I recently purchased a new fifth wheel trailer (36ft. 10,440 ship weight and 14,080 GVWR rating). I have a 06' F-350 supercab (4dr.) w/longbed, 4x4, 6.0 and stock (11,000 miles).
First, should there be any problem towing this trailer with this truck?

Second, is there anything I should consider doing to my truck to prevent any unusual wear & tear?

Third, what 'can' I do to my truck for more power, that the factory won't void my warranty?

And last, I wanted to lift the truck 4in. and go to 35" BFG All Terrain, any forseen problems?
Thanks,
Mike

 

I'm pulling my 19,000 lb 38' fiver with just about the same truck. I top 5 mile, 7% grades in West Virgina at 45 mph with the truck bone stock.

I don't know that you can do anything to increase power that is guaranteed not to void your warranty. Each mod carries it's own risks and each truck has it's individual weaknesses, so at best, you can mod with no problems. At worst, you could get into a prolonged p*&^*&^ contest with Ford over who pays for damage to the drivetrain.

One problem I can see with your plan is keeping the trailer level after you lift the truck and put the 35"s on. That may call for flipping the axles on the trailer to keep the trailer level and still maintain sufficient bedrail clearance. It's a relatively cheap, painless solution, but does raise the center of gravity when towing.

 

Thank for the input! Have you ever seen or flipped the axles on a trailer before? Any idea of how much 'higher' it puts the trailer? Is it enough to be considerd a safety issue?
Thanks again,
Mike

 

Some RV dealers refuse to "flip" the axles because it changes the CG too much. Makes them too top heavy and most manufacturers will not warranty the trailers affected parts. Go down to the towing forum and do a search on flipping there...or just browse the thread.

 

I tow a weekend warrior that weighs in at 12k fully loaded with 150 gal fresh water and 36 gallons of gas with an 03 FX4 CC short box loaded with fire wood and tool box.
The engine is bone stock and I have 3:73 gearing on stock size tires. I'm not a big fan on lifting the truck, although it does look nice, I don't want to have problems with wheel bearings, ball joints and transmission failures.
I would recommend a deep sump transmission and rear end housing cover to add additional cooling and fluid capacities. I have the Mag Hytech on both and they do help lower the temps.

 

Towing the trailer should be no problem in stock form, im guessing you have a single rear wheel since you want to lift it, so you might get a little sway with a camper that big/heavy but it wouldnt be anything unsafe.
Ford made the truck to work hard so i wouldnt really worry about unusual wear and tear, follow the owners manual i think the biggest thing is to change your oil more often, i change mine every 4,000 to 5,000 miles and only use motorcraft filters. If you have any doubt about the quality of your fuel i believe you should change your fuel filters more often i change mine every 10,000miles (ford recommends 15,000), i have had injector problems twice, three died at 20,00miles and two died at 35,000 miles and i believe this was due to dirty fuel clogging my filters and then starving the injectors which ruins them instantly. Other than that just make sure your general maintenance is kept up.
For more power while keeping the warranty, thats between you and your dealer/service dept. Ask them before you buy any performance parts, generally cat back exhausts, power elbows and better incercoolers are ok. When you get into tuners, full exhausts with no cat, turbos, propane/nos, you are asking for trouble if you want warranty to cover a problem. Generally, lifting a truck will void a lot of your 3yr 36000 mile warranty. Most of the drive train wont be covered anymore, like your ball joints, u joints, even your tranny most likely wont be covered.
Finally, depending on how often you plan to tow you might not want to lift your truck. There are many downsides to towing with a lifted truck, if you use a block to lift the rear you will get more spring wrap when you accelerate so lift springs would be a better choice. The larger tires would have more sidewall flex and lower (numerically) your gear ratio making the motor/tranny work harder to pull the camper. Plus like the guys above said you will need to lift your camper to ensure it clears your bed rails. If you use your camper for weekend get aways and dont tow long distances very often, lift it up. If your constantly towing it for long distances i personally would leave it stock height.
Flipping the springs to the top of the axles lifts the camper by the height of the axle, plus the height of the springs. Measure from the top of the axle to the lowest spring under the axle and thats how much lift flipping the springs will gain you.
Blake

 

The 6.0 can tow it's rated weight with NO problem. As far as worrying about blowing it up with stock trim, it is kinda idiot proof. As long as the motor, trans and suspension is sound, you can basically just mash that pedal to the flloor and RUN IT. Adding better cooling to the trans with a pan and diff with a pan is always a bonus. As soon as you start adding ANY power...that's when your truck turns into a cockpit. Gotta watch the temps and gauges until you know what you've got, then you only have to watch them half that much. The biggest downfall you have is your gearing and 35's. The 3.73 work well for many, so you'll have to just see how your truck does. I have a Weekend Warrior, although it is doesn't have flipped axles, The dealer would have had no problem doing it and retaining all the included warranties, so they said.
Get some good shocks and some airbags.
Also, IMHO, first Gauges and Exhaust....Second...what ever you want.
Oh yeah...don't forget to keep adequate clearance between the bed and trailer...6" is absolute MINIMUM.

 

Great info!! Thanks for all the help, and I really mean that!!! This site is like having my own mechanic/support crew! I have asked both the Ford dealership and the trailer dealership for some input and they just say to ask the other for help. You would think spending all that money for a truck, and RV they could at least answer a few tech. questions for a new customer.

Thanks again,
Mike

 

I didn't see this mentioned in any of the posts above. When towing, the transmission gets a real workout so change the external transmission filter at least as often as recommended, preferably more often. It's easy and also cheap insurance. It's in an aluminum canister on the passenger side below the radiator.

I had the axles flipped on my 07 Weekend Warrior FSC 2800 by the WW facility in Claremont. They flip axles on trailers prior to selling them so I don't see where warranty issues would come into play. It probably increased towing drag but I haven't noticed a difference in mileage or in crosswinds. The Hensley Arrow hitch makes a big difference in crosswinds though. 5th wheels are more stable than tag trailers so I say flip away! Just be sure your trailer sits level when towing so the tires are evenly loaded.

A cat-back exhaust should not affect the truck warranty and helps with power and lowers EGT's. Check with your dealers Service Manager to see if they are reasonably mod-friendly, if they love mods, or are mod-*****. It all depends on the dealer.

I easily fit 35" Toyo mud terrains on my truck (see gallery) with a Bilstein 2.25" leveling kit/shocks and actually lowered the rear end with F250 blocks. Adding Firestone Ride-Rites allows me to tow with my truck sitting level. The Bilstein shocks and coil springs made a HUGE improvement in ride quality and also eliminated the 'death-wobble'.

Get gauges as suggested above.

Lastly, take your truck and trailer to a scale and get them weighed so you know exactly what you've got and always keep your trailer tires inflated to max psi. Enjoy!

 

35's and towing heavy is not a good situation for your tranny. This will exert a lot of extra torque requirements to get the rig going down the road and if you have any mountain grades it will really make it work hard.