SRW or DRW for 11,000# 5er?

[xrated]

Originally Posted by zman7854

The interiors are identical, both are more basic (non Larriat or King Ranch), same consoles, pw, a/c basic stuff. I read somewhere that the F350s have a better braking system and slightly upgraded suspension for higher towing capacities (than F250s) so either way it will be an F350. My initial thoughts are that both will handle the tongue weight (1990#) without a problem.

Just curious where you came up with the 1990 lb pin weight for a 14,000 5er? Like I said before, you have to figure between 20 to 25% of the trailer in going to be pin weight. That puts you in the 3000 to 3500 lbs of pin.

And yes, that size 5er is way too big for a 3/4T truck...ask me how I know!

[Bamaman]

If I was looking to buy a Ford, I'd be trying to go for the 6.7 engine. As previously mentioned, the 6.4 was somewhat problematic as it was the first of the regen engines--and a fuel hog.

PowerstrokeHelp.com is the premier Ford diesel shop anywhere, and he discusses all the model of trucks at length.

I have the last of the 7.3's with my low mileage F250 properly equipped. With a 60 hp tow turner, I have the power to tow. But the king pin weight carrying capability is too much to get above 11K dry weight and 2K king pin weight. My fifth wheel is a mid-size trailer, and I'm max'd out.

[dieselpower]

Originally Posted by V3600

My 2009 Chevy 2500 Duramax pulled our 14,000 5th wheel with ease.

That's good to know. How is it for braking?

[dieselpower]

Originally Posted by xrated

Just curious where you came up with the 1990 lb pin weight for a 14,000 5er? Like I said before, you have to figure between 20 to 25% of the trailer in going to be pin weight. That puts you in the 3000 to 3500 lbs of pin.

And yes, that size 5er is way too big for a 3/4T truck...ask me how I know!

2009 Bighorn 3055;
Length: 34’- 4”
GVWR: 14,000 lbs.
Dry Weight: 10,735 lbs.
Hitch Weight: 1,995 lbs.

That is from Heartlands brochure.

[dieselpower]

Originally Posted by Bamaman

If I was looking to buy a Ford, I'd be trying to go for the 6.7 engine. As previously mentioned, the 6.4 was somewhat problematic as it was the first of the regen engines--and a fuel hog.

PowerstrokeHelp.com is the premier Ford diesel shop anywhere, and he discusses all the model of trucks at length.

I have the last of the 7.3's with my low mileage F250 properly equipped. With a 60 hp tow turner, I have the power to tow. But the king pin weight carrying capability is too much to get above 11K dry weight and 2K king pin weight. My fifth wheel is a mid-size trailer, and I'm max'd out.

I'd like to get the 6.7 but it's beyond my budget

[mrgrayaz]

You haven't told us if your full timing (more weight), weekending (less weight), and what you'll do with the truck when you aren't towing (DDing a DRW is no fun).

The SRW will be fine at that weight, as long as there is nothing special about the pin weight of the trailer (3 slides and a hottub in the front would change my mind, for example). I doubt it with a 11k dry weight trailer.

20% of 14k is only 2800lbs, 25% (more likely if your full timing or carelessly loading the basement) is 3500lbs, which is on the edge of the SRW rear axle. For reference I have about 6700lbs on my F-350 rear axle with empty gray tanks on our 16K GVWR Alfa, but a full tank of Diesel. We full time, and not even close to 25% - full basement. YMMV

Biggest issues with the 6.4 is the DPF - and melting pistons if you over power it. Leave it stock and it will pull just fine.
It would behoove you to check if it has the camper package - stronger overloads and a sway bar. Easy to see if there is a sway bar, just look at the rear axle.

If your going to daily drive it, I would go SRW without a second thought.

[mrgrayaz]

A note on the stability comment you mentioned - I have never wanted more stability with this truck. I've had semi's blow past me, and its simply a non event. The DRW stability thing is overblown in my opinion - now if my SRW had bad habits well sure...but it simply doesnt. It goes where ya point it...and the trailer always follows straight behind.

[Old-Biscuit]

I have a 3500 SRW.......Tow a 14K (13,873# Scaled Wight)

Towed it for 7 yrs FULL TIME.

NEVER did I whine ' dang should have gotten the DRW'
NEVER did I have a 'white knuckle' tow
NEVER did I regret towing that 14K 5vr with that 3500 SRW

And My 3500 SRW is a 2007 model year.

That 2010 Model year SRW is MORE then adequate....it WILL be a good match for that 14K GVWR 5th wheel

And that brochure pin weight number (1995#) is the DRY pin weight based on that DRY weight of rig (10,735#)-----roughly 18.5% which is a LIGHT pin weight

Loaded up camp ready you will most likely have a WET pin weight of roughly 2800#
(12K weight with 22% pin weight)

I used 22% and 12,000# loaded weight---------2000# of STUFF plus avg pin weight %

My pin is 3000# and my old SRW handles is w/o issues-----am I am one of the 'weight police'

SRW is good towing platform when one pays attention to the numbers/math

For that matter----a 1/4 ton truck can be a perfectly good towing platform WHEN numbers/math are used

YES I have owned/used/towed with DRWs........and I still prefer my SRW set up

[dieselpower]

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

I have a 3500 SRW.......Tow a 14K (13,873# Scaled Wight)

Towed it for 7 yrs FULL TIME.

NEVER did I whine ' dang should have gotten the DRW'
NEVER did I have a 'white knuckle' tow
NEVER did I regret towing that 14K 5vr with that 3500 SRW

And My 3500 SRW is a 2007 model year.

That 2010 Model year SRW is MORE then adequate....it WILL be a good match for that 14K GVWR 5th wheel

And that brochure pin weight number (1995#) is the DRY pin weight based on that DRY weight of rig (10,735#)-----roughly 18.5% which is a LIGHT pin weight

Loaded up camp ready you will most likely have a WET pin weight of roughly 2800#
(12K weight with 22% pin weight)

I used 22% and 12,000# loaded weight---------2000# of STUFF plus avg pin weight %

My pin is 3000# and my old SRW handles is w/o issues-----am I am one of the 'weight police'

SRW is good towing platform when one pays attention to the numbers/math

For that matter----a 1/4 ton truck can be a perfectly good towing platform WHEN numbers/math are used

YES I have owned/used/towed with DRWs........and I still prefer my SRW set up

Great post, thanks. How is the 6.4l any problems as many say?

[cj74]

Originally Posted by zman7854

That's good to know. How is it for braking?

Braking isn't an issue in tow/haul my 8.1L gasser engine braking is incredible makes normal braking on declines to a minimum in the majority of cases.

[mtofell]

SRW should be enough for that trailer but you need to get accurate weights to know for sure.

While GVWR for the trailer is good to know it may not be critical for your situation. Just because a given trailer is rated for a max weight doesn't mean you're going to put that much weight in it. It also means just because a trailer rated for a certain max weight a person will stop packing things once they reach that weight. There should probably be an alarm but there isn't.

In reality the GVWR is based on what a trailer "could" hold and is based on things like frame size, axles, tires, etc.

With my smaller trailers I found I added 1500# or so to dry weight. My medium sized 5th wheel is more like 2000#. Larger trailers you might add more like 2500# or even more.

[Rickeoni]

Originally Posted by zman7854

Great post, thanks. How is the 6.4l any problems as many say?

The regeneration is the biggest problem on the 6.4, the computer dumps fuel into the rear most cylinders in order to light off the DPF and burn the captured particulate. The first time it happened I thought I had an engine issue because so much smoke was coming out of the tail pipe. The raw fuel finds its way past the rings and windup in the oil, these engines are known to "make oil"(up to three quarts of extra oil when draining). That is why the maintenance on these any engines is important.

The EGR system has the same inherent problems that all diesel turbo engines have, exhaust gases are added to the intake stream in order to reduce temps , resulting in lower emissions. The issue with this is the spent exhaust gas is not clean and gums up the intake tract. On the 6.4 the EGR lines have a water cooler to aid in the cooling of the gases, if these lines become clogged the EGR radiators rupture allowing coolant to fill the cylinders and voila, hydro lock.

The newer engines running DEF do not have the regeneration problems, but the EGR issues of clogging up the intake are still there.

This problem is worse in engines that have been babied.

[xrated]

Originally Posted by zman7854

2009 Bighorn 3055;
Length: 34’- 4”
GVWR: 14,000 lbs.
Dry Weight: 10,735 lbs.
Hitch Weight: 1,995 lbs.

That is from Heartlands brochure.

As I stated earlier, the Dry weight numbers really don't mean anything! NO ONE hauls a trailer around empty for camping, so the dry weight of the trailer and especially the dry PIN weight are not realistic numbers to consider when buying a T.V. mrgrayaz has given you a more realistic/real world set of numbers. Old-biscuit has also given some real world numbers. Never, ever go by the advertising brochure....what a salesman tells you....GET the real numbers via a certified scale weight. As you can see in the examples given......your numbers from the Hearland brochure is telling you 2000 lbs in weight and in actuallity, when loaded you are approaching and possibly going over 3000 lbs pin weight. That's a significant difference....especially if a truck that you are considering is bordering on being at GVWR, based on some manufacturers published pin weight for an empty trailer. Hopefully you are seeing that you are often better off using the GVWR of the trailer (not the dry weight) to make an informed decision about what truck you need to handle and NOT exceed any of the vital numbers that are involved in legal and safe towing of an RV.

[Kennzz05]

Originally Posted by zman7854

Hey all, looks like I will be purchasing a used diesel truck in the next fews days or so. I want it to tow a 35' 11,000# (dry weight) fifth wheel (14,000# max) and am a bit undecided on which I should get for a TV.

Thus far my shortlist is going to be a F350 SRW or DRW. I've found an 2010 SRW F350 with about 120k miles and a 2008 DRW F350 with 105k miles for about the same price (within $1000 of each other). So pretty much all things as far as price and mileage, which would you get to tow this fiver?

My thoughts are that the SRW will be easier for daily driving/city driving duties and get better mileage as well be a bit lower maintenance cost. On the other hand I know the DRW will give me much more stability with wind gusts, less stress on curvy mountain roads as well as less stress overall in terms of stability and capacity.

But for a lighter, smaller fifth wheel is a DRW even necessary or is it overkill?

Any suggestions much appreciated!

Well first thing I would do is buy a Dodge
It is hands down the most popular tow vehicle among commercial haulers
Secondly I'd buy one prior to dpf def scr emissions controls. 2007 and earlier I think k