Tow Vehicle for Titanium Series

[KandyApple]

We have been researching various brands of 5th wheels and think we have landed on either Northwood or Outdoors RV. There are a couple more floor plans available in the ORV that we like so are leaning that way. My question for anyone that can help is about tow vehicles. I have searched the forum and either I am very bad at searching or it is not that easy to narrow done the search enough so that you aren't wading through hundreds of posts that have very little relevant information (but that is the topic of another thread that I could probably do a search of )
We are taking delivery of an F350 6.7L diesel SRW later in June so our trailer has to be within the limits of that vehicle. I do not want a DRW so we need to stay within the limits. I think we are okay, but every time DH reads another post or something else on the internet he waves the red flag. I think we are ok, but would appreciate if others could lend their opinions. Here are the stats, fro the Ford Tow guides. We are looking at either the F30RDS or F30RLS.
F350 info
GCWR = 28,700
Base Curb weight = 7,494
Max 5th wheel tow rating limited to tow rating of 5th wheel hitch which I think is supposed to be 18,000
Max GVWR = 11,500
Max Payload = 3,930
F30RDS and F30RLS info
Full featured dry weight - 12,075 and 12,450
Not sure what maximum trailer weight is but the cargo carrying capacity of both is about 2,600 so you could say it would likely be about 15,000 lbs
If 15% is the correct number for the pin weigh that there would be about 2,400 pounds on the pin.

So it seems we are within the 18,000 tow rating limits
If max payload is 3,930, we will use 2,400 of that for the pin and have about 1,500 pounds for people and gear that we may load into the truck.

Does this seem right to those of you that have dissected these numbers before?
I would think that 1,500 would be lost os weight for people and cargo, but have never actually weight things before.

Thanks for any comments you might have.

[Rickeoni]

First & foremost I am not the weight police. I think your pin weight will be closer to 3K plus the weight of what ever hitch you decide on, the brochure lists dry pin weight at
2400 Lbs. This has been debated so many times on forums before as it is a very polarising debate. In B.C. it is the law that you abide by the yellow sticker inside the door, but most of the gendarme are not very informed of this rule and your area of residence might differ. In talking to an RCMP officer he said as long as the truck doesn't look over loaded it is not an issue. With any ORV unit the only number you will be bumping up against is the payload # and I am sure you won't be the only one towing a fiver that is at or exceeding the number.

There was just a new post from NW traveller with almost the same combination you are considering and it looks just fine, and as we all know Ford is king when it comes to towing.

[Rylrider]

You should have no problem. We pull our GP with a 2008 Super Duty F-250. With tanks empty and fiver packed we have no problems. Use about 50psi in air bags. Did install a deep sump trans. oil pan that adds about 8 qts. oil for more cooling.

[KandyApple]

Originally Posted by Rickeoni

First & foremost I am not the weight police. I think your pin weight will be closer to 3K plus the weight of what ever hitch you decide on, the brochure lists dry pin weight at
2400 Lbs. This has been debated so many times on forums before as it is a very polarising debate. In B.C. it is the law that you abide by the yellow sticker inside the door, but most of the gendarme are not very informed of this rule and your area of residence might differ. In talking to an RCMP officer he said as long as the truck doesn't look over loaded it is not an issue. With any ORV unit the only number you will be bumping up against is the payload # and I am sure you won't be the only one towing a fiver that is at or exceeding the number.

There was just a new post from NW traveller with almost the same combination you are considering and it looks just fine, and as we all know Ford is king when it comes to towing.

Yes I showed him that and said "Look they don't look overloaded"

[Rickeoni]

Originally Posted by KandyApple

Yes I showed him that and said "Look they don't look overloaded"

All newer trucks will squat a little when a load is put on them due to the longer springs that the manufacturers are using to smooth the empty ride. even my light weight truck squats when putting a load in the bed.

[PRT]

Originally Posted by KandyApple

We have been researching various brands of 5th wheels and think we have landed on either Northwood or Outdoors RV. There are a couple more floor plans available in the ORV that we like so are leaning that way. My question for anyone that can help is about tow vehicles. I have searched the forum and either I am very bad at searching or it is not that easy to narrow done the search enough so that you aren't wading through hundreds of posts that have very little relevant information (but that is the topic of another thread that I could probably do a search of )
We are taking delivery of an F350 6.7L diesel SRW later in June so our trailer has to be within the limits of that vehicle. I do not want a DRW so we need to stay within the limits. I think we are okay, but every time DH reads another post or something else on the internet he waves the red flag. I think we are ok, but would appreciate if others could lend their opinions. Here are the stats, fro the Ford Tow guides. We are looking at either the F30RDS or F30RLS.
F350 info
GCWR = 28,700
Base Curb weight = 7,494
Max 5th wheel tow rating limited to tow rating of 5th wheel hitch which I think is supposed to be 18,000
Max GVWR = 11,500
Max Payload = 3,930
F30RDS and F30RLS info
Full featured dry weight - 12,075 and 12,450
Not sure what maximum trailer weight is but the cargo carrying capacity of both is about 2,600 so you could say it would likely be about 15,000 lbs
If 15% is the correct number for the pin weigh that there would be about 2,400 pounds on the pin.

So it seems we are within the 18,000 tow rating limits
If max payload is 3,930, we will use 2,400 of that for the pin and have about 1,500 pounds for people and gear that we may load into the truck.

Does this seem right to those of you that have dissected these numbers before?
I would think that 1,500 would be lost os weight for people and cargo, but have never actually weight things before.

Thanks for any comments you might have.

Hi there, we have a 3500 Ram, but I don't think the numbers will be all that different. I have scaled both truck with and without trailer quite a few times. So here are numbers last time we went out.
Truck with everything we take with us.
Front axle 5130 lb
Rear axle 3650 lb
Total 8780 lb
Weight advertised from factory dry weight 7650 lb.
Thats DW, 60 lb Golden Retriever, taunneau cover, toolbox with some tools, 5th wheel hitch, cameras, laptop etc.
Weights hooked up to GP.
Front axle 4906 lb Truck rating 6000 lb
Rear axle 6600 lb Truck rating 7000 lb
Trailer axle 8778 lb
GVW 11506 lb Truck rating 11700lb
GCVW 20284 lb Truck rating 25300 lb
We are within limits, but our 5th is a little lighter than the ones you are looking at. We are full of water and also had some firewood with us
Most times pin weight has been between between 2400 lb to 2800 lbs.
Advertised pin weight is 1814 lbs. So as you can see you will be quite a bit heavier when loaded to travel.
Hope this helps.

[KandyApple]

Originally Posted by PRT

Hi there, we have a 3500 Ram, but I don't think the numbers will be all that different. I have scaled both truck with and without trailer quite a few times. So here are numbers last time we went out.
Truck with everything we take with us.
Front axle 5130 lb
Rear axle 3650 lb
Total 8780 lb
Weight advertised from factory dry weight 7650 lb.
Thats DW, 60 lb Golden Retriever, taunneau cover, toolbox with some tools, 5th wheel hitch, cameras, laptop etc.
Weights hooked up to GP.
Front axle 4906 lb Truck rating 6000 lb
Rear axle 6600 lb Truck rating 7000 lb
Trailer axle 8778 lb
GVW 11506 lb Truck rating 11700lb
GCVW 20284 lb Truck rating 25300 lb
We are within limits, but our 5th is a little lighter than the ones you are looking at. We are full of water and also had some firewood with us
Most times pin weight has been between between 2400 lb to 2800 lbs.
Advertised pin weight is 1814 lbs. So as you can see you will be quite a bit heavier when loaded to travel.
Hope this helps.

Thanks so much for sharing. I think you are right and our rigs are pretty close. With being close to the limits do you ever feel like there is too much trailer behind the truck. We are probably over analyzing this but don't want to make the same mistake twice. About 6 years ago we sold our F350 and 5er and bought a F150 and bumper pull that was supposed to be well within the limits of the truck. Towing the TT has been an experience, too often you can feel the truck being pulled around by the TT, and even though the specs say we are good, it doesn't really feel that safe. Pulling the old 5er was so easy, really just want to have a tow combination that doesn't wear out the DH as he is the one doing all the driving.

[PRT]

Originally Posted by KandyApple

Thanks so much for sharing. I think you are right and our rigs are pretty close. With being close to the limits do you ever feel like there is too much trailer behind the truck. We are probably over analyzing this but don't want to make the same mistake twice. About 6 years ago we sold our F350 and 5er and bought a F150 and bumper pull that was supposed to be well within the limits of the truck. Towing the TT has been an experience, too often you can feel the truck being pulled around by the TT, and even though the specs say we are good, it doesn't really feel that safe. Pulling the old 5er was so easy, really just want to have a tow combination that doesn't wear out the DH as he is the one doing all the driving.

Towing this 5th wheel is so comfortable. Our truck handles the weigh with ease. There has only been 1 pass that I haven't been able to 60 mph. We have had 3 travel trailers before the Glacier Peak. The last 2 we used a Propride P3 hitch which is as good as it gets. The 5th still feels like night and day difference, will not go back to a pull trailer I don't think. I don't normally tow 70 mph but when I have it was very comfortable, can't say that about the travel trailers. One thing I didn't mention about the weights earlier is I think we have everything under the sun in the storage including a generator and if needed we could cut back on weight. The above mentioned travel trailers were all pulled by a 1 ton p.u. If you decided on the longer and heavier Glacier Peak you might have to watch what you bring or don't fill the tanks right up but i think you should be ok. With the newer new trucks you should be in specs.

[Randy the sly old fox]

Both of those units have a GVWR of 15000 lbs and figure 25% of that on the pin so at max load you would have close to 3700 lbs on the pin. Which is a bit closer to your max payload of 3900 lbs. 82 gal of water will weigh around 600lbs LPG and batteries will add about 100 lbs - almost directly on the pin. So without anything else you are pushing 13000 lbs. Don't forget that you have to include the weight of the 5th wheel hitch in your truck payload.

IMHO you are going to be too close for comfort on the payload but OK in overall tow capacity.

Your error was in using 15% for the pin wt - 10 - 15% is more for TTs and 20-25% is normal for 5th wheels