I am considering buying 2003 F-350 V-10 SRW 3.73 4x2 Truck which has only 12,000 miles on the odometer. The only concern I have is that the Maximum Loaded Trailer Weight rating is only 10,600 lbs for pulling a fifth wheel per the Ford Towing Guide. My 29' Sprinter fifth wheel has a dry weight of 9520# and a carrying capacity of 2,840#. I am worried that the F-350 may not be able to handle pulling the fifth wheel. What do you think? Does Ford build a great deal of safety margin into their ratings?

The new Ford F-350's are rated at 14,400 lbs. I am not sure why there was such a jump in the rating in 2005. Based on what I know it didn't seem like the improvements were enough to justify such a large jump. Do you think they just derated some of the built in safety factor? I really don't want to have to buy a new truck if I can help it. We only tow about four trips a year and I only plan on putting about 12,000 miles a year on the truck.

Any experts out there really know what the 2003 F-350 is capable of?

 

Could be larger brakes and heavier suspension? I'd sure check before making a commitment like that. Also, it looks like you would be towing at near 4,000# overweight all of the time. That could dangerous plus it would make you liable in an accident even if it wasn't your fault.

 

The reason your tow rating is down in that truck is probably the 3.73 rear end.
My truck has a 21000 Goss Combined Weight rating because I have 4.10 gears.
If I would have ordered 4.30s I would have had a 23000 GCWR.
They did not derate the safety factor, they made the 05s with better brakes and stronger frames and added about 300 pounds to the weight of the trucks. That is why they went to 17" and 18 " wheels , so they could go to bigger disc brakes.
Your 03 should have a 20 000 GVWR if it had 4.30s because my 00 F350 PSD had that 20 000 # rating with a PSD and 3.73s but the gassers had to have the lower speed rear ends to get the max tow rating. Check it out and if you get a good enough deal on the truck you could consider putting in 4.30s Good Luck.

 

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Change the gears to 4.30s and you'll be good to go.

 

Gears is the difference. Saves wear and tear on drive train.

 

In 2005 the frames are larger, as are the brakes. I'm not sure what else changed, but you can bet Ford did more than just comprimise the safety margin.

 

My '01 with 3.73's is 10,600 or so, with 4.30's, it jumps to 12,500.

Nothing else in the suspension or brakes is different between the two GCWR's.

The 4.30's put less strain on the transmission, and do not generate as much heat as 3.73's pulling the same load. If you have a manual, and put good synthetic gear oil in the rear, I can't see it being a problem, although you might want to try one of those finned diff covers to relieve some of the heat. If you have an automatic, get a tranny temp guage and watch it carefully.

The real problem is the legality of pulling 12K with a 10.6K truck. Even switching the gearing, the stock truck is not really supposed to be pulling that much, and you could get in hot water with certain states like PA who, I hear, are pains for that kind of stuff. I'm not entirely sure about the legality, you might want to check on that in a seperate post in the Superduty forum (or is there a towing forum? Sure there is...)

art k.

 

The Ford Fleet Towing Guide states you are rated at 13,600 lbs max trailer loading for a 5er. Check the site....https://www.fleet.ford.com/showroom/...03_default.asp

 

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The issue is the 3.73 rear gear. I pull a 13K lb 5er with my 250. I used to have the 3.73 and the truck stuggled to pull the load. I now have the 4.30 and it pulls very nice. I paid about $850 to have the gears changed. Worth every penny.

The legal weight has nothing to do with the gears. That is GCWR and GVWR which the truck is good for 23,000 lbs.

 

You are exactly right. How well does your TV pull 7% grades?

I just bought a TH with a dry weight of 9100....I am going to a 4:56 gear w/ 35" tires

 

My 5er is a 36' tripple axle TH and it gets up to about 13K when I am loaded up. Your going to want the lower gears for pulling that kind of grade with your new TH. I had the 3.73 on stock tires and it would pull 4 - 5% grades OK but it worked its A$$ off and the clutch fan was engaged all the way up. I never pulled a 7% with it and would not want to with that gear. The 4.30 pulls up the same 5% grades without much problem at all. I don't pull much faster just much much easier. I could pull faster but it will do an easy 60 MPH so I am fine with that. I will be pulling next weekend up to the Sierra Nevada's so I will report back on the performance on much steeper climbs when I get back.

One thing I will say is that I have the Banks Power Pack and it is a HUGE difference. I can't believe the garbage exhaust that Ford puts on from the factory. The engine is REALY choked from stock. I would highly recomend opening up the exhaust if you can afford to do it. I noticed that the engine seems much less strained than before. Even if you don't put on the type of system that Banks sells you should see big gains just by fixing the stupid Y-pipe and a cat back. Also for really heavy wieghts the Banks Transcommand helped a lot, or at least it just feels tighter on the shifts which I like.

I would say that if you run 4.56 gears even stock you will pull your TH pretty well though.

Do you know your weight with toys loaded in?

 

I don't know the loaded weight yet. I pick-up the trailer next weekend. I am guessing I will be around 12,500 lbs. - 13,000 lbs loaded. It's a 2006 LE 3105.

650 Rincon TRX
Honda 90 TRX
E-Ton 50cc

 

fastdew
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