any real difference in towing a 12,000lb dry weight 5th wheel with either long or short bed superduty f350
Other than you will need a slider hitch, some will come on here and tell you that you have went over your GVWR . 12,000 dry does not mean much, its the fifth wheel GVWR with all your gear, food etc.that you have to deal with ,and if I had to guess its some where around 15,500 GVWR. for your 5ver, but let the experts tell you I don't know , but I have seen similar setups, and the end result was over weight. I didn't see what year your truck was, that will make a difference
Other than you will need a slider hitch, some will come on here and tell you that you have went over your GVWR . 12,000 dry does not mean much, its the fifth wheel GVWR with all your gear, food etc.that you have to deal with ,and if I had to guess its some where around 15,500 GVWR. for your 5ver, but let the experts tell you I don't know , but I have seen similar setups, and the end result was over weight. I didn't see what year your truck was, that will make a difference
Sorry, I got off the question, a slider for the shortbed,really don't know if there is a difference in the weight rating, the weight stickers on the drivers door panel will tell you.
long bed can come in a higher rating and the long bed will tow better and it wont need a slider
the longbed is more stable
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88 F-250 body,550 rear frame setup, 7.3 idi, 3:73 dana 80 rear, srw, dana 50 front, heavy duty leaf springs, back up camera, 20$ wallyworld fog lamps, class 5 bumper hitch welded to frame and gusseted, 32" steering tires all around, ac power converter,jeep bucket seats, deezee runningboards (cab only),cobra 29 cb w/ 102" whip, 2 trucklight worklights on front stake pocket each side,high lift jack behind seat, toolbox for the junk, visor, running lights, 6600 lbs with all my junk
No difference in the "ability to tow" between long and short, but as stated the long is more stable, better riding, and less chance of creasing the back of the cab with the front of the 5er during a turn. Like I did with my 02 short bed WITH a slider hitch. TWICE!
2006 F350 CC LWB Dually XLT Oxford white manual 4x4 6.0 PSD 6 speed. 4.10 LS front and rear, Built May05. 4" turbo back, 100gal aux fuel tank. A real pig from a stop, but give me 10' and she'll lite'em up.
Sorry, new guy...the truck will be either a 2008 superduty F350 6.4 or a 2009 superduty. The trailer is a Heartland so the short box shouldn't be a problem on clearance. The truck will be a daily driver so that is why I was wondering on the bed length. Thanks for all your info..just trying to touch all bases before purchase.
As far as towing, the difference will be negligible. For grocery getting, swinging wide to park at Kroger with a long bed will get tiresome. Short bed is the only way to go for a daily driver unless you need the 8' box to haul something.
any real difference in towing a 12,000lb dry weight 5th wheel with either long or short bed superduty f350
Towing? Not enough difference to talk about as long as you are going forward - provided you properly installed the 5er hitch in front of the rear axle. But when you begin to back up, the shorty can be a disaster if you don't pay attention.
With a shorty, you really need a "slider" hitch. The manual sliders are only a coupla hundred bucks more than the same hitch without a slider. But with a manual slider, you have to slide the hitch every time before you put the gearshifter in reverse. And that's a PITA.
You'll save a few hundred bucks by buying the shorty instead of the long bed. Use that savings plus a little more to buy a PullRite SuperGlide automatic slider hitch. No more worries about forgetting to slide the hitch, and no more worries about cab to trailer contact when jacknifing. PullRite has a SAFER, STRONGER, BETTER designed hitch for you
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My Sierra Blanca is a '99.5 PSD CrewCab hot-rod Towing Machine! BTS tranny; TurboRamAir intake and 4" stainless turbo-back exhaust; DP-Tuner tunes flashed into an Edge Evolution tuner; ISSPRO EV gauges and TTM; AIC; SP-Diesel exhaust brake and torque converter controller. I special-ordered it new and plan to drive it until it quits.
I weighed my truck Saturday and it was 7920 pounds... no wife, no dogs, transfer tank empty, truck tank 1/2 full, 2 pistols and 200 rounds of ammo.
You will be overloaded. Period.
I pulled my 5'ver for 4 years with a SWB... overloaded, too. Just have to be careful how sharp you turn the rig. Figure you have bought the automatic slider with the first time you turn too sharp, break out the rear window, and crease the sheet metal.
I traded for a LWB dually and have been much happier with it while towing. Luckily, Momma has a SWB F-250 CC gasser and that's our run-around vehicle.
Parking a LWB is a pain. If you do a whole lot more daily driving than towing, the answer just falls out: go with the shortie. You can always buy a longer truck when you retire.
Florida Ed
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2001 7.3 F-350 Dually Lariat CC LWB 4X2 Dark Green 4.10 4R100 5'ver Hauler (32' Montana 2 slides 10,500# - 2,000# tongue weight), 106 gal aux tank, 112K miles, nephews arguing over who will inherit it 'cause I'm gonna' drive it 'til I die. Bone stock.
2001 5.4 Gasser F-250 XLT Crewcab SWB 4X2 3.73 4R100 67K miles headed to 150K (wife's vehicle on the "junk-iron" theory of vehicle safety....most junk iron wins in a crash) stock as the day it was made
Before these: '00 F-250 CC PSD, '97 F-250 CC PSD, '94 Ford F-150, '91 Ford E-250, '81 Ford E-150, '66 Ford F-100 (cars not included)
I pulled my 5'ver for 4 years with a SWB... overloaded, too. Just have to be careful how sharp you turn the rig. Figure you have bought the automatic slider with the first time you turn too sharp, break out the rear window, and crease the sheet metal.
I pull a new Montana 5ver,with the new style front end on it made for the shorbed trucks, as does this guys Heartland, I have never once needed to even pull my slider out for backing or turning. I had to with my previous two 5vers with the old front ends. This slider issue is not very critical with these new fifth wheels, and you certainly do not need these 2,000 dollar automatic sliders. It would be a total waste of money. There were times when I wished I had a automatic with my old fifth wheels, but with my new fifth wheel not a issue.
Go long bed! I've pulled my 12K 30' fiver with both. Wrestled with long bed/short bed choice when buying this truck - last one was '05 short bed. Sure glad I went long bed on the new one! Better ride, more bed storage, no worries about trailer contacting cab, and - the big fuel tank! I use the truck as my every day driver in So. Cal. I have no problems maneuvering around. In small or crowded parking lots, I just park away out and take a little longer walk. No worries with the long bed, and none of the short bed limitations.
Best of luck with your new one.....just watch out for the "U-joint shudder"/"axle wrap" when pulling a load. See my thread and others in the "6.4 Engine and Drivetrain" forum to research that one.
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RJ
2008 F-350 Lariat 4x4 LWB Crew Cab, 6.4, Auto Trans, Job 2
NRA Life Member
No difference in the "ability to tow" between long and short, but as stated the long is more stable, better riding, and less chance of creasing the back of the cab with the front of the 5er during a turn. Like I did with my 02 short bed WITH a slider hitch. TWICE!
the long bed to short bed is A FOOT AND A HALF,THERE IS NO STABABILITY ISUSSES.i have pulled with both short ,long pulling 5er's and i would rather pull with the shorty.
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it's MY story and i can tell it anyway i want! 2000 F-350 7.3psd cc shorty 4x4 with intake,dp-tuner stock 40tow 80econ 140hp 5f switch mounted on the gauge pod, apiller tripple gauge's, trans temp,egt's,boost, tranny rebuilt with tugger shift kit,hd conv.,borg warner kit,4'" exhaust from the stock down pipe,5er and gneck hitch's in box,class five reciver out back,fire stone air bag's controled by a load controller on rear axle,onboard aircomp. under hood,2 2.5 gallon tanks under bed,air coupler in alum tool box in bed for tires etc....285/75/16 coopers, pioner jl adiuo kicker sound system,150,000 and going strong,psd's rule!87 f-250 6.9 4x4 auto bank's turbo ,4'' exhaust.soon to come, intake, ip and injecter's.installed a wrecker bed with wheel lift and recovery winch's
I don't know about short vs long bed today, but when I got mine, the short bed came with a 10 gallon SMALLER fuel tank. When towing 12k this is a big deal to me. Also with the long bed you have more room for camping stuff, firewood, coolers, tool box, fuel cell, ect...
For me, hauling a 5th the long bed was the only choice.
Good luck with your choice. Happy camping.
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'01 F350 Lariat PSD 4X4 CC SWR LB auto
Superchip 60hp, 4" cat back, A-pillar w/auto meter gages, Firestone Air bags, Bilsteins, Radio Speed Volume Mod, XM Roady Photos
I don't know about short vs long bed today, but when I got mine, the short bed came with a 10 gallon SMALLER fuel tank. When towing 12k this is a big deal to me. Also with the long bed you have more room for camping stuff, firewood, coolers, tool box, fuel cell, ect...
For me, hauling a 5th the long bed was the only choice.
Good luck with your choice. Happy camping.
Fuel capacity, space and ride are advantages of the LWB as stated.
Parking the LWB is no big deal, just start backing into spaces instead of head-in parking. It’s much safer for any vehicle anyway, when leaving you have an unobstructed view with no carts or children to run over.
Easier to center the vehicle in the space with less chance of dings from other drivers, and with a DRW, the fenders are in front of opening doors with space to walk past.
2000 
F-350 7.3psd cc shorty 4x4 with intake,dp-tuner stock 40tow 80econ 140hp 5f switch mounted on the gauge pod, apiller tripple gauge's, trans temp,egt's,boost, tranny rebuilt with tugger shift kit,hd conv.,borg warner kit,4'" exhaust from the stock down pipe,5er and gneck hitch's in box,class five reciver out back,fire stone air bag's controled by a load controller on rear axle,onboard aircomp. under hood,2 2.5 gallon tanks under bed,air coupler in alum tool box in bed for tires etc....285/75/16 coopers, pioner jl adiuo kicker sound system,150,000 and going strong,psd's rule!87 f-250 6.9 4x4 auto bank's turbo ,4'' exhaust.soon to come, intake, ip and injecter's.installed a wrecker bed with wheel lift and recovery winch's
2005 Chev Duramax/Allison 3500LS DRW Crew Cab
2006 Chev 6.0L/4L80e 3500WT DRW Ex-Cab 9'Flat-GN
Linear Mode
