Weight question: Help please

[txtoyhauler]

I'm looking at purchasing my first fifth wheel. I'm looking at a All American 385RLTS. It has a GVWR of 18420, hitch wt 2720 and dry wt of 13940.
I have a 2002 F350 7.3 4x4 CC single rear wheel. I've had one dealer say it would be okay and another saying I'd be over capacity. What is going on in the real world in towing these big rv's?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

[txtoyhauler]

I'm looking at purchasing my first fifth wheel. I'm looking at a All American 385RLTS. It has a GVWR of 18420, hitch wt 2720 and dry wt of 13940.
I have a 2002 F350 7.3 4x4 CC single rear wheel. I've had one dealer say it would be okay and another saying I'd be over capacity. What is going on in the real world in towing these big rv's?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

[Bearman]

You are going to be to heavy. I have towed mine with my dually a few times and I was overweight with my 2002 Chev 3500 Dually. I have found the hitch weight of mine fully loaded with 2 quads in the garage to be closer to 3500lbs. Sorry to be a killjoy, just passing on my experiances. At minimum go with a dually. I went a different way, some would call it overkill, but I tow a Jeep behind the trailer as well.

[Jeff_in_The_Dalles]

You would have to look up the carrying capacity of your truck, but I would think you would be way overloaded.

My 3500 SRW Ram lists 2680 payload. That 2720 listed is probably optimistic, and for an empty and dry trailer.

Adjust for a loaded trailer, then take into account passengers, tools, hitch and other stuff in the truck and it would be way over.

[Vette Racer]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by txtoyhauler:
I'm looking at purchasing my first fifth wheel. I'm looking at a All American 385RLTS. It has a GVWR of 18420, hitch wt 2720 and dry wt of 13940.
I have a 2002 F350 7.3 4x4 CC single rear wheel. I've had one dealer say it would be okay and another saying I'd be over capacity. What is going on in the real world in towing these big rv's?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>txtoyhauler, welcome to iRV2.com and particularly the toyhaulers forum.

Yes, these big trailers are a load to haul and there are only a few trucks capable of towing these things. You need to look at the gross weight as what you'll be dealing with and figure your hitch weight will be more than what the specs show. My 38th WW has a gross of 15k, loaded I weigh 15600 with a hitch weight of 32-34 hundred lbs. The slideouts add a bunch of weight and most of the newer, larger ones is up in the 18k range. You'd need at least a tow boss or the newer F450 or 550 for that kind of weight. Thats why you are starting to see people using the semi tractors to tow and stop these puppy's. Good luck on your search.

I'll put a shortcut to our towing section so you can get more exposure on your question as well as to our new member section since I see this is your first post here. Again, welcome and feel free to ask questions or just hang around.

[ChiefJohn]

IMO, for the safety of your family and others I suggest you consider a larger truck or smaller 5th wheel. Before you drop big $$$ on an F-450 or F-550, recommend you visit the HDT forum -- many of us have gone this route for less than $40K ready to tow. An added benefit is most of these units have been registered/titled as a MH.

[txtoyhauler]

Thanks for the input.
How do I figure out what I can actually pull with my truck?

[jperry29]

The basics should be on the door or door jamb on the drivers's side. Others on this forum keep towing guides for a lot of year models, maybe they will post.

[RustyJC]

If you want to stay within your ratings, you'll need the laden curb weight (LCW) of your truck with driver, passengers, cargo, full fuel tank(s), hitch, etc. just as you'll be loaded when you hit the road. You can get this at any truck stop scale. With this information as well as the truck's GVWR and GCWR:

Maximum hitch/pin weight of loaded trailer = Truck's GVWR minus Truck's LCW

Maximum total weight of loaded trailer = Truck's GCWR minus Truck's LCW

For a typical 5th wheel, a conservative calculation utilizes 20% of the trailer's GVWR for a loaded hitch/pin weight and the trailer's GVWR for a loaded total weight.

Rusty

[The Big Kid]

Gut feel - you'll be over.

Especially on the rear axle with a SRW. The other thing to consider is that the Ford stated max trailer wieght does not take into account, wife/kids/stuff in the truck, and the trailer dry wieght does not include awning, ac and other "options".

[melon]

You can pull a house off it's foundation with that motor. I have close to the same set up but I have the 2002 F250. My trailer is just under 13k dry and depending on what I put in it I can push the weight close to 15k. The truck can pull it and still do Cajon Pass at 50mph but I don't get much sleep the night before and I am on my second transmission. I guess what I am saying is you will be surprised by how much your truck can tow above what the sticker says. It will do it. You just take a much larger risk the more weight you take on.
BTW, welcome to the site.

Rod

[lincster]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by txtoyhauler:
Thanks for the input.
How do I figure out what I can actually pull with my truck? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Take the truck down to a CAT scale, fill it full of fuel and put the passengers in the truck that normally go along with hitch in the bed and anything else you might take with you in the bed. We will call this weight "truck".
To determine what you can tow, do the following calculations:

GCWR: 20000-truck=total weight that you can tow.
GVWR: 9900-truck=total amount of pin weight you can have.

These numbers will tell you if you are going to be within the tow ratings of the truck.

[Ray,IN]

To follow up what Mellon said, you can tow it overloaded, but at considrable cost. Like Mellon said he's on his second transmission already.

[melon]

Yeah, they said this was going to be an expensive hobby.

Rod