Half ton towing

Hitch/carry capacity will kill that Idea, that has it include all passengers and dogs, luggage, ice chests, a full tank of gas, the hitch weight (200 pounds for a fifth wheel hitch) anything else carried in the truck, and the weight of the fiver. Also half ton trucks have smaller brakes not designed to stop a heavy fiver. And then there is the undersized transmission and everything else about the half ton.

You don't have an HD truck don't try to force yours to do the job of one. Get a good bumper pull.

jeeperman wrote:
Anyone tow a small fifth wheel with a half ton ?
25ft.to 29ft
Dry weight 7000
Hitch weight 1400lbs
Truck f-150
5.0 v8 3rd gen. 400hp 400lbs tq
9200 trailer tow rating
2210 payload.
Firestone air bags
Do you feel this would be safer than same size trailer considering sway ect.

Safe is relative to each person! Driving wyouith a 1/2 ton truck might be ok on flat roads and no strong winds. Going up and down mountain roads could be questionable. What kind of brake system do you have? are you runing with TR tires with at least "E" rated tires? Do you have a Reese Dual cam sway control or some thing like it?

Bags n “E” tires G-G.

Yes,E rated tires,tow package,brake controller.
On the TT sway control, WDH that's all good.
Was just looking at the new "half ton 5th wheels"

You say 7000 Lbs dry, do you plan to always tow it totally empty? The typical load people put into a 5er is between 1000 & 2000 Lbs. What is the GVWR of it, 20 to 25% of that will be you're more realistic pin weight.

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Bags n “E” tires G-G.

Like :)

Sarcasm, maybe, but a little truth also. Your truck has a good payload for a 1/2 ton, and likely a RAWR of 4K+

Your truck should be capable of a smaller FW, with a loaded to camp wt of say 8-9 K. I would rather tow a 8,500 lb FW with your truck, than the same wt TT

Jerry

People are doing this exact thing daily. You can argue against it as unsafe, but the highways are far from littered with disabled F150's. Those who won't should move over for those who do.

jeeper....Straight answer would be if your F150 has enough rawr. A 7k dry weight which grows to 8500 lbs, maybe more, = 1600-1800 lb pin weight. Add 200 lbs for hitch/rails/etc......the truck has maybe 2000 lb siting on the rear axle. Now load the cab with all the people and other gear.

JMO if your truck has the 4550 rawr then your looking for around 2200-2300 lb payload on the rear axle. That size trailer will max out its load carrying capacity.

Ford markets the F150HDPP that comes with a 4800 rawr. Those numbers can give you a 2400-2500 lb rear axle payload and would be a good choice for under 10k 5th wheel trailers.

I worked all the #'s (well, most) and concluded my F-150 could comfortably tow the 32' FW in my sig. And it does great. It tows so much better in every aspect than a 35' TT I previously had. Only one problem I didn't consider. I'm within RAWR until I fill the gray and black tanks. My waste tanks are forward of the FW axles. With full waste tanks, my pin weight pushes me WAY over RAWR. I crawl to the dump station avoiding every bump and dip as I go.

As far as brakes, the trailer came with a full set of functional brakes. This is the most ridicules argument of all. And then they'll say what happens if you lose your trailer brakes. That same argument applies to a 3/4 or 1 ton towing a 40+ ft monster FW.

Will your truck work well with a particular FW? Only research can answer that question.

Some do it safely A F150 can be bought with a heavy duty payload package which gives you about 2800 lbs of payload. That's more payload than a F250 diesel. Just need to do your homework.