I am new to this forum and really excited to find a forum devoted to Ford truck owners. I want to respectfully ask for some feedback from the experienced towers on this forum. I have an 02 F-250 crew cab 4 wd short bed with the 7.3 L powerstroke diesel, auto tranny. It has a 4 inch Western Diesel SS exhaust system and an Araid air filter, other thatn that its stock. I use it now to tow a 28 ft travel trailer in the 7500 # range and it does a great job. I am considering buying a 35 ft 5th wheel trailer with a dry weight of 9420 lb and a dry hitch weight of 1885 lb. My manual says the truck can tow a 13,000 lb fifth wheel and the GCWR is 20,000 lb. With my truck full of fuel, me, the wife and two kids and a dog, we weigh in at 7900 lbs. With my trailer loaded with say 1000 lbs of gear, we'll come in at approx 10,500 lbs. So truck and trailer combined with occupents and stuff, will be 18,200 lbs which is 1800 lbs under the GCWR of 20,000 lb. So I think I am OK that way. I was researching 5th wheel hitches and a dealer said that the 5th wheel hitch weight should be under the payload capacity of the truck. So with a loaded trailer I think the hitch weight comes in at 20% of the loaded weight or 2100 lbs. This web site says that the payload capacity of my truck is 2525 lbs(this was not in my manual). So I am under the payload by 425 lbs and under the GCWR by 1800 lbs. My questions are:
- Am I interpreting all of these ratings correctly and do you agree with my conclusions ?
- Am I too close to capacity here to safely tow including up and down some medium grade mountains(Appalacians and Smokeys)?
- Are there some aftermarket mods that I can make to improve things?
- Is anyone else out there towing this much or more and how has your experience been doing that?

I really appreciate any feedback that you guys can offer.

Thanks in advance.

John

 

Welcome to FTE John, you'll find lots of good info here, I personally do not have a 5th wheel, but have spent years on the farm around goosenecks and heavy loads.

My dad had a 99 350 identical to yours, single rear wheel with 3.73 gears. That truck, with all 4 of us in it towing the 4 horse aluminum slant load trailer with living quarters, 4 horses, and all of our gear and food, supplies etc, for 2 weeks weighed in at 24,xxx lbs.

His truck was bone stock, no gauges, no exhaust, no intake, nothing at all. We towed that setup 2 years in a row from here in East Tn to Dillion, Mt, 2100 miles. and never missed a beat. The only reason we have the f450 for that now is because he got a crazy good deal on it. The dually does however handle the load better of course with 4:10 gears, it doesnt sway as much either, although sway still wasnt bad with that f350.

On your questions, yes you seem to have figured things correctly. Your truck wont have any trouble handling that load. It would not hurt to atleast have a set of gauges(boost, EGTs, and trans temp) to keep an eye on things. If your trans temps seem to be a little high, I as well as others would recommend a trans cooler from a 6 liter powerstroke(they are larger and cool much better, and can be found cheaper than aftermarket and bolt right up)

Whereabouts do you live at John? I noticed you mentioned the smokies. I'm not far from them, i'm just east of Knoxville in Grainger Co.

 

We have identical trucks and my 5th wheel is 35ft and weighs about 12k dry. You'll be OK. Like Cory said, guages and trans cooler would help a lot and adding a tuner would help on the mountains also.

 

According to Ford, your GVWR is #8800.
My '99 CC 4x4 short bed weighs #7700 with a full tank of fuel, the family and some luggage. Based on that info, my "payload" is only 1100 lbs. So yours is about the same. It might be possible to have a payload of 2500lbs on an F250 with a gas engine, single cab and 2 wheel drive.

That being said...I think you'll be fine with your plan. However, there are a few MUST haves and some LIKE TO haves:

MUST HAVE:
Slider hitch.
Supplemental Transmission cooler.

LIKE TO HAVE:
Air bags with on board compressor.
EBPV mod to act as exhaust brake
TC lock mod

Happy RVing and be safe!

 

Thanks for all the great fedback guys. Cory - I live in MD and my wife and I had some of our best vacations tent camping in the Smoky mountains (before kids). We want to take our kids there in the near future. Darrell - what type of tuner do you recommend ? Do you have to use it for flat towing also or only in the mountains ? Gchavez - I see what you mean with the 8800 # GVWR vs the actual loaded vehicle weight to get your payload. Is that how we're supposed to figure out the 5th wheel hitch load ? It makes sense, but does not agree with what the hitch dealer told me, I guess he is wrong. If it is, then my vehicle weight loaded with the hitch load adds up to 2100 lb + 7900 lb = 10,000 lb which puts the vehicle 1200 lb over the GVWR, but it is still under the 20,000 lb GCWR. On one hand, I satisfy being under the 20000 lb GCWR but exceed the GVWR of 8800 lb, is this acceptable ? From all of the examples above, it seems like we would all be in the same boat. For the 5th wheel hitch, I am getting a slider, currently comparing the Pull Rite 16K Super Glide automatic system to what Reese offers.
Thanks again for the prompt feedback, ths is really helpful.
John

 

With a 5th wheel or goose, don't worry so much about payload. The pin weight is distributed along the frame rails and is in front of the rear axle, so it's not nearly as touchy as tongue weight on a tag trailer. What you have will be fine, but a lot times people are surprised to find thier 5ver weighs more than they thought after the wife loads it up with stuff. You'll be close the GCV weight, but even so the truck will handle it. A list of things I did to make towing more pleasurable:

air bags
JWVB
trans cooler

Now there's a couple more things you can do if you want to spend some $ and make more power to pull those grades:
DP Tuner with tow and decel tunes
WW or ported turbo housing to keep turbo surge away

For kicks I tried towing my loaded 14K goose in the stock tune. It would do it, but it wasn't much fun.

Don't listen to the dealer about the hitch. Get a good one, overkill isn't a bad thing here. I got a B&W on mine, I think it's for 30,000#. I'd never do that, but I know the hitch is gonna be there for a long time.

 

Hey John,

You are getting some great info already, I just wanted to let you know that what you are proposing will be fine with your truck. You will probably be over the GVWR of the truck, but under on every other rating, so I wouldn't worry one bit. My 5er comes in at just under 14,000lbs. Granted, had I known when I got my truck I would be towing this much I would've gotten a dually. But I went round and round about this and decided I'd rather keep my truck that has been great to me than get another one that I don't know anything about. It all boils down to what you're comfortable with, but I would not sweat that trailer with your truck one bit.

 

John,

Find out what the GVWR of the 5th wheel is and let us know, but with a dry weight like you mentioned I doubt its much more than 12,000lbs. You need to PLAN on towing the GVWR, not the dry weight.

 

The GVWR on the trailer is 12,500 lbs.

John

 

You have nothing to worry about. Have fun and enjoy the RVing lifestyle. We use ours like crazy and enjoy every minute of it.

 

Welcome to FTE! You are reading the info correctly. and thank you for having the forthought to weigh your truck before you went looking for a 5v'er. to many people find a trailer and try to make the truck fit. The wife and I travel fulltime so we pull alot.
Good guages are a must. tranny cooler and possibally an updated valve body for the tranny. a Custom chip will make a world of difference. Darrel already mentioned DP. Power Hungry Performance is my choice. Tony Wildman is also a good one. I also hear Ryan up in Montana is building some awesome towing tunes. Superchip style programmers are not what you want. for the same amount of money you can get a custom chip built for you and your truck. And if your really serious about safety and stability, invest in a set of Rickson wheels and 19.5 tires. They make a world of difference on a single rear wheel truck. and they are located in Hunt Valley MD.
see you on the road

Barney