5th wheel towing weight
 

So the wife and I are looking at getting a 5th wheel toy hauler and last year when I bought my truck I didn't even think to look at it's towing ratings. Well now that we are looking at 5th wheels I'm noticing that a lot of the ones we are interested in are in the 18-19K GVWR range. The brochure for the 15's says with 3.55s the 5th wheel/gooseneck towing capabilities is only 15,900lbs. Would it be a problem if I did tow up to 18,000 or 19,000lbs. We don't have any toys yet so I won't even be towing over the 15,900 rating but I was just curious as to if these trucks will still handle it ok and safely.

With the gross weight up in 18-19K range you'll be in dually territory.

It will handle it fine. But in the event of a crash, either your fault, or another drivers, your insurance will view it quite different!

It will do the job, but you may want more truck for stability

You probably could but your payload capacity will be the limiting factor. Those heavy 5th wheels usually have 4000+ pin weights. Plus if you grossly exceed your grawr you could be shortening the life of your truck.

Gotcha. The wife and I may just have to lower our expectations a bit.

thanks for the help guys.

Exactly.
The pulling of the weight is not the issue. You can tow the space shuttle if you want. ;)
Cargo carrying capacity is your nemesis. Start with that bit of information and deduct yourself, your bride, and all other cargo (including hitch). What's left is your available pin weight or hitch weight.
You might look into a bumper pull toy hauler. With a WDH it's possible you might end up with less weight on the truck.

If you find a TH with a reasonable pin weight, you will have no problem at all with 18-19k. I towed mine, which can got upwards of 20k, with my 2012 and it was an excellent towing experience. So much so in fact, that when I ordered my 2017, I stayed SRW 350. Remember, 5th wheel tow ratings are manufactured numbers made up of fairy dust and unicorn horns. The only numbers that matter are GAWR and tire ratings. Find a 5ver that keeps you in line with those and do not sacrifice what you want. They are out there. Mine has a pin of 2800# with the garage empty and 2600# with it loaded.

I didn't even think that r he pin weight would be less with toys in it but with the cargo areas behind the axles it makes sense.

Toy haulers are a little more difficult to zero in on the king pin wt vs a standard 5th wheel.

No true, my 18 F350 SRW is rated at 20,600 gooseneck/5th.

I do not have a toy hauler but agree the pin weight will very significantly loaded and unloaded do the cargo room behind the axles.

the amount you can tow and payload increased significantly from the 15 model year and the 17.

Rumor has it that a member on here is fabricating ballast tanks for the rear of the toyhauler's. This will enable you to use the old see-saw theory to lighten up the pin weight and even use a F-150 with the max towing and payload package to haul these heavy toyhaulers!!

Satire, I'm guessing. Just add air bags; you'll be fine.