From past experience, your primary problem is your rear tires.

I tow a 14k fifthwheel with 2650# pin weight. I was right at tire and rear axle ratings (6100#s) with a '93 F250 turbo IDI 4x4 (lot lighter than a SD). Moved up to an '05 F350 SRW w/18" tires Weighed truck with loaded trailer, currently running 6650# on a 7200# tire and axle rating. The larger brakes are real nice.

Good luck

 

I wouldn't even consider towing a 15k trailer with anything less than a 1 ton. DRWs not only give you more lateral stability, but they also offer more traction to the road when braking. Towing that much is one thing, stopping it is entirely different. I will never feel comfortable with trailer brakes until the total braking surface is equal to or greater than the braking surface on the truck.

 

A SRW F350 (still a one ton) and a F250 have the same brakes.

 

Man I love this subject. If you have an F250 and want to pull a 13,000 lb 5er. Go for it. I did it for 6 years all over the country including alaska and back. And there are thousands like me out there every day. I have researched as hard as time permits and I cannot find the requirments for the door stickers on these trucks. I'm sure they are somewhere in some DOT regulation but I can't find them. I've also searched the state web sites of many states and cannot find any law reference non commerical vehicles and weight ratings. There are a couple that have a law concerning not exceeding the ratings on the sidewall of the tires which IMO is a good idea. Weight and towing may be the most discussed and cussed topic on the truck and RV web sites. And there is a lot of dis-information on the web on the subject. I don't claim to have all the answers but I do have a good bit of experience I'll share. I figure it like this, there is what you carry in the truck and what you pull with the truck and these are different things. What you carry is the weight of the truck, fuel, tools and other stuff in the bed, dog, passengers, the gun in the glove box and the pin weight of the trailer. You shouldn't carry more than your tires are rated for. If you're overloaded you will almost certainly blow a tire before you bend an axle. When you add the pin weight you shouldn't exceed the RAWR which BTW is based on the tires. If you change the tires do you change the RAWR? I would think so but I can't find that anywhere either. What you pull is what you carry plus the rest of the trailer weight. That weight is supported by the trailer tires and axles but the propulsion is supplied by the truck. You shouldn't pull more than your drive line can withstand. I'm not sure how much that is but I can tell you with absolute certainty that a 13,000 lb 5er on an F250 won't exceed it. I will add that there are a lot of things you can do to change the situation if you're not happy with it. The pin weight on different 5ers are different. Somebody above mentioned a rear kitchen helping. I know that an extended pin can reduce the pin weight. But, when you move more weight further back on the trailer you increase the wag motion. Also, there are lots of after market toys to help (see my signature for some examples). Also, what someone said above, weigh the truck and the trailer and the truck and trailer together, thats the only way you will know what you are dealing with. I have a lot more info on this subject. If you want just shoot me a PM and I'll help you all I can. Good luck and I hope this helps.

 

Very good info. Stanley. The only thing I would question is the rear GAWR being based on the tires. While I feel this is true to an extent, my '05 F-250 4x4 has a rear GAWR of 6200 pounds per the factory info and the door plate. An identical F-350 SRW has a rear GAWR of 7280 pounds sourced from the same info. They both have factory 18" wheels with "E" rated tires in the same size (275/70-18) and load capacity (3640 pounds). If the rear GAWR is based only on the tires, why would the F-250 / 350 have different rear GAWR ratings in stock form? Just wondering if you'd run across this or any information on it.

 

To me I also keep in mind the DMV requirements. In MD it is 26,000 lbs. So that is all I am worried about.

 

Most of the time that 26k limit comes along with a 10k trailer limit, so read carefully

 

I sure don't know the answer to that question. My guess would be that the rear springs are a little stiffer and there are 4 inch spring blocks on the 350. That is the case for the 2001. In fact the only difference in the entire truck for 2001 was the rear spring had leafs that were like a couple milimeters thicker and it had 4 inch blocks between the springs and the axle while the 250 had 2 inch blocks. (there is a different axle for the DRW.) There used to be a great web site for folks building ambulances and commerical service trucks and it had all the parts broken down but it went away. Next time you see a 350 just like your 250 take a peek, I'm betting there are 4 inch blocks and that the springs are a liffle thicker. In fact so little that you won't be able to see it. They may have an extra overload spring across the top too. The blocks are there to keep the truck level with the heavier load on the rear. an $80 set of overload springs from Hellwig will do the same thing. On my truck, when I had about 6000lbs on the rear axle it needed the OL springs to stay nice and level.

Now, I wouldn't suggest that how much the axel will take is unlimited, but the highest rated tires I could find for my stock 16inch wheels were 3415lbs. They just don't make anything heavier. I don't think that's an accident, I think the industry is controlled by DOT regulations but I can't prove that and really don't have enough interest to look it up. I have no doubt that the axel would handel 6830lbs. And I have no doubt that your's would handle 7280 with OL springs for leveling and handeling. In fact I'm wondering how much difference there is between your axle and mine.

I now have 19.5 inch tires rated at 3970lbs, but I don't plan on putting 7840lbs on the rear axle. my trailers not that heavy and I'm not comfortable that would work for long term use. I upgraded the tires for the stability. they should reduce the side to side movement and stabalize the load. If they don't then I guess I'm going shoping for a DRW truck. However, on the diesel forum there are often pictures of the farm guys pulling humongus trailers loaded to the max, they have to be putting 10,000lbs or more on that axle and they are not saying anything about bending axles.

To me the whole issue is about common sense. I have driven overloaded trucks and grossly overloaded trucks. I promise, if your truck is overloaded you will know it. Driving it will suck! If you're hauling corn on the south forty, who cares? Or if you're making a 25 mile run to the lake and back it probably won't be too bad. But if you are pulling for long distances an over loaded truck will make you very uncomfortable.

 

for Maryland, non-commerical there is no limit on trailer wt. Only the total combined is 26K.

 

Hi Rob, thought you might find my experience interesting. Besides it's raining and I can't play golf so I might as well peck away here. My 16.5K lb mobile suites seems to stop much better than the way lighter cardinal did. To your point it has considerably larger brakes, 3 3/8 X 12 1/2 vs the Cardinal's 12X2. I don't totally disagree with your point but don't totally agree either. With most trucks having 4 wheel disc and most trailers having 4 wheel drum your standard is going to be hard to meet. All I think I need is brakes adaquate for the trailer and a brake control that applies the trailer brakes first. That and never ever tail gate. have a nice day.

 

Also don't forget to adjust the gain on the trailer brake controller. That is why it is adjustable.