F250 Crew Cab Towing 5th Wheel

[2Tight]

Originally Posted by Smiley1

These trucks are under rated by the factory by design. They are ideal scenarios for common folk. I have pulled to the "manufacture limits" with this truck to 8000 foot elevation and would have been fine pulling even more. In fact, I have exceeded my GVWR of 8800 and tipped the scales at 10200 without breaking the law of the great socialist state of Kalifornia. Manufacturer guidelines does not equil law. Know your state laws and use common sense. As long as your tires are rated for the weight, you can hawl up to 20,000 lbs per axle in Kaliforn involveda. Now that does not mean you can throw common sense out the window. You get the idea.

Oh, and you can tow that weight without any engine performance modifications. If you check the the power on an F-450 you will see its the same motor depending on what years you are looking at.

All true but if he is ever in any type of accident, his fault or not, those excess weights will come back to haunt him. The CHP routinely weighs vehicle/trailer combos after an accident, especially if there were injuries involved. If that were to happen and his combo came in at 24.8K lbs I would hate to see the police/insurance report even if it wasn't his fault...as you say it's all about legality and lawyers will find every angle to a clients advantage. I still think a 16K 5'er is too much for his 8800# truck given the model info he has stated. Can he tow it, most definitely, should he tow it...that's up to him and how much he values the safety of his own family and others.

[Smiley1]

Originally Posted by 2Tight

All true but if he is ever in any type of accident, his fault or not, those excess weights will come back to haunt him. The CHP routinely weighs vehicle/trailer combos after an accident, especially if there were injuries involved. If that were to happen and his combo came in at 24.8K lbs I would hate to see the police/insurance report even if it wasn't his fault...as you say it's all about legality and lawyers will find every angle to a clients advantage. I still think a 16K 5'er is too much for his 8800# truck given the model info he has stated. Can he tow it, most definitely, should he tow it...that's up to him and how much he values the safety of his own family and others.

Weight does not become a factor unless it exceeds legal loads not manufacture ratings. Even then it has to be part of the primary collision factor or an associated factor. Insurance companies have completely separate criteria for policy than what is legally required. I recommend everyone talk to their agent with these specific questions.

You are correct regarding lawers but even then it is difficult for them to pursue an individual in court that has not broken the law. Attorneys typically will only take a case if it is winning case or the client pays up front. Theoretically, you could be taken to court even under the manufacture ratings in a collision even if it was not your fault.

There are four variables to consider when towing.

• Experience
• Terrain
• Equipment
• Environment

Towing under the ratings could be unreasonable if any of these values becomes adverse. Common sense is they key. If you dont have it then you have no business towing, or driving for that matter.

[Truck Co 202]

Originally Posted by SmokeyWren

Your F-250 is limited by hitch weight, not trailer weight.

Get your truck ready to tow, loaded with wife and kids and pets and tools and 5er hitch and whatever you plan to haul in the truck when on the road. Fill up with diesel, then weigh the truck on a CAT scale. Subtract the weight of the wet and loaded truck from 9,900. The answer is your max hitch weight if you don't overload your truck to the point that an F-350 SRW would be overloaded.

For a medium-size 5er, the average hitch weight is about 17 to 18 percent of gross trailer weight.

So divide the max hitch weight by 18 percent, and the answer is the max GVWR of any trailer you should try to tow.

Example:
Your wet and loaded tow vehicle weighs 8,000 pounds. 9,900 minus 8,000 = 1,900 max hitch weight. 1,900 divided by 18 percent = 10,556 max trailer weight. So the max trailer GVWR you should consider is 10,500. Any heavier 5er and you're going to be overloading an F-350 SRW. Don't do that.

So no, if your wet and loaded tow vehicle weighs 8,000 pounds, you can't tow a 12,000+ pound 5er without being a danger to yourself, your family and others on the road. Don't be a dunderhead - either tow less trailer or trade for more truck.

Well the wife and I have been looking at RV's. Originally we looked into Class C RV's. Due to cost of these we have started looking into 5th wheels.

I have an 03 F250 6.0 CC/LB 4x4 with the following numbers:

Door Jam Decal:
8800 GVWR
5200 Front
6084 Rear

Cat Scale:
4700 Steer
2900 Drive
0000 Trailer
7600 Gross
*Full tank, no 5'er hitch, with me and kids.

I have been looking at an 08' Crossroads Cruiser 30SK with the following:
8211 Dry
11802 GVWR
3062 Carry Cap
1642 Hitch
6569 Axle


So using the supplied math:
9900-7600=2300
2300/18%=12778 GVWR

I have looked into doing an add a leaf in the front, and Firestone Airbags in the rear...

[SmokeyWren]

Originally Posted by Truck Co 202

7600 Gross
*Full tank, no 5'er hitch, with me and kids.

You're kidding yourself. Where's the wife? Do you realize that many 5er hitches with install kit weigh around 300 pounds? Are you going to haul a floor jack in the pickup bed, in case of a trailer flat? Are you going to haul any tools that aren't in there now?

My 4x2 CrewCab longbed PSD weighs about 8,000 pounds when wet and loaded for the road, including
me and
Darling Wife and
Puppydog and
toolbox full of tools and spares and
spray-in bedliner and
5er hitch and
the floor jack and
the 2'x4' piece of 3/4 plywood to use as a floorjack base in case we have to change a trailer tire in a muddy barrow ditch during a rainstorm. Since your truck is a 4x4, then count on an additional 400 pounds, or 8,400 total.

9900 minus 8400 = 1500 pounds max hitch weight. 1500 divided by 18 percent = 8,333 pounds max trailer weight without overloading an F-350 SRW. So no, you cannot hope to tow a 5er that weighs 11,800 pounds without severely overloading your F-250 tow vehicle.

My 25' 5er with one slide has a GVWR of 7,990 pounds, and that's about what it grosses when on the road. It overloads my F-250 over the GVWR of an F-250, but not of an F-350 SRW. My 5er is what you need.

But if you want more trailer than my 25 footer, then look at tag trailers. Their hitch weight when properly loaded is only 11 to 12 percent of gross trailer weight, so you can haul a lot heavier tag trailer than 5er.

1,500 divided by 12 percent = 12,500 pounds max tag trailer weight. Now that's closer to what you wanted. Your truck probably already has a receiver rated for 12,500 pounds with a weight-distributing hitch. A comparable tag trailer will cost less than a 5er, so spend the money saved on a Hensley Arrow hitch so the tag will tow as good as a 5er.
Hensley® the ONLY trailer hitch guaranteed to totally eliminate trailer sway.

[bogg]

This is exactly why we moved up to a F350 dually. The F250 will get the job done..., but 'what if'. And, the dually is much better equipped to handle our 30 foot 12k legally

[Smiley1]

Originally Posted by SmokeyWren

You're kidding yourself. Where's the wife? Do you realize that many 5er hitches with install kit weigh around 300 pounds? Are you going to haul a floor jack in the pickup bed, in case of a trailer flat? Are you going to haul any tools that aren't in there now?

My 4x2 CrewCab longbed PSD weighs about 8,000 pounds when wet and loaded for the road, including
me and
Darling Wife and
Puppydog and
toolbox full of tools and spares and
spray-in bedliner and
5er hitch and
the floor jack and
the 2'x4' piece of 3/4 plywood to use as a floorjack base in case we have to change a trailer tire in a muddy barrow ditch during a rainstorm. Since your truck is a 4x4, then count on an additional 400 pounds, or 8,400 total.

Interesting. My truck in sig with my 46 gallon Transferflow talk full, with floor jack and misc. tools, including me, weighed 7600lbs at the scales. No wife, kid or puppy. I must have a light truck. I did tip the scales at 10200 lbs when I loaded the bed full of broken concrete. No issues at all with that load.

[Truck Co 202]

Well since those numbers I have installed a tool chest, and loaded it up with towing/recovery items. I have not weighed it as of yet. We are no longer looking into a 5er. We decided to go the Class C route. This way the family would have more room going down the road. As opposed to the kids fighting in the back seat.

Thanks for the advice

[SmokeyWren]

Originally Posted by Truck Co 202

We are no longer looking into a 5er. We decided to go the Class C route.

I have driven all sorts of campers, including class C and class A motorhomes. Please don't make me drive a motorhome again. After driving coast to coast several times with my wonderful diesel pickup and 5er, I would hate to have to make those trips in a class C motorhome or a front engine Class A motorhome. (I don't know about diesel pushers - can't afford one so no use test driving one.)

Before you make a big mistake, please rent a class C motor home and take it on a long trip. Be sure to encounter some bad weather along the way, especially strong cross winds. After that trip I'll bet you begin thinking of some way to get a proper tow vehicle and a 5er RV.

Upgrading your tow vehicle to something rated for your dream trailer should be less expensive than investing in a motorhome you'll probably hate to drive.

This way the family would have more room going down the road.

Granted, folks can move around in a motorhome while on the road. But it's too dangerous to allow anyone to not wear their seatbelt while on the road. Best is to stop at a roadside park if folks want to move around. And we do that with our 5er.