1/2 Ton 5th Wheel

Can it pull it? YES! Should it two it? NO! I once saw a half ton Toyota P/U pulling a space shuttle on TV, so it can be done. Just don't try stopping it. Cardinal Rule: A salesman may tell you anything to get your money.

If you have to do a bunch of work to boost your 1/2 ton it's not 1/2 ton towable.
You can mod out a Volkswagen to tow with if you want but is it safe.
JMHO....There is no such thing as 1/2 ton towable 5th wheel.
They can put you to sleep watching them sway to and fro in light winds down the road.

The fifth wheel is half-ton towable, just probably not by your truck. The truck has to be configured at the factory for heavy duty work. For an F150, that means the Max Tow and HD Payload packages to be within ratings for that fiver. The 2015 F150 with those options is rated to tow 12,000 lbs and has a payload of about 3000 lbs. The term 1/2 ton doesn't mean what it used to, but you have to be aware of the capacities of your particular truck.

I am going to say it straight out, "The salesperson is just trying to make a sale."
We had a GMC truck 5.2 V-8, rated to tow 9,000 lbs and towed a TT with a weight of almost 5,000 lb. Hubby was not a happy camper towing the TT, especially on steeper hills. He traded for a 250 diesel. What a difference that made...the diesel didn't even flinch with 5,000 lbs. behind it.

Anyway, we now tow a 5ver Keystone, similiar to a Cougar. NO WAY will you be able to tow a 5ver any distance...Wait, the dealer sort of is telling the truth....You could tow it to the nearest campground and leave it there.

Better get at least a 2500/250 Chevy, GMC or Ford or a diesel if you are going to do any amount of traveling with the 5ver.

1,000 pounds of hitch weight should not be a problem for the Dodge truck. 8,000 pounds 'camping weight' should also be within the specs for a normal 1/2 ton Hemi equipped truck.

But still I can not say you are good to go without knowing the GVWR of the truck and the normal truck curb weight. I do know that for the Ecoboost equipped F-150 that is a normal load to put on that truck. I think that they have a GVWR package that allows up to 2,300 pounds of cargo and a trailer up to 11,300 pounds before reaching the GCVWR.

You would have to be concerned about the GCVWR. Say your Dodge is 16,000 pounds. And the trailer is 8,000 pounds. Curb weight of the truck is say 6,200 pounds with full fuel and passengers. This leaves you with a truck and trailer weight of only 14,200 pounds, well within a 16,000 pound rating. However if the truck GCVWR is only 14,500 pounds, you would be cutting it close.

Good luck!


Fred.

My buddy found a new 28' TT that he really wanted to buy. He really didn't want to get a 3/4 ton truck. I can't recall the hitch weight but it seemed pretty heavy to me. The salesman told him he could get a Tahoe and it would pull it great, just make sure the Tahoe had the bigger engine.

He found a gently used Tahoe with all the bells and whistles. He pulled the new TT two or three times and has blown out the OEM air suspension on his Tahoe twice. Now the TT just sits in the CG, no more traveling.

Yes, some salesmen will tell you anything to make the sale.

JeanMarie wrote:
Wow, thanks for all the help. So I guess my husband was right (again).

The 5th wheel is out of the question now. There was one other model that we both liked. It was a 26 ft. travel trailer. The Hitch weight is 853, and the dry weight is 6447. Would this be a better haul for my truck?

That would be a much better choice. You will still need a good WD hitch with integrated sway control IMO. I would recommend the Reese Dual Cam system or the Equalizer system.

Grandpere wrote:
Yes, and get a WDH with a sway attachment and you will be set to go.

This is pretty random.

Bruce

Yes, and get a WDH with a sway attachment and you will be set to go.

We would need to know more about the truck before giving good advice.

I know that the 2011 - 2015 F-150 Ecoboost has at least 4 different GVWR on the trucks. And if you take into account that 'your' truck can be anything from 2000 to 2015 model year, it can be significant GVWR change between the years and cargo packages.

So what is the GVWR? Is it crewcab, extended cab, regular cab? Any clue as to the curb weight? If the curb weight is say 5,000 pounds while it has a 7,500 pound GVWR, then you could add a substantial amount of weight to that truck before overloading it. However most Rams are more then 5,500 curb weight, and GVWR can be just about anything?

Ford has some Ecoboost F-150's with a 2,300 pound cargo rating. That is nearly as much as some of the crewcab F-250's. Back in 1999, the diesel F-250 crewcab with 4 wheel drive, it only had a 965 cargo rating. That can be all used up with 6 passengers, leaving nothing for cargo or a hitch.

Most fifth wheel hitches come in a crate that is about 150 - 200 pounds. So that hitch is not light, and will take away from the cargo rating.

Also consider the brake size. You might have disk brakes all around, and be fine. But if the trailer plug comes unplugged from the truck, it can be a problem with a 1/2 ton truck, while a dually F-350 will stop in a somewhat longer area, but still stop.

Good luck,

Fred.