with using an F350 Dually, but since you plan on making a habit of trailering it, even only occasionally, I wouldn't skimp on the truck....

I would step up to an F450 or F550. The F550 has a GCWR of 26,000 lbs and the tow rating for a 4x4 CrewCab F550 with 176" wheelbase (similar to having an 8' bed, as these trucks come as cab and chassis only, no bed) is 17,000 lbs (assuming 1000 lbs for an aftermarket truck bed), which would cover your boat and just about any other trailer you would want to haul.

I think the F450's trailer tow rating is similar to the F550, it just has a lower GVWR (15,000 lbs versus 17,500 lbs for the F550) so F450's payload rating is a little less. An F350 Dually GVWR is something like 12,500 lbs.

If you get the super-tow option in a 2wd F550, the GCWR goes up to something like 30,000 lbs, which means a max trailer weight of something like 21,000 lbs. The 450 and 550 both are available with the V10 as standard or the 6.0 Powerstroke diesel as option. The gear ratios are alot lower (4.88 for max towing with the diesel).

For purposes of avoiding confusion: GCWR = the total amount the truck and trailer together, fully loaded, can weigh. GVWR = the total amount the truck fully loaded can weigh, which would include the trailer tongue weight, since that is carried on the truck's rear axle.

A 15,000 lbs trailer should have about a 1500-2000 lb tongue weight, which is more than most available Class V reciever hitches can carry, even with a weight distributing hitch. A boat trailer may be a little less on tongue weight since most of the weight is in the back. I'm guessing a custom made hitch would need to be built, unless your boat trailer is by chance a gooseneck?

You can get information and pricing on the F450 and 550 trucks on Fords commercial and fleet websites. They look like a normal SuperDuty pickup truck but ride a little higher and have 19.5" wheels instead of 16" and don't have a bed on the back. You can get them with most of the same options as any SuperDuty truck and may be able to get better pricing on it if it is used for business.

[On Edit]: I agree with Stiena, that trailer weight sounds low to me too. It wouldn't surprise me if it is actually more like 3000 lbs. That and the 13,500 lb DRY weight for the boat means that the boat will only get heavier once it's ready for to go on a trip. The F550 may even be near it's towing limits here.

 

I think you're looking at an F450/550 for that kind of weight, and I would recommend you get the PSD over the V10.