I have 3 questions.......

[capt205]

1st, I'm considering getting a 5th wheel, and after reading this forum thru to page 100, I have 3 questions.

My 2003 F350 with the 7.3 and an automatic, has 105,500 well maintained miles on it. Would this be to many miles to start towing in the area of 12,000 lbs? I'm talking maybe 1 long trip and a half dozen shorter trips a year. Truck is paid for, and in exceptionally nice condition. Don't want to have to buy a new one.

The second question is...With 35x12.50x16.5 tires and a current ratio of 3.73:1, I have effectively reduced the ratio to about 3.42:1, and replacing the gearset with 4.10's will give me something like 3.76's, close to stock, BUT.....would I be better off going with 4.30's effectivly getting like 4.10's (off by a few I'm sure) to get better low end grunt.

How much of an impact will this have on my non-towing fuel economy, as when not towing, this truck is my daily driver.

[NickKent]

12k for the truck would be fine. You just need to make sure you are not exceeding your GAWR's and your current tire ratings. Best bet would be to go back to stock tires to get back to 3.73s. 3.42 is gonna be tough with that kind of load though. I would not bother with the pricey gear swap unless you are towing weekly. If you do the gear swap, I would lean towards the 4.10's. Again, unless you are towing weekly for work or something I don't think the lower gears will be worth it, and it will hurt your fuel mileage unloaded, unless you really slow down.

[capt205]

OK...I just got back from the Flying J scales.....4,880 on the front, and 3,360 on the rear, for 8,240. Thats me, the wife, the dog, the truck box as is, and full of fuel. I am also going to the CAT scales for a second weighing.

Wheels on my truck are rated @ 3,700lbs each, tires are rated @ 3,415lbs each.

Specs on unit say 2,900lb hitch weight, 13,400lbs shipped weight.

My truck has a 9,900lb GVWR, 20,000lbs GCWR, so it appears that I am over on the GVWR by 1240, and over on the GCWR by 1680, with this particular unit.

Am I doing the math correct?

Any suggestions, on how to make this work, short of buying a new truck?

FWIW...I also have the Firestone airbags w/compressor, and the B&W turnover w/companion hitch.

Truck....2003 F350 SD, CC, LWB, SRW, 7.3 PSD, Auto, 4X4

Truck mods...AIS cleaner, ISSPRO 3 guage pillar, Magnaflow 4" exhaust, SC1705 tuner, Fabtech bars....waiting for tranny to go so I can get a new one from BTS, but so far, no problems with the OEM unit. 35x12.50x16.5 tires on 16.5x9.75 wheels.

[NickKent]

you can forget about the "specs" of the trailer. You need to take it and weigh it, or if you haven't bought it yet, you need to base your weights off of the GVWR of the trailer.

[SmokeyWren]

Specs on unit say 2,900lb hitch weight, 13,400lbs shipped weight.

My truck has a 9,900lb GVWR, 20,000lbs GCWR, so it appears that I am over on the GVWR by 1240, and over on the GCWR by 1680, with this particular unit.

Am I doing the math correct?

No. Begin with the GVWR of the trailer. Assume you'll load it to the gunwalls, and that actual hitch weight will be 20 percent of GVWR. Folks that start with some weight other than the GVWR of the trailer are just fooling themselves. A year or so down the road a CAT scale ticket will slap them back to reality.

Example: If the trailer's shipping weight is 13,400, the trailer GVWR is probably 16,000 pounds. So assume your wet and loaded trailer is going to gross 16,000 pounds. 20 percent hitch weight is 3,200 pounds.

Your truck weighs 8,240 before you tie onto the trailer. Add 3,200 for a GVW of 11,440. 1,540 pounds over the GVWR of your tow vehicle. A few hundred pounds overweight is understandable, but 1,540 pounds overweight means there is an idiot somewhere whispering in your ear.

Add 16,000 to 8,240 and your GCWR is 24,240. 4,240 pounds overloaded. That's not so bad if you have a hot-rod engine and BTS tranny doing the work, along with stock-size tires. But with your 35" tires, it's crazy.

Any suggestions, on how to make this work, short of buying a new truck?

Of course. Buy less trailer. With your 8,240 pound truck and 9,900 GVWR, you have 1,660 pounds available for hitch weight. A smaller trailer would have about 17 percent hitch weight, so the max trailer GVWR you should look at is about 9,700 pounds.

Yes, they make 5ers that have a GVWR of less than 9,700 pounds. Mine has a GVWR of 7,900 pounds. My previous 5er had a GVWR of 6,000 pounds.

But if you insist on a 16k trailer, then you need a lot more truck than your pre-2005 F-350 SRW to tow it with.

16k trailer plus 9k tow vehicle is 25,000 pounds needed GCWR. Ford makes them with 26,000 GCWR and more. But they are not SRW pickups and they don't have a 3.73 rear axle ratio or big tires.

3,200 pounds hitch weight plus 9,000 pounds tow vehicle is 12,200 pounds required GVWR. The 2005-up F-350 DRW longbed diesel has 13,000. But it has only 23,000 GCWR unless you add the TowBoss package to make it meet you needs of 25,000 GCWR.

[capt205]

Well...I guess that about sums it up. I'll look for something a bit more reasonable. You know how it is though...I immediatly went looking at the biggest toyhauler I could find.

This is good info here though...It will help alot with picking out one with the correct weight to start with.

Oh BTW....I got the "Your truck is big/powerfull enough to pull anything on the lot" gimick, more than once, at the RV dealerships we've been to. Even got the "Go ahead and buy it, and if its too heavy, or you don't like the way it pulls, bring it back" speech.

Thanks a bunch for clearing it up.

[dmd]

Hey.... They didnt lie, it would pull it.....

BUT... It would be overloaded, not safe, and no fun at all....

A few hundred over is fine, but not the numbers you were headed for.

[OMCUSNR]

Originally Posted by capt205

Well...I guess that about sums it up. I'll look for something a bit more reasonable. You know how it is though...I immediatly went looking at the biggest toyhauler I could find.

This is good info here though...It will help alot with picking out one with the correct weight to start with.

Oh BTW....I got the "Your truck is big/powerfull enough to pull anything on the lot" gimick, more than once, at the RV dealerships we've been to. Even got the "Go ahead and buy it, and if its too heavy, or you don't like the way it pulls, bring it back" speech.

Thanks a bunch for clearing it up.

If you're looking at a toy hauler, why not look at a tag w/ a Hensley hitch. Tags in the 30' range will do very nicely with a Hensley, and you don't have as much tongue weight.

OMC

[SmokeyWren]

Originally Posted by OMCUSNR

If you're looking at a toy hauler, why not look at a tag w/ a Hensley hitch. Tags in the 30' range will do very nicely with a Hensley, and you don't have as much tongue weight.

OMC

Right. With 1,660 pounds available for hitch weight, a tag trailer with 12 percent hitch weight could gross over 13,000 pounds and not overload the F-350 SRW. Of course, your stock receiver would be overloaded, but that's why they make the Reese/Drawtite class 5 receivers rated over 13,000 pounds with a weight-distributing hitch.

And the hitch. Don't look at anything except the Hensley Arrow. With a Hensley Arrow hitch properly set up, that 13,000-pound tag trailer will tow as good as a 5er - with no sway

Yes, the Arrow is expensive. But worth it. 5ers cost more than equivalent tags, so the tag including the Hensley Arrow hitch would probably cost about the same as a 5er with 5er hitch. Don cheap out on the hitch. Get the Hensley Arrow.

Weekend Warrior makes 5 models in their popular Wide Body series that are tag trailers with GVWR of 13,000 pounds or less. Click on the following link, then scroll down to the specs:
Weekend Warrior 2009 Wide Body Toyhauler Trailers

[dmd]

I do not regret buying my Hensley.. Towing is so easy even with
wind and trucks blowing by.