Towing Weight and Tongue Weight

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Free Spirit

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Joined
Jul 17, 2016
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60
Location
Houston, Tx area.
We are about to sell boat and get a 5th wheel.
We are still in the looking stage.
We will need to get a PU truck also.
We are going to search for a 5th wheel first and then look for a p/u truck.
We dont want a 350 size truck nor do we want a dually.

Generally speaking, what is max. pulling weight and tongue weight for a Ford 250 or equivalent?

 
Free Spirit said:
We are about to sell boat and get a 5th wheel.
We are still in the looking stage.
We will need to get a PU truck also.
We are going to search for a 5th wheel first and then look for a p/u truck.
We dont want a 350 size truck nor do we want a dually.

Generally speaking, what is max. pulling weight and tongue weight for a Ford 250 or equivalent?

There are a lot of variables but I would say 12,000 lbs would be the most you would put behind a 3/4 ton truck. If you did spend the extra couple hundred dollars and move up to a 1 ton, you could have a heavier trailer.  The only difference between a 250 and 350 is the suspension.
 
And all of the major brands make a single rear wheel one ton truck. So my advice is find the trailer you must have, then shop the truck that will pull it safely within it's tow rating. And DON"T use the empty weight of the trailer to make your decision.  Use the max trailer weight.  If you buy the truck first and then try to match the trailer you have a good possibility of over loading the tow vehicle.
 
lone_star_dsl said:
There are a lot of variables but I would say 12,000 lbs would be the most you would put behind a 3/4 ton truck. If you did spend the extra couple hundred dollars and move up to a 1 ton, you could have a heavier trailer.  The only difference between a 250 and 350 is the suspension.

And even the suspension on 2011-2016's are the same depending on how the F-250 is outfitted. 12000# is probably a safe number for the 250 and still remain legal.
SargeW said:
And all of the major brands make a single rear wheel one ton truck. So my advice is find the trailer you must have, then shop the truck that will pull it safely within it's tow rating. And DON"T use the empty weight of the trailer to make your decision.  Use the max trailer weight.  If you buy the truck first and then try to match the trailer you have a good possibility of over loading the tow vehicle.

^good advice right there^
 
My 2012 F250  (without doing specific math) for a 5th is  roughly (very rough) 3500 max tongue, and 12-14k max trailer depending on the exact truck configuration.  Reality after passengers, options, gear, and a max loaded trailer will be less.

I would expect you will be likely looking at a larger truck than you imagine, or a smaller trailer than you want.
 
You do not want a 3500 or a dually?  OK, keep your fifth wheel choices to under 30 feet long and under 12,000 GVWR.
But honestly your simply setting yourselves up for failure.  First a newer 3500 series SRW truck will ride nearly as nice as,older 2500 series trucks did.  Second a 3500 series SRW will haul more weight.  And hauling weight is whats its all about when considering fifth wheels.  Last, duallies are no more difficult to drive than a 2500 or 3500SRW.  Yea, they require 2 more tires come tire time, but so what? They also are more stable towing platform, will allow for more loading, and are just plane fun to drive.  Remember, the widest part of every truck is the mirrors, especially when their in the out or towing position.
 
Here are some hard numbers from my 2011 F250 diesel, Crew Cab, 4x4, 10,000 GVRW.  2150 lbs of cargo carrying capacity.  Tow rating is 14,100 lbs.  The 2150 CCC severely limits the truck for pulling a 5th wheeler, as the pin weight for the ones that I wanted was in the 2600 to 3100 lb weight range.  This would have very obviously put me waaay overloaded just by hooking up to one....and that's not counting passengers, 5th wheel hitch, additional cargo, etc.  Since I couldn't afford a different truck AND the trailer, I switched gears and bought a 34 1/2' tow behind toy hauler.  I'm not over the ccc rating of my truck that way and I have a toy hauler that will work very well for me.
 
Real world for my F-250 (10000# GVWR): Full tank of gas, myself and wife, and everything we normally carry- we have 2540# of available payload for hitch and pin weight. Subtract 200# for hitch, leaves 2340# for pin weight. Fiver max weight at 25% pin weight-9360#, fiver max weight with 20% pin weight-11700#. All my weights are scale verified. Same truck in F-350 (11500# GVWR) would add 1100# payload. Then fiver max weight at 25% pin weight-13760#, fiver at 20 % max pin weight-17200#. Then I would have to worry about exceeding the GCWR of truck with trailer, but have plenty of payload.
I tow a 9000# plus bumper pull and use my WDH more for sway control than carrying the weight. If we are camping at the State Park 5 miles away, I don't even bother with the WDH, I just drop it on the ball and go.
 
My thoughts agree with all above.

Max FW for a ? ton truck will be about 12,000# - a somewhat small FW.

When looking at campers, IGNORE DRY WEIGHTS!!  Nobody goes camping in an empty camper!  You need a truck capable of handling a loaded camper.  Use the camper GVWR for the camper weight.  Use 20% of this for FW pin wt and 10% as TT hitch wt.

Why are you opposed to a 1 ton SRW truck??  Within a brand, internal and external dimensions are virtually identical.  They are the same truck from a size perspective.  The 1 ton has a heavier suspension and a higher GVWR.  ? ton trucks will have a max 10,000# GVWR.  Most (not all) 1 ton trucks have a 11,500# GVWR (SRW).  The GVWR has more to do with the official load limit, and thus tax / license rates in some states.  For new trucks, identically equipped 1 ton truck costs less than $1,000 more than its' ? ton sibling.  For this, your payload increases by about 1200#.

If you are stuck on a ? ton truck, consider a TT.  A FW places about 20% of its gross weight in the bed of the truck.  A TT places about 10% of its gross weight on the bumper.  Obviously, a given truck / payload can handle a much heavier TT than FW.

When calculating truck capacity, the Payload published by the manufacturer MUST be reduced by the weight of all options and aftermarket equipment.  This reduced payload must be larger than the total of FW pin wt PLUS 200# for FW hitch PLUS the weight of all passengers, pets, tools, cargo, snacks, and anything else carried in the truck.
 

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