Have an ALPENLITE 35RK 5th that I just bought. Trailer specs; UVW (unloaded Vehicle Weight)= 11,886, GVWR = 15,000. Will my 02' 350 4x4 extended cab w/ 2 people be over the GVWR of the truck? My owners manual says GCWR is 20,000 but max trailer weight is 13,300.

 

You didn't say whether your F350 is a dually or a single rear wheel.

If it is a single rear wheel truck, you may have too much pin weight for the truck to handle (20-25% of 12K-15K = 2400-3800 lbs) in regards to GVWR and rear GAWR (axle). The GVWR of an F350 SRW is 9900 lbs and the rear GAWR is 6830 lbs. An extended cab diesel longbed will likely weigh 7000 lbs or more when loaded up for the trip, before the trailer is hooked up.

On the GCWR issue, take 20K lbs minus weight of truck and that gives you the max trailer weight you should be towing. Figure this to be around 13K lbs. You really need to take your truck to a scale and weigh it to find out for sure what it weighs. You should also take your trailer to a scale, loaded as you would usually be for a trip, and weigh it.

If you have an F350 dually, you should be fine on the GVWR and rear GAWR of the truck, as duallies have alot more weight carrying capacity than single wheel trucks. GVWR of an F350 dually is 12,500 lbs and the rear axle rating is 9750 lbs. Basically, a dually can carry about 2500 more lbs in the bed (trailer pin weight) than a single rear wheel F350.

 

Thank for the reply. I have a single axle. So based on those numbers all might OK if I stay under 13k with the RV.

 

I think you will be over the GVWR. Have you weighed your truck? It weighs a lot more than you think it does. Also, are you really going to limit your trailer cargo to 1114 lbs? The dry weight usually does not include any options you added and when you add water you will be pushing the limits. With a GVWR of 15K you should really be using an F450/550.