1/2 ton towable 5th wheel

[tuffr2]

There are really no 5th wheels that can be towed with just a 1/2 truck...opps, forgot about the Scamp.

When a 1/2 ton truck is advertised to tow 10,000lbs that means it can tow a hay wagon with a total weight of 10,000 lbs. A hay wagon has wheels on all 4 corners so there is no weight on the truck....ok maybe 50 lbs.

[Menendez]

Blanket statements are simplistic and invalid. For instance you can get a Ford F-150 with a heavy duty payload package that in some configurations will have over 3000 pounds payload while in some configurations the current F-250 will have less than 2300 pounds payload (the diesel eats up lots of payload).

So yeah, there are half ton trucks that can handle some 5th wheels and no doubt quite a few overloaded 3/4 ton trucks out there.

[plasma800]

Originally Posted by Menendez

Blanket statements are simplistic and invalid. For instance you can get a Ford F-150 with a heavy duty payload package that in some configurations will have over 3000 pounds payload while in some configurations the current F-250 will have less than 2300 pounds payload (the diesel eats up lots of payload).

So yeah, there are half ton trucks that can handle some 5th wheels and no doubt quite a few overloaded 3/4 ton trucks out there.

Interesting, I own a 2015 F-150 with max tow package, and it's payload is like 1680

[Menendez]

Originally Posted by plasma800

Interesting, I own a 2015 F-150 with max tow package, and it's payload is like 1680

The HD payload is a seperate package and not part of the current Maxi Tow package. Before 2015 the Maxi Tow package included more payload but evidently it no longer does.

[Airmech]

You can find a 5ver that yu you can tow with a 1/2 ton, but you have to look at older ones. I've seen compact pickup's towing some pretty small 5vers. Not saying they were within limits but definitely 1/2 ton towable.

[RangeMaggotBob]

My fiver is advertised as "half-ton towable". Would I tow it with a half-ton? Never in a million years. Then again, our first fiver we towed with a half-ton, but we never went further than 20 miles from home...with a death grip on the steering wheel, hoping I didn't have to stop too fast.

[Airbiscuit]

3/4 ton up to 28? Sorry but I'm pulling a 33 foot 10,600 dry fiver. Pulled great, felt great. Tranny temp averaged in the 130's and plenty of power to spare. I'm under my numbers on paper and it felt that way.

[RVaholic]

My fiver is 1/2 ton towable...
Idle Time 219RKS

Allen Camper Mfg. Co., Inc. - Up to 27' 5th Wheel

219 RKS 5th Wheel Specifications
Gross vehicle weight rating
5600
Dry hitch weight
500
Unloaded vehicle weight
4000
Cargo carrying capacity
1600

Originally Posted by tuffr2

There are really no 5th wheels that can be towed with just a 1/2 truck...opps, forgot about the Scamp.

When a 1/2 ton truck is advertised to tow 10,000lbs that means it can tow a hay wagon with a total weight of 10,000 lbs. A hay wagon has wheels on all 4 corners so there is no weight on the truck....ok maybe 50 lbs.

[Skeetsbo]

Northwoods has the Fox Mountain 235 RL and it's 1/2 ton towable. It weighs in around 7200 lbs and has a tongue weight of around 1200 lbs. A 1/2 ton can easily pull it if it's set up correctly with payload and the right towing package. There's literally hundreds of them on the west coast being towed around by 1/2 tons. So they're out there if you look and many brands have one in their lineups. My first Alpenlite was a 25+2 that weighed in at 5800 lbs and had a tongue weight of 850 lbs and it certainly would be very easy to pull with many of the trucks today. A guy just has to be mindful of the limitations of what he's using to pull it and if he does it can work out very nicely and if done right they're just a safe as a bigger tow vehicle unit pulling a much larger unit.

[Cumminsfan]

Originally Posted by Skeetsbo

Northwoods has the Fox Mountain 235 RL and it's 1/2 ton towable. It weighs in around 7200 lbs and has a tongue weight of around 1200 lbs. A 1/2 ton can easily pull it if it's set up correctly with payload and the right towing package. There's literally hundreds of them on the west coast being towed around by 1/2 tons. So they're out there if you look and many brands have one in their lineups. My first Alpenlite was a 25+2 that weighed in at 5800 lbs and had a tongue weight of 850 lbs and it certainly would be very easy to pull with many of the trucks today. A guy just has to be mindful of the limitations of what he's using to pull it and if he does it can work out very nicely and if done right they're just a safe as a bigger tow vehicle unit pulling a much larger unit.

I have a Fox Mountain 235 RL. I wouldn't tow it with a 1/2 ton unless the 1/2 ton was a Ford F150 with the Heavy Duty Payload Package. For your information the dry tongue weight per sticker is 1385lbs. That's pretty much the norm too. All loaded with gear in the front basement compartments my scaled pin is 1800lbs. Now add the wife and I @300lbs and now you've added 2100lbs to the truck. Then add some firewood, and other stuff. So another 150-200lbs for misc gear and your at 2250-2300lbs added to the trucks empty weight.
Show me a 1/2 ton that can do that that's not an F150 HD.
Most any 1/2 ton can tow the 235 RL unloaded. But that's not the real world. The real world is in fact people loading their trailers with stuff to have fun while camping. The real world is people buying F150s, Chevy 1500s and Ram 1500s with nice trim levels that cut into their payload.
We tow our 235 RL with a Ram 2500 CTD. The 235 RL weighs 9000lbs when loaded. A 3/4 ton gasser would work as well for the 235 RL but we live in Oregon and have something to climb or descend everywhere we go so the CTD gives us a comfortable tow.

[Skeetsbo]

I happen to have a Ford F150 super cab sitting in my driveway that meets those specs. It belongs to my brother who has a 235 RL and has been towing it for a few years all throughout Co. and AZ. He borrowed my f 150 super crew because he went on a trip and the added cab space would be nice for him and a little more secure since they were using a tent. I'll admit my supercrew doesn't have the same towing capacity as his supercab but he doesn't have any issues pulling his rig and the scales said he was under weight on the payload ready to camp.

This isn't the first rodeo for many of us and I like you use a diesel to pull my Glacier Peak except it's a one ton and my previous 3500 didn't have any issues pulling my Ragen toyhauler or my Arctic Fox 5er. If you notice in my comments I stated that a guy needed to be mindful of what the limits on his tow vehicle are. Safety isn't something to be taken lightly but some us need to understand we simply don't need a diesel to pull everything on the road and we still can do it and be safe given the trailer has brakes on it too, intended to assist the tow vehicle in stopping the load. The key here is staying within ALL the rated capacities for the vehicles intended load as we both pointed out.

[Cumminsfan]

The F150 HD is a different breed of 1/2 ton. I would tow my 235 with it too. But that's what I said in my last post. You won't find a GM or Ram 1/2 ton that could and not be over at least one weight rating. That's why in these discussions it needs to be narrowed down as to what 1/2 ton trucks are capable. 98% aren't.

[Skeetsbo]

So I'm going to give you something to think about.

YOU"RE NOT WRONG WE AGREE

What's safer a 10, 000 lb trailer being pulled by a bumper held on by 4 bolts and a ball that costs $12.00 or a fifth wheel hitch bolted into the bed of a truck actually using the suspension to help carry and support the load? I can tell you that many of manufacturers use the fifth wheels hitches superior strength in figuring out what axles and tires they use on your unit because it supports more of the load.

So we want to whine about a guy being a few hundred pounds over in the much stronger setup? I agree we must keep safety in the forefront of our decisions but sometimes we get too focused on the numbers rather than look at which system offers the structural advantage by it's design. In my years on the road I'd opt for the fifth wheel hitch over the bumper pull setup because of it's safety and strength and the fact they're easier to pull. That's not taking anything away for a properly set up bumper pull unit which is being done in larger numbers every single day. But let's be frank here is a guy going to overload a rig with a empty bed or one with a fifth wheel hitch in it? I think we both know the answer to that and a 700lb quad and a few 5 gallon jugs of water aren't going to make you any safer behind that guy yet in the big picture he's way overloaded, compared to the guy with the fifth wheel setup.

The important thing here is to be safe and stay within all the capacities of your vehicles limits but I can tell you that when it comes to overloading a truck there's far more potential when that beds empty because that bumper pull unit just doesn't count because it's all on that $12.00 ball and those 4 bolts to do the work and provide the same margin of safety that fifth wheel hitch provides.......hmmmm.

[BSHGTO]

When I was a lot younger I could always talk myself into doing something dangerous or risky if it meant I didn`t have to spend as much money. It worked most of the time.