Is an F250 Enough Truck ?

[Salty-Dawg]

We just bought a Keystone Copper Canyon 350FWBHS fifth wheel..
Length: 36'9"
Wt: 12500 lbs
Pin Wt: 2300 lbs

We plan to leave it where it is for now (in a park ) since we keep our boat near the park and go there for saltwater fishing approx. 2 times a month.

But.....

We are about to be buying another truck. My questions is..... Do you guys think that a Ford F250 6.4L Diesel 4x4 is enough truck ?

I have a friend that pulls a 40' Toy Box with one but I would rather here some other opinions on this.

[trackman]

Long wheel base and you have a winner

[glennwest]

The pin weight is the deciding question. Mine is 5180#. dually territory only. That toy hauler can get rather high too

[jesilvas]

Your friend is illegal, and might also jump off a bridge. Some would follow along.

What is the year of the trailer, and are those weights dry or what?

[wingedone]

Well, looking at this: Towing Guides | fleet.ford.com Ford towing guide for 2014.

It kind of depends on what cab configuration you want to get. Guessing a Crew Cab which seems like the biggest seller, your maximum cargo weight rating is between 1600 and 1800 lbs (at best for that config).

Based on a pin weight of already 2300 lbs, and not counting hitch, people etc., no way will it have enough capacity.

Bump up to a 350. There are several configurations there that will give you much more capacity.

How much more for a 350 over a 250?

[Walt Bennett]

I believe you're quoting dry weights. If you aren't going to put anything in it, you'll be OK with a 250, but I'll bet at that length it'll get a lot heavier. I know some pull 15k and up with single rear wheels, but a lot of others will tell you how much better a dually works at that.

[caissiel]

If you buying look for a F350. It seem there are some around.
But the F250 trucks are greater in numbers. And 90% hardly were loaded whiles used F350 have been loaded.
I do have a F250 with some required modifications that works well towing over 15000 lbs. Watch the rear axle load.

[Salty-Dawg]

In reply to "jesilvas"

That is kind of harsh.....

My friends F250 has had some mods done as in air-ride suspension and a sliding 5th wheel hitch. I am not an expert ...that's why I asked for opinions on this subject.

The year is 2007
The weights listed are Dry, as in what is on the specs for that trailer.

I appreciate the input.... The negativity....Not so much.

[Roam America]

dry weight is useless unless you plan on towing the trailer as you pick it up from the dealer ...empty. You should always use the GVWR of the trailer for calculation as you have no idea at this point how much it will weigh when you tow it. Weigh your truck as it will be when towing (if you do not have a hitch yet, add about 125# for that. subtract that number from the GVWR of your truck. That is the only way to know how much pin weight you can handle. Anything else is speculation; right or wrong.

[jesilvas]

Originally Posted by Salty-Dawg

In reply to "jesilvas"

That is kind of harsh.....

My friends F250 has had some mods done as in air-ride suspension and a sliding 5th wheel hitch. I am not an expert ...that's why I asked for opinions on this subject.

The year is 2007
The weights listed are Dry, as in what is on the specs for that trailer.

I appreciate the input.... The negativity....Not so much.

Sorry but everyone says "I see people with 3/4 tons do it and it works fine." Most of the time it takes a lot to get through to those people that just because it looks "fine" it actually isn't.

Any mods done to the suspension do not increase the legal weight ratings of the truck.
You need GVWR of that trailer, because you are not going to haul it "dry."

And as stated, there are different truck cab/bed combos that change GVWRs of the truck, as well as rear diff combinations too.

[TXiceman]

As noted, you see lots of folks towing too big for a 3/4 ton truck. By adding air bags and helper springs, all you do is prop up the truck and do nothing to increase the rated capacity.

Your 12,500# dry weight trailer probably has a GVWR approaching 15,000# which will give you a pin weight closer to 3000#.

Can you load the truck with passengers, cargo, fuel, hitch and the loaded trailer pin weight and still be under the trucks GVWR. Probably not.

The trucks GVWR is on the sticker on the drivers door jamb.

So, yes the truck will pull the trailer, but it is doubtful that it can carry the trailer pin weight within ratings.

You need to weigh the truck as loaded for travel and then make the simple calculations to see if you are comfortable with the weights and whether you are over ratings for the truck.

Ken

[Mekanic]

Originally Posted by Salty-Dawg

In reply to "jesilvas"

That is kind of harsh.....

My friends F250 has had some mods done as in air-ride suspension and a sliding 5th wheel hitch. I am not an expert ...that's why I asked for opinions on this subject.

The year is 2007
The weights listed are Dry, as in what is on the specs for that trailer.

I appreciate the input.... The negativity....Not so much.

Usually There isn't much negativity here, until there is a thread about towing weights.

[SmokeyWren]

Originally Posted by Salty-Dawg

We just bought a Keystone Copper Canyon 350FWBHS fifth wheel..
Length: 36'9"
Wt: 12500 lbs
Pin Wt: 2300 lbs

...My questions is..... Do you guys think that a Ford F250 6.4L Diesel 4x4 is enough truck ?

No.

Apparently, Keystone no longer makes the Cooper Canyon. The only Sprinter on their website is the Extra-Wide. And I cannot find a 35FWBHS for sale at a dealer that includes the specs. The closest I can get is a 324 FWBHS-WB that has dry weight of 10,407 plus cargo carrying capacity (CCC) of 3,043 for a GVWR of 13,550.

13,550 GVWR with 20% pin weight would be 2,710 pin weight. So assuming the Cooper Canyon 35BHS has the same GVWR as the 324BHS-WB, no F-250 can tow it without being overloaded.

The GVWR of a 2007 F-250 PSD 10,000 pounds. A CrewCab 4x4 is going to weigh at least 8,000 pounds when wet and loaded for the road, and probably closer to 8,500 before you tie onto a trailer. So the max hitch (pin weight or kingpin weight) you can have without being overloaded is 2,000 pounds.

Newer F-350 SRW has 11,500 GVWR, so a lightly-loaded diesel pickup could have up to around 3,500 pounds of unused payload available for pin weight. With an F-350 SRW, you'll probably be very close to overloaded if you don't haul anything in the truck but a small family, and haul all the tools, jacks, extra fluids, etc., in the trailer. Way back in 1999, my F-250 PSD 4x2 hauling DW, puppydog, tools and a full tank of fuel weighed about 8,000 pounds before I backed up to the 5er. 4x4s weighed around 400 pounds more than mine, and 2005-up 4x2s weighed about 200 pounds more than mine. So your 2007 could easily weigh 8,700 pounds if it is a CrewCab 4x4.

Any 5er with GVWR over around 12,500 pounds is dually country. With a newer dually, you won't need to be worried about how much weight you haul in the truck and trailer.

When shopping for a 5er, ignore the tow rating and GCWR of a Ford tow vehicle. You'll exceed the GVWR of the tow vehicle long before you get close to the tow rating or GCWR. So the GVWR of the tow vehicle is your limiter for hitch weight of any RV trailer.

[jenandjon]

I would go with a one ton over a 3/4. You can get them with single rear wheels if you dont want duals. My next truck will be a one ton.