Hi all, Our Family has a 2001 Dutchman Signature Fifth Wheel 36' triple slide. We had a dually when the trailer was on the road. The truck was sold when we parked the trailer on a seasonal site.

We just bought last month a 2008 F350 CC,LB,SRW,4x4,3.73 gears with the 6.4 in it. We didnt buy the truck based on towing the trailer since it is parked and we like the campground it is in. My wife had the idea of in the fall taking the trailer out of the campground and towing it to Disney World for a week vacation. We live in PA so it would be a straight shot down 95 to FL.
The trailer is around 11,000lbs empty no fluids with a 14,000 GVW on it. I would say it sits at around 13,000 with what is in it.

I guess my concern is Yes it should be a Dualley hooked up to it for stability. Would anybody say NO I would not tow it with the SRW?

Thanks for the opinions in advance.

Greg

 

Sorry just saw the Trailer Forum so I posted it there to.

 

You will be fine with that weight and your setup especially being a long bed. Tow it and have fun!!!

 

Thanks! I also forgot to mention that the trailer is a Tri Axle so the weight is spread out pretty good on the trailer.

 

Your trailer weighs about the same as ours, tho ours is tandem axle. We pull it with the truck in the sig below, with absolutely no stability concerns. I doubt you will have any either.

 

Thats even better. I have towed well over my gcwr and the truck still felt like it was in control of the load. Ford's seem to be good at this. I guess that 1000lb weight difference between it and Dodge's and GM's pay off!

 

14k is no problem for a F350 SRW. I chickened out with my 17k trailer and got a F450 dually...a F350 would have been fine, but I figured if I was spending the money might as well get the 450. The biggest reason for the dually is for pin weight, and with your trailer you should be under 3k...mine is pushing 4k or higher.

 

Thanks all, Our dualley had a buyer for it right before we parked the trailer in the campground. We ended up paying somebody to take the trailer to the site for us. The guy was with a transport CO. and he came with a 99ish F250 SRW Powerstroke. He set the trailer down on his truck and the back end of his truck was sitting low and the a$$ end of the trailer was up in the air.

 

Cant remember if the first couple years of the 99-04 body style F250's had 4" or 2" blocks under the springs. Those 4" blocks under the leaf springs on the srw 350's will fix that though. I put 350 blocks on my 250 before the leveling kit and it always took a lot of weight to get it to sit below level.

 

be sure to check your bearings and brakes if been sitting for a long time.

 

Yeah it will go to my trailer guy to have the bearings repacked and brakes checked. Thanks!

 

I used to pull my 13,500 lb tandem axle trailer with my '99 F350 dually before I traded it for a '08 F450 without a problem. The '08s are rated to pull more weight than the '99s. Many people pull heavy (over 12,000 lb) fifth wheels with SRW Superdutys and chevys. I personally prefer a dually due to the high pin weight on my trailer. The pin weight is important thing to watch but with the triple axle I hope it wouldn't be a problem. It concerns me some that it sat the older F250 down in the rear so much however the '08 is a different animal. I think you'll be fine but make sure the rear tires are aired to the maximum loaded pressure as rated on the tire.

 

Thanks for the advice!
I prefer a dually as well for fifth wheels at that weight range. I use my truck for work everyday and tow a 6x10 enclosed trailer with it. So I didnt see the need in getting a dually to run 125 miles a day on for my little trailer. I got the 1 ton SRW in case I have to move up to a bigger trailer for work some day. This will probably be a one shot deal towing the camper or maybe a couple times a year we will take it out of the campground it is in. We have a deck all along the side of it so getting it back on the site lined up right with the deck will be a pain in the but.

 

I have an 08 F350 swr super cab lb and pull a Jayco 35 rlsa. No problems at all. My trailer is 12,244 lbs empty.

 

I used to pull my 17k LB 5th wheel with 03 SRW F250. I never had a problem, but I did trade up to on 08 F450 because of 6.0 engine issues.