jks said:
On a side question, mustangary, since you have a F250 diesel pulling a Pinnacle. I do not have a 5w yet. Still looking. I had discounted the Jayco Pinnacle thinking that it was too much trailer for my truck. The smallest Jayco Pinnacle is 321 RLTS with a dry hitch weight of 2200 lbs. By the time I add stuff, most likely the hitch weight will be around 2,800 lbs. My payload max per sticker on the F250 door is 1,990. When I add the DW, my doggies ice chest, etc., I will be well over 1,000 than max for my truck. The 6% grades for over 15 miles in Cloudcroft NM scare me. You seem to have no problem. Perhaps it is because my truck is 4W drive with many options, its max payload is lower than yours. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Joe
Joe... my internet connection went down in mid-conversation.... in any case, bottomline is:
Have the 31RKLS Pinnacle... pretty heavy pin weight, so GVWR on regularly springed 2012 F250 is marginal. However, air bags...extra springs, in effect, just like the F350 has, i.e., heavier springs... which is the main source of its' higher GVWR rating.. makes it work (as a point of comparison, in case you want to go with a larger truck to pull that larger Pinnacle). The air bags add upwards of a 1000 thousand pounds or so of capacity (springs actually rated at 5000 pounds more capacity, but would never add this much more to a F250), which is what you need to add to the rear spring capacity of a 250 in order to handle the Pinnacle.
The thing is, after one unhooks, that truck becomes the wife's "mall" car.. so, the F250 works better... just deflate those bags to 5-10 pounds, and have the "car" back. Tradeoffs.
Now, I realize this is not whole story.. as the F350 has a slightly different master cylinder, but, other than that, it seem essentially identical to the F250 other than the rear springs (i.e. same rear axe, I believe, and same frame, same tires and wheels, etc). My 250 also has the snow plow package, with extra heavy duty springs in the front (more like the 50)... so, with heavier springs in the back (i.e. the air bags), it levels out nicely.
Just pulled the Pinnacle 31RKLS 1200 miles in the last 3-days with the 250, springed with the air bags, set at about 65 pounds...handles like a charm at highway speed limits. Did about 5 miles of 6% grades outside Payson this very afternoon... handled well in the "haul/tow" mode with engine compression braking.
Good luck with your search, decision. I suppose the F350 would work a tad better, but the F250 does the job, too, with some help!!
