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F250 and 5th Wheels

5K views 21 replies 11 participants last post by  Trip Dunagan 
#1 ·
I was looking through the owner's manual of my new 08 F250 Diesel the other night paying particular attention to the Cargo Weight or Payload rating of the 250's. It directed me to a sticker on the door post and there in black and white was a maximum Cargo Weight of 1980#. I went back to the manual to see what that was all about. According to the sticker and the manual, the maximum Cargo Weight of my new truck includes cargo, occupants and the weight on the hitch or king pin. Although I pull a travel trailer, it made me wonder just how many 5th wheels are being pulled by 250's that are grossly over the Cargo Weight. I got in a heated discussion with my brother, his 5th wheel alone has a pin weight of over 2200# and a sticker that says 1980#.
Am is missing something here or are many 250 owners that are pulling 5th wheels exceeding the Cargo weight?
 
#3 ·
I know yours is the 6.4, but I will check on mine. Is something to check into! But that does seem quite low....
 
#5 ·
Thats true - but I could have swore when I went and looked at the weight for my truck that it was in the 3000# range. I am definately going to make sure though!

What is odd is that my trailer has a several thousand # pin weight and it didn't even sag the rear of the truck!!!
 
#10 ·
several thousnad # pin weight? you've got to be talking about total weight, my freakin 35' 3 slide 5er only has like 2300# pin (hitch) weight
 
#6 ·
I see lots of folks pulling fifth wheels with F250. No difference between F250 and a SRW F350 except for the spring blocks and the sticker. I currently pull a travel trailer and plan to update to a 28-32 ft fifth wheel in the future. I too will probably be over the rating, cannot afford to buy an new F350 just for the sticker on the door.
 
#7 ·
my girlfreinds parents pull a fully loaded toy hauler 40fter with a dodge 2500 and it does well.
 
#8 ·
I have been down this road before! I had a chevy 2500 and bought a 36 foot fifth wheel and quickly learned that a 3/4 ton pick up is just that. My chevy had a GVW rating of 9200 pounds. With a full tank of fuel, the heavy *** hitch in the bed and me and the family in the truck it weighed 7300 pounds! My pin weight was 2300 pounds. That put me over the GVW rating but more importantly I was over the rear axle weight rating. What alot of people forget is that the tires are the weak link. That is where that max rating comes from. A single axle 350 is not much different from a 250, if you plan on hauling a fifth wheel get the 350. Sure alot of people get away with overloading load range D tires but a few don't. When I looked at the kid in the back seat I decided to go get a truck that has a payload and axle rating to meet the load I bought a 3500 chevy and have since bought a F450. I don't need the 450 but I would not go smaller than a 350 no matter what if I was hooking up to a fifth wheel of any size.
 
#9 ·
I think MJM about summed it up, thanks for the input. I do have an F250 but pull a 6000#travel trailer with an equalized tongue weight of under 400#. A couple of adults in the cab, a generator in the box and the tongue weight I have, I feel pretty safe and don't have plans to buy a 5th wheel anytime soon.
 
#11 ·
My wife and I are looking into buying a camper. I know a lot about trucks but nothing about campers. I don't know if I want a fifth wheel or a tag along. I don't know which name brands are good either. All I know is I want a 30 plus footer. Please give me some input. I need advice. I will be pulling the trailer with a 2006 F250 crew short bed.
 
#12 ·
Then you definately want a 5th wheel!
 
#13 ·
Go to the Ford Site

Superduties

Select Payload for in truck load, and towing for .... er towing.

It says 2200 to 2800 payload depending on GVWR, and 15700 fifth wheel towing!

Both the 250 and the 350 SRW are only available with a 3:73, and thus towing capacity is identical. The DRW PSD has two other ratio options.
 
#14 · (Edited)
If you want to start a real debate, pit bumper pullers against 5th wheel pullers, it's really a matter of preference. My son loves 5th wheels, I prefer bumper pulls for some obvious reasons. 1) you still have the use of your pickup box for other items 2) a lower front profile thus less wind drag 3) easlier on your truck (payload) especially if you use an equalizer hitch with sway control but it's all a matter of preference. If you are starting out with a short box, a 5th wheel will present some unique challenges. Chances are you will own several rv's in your life, go visit a few dealers, get an idea what's out there and jump in.
 
#15 ·
I'm gonna have to argue with you on the wind drag. O.k., with a bumper pull the wind comes over the top of your truck then back down in and over the bed and pretty much smacks the front of your bumper pull like it's a wall. With a fifth wheel it goes up over the cab and right on up over the front of the camper as well. And as far as tongue weight...lol I had a 30' bumper pull that weighed 6700# dry and had like 700# tongue weight, I had all the fancy weight distribution, ,sway control, yadda yadda yadda, ha, I'll pull my 35' fifth wheel anyday over that bumper pull and my new fifth wheel weighs around 10,500# dry and has like 2300# hitch weight, no comparison 5th wheel hands down. I do miss having my truck bed though when pulling but my new fifth wheel has tons and tons more cargo storage than my bumper pull.:twocents:
 
#16 ·
Don't know how I missed this thread but here's the actual way to figure it out. My GVWR is 10k pounds and my truck is 7.3k pounds, equaling a max payload of about 2.7k pounds. My trailer has a pin weight of 1.8k pounds, plus let's throw in about 200 pounds for my 5er hitch, meaning I have about 700 pounds of weight for extra fuel, people and cargo before I exceed my GVWR. :punk: Let me know if you need additional help on this.


Pitting bumper pull (travel trailer) owners against 5th wheel owners comes down to more of preference and what you will be doing with the trailer. There are positives and negatives to each and these debates can be as passionate as the diesel debates between D-max, CTD, and PSD... :kiss:
 
#17 ·
:ditto::agree:
 
#18 ·
If you are worried about weight slap on a set of Overload shocks, or Airbags.

A couple things to remember:
The F250 through the F550 share these common components:
Frame
Tranny
Engine

The MAJOR difference are these:
Suspension
Axles

Upgrade the suspension, it will handle MUCH more than stock.
 
#20 ·
Thanks for the input guys. I like the fifth wheels a little more because they seem to have more space. I just don't want the hitch in the bed of my truck. I currently have a flip over goose neck but I was told that it will not work even with the adapter because I have a short bed. Is this true?
 
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