Help....F250 or 350

[Old Mose]

Want an 'O8 SD to pull our 30' 5er. Trailer label says 11,800 GVWR and 1850 hitch weight. 1850 plus me, wife, and dog, hitch, a bit of cargo, and a full tank of fuel seems a little thin for a F250 SWB SRW 4x4. I'm considering F350 SWB SRW 4x4, but am concerned about bed height clearance with the 5er. Trailer dealer says F250 no problem.

Any ideas/comments/suggestions? I'm also considering not getting 4WD....seldom used on any of four previous trucks. Thanks for the help.

RJ

[bigdawgkp]

I pull my 36KSB KZ with an 08 F250 with no problems, plus plenty of power to stop unit.

[SmokeyWren]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Old_Mose</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Any ideas/comments/suggestions? </div></div>

If you get the shorty, then you'll also need a slider 5er hitch. Best is the PullRite SuperGlide. Fully automatic. But not cheap. http://www.pullrite.com/superglide.htm . So the money you save by getting the shorty pickup instead of the longbed you'll spend on the increased cost of the slider hitch you'll need to prevent cab-to-trailer contact. [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crazy.gif[/img]

The 2008 F-250 PSD has enough engine to pull that trailer, but not enough chassis to haul the hitch weight without being overloaded.

2008 F-250 CrewCab shorty 4x4 has a GVWR of 9800 pounds. With driver and passenger and the normal tools and jacks, 5er hitch, and other stuff in the pickup, count on about 8,300 pounds before you tie onto the trailer. That leaves only 1,500 pounds for hitch weight before you exceed the GVWR of the tow vehicle. Not a good idea when your hitch weight is probably going to be over 2,000 pounds.

If the trailer GVWR is 11,800, count on at least 17 percent hitch weight, and probably 18 percent. 18 percent is 2,124 pounds wet and loaded hitch weight, so call it 2,125. Add that to 8,300 pounds of tow vehicle weight, and you need a minimum GVWR of 10,425. F-250 won't hack it. You need the F-350 SRW, which has 11,400 pounds GVWR for the CrewCab Shorty PSD 4x4. The 4x2 has 400 pounds less GVWR, but it weighs about 400 pounds less so it has the same payload capacity for hitch weight.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I'm also considering not getting 4WD....seldom used on any of four previous trucks. </div></div>

I've been everywhere at least once, including 30 years living in snow country, and I've never had a 4x4. So no one can convince me that you "need" one. I've been perfectly happy with my PSD 4x2 CrewCab for dragging my 5er all over the lower 48 and parts of Canada.

The F-350 SRW 4x2 would be my choice for that trailer. But if you really want the 4x4, you can either raise the trailer on its suspension, or lower the rear end of the tow vehicle to match the trailer to the tow vehicle. Just be sure before you hit the road that the floor of the trailer is level, front to rear.

[Old Mose]

Thanks for the comments. I picked up my new F-350 SRW 8' bed 6.4 on Friday. It's fine, and now I have no worries about tow or load capacities.

[SmokeyWren]

Good for you. With the longbed, you won't need that fancy, expensive 5er hitch.

[fedexpsd]

I have been pulling all types of 5th wheels for 10 plus years and have never had any use for a slider on my short bed? Why do you need a long bed? also have several friends that also pull big 5th wheels with short bed?

[SmokeyWren]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: fedexpsd</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Why do you need a long bed? </div></div>

As long as you stay on nice wide paved streets, and never back up into a jacknife, then you don't need it. But the first time you pull into a narrow, crooked road (or alley or trail) and go a mile or so before you hit the steep grades and then the dead end, with no place to turn around, then you'll swear "never again".

With a long bed or a slider hitch, you can get turned around by jacknifing the trailer, then disconnecting the trailer, then driving around to the other side of the kingpin and back in at a jacknife angle. Hook up and go. A few minutes and you're out of that mess. But with a shorty without a slider hitch, you're stuck.

Yes, I've been there, done that. [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/blush.gif[/img] That's why before the next towing trip I traded that shorty for a long bed. [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crazy.gif[/img]

Go to any big RV repair shop and ask how many trailers they've had to repair because of cab to trailer contact with a shorty tow vehicle. The answer is very expensive repairs are made often.

[George C]

I'm a short bed guy, but I would never consider a shorty if I were towing a 5th wheeler, never.
Like Smokey said, you will find a time and place where the option will become crystal clear...

[Ol Forder]

You know, there are many different kinds of people that buy a truck. There are those that simply like driving a truck, but don't need one. Others use their trucks to haul for work or play, but never or rarely pull. There are many out there like me, who only need their trucks a handful of times per year for recreational purposes, like pulling a large boat or fifth wheel trailer. There are a growing number of full-timers that use their trucks for long hauls pulling large RVs around the countryside (I hope to be in this category when I grow up). And I guess there are still quite a few people that rely on their trucks for pulling large loads for a living.

So, I guess that a short bed or long bed depends on your need. For the recreational user like me, a short bed means easier maneuverability in school drop-off/pick-up lanes, traffic and parking lots. Some of these short beds might even fit in a typical garage (regular and super cabs). With a short bed, we benefit from the best of both worlds. We get to haul stuff from Lowes, Home Depot, or the garden center, and still pull a 5 story building around occasionally.

We have a manual slider which I've needed on more than one occassion. That is the draw-back. Having to REMEMBER to get out and slide the hitch. But still, I've never regreted our short bed. I ordered another one just 1 month ago!

To each his/her own! We have options. Rarely is one right and the others wrong!

[logsport]

have it all apart and now I am trying to figure out how to remove the bolt that holds the pin in place tried a few light taps here and there though I see no movement.

D