Suitability of RV to Truck

[TSman]

Hello All!!!
We have a 2008 F250 FX4 6.4L diesel with single rear wheels and were wondering if a 2008 Excel 30RKO would be a good match for hauling?
Pretty sure we would just go with the RT, but will probably add a lot of the options.
Seriously considering the Morryde suspension, since the 30RKO is a rear kitchen.

Would very much appreciate your thoughts.
Thank you!
Larry & Diane

[TSman]

Hello All!!!
We have a 2008 F250 FX4 6.4L diesel with single rear wheels and were wondering if a 2008 Excel 30RKO would be a good match for hauling?
Pretty sure we would just go with the RT, but will probably add a lot of the options.
Seriously considering the Morryde suspension, since the 30RKO is a rear kitchen.

Would very much appreciate your thoughts.
Thank you!
Larry & Diane

[TXiceman]

A great big howdy and welcome to iRV2.

Excels tend to be heavy an you can expect your pin weight to be close to 20% of the trailers GVWR. Next is the payload capacity of the truck and the trucks GVWR. Look on the B pillar for the weight sticker on the truck. GVWR and rear axle GVWR are shown on the sticker. GVWR is the most weight the truck can carry on the two axles. This includes cargo,passengers, hitch and pin weight of the trailer.

Next is the GCWR (gross combined weight rating) or the most your truck and trailer can weigh together when loaded.

You need visit the scales and get the weight of the truck in travel form,full fuel, cargo, and passengers and add 150# for the 5er hitch. This is your LVW or laden vehicle weight. I would expect your truck to hit the scales at close to 7200 to 7500#.

GVWR - LVW = max loaded pin weight you can carry
GCWR - LVW = max loaded trailer weight.

Ignore the dry weight of the trailer as it is way light. Once you add your supplies, water, propane and such, you will easily add 1000# to the dry weight.

The problem with a 3/4 ton truck is that you will run up against your GVWR long before you reach the GCWR.

You may be within range of a 30' Excel, but you need to do the math.

All of this explained in THIS SITE.

Ken

[Route 66]

Xlman, welcome to iRV2.

HERE is a link to the 2008 Ford towing guide.

There you can find the towing capacity of your truck.

Hopefully some Excel owners can supply a loaded weight of the trailer.

[Still Working "NOT"]

I pulled with a '93 F250, 460ci, 4:10 rearend and had no problems pulling just the 2003 30'RGE. I was at 13,000lbs. with a full load of water. I do carry alot of extras. It was when I hooked the boat behind I definitly could tell that I was over the limits.

I think you will be fine.

[LindaH]

TXiceman gave a very good summary of the weight situation.

Are you going to be a fulltimer? If so, figure that you WILL load up your fiver to it's GVWR of 15,000#. That would mean a pin weight of AT LEAST 3,000# (20% of GVWR).

We have the 30RKE (which is the same floorplan you're considering except with the enclosed bath) in the Classic, and our pin weight as loaded with a full fresh water tank is 3,475#. We do not, however, travel with a full fresh water tank except for the very shortest distance possible. We also have 4 large 12-volt AGM batteries in the front compartment as well as 4 100-watt solar panels on the top front of the rig which adds to the pin weight.

If you're just going to be a casual camper, then you *might* be able to get away with the 32' Excel RT if you lightly load it. As TXiceman says, the only way to know for sure what your truck will handle is to load it up like it would be for a trip and take it down to the local scales to weigh it.

Don't pay much attention to the published towing and payload capacities in the link Route 66 gave you. Those are for a basic truck without any options and only one 150# driver. Once you start adding options, people and gear, those capacities are going to go down.

[TSman]

I'm starting to get scared off. We traded our new F150 for the F250 because we kept getting told we needed a 3/4 ton truck to pull the campers we liked.

We have our choices narrowed down to Travel Supreme, Nu-wa and Excel, of which we like the layout and features of the Excel 30RKO the best. We insist on 32 ft. or less (actual length). This leaves us with the Travel Supreme 31IKTSO (1700# H/W)and the Nu-Wa Hitchhiker II LS 29.5LKTG (1900# H/W).

From the responses above I'm figuring our truck will only handle about 2400# H/W. The Excel 30RKO's H/W shows 2490# empty. Some people tell us we will have no problem.

My wife says there's no way we're going to get a bigger truck!

Pretty confused at this point.

[RustyJC]

The high-line 5th wheel RVs you mention are all heavy for their length. For sizing purposes, rather than using the dry (unladen) hitch weight, you would be pretty close to use 20% of the 5th wheel's GVWR as an estimated actual pin weight. Therefore, a 16,000 lb GVWR 5th wheel might have an actual pin weight around 3,200 lbs - this weight is transferred to and carried by the truck where it counts against the truck's GVWR and rear axle GAWR.

If your F-250 has a laden curb weight of around 7,500 lbs with driver, passenger(s), cargo, 5th wheel hitch, accessories, options, full fuel tank(s), etc. before hitching up the 5th wheel, then the gross vehicle weight would be 7,500 + 3,200 = 10,700 lbs after the 5th wheel in our illustration is hitched to the truck. Most 3/4 ton trucks such as your F-250 have a GVWR of 8,800 to 9,200 lbs, so assuming the 9,200 lb GVWR, with a GVW of 10,700 lbs the truck would be over its GVWR by 10,700 - 9,200 = 1,500 lbs. That's why the higher GVWR and rear axle GAWR of a dually is invaluable for towing heavy 5th wheels.

Rusty

[TXiceman]

XLMAN, sorry to hear that you are getting scared off, but it is better to get the story now rather than later.

Problem with truck tow ratings, is they are purposely understated by the manufacturers and made to be confusing. You do have to read all of the fine print, especially about 5th wheel towing.

You will find very few RV or truck dealers that understand the tow ratings as published by the truck manufacturers. So you have to educate yourself. With the advent of the internet, the information base is much later, but so is the misinformation. Some folks are very adamant that their 3/4 ton trucks are the same as a 1 ton, with only a different badge, but they fail to see that you can only go so far with a single rear wheel before it is overloaded and a DRW is needed.

Excel is a great trailer, but they tend to heavy, especially on the pin weight. You might look at some other brands that are built a bit lighter and are within range of a 3/4 ton truck.

Ken

[Ray,IN]

This fifth wheel weight calculatoris quite accurate and easy to use. It is a modernization of a weight calculator that has been in use for many years. You'll note it does not ask for any "dry" weights, only actual weights and the GVW of the trailer. It is accepted by the RV industry for matching a tow vehicle and trailer. It also enables the user to select the standard 20% safety factor used by experienced tow-ers.

[TSman]

Ray,
Thanks for the link to the weight calculator.
I entered my GVWR=9800#, GCWR=23,000, max loaded trailer rating=15,400#, and my RGAWR=6,100#. Those were the only numbers I have.
It calculated max camper weight=13,200 and max pin weight=3,300#.
With the 20% safety margine the numbers were 10,560# and 2,640#.
Thanks again,
Larry O.

[TSman]

I also looked on my tires and the weight rating per tire is 3,640#.
If the truck weights 7,500#, that divided by 4 = 1,875# per tire. 3,640-1875 = 1,765# left for pin weight. 1,765 x 2 = 3,530#.
And I figure 3,530# is a minimum because I'm sure more weight is on the front tires of the empty truck because of the engine. If I guestimate the front tires carry 2/3 of the empty truck weight, then the number comes out to be 4,780# the rear tires could carry as pin weight! So, at least the tires should be OK.

[CD]

xlman
Looks to me like you are leaving out a very important part of the equation. The difference between the empty weight and GVWR of your truck is 2300 lbs. less extra passengers and anything else you choose to throw in.

[TSman]

Bummer, in order to have a lot of margin we may be forced to go with our alternate choice, the Travel Supreme 31IKTSO (River Canyon), which has a hitch weight of only 1,700#. The quality is very good, but we do not like the layout as well.

One last thing I can do is to get an actual weight on our truck. Also, I can take off the skid plates on the bottom, which we don't need because we won't be using it for climbing around off road. That should help make up for the 5th wheel hitch weight.