<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. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crazy.gif
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.