Not citations I'm thinking of, but also in reference to a post 1 or 2 earlier...

Hitch weight for a travel trailer is minimum 10%, generally prefer 15%.

5th wheel, 15% is my minimum, 25% preferred.

Get the right truck for the load, don't move stuff around in the trailer to make the truck happy. At the end of the day, the right truck will make the driver happier than a compromised trailer balance.

Lots of folks do trade off the trailer balance for comfortable towing whens just cruising along, and this risks sway and control problems when things get dicey (strong cross winds, steep grades, trailer brake failures, tire blowouts especially steer tires, anything that stresses towing limits).

I give up, I guess a F250 with a15,000lb tow capacity and 3,000lb of GVW for pin weight can't tow a 12,300lb fifth wheel. Please ignore all my posts in fact I have to go, I need to sell my SRW F250 and buy a F350 dully so I can safely tow my 11,900lb bumper pull.
Sorry for the rant I feel better now.

An F250 and F350 srw are identical, the only difference is the 350 has a taller block in the rear and a greater capacity on paper just because its a 350. Physically they can handle the same amount of weight. You said your 5th wheel is 12,300 lbs unloaded so it will be closer to 14,000 loaded and I am guessing it is 35+ feet long, that's dually territory in my opinion, not only for the extra weight capacity but for stability as well. What you need to look at is the axle ratings of the trucks, a typical f250 has a rear axle rating of 6100 lbs and if it is a crew cab long bed it will have 3200-3400 lbs on that axle then add the pin weight which is around 20% of the total weight so 2,800 lbs and you end up with 6000-6200 lbs which is right at the max rating (which is what the DOT will go by if they weigh your vehicle) an F350 SRW has 6,800 lb axle rating even though its the same axle.

Hey, if your combo is within specs for your truck, don't let me get your goat. Some of these trucks are so heavily optioned they do not have anywhere near the max (or as the marketing folks write it, the "up to" capacity). And too many on the road don't get that.

The thing I find screwy is that my '03 with the 7.3 has less towing capacity than if it had a less powerful gas engine.

The point of the post you quoted is many owners go with light tongue or pin weights due to overloading the rears of their trucks if they went with recommended towing distributions, and it is not wise. Not saying you do, and not going to take the time to run the numbers on your combo. Each of us has to be comfortable with our own limits.

But am glad you feel better. We all need to vent every now and then.