Need advice on Ford F150

[butch50]

Sure they can pull that much trailer weight, but they can't carry anywhere near that much 5W pin weight. A 27,500 lb 5W RV would load the truck down with a 5500 lbs pin weight!   Further, the stated tow ratings do not fully account for frontal area resistance either. The base assumption in the Ford Tow Guide is a max of 75 sq ft of 5W frontal area, but a typical large 5W RV will be more like 100 sq ft.  Ford has an entire page in their tow guide on frontal area considerations and says "Exceeding these limitations may significantly reduce the performance of your towing vehicle".

Yes they would have a 5500# pin weight but there are Ford F350 DRW regular cab trucks rated for over 6700# payload. I know this would have to be a stripped out model but they are there. Heck my Ram 3500 Lariat Mega cab dually is rated for a payload of 5445# payload (this is the yellow sticker on my door frame)and it is heavily optioned. I aslo know that is total of every thing that I load onto my truck. I know about frontal area but take a look and Ford even states that the E series cut aways  make impressive MH chassis and then you look up  and they recommend a frontal area of no more than 60 sq ft. Then you could only have a 8'X8' frontal area on  class c MH. There pictures on their towing spec page shows a big cabover class c MH. Kind of double talk I think.

But for someone to say that a 350/3500 DRW truck is only good for up to 16,000# GVWR is ludicrous. Also I'm not one that runs over on my weights. Like I stated I have a dually 14,000# GVWR truck and I'm pulling a 12,000 GVWR trailer with a 2510# pin weight.

This IMO   

[ammotroop1991]

Truck is Lariat supercrew 4x4.  No kids, no wife so travel light. (travel with light beer too). Its about 12k loaded and about 2500 on the hitch.

[ysidive]

Very rarely do you ever hear that " I have too much Truck.... But you very often hear I wish I had bought the Bigger Truck.... Listen to the people that tow... Many wish they had stepped up a notch, but for everyone who admits that they have too little of a truck there are 5 more that will not admit it...They rationalize their decision and many times are towing an unsafe load behind the truck...By More Truck... You will not regret it....

[Oldgator73]

Very rarely do you ever hear that " I have too much Truck.... But you very often hear I wish I had bought the Bigger Truck.... Listen to the people that tow... Many wish they had stepped up a notch, but for everyone who admits that they have too little of a truck there are 5 more that will not admit it...They rationalize their decision and many times are towing an unsafe load behind the truck...By More Truck... You will not regret it....

If you believe you can't have too much truck why aren't we all driving Freightliners or Peterbuilts?

[ysidive]

If you believe you can't have too much truck why aren't we all driving Freightliners or Peterbuilts?

Would if I could afford it.....!

[Oldgator73]

Who ever thought an F-150 would cost $60k?

[xrated]

Truck is Lariat supercrew 4x4.  No kids, no wife so travel light. (travel with light beer too). Its about 12k loaded and about 2500 on the hitch.

My guess is you are overloaded.  Your truck is almost identical to the one I had (2148 lbs payload).  Mine wasn't even a Lariat, which will have less payload than I had with an XLT!  What does the white/yellow on the driver side door post say for payload?

[John From Detroit]

I can not comment specifically on your setup. but I see far too many trailers with an F-150 under them where an F-350 is called for.

I've driven an F-350 Custom, Nice truck.

[hoddinron]

I tow a fairly light (8500 lb) fifth wheel with a 2500 (3/4 ton) RAM with 6.7 diesel engine and tow package - 3.73 rear end.

If I was going to tow anything heavier I would want a 3500 RAM with diesel. 

It's not just what it will tow, it's also the pin weight  in the bed, and the ability to STOP and control the trailer on the road.

You CAN buy a diesel RAM without all the fancy shit you don't need for the price of a fancy F-150 EB.  Look around, don't be stuck on one brand, and deal only with FLEET Managers at the dealerships.  The regular salesmen only want to sell what's on the lot.  I've seen some lots where they only had one or two trucks really well set up for towing (wrong rear axles etc.). 

Ron

[ammotroop1991]

I can not comment specifically on your setup. but I see far too many trailers with an F-150 under them where an F-350 is called for.

I've driven an F-350 Custom, Nice truck.

Just drove through Florida this past week and was pretty surprised the amount of 1/2 ton trucks pulling 10K lb + trailers...they were pulling them but it wasn't pretty.  Have a work acquaintance who tows a 38 ft 10K TT with 1500.  He refuses to tow in the mountains...don't condone it but its his choice.

[steveblonde]

Who ever thought an F-150 would cost $60k?

My 2017 F350 dually rang in at just over 70k on the window sticker100k cdn  ( of course i paid way less ) but i never imagined i would spend that sort of money on a truck - an exotic sports car maybe but not a truck, and ive added accessories after the fact, tonnou cover Fuel wheels etc and now i have a truck pymt for 5 yrs - put it out of reach for a lot of people - sad when you think about it

[Oldgator73]

Way back when (1999) I had a Dodge Ram, 2500 Cummins Diesel, single cab, Dana 80 rear end, 5 speed standard. The payload was rated at 3900 lbs. I hade a Jake brake installed by Cummins. Our 5th wheel was 37', triple axle, triple slide. Don't know the actual weight but imagine it was around 12k. We fulltimed for 5 years with this setup. Never had any problems. When I would hitch up the truck would not even squat an inch. I really liked the truck. The only problem was back then Dodge did not do a good job with fit and finish. Maybe different story now.

[ammotroop1991]

My 2017 F350 dually rang in at just over 70k on the window sticker100k cdn  ( of course i paid way less ) but i never imagined i would spend that sort of money on a truck - an exotic sports car maybe but not a truck, and ive added accessories after the fact, tonnou cover Fuel wheels etc and now i have a truck pymt for 5 yrs - put it out of reach for a lot of people - sad when you think about it

Paid $67K for my F250 on a Monday and paid $45K for my 5W that Saturday.  Expensive week but worth it

[Oldgator73]

My 2017 F350 dually rang in at just over 70k on the window sticker100k cdn  ( of course i paid way less ) but i never imagined i would spend that sort of money on a truck - an exotic sports car maybe but not a truck, and ive added accessories after the fact, tonnou cover Fuel wheels etc and now i have a truck pymt for 5 yrs - put it out of reach for a lot of people - sad when you think about it

Yep. Nobody ever said this was going to be a cheap hobby/lifestyle. When we fulltimed in the late 90,s early 2000's the total for truck and rig was about $55k. Now it seems the same setup will cost about $150k.

[Oldgator73]

Paid $67K for my F250 on a Monday and paid $45K for my 5W that Saturday.  Expensive week but worth it

Your handle is ammotroop. Which branch?

[ammotroop1991]

Your handle is ammotroop. Which branch?

USAF Ammo.  Came in 91 and still going.  Hit 27 years next month and stationed at SJAFB

[Oldgator73]

Retired in 99 after 24 years. CE-HVAC.

[steveblonde]

Paid $67K for my F250 on a Monday and paid $45K for my 5W that Saturday.  Expensive week but worth it

c
ammo your still overweight - sorry

[Oldgator73]

c
ammo your still overweight - sorry

How is he overweight? The Trailer GVWR is 12,560 lbs. looks like the max 5th wheel towing capacity is 16,500 and payload is 3400 lbs. 20% of 12,500 is 2512. That would leave him about 900 lbs for people and cargo in the truck.

[ammotroop1991]

Thanks Old Gator!   

Truck GVWR 10,000
Truck weight 6,100
Hitch is 2,100 ish
Me, Girl, Pitbull 350
Firewood and gear 1,000

Have 450 to spare for beer   

Trailer is 11.5K ish loaded. 

Truck is good and had no issues towing the trailer 200 miles from SC.

[xrated]

Thanks Old Gator!   

Truck GVWR 10,000
Truck weight 6,100
Hitch is 2,100 ish
Me, Girl, Pitbull 350
Firewood and gear 1,000

Have 450 to spare for beer   

Trailer is 11.5K ish loaded. 

Truck is good and had no issues towing the trailer 200 miles from SC.

If you've got a F250 Supercrew 4x4 Diesel, your truck weight is way over 6100 lbs.  You are in the neighborhood of 7500 lbs....probably a lot closer to 7800 or 7900 lbs.  As I stated earlier, I had almost the same truck except yours is more loaded than mine was......and I had 2148 lbs of payload.  Go check that sticker I referenced in my earlier post....just be sitting down when you do.

[ammotroop1991]

Guess I should have said 6,100 ish.  Truck is good.

[xrated]

Guess I should have said 6,100 ish.  Truck is good.

So what's the sticker say?

[steveblonde]

How is he overweight? The Trailer GVWR is 12,560 lbs. looks like the max 5th wheel towing capacity is 16,500 and payload is 3400 lbs. 20% of 12,500 is 2512. That would leave him about 900 lbs for people and cargo in the truck.

no way is payload 3400lbs on a F250

Cougar says hitch is 2165 THATS EMPTY and an "average ship weight" bet the actual unit is way higher

Ford brochure says my payload is is 6540 but REAL PAYLOAD as per the door decal is 1300 lbs less than that


what does the sticker say

[Oldgator73]

no way is payload 3400lbs on a F250

Cougar says hitch is 2165 THATS EMPTY and an "average ship weight" bet the actual unit is way higher

Ford brochure says my payload is is 6540 but REAL PAYLOAD as per the door decal is 1300 lbs less than that


what does the sticker say

Cougar says trailer GVWR is 12,500 lbs. I took 20% of that and came up with 2500 lb pin weight. Ford says the CCC for his truck is 3400 lbs. if that is correct he will be fine. In any case he is comfortable with his truck and trailer combination. IMHO there are many on this forum that think they are experts when in fact they are just weekend warriors like the rest of us. I have heard numerous folks here say "you can't have too much truck". But when I say why don't we all drive Peterbuilts or Freightliners the response I get is they are too expensive. If he comes back and says he has reevaluated the situation and says he is opting for a bigger truck, then so be it. Until then I am taking his word that he believes it is safe and he is comfortable with the combination. For those that aren't comfortable with his decision maybe you should ask for his itinerary and take an opposite route.

[xrated]

Cougar says trailer GVWR is 12,500 lbs. I took 20% of that and came up with 2500 lb pin weight. Ford says the CCC for his truck is 3400 lbs. if that is correct he will be fine. In any case he is comfortable with his truck and trailer combination. IMHO there are many on this forum that think they are experts when in fact they are just weekend warriors like the rest of us. I have heard numerous folks here say "you can't have too much truck". But when I say why don't we all drive Peterbuilts or Freightliners the response I get is they are too expensive. If he comes back and says he has reevaluated the situation and says he is opting for a bigger truck, then so be it. Until then I am taking his word that he believes it is safe and he is comfortable with the combination. For those that aren't comfortable with his decision maybe you should ask for his itinerary and take an opposite route.

That Ford CCC that you are stating (in bold print above), is from some brochure or table....not the actual yellow/white sticker on HIS truck.  If you read all the print in those charts, those are baseline numbers for stripped down models with the bare minimum of equipment.  He has already stated that he has a Lariat, CC, 4x4, Diesel.  As I stated before, my previous truck was identical, except it had LESS stuff on it than his does.....which means I had more payload than he does.....and I only had 2148 lbs.  So, you might see that some of us "experts" as you call them, might know just a thing or two about his situation......especially when we've been there, done that!

My present truck, a 2016 F350 DRW CC, 4x4, King Ranch, Diesel shows 5710 for max. payload or CCC.  My actual sticker on the door post is 5270 lbs.  That's almost a 450 lb difference.  And trust me, it's a LOT more of a difference on his truck. 

We'll see, if and when he posts his actual numbers from the door sticker.  His 2017 isn't going to be much different than my 2011 F250, except like I said.....he's got a Lariat and I had a XLT

[longhaul]

Good grief...the weight cops hijacked another 1/2 ton thread now attacking another member with a 3/4 ton truck     
 
 

[steveblonde]

Good grief...the weight cops hijacked another 1/2 ton thread now attacking another member with a 3/4 ton truck     

Your missing the point Longhaul - and Old gater just because you drove a tractor trailer for arguments sake a Peterbuilt and you pulled say a lowboy, does that mean you can drag around an 80,000 lb earthmover or 2 20,000 lb rolls of rolled steel? but, NO YOU DRIVE A SEMI YOU CAN DO ANYTHING right ? Of course not, the point is overloaded is NOT safe period. regardless of what you drive or tow. PUBLISHED  numbers are guidlines only

Proffesional drivers are on average better than a weekend warrior and MAY be able to handle an overwieght load better but ignorance is not an excuse for supidity

The so called " weight police " like myself have more than 20 years in the truck and rv business i have built 1000's of commercial trucks from oil field to 50,000 lbs flat decks with 60ft pickers and 100s and 100s of flat decks on 1 ton 3 ton and 5 ton trucks.  i grew up in the rv business  as my father was the plant manager that built Scamper, Skipper and Glendale trailers,i raced bikes professionally for years . So yeah i know something about weights and capabilities


Ps i dont know xrated from a hole in the ground but he is 100% correct

[Memtb]

  Deleted!

[xrated]

Good grief...the weight cops hijacked another 1/2 ton thread now attacking another member with a 3/4 ton truck     

Hijacked?   Attacked?  Are you serious??  The O.P. changed his own mind and bought a 3/4T truck instead of his original thought of buying a 1/2T truck.  Explain how that is "Hijacking"!  And as far as "attacking" another member, is that what you call it when someone is trying to help a person out so that he or she is within the safe towing limits of the vehicle?  You definitely have a "different" way of viewing things if you think that way!  Or maybe you are just one of those that think it's OK to tow in an overloaded condition.....I don't know you personally, so I don't know which of the two possibilities that it is.

The bottom line is that with the truck/trailer combination that he presently has, he is going to be pretty far over his payload capacity on the truck when he places that much pin weight on it....and that's before adding the hitch and whatever else he takes along.  Offering sound advice, in my case, based on personal experience, seems to be what all of us should be doing.