rhagfo wrote:
jimmyfred wrote:
The Skiing Ninjas wrote:
Hi all. New to all of this...
I recently put a down on:
2005 Double Tree/DRV Model 32TK3 ('Telescoping Kitchen, 3 Slides')
and
2000 Ford F-250 Super Duty Crew Cab 7.3L Turbo Diesel 6 Speed Manual with 5000# rear air bags.
My initial research showed this combo to be OK RE: weights.
However, I called DRV today and asked for the specs of this trailer (assuming no options). They said that it was too old ("ancient") and they no longer have the specs (I don't understand this as computers existed 10 years ago and a spec sheet would take up a trivial amount of space but I digress). They "ballparked" the numbers for me and they were way higher than everything I had found online so far.
I thought I was working with 14500# wet but the weight given by DRV was ~17k dry and ~20k wet with a 3200# pin.
My ultimate questions is: ignoring the numbers I just mentioned (as I don't really know what is correct), would you say the Ford can safely handle this 5th?
Thanks for your help. I really need to sort this out before these two items belong to me!
Sean (& Sarah)
..........here is my experience......I was pulling a 33' travel supreme with a 1999 F250 , 6 speed , came up I25 to Pueblo to Hwy 50 and west to Canon City and then over to Montrose . Then south on 550 to Ouray . Spent two weeks in Ouray and thought I'd take 550 south to Durango and back to Tx .
..........BIG , BIG , Big mistake ! Trailer weighed 15k , NO Disc brakes on trailer , a steep downslope several miles out of Durango truck and trailer brakes simply wouldn't hold trailer......No traffic and straight road , with a good incline at bottom of hill. I simply put truck in neutral and held on , was doing 93 mph when I started up , the UP slope , speed down to 35 and I made it on into Durango with dirty skivvies .
..........Got to Clarendon,tx and drive chain in transfer case just broke , most likely because of ALL the climbing in 2nd gear of my 6 speed trany between Ouray and Durango on Hwy 550 . Six months later Clutch went out that was a year old ! Again , most likely because of pulling very heavy trailer on Hwy 550 .
..........YOU MAY THINK , you have ENOUGH TRUCK.......I'm telling you , you don't and pulling that heavy trailer with your 2000 F250 will , tear the GUTS out of that truck in short order . The much newer F250's are a world of difference than the early model F'250's of model year 2000 .
..........My truck was chipped and the 7.3 pulled like nobody's business , the rest of the drive train was just not up to the job .
..........At the very least I'd get a dually , with 7.3 and have the 4r100 built for heavy duty pulling , and 4.10 gears . A heavy built Auto is much better than a 6 speed and a lot easier on the driver .
..........Also , you're going to be Much better off WITHOUT a transfer case in the drive train because the drive chain in the Xfer case won't hold UP pulling such a heavy trailer .
..........It is very important to equip that trailer with disc brakes , if you want to beable to make emergency stops when necessary .
..........What I'm telling you is from my actual experiences , not BS ! , jf
Did your 7.3 have an exhaust Brake???? Makes all the difference in the world.
I don't disagree with the Disk brakes on the 5er, but EB first.
............No , it did not ! IF , I had , had any sense I would have never chosen to go south to Durango through Silverton ! Just because a pickup will pull a heavy trailer on some what level ground , doesn't mean it is capable of controlling it in very extraordinary road conditions . Stoping is much more important than towing , but some folks just don't seem to comprehend the necessity of being able to control the load under abnormal condition s . , jf
