Light 5th Wheel

wildweasel7648 wrote:
Hi guys, we are considering a 5th wheel (getting near retirement). We are buying a F150 ecoboost for this purpose, I looked at diesels, too expensive and not real "in town" friendly. Sooo.. the ecoboost is the truck of choice. What would be some good choices for a 8-9000, pound 5th wheel? We would be camping the in cool temperatures sometimes too, so that has to be a consideration. Any advice? Thanks!

Since you are buying, I suggest you consider upgrading to a F250. Same size truck to run around town but much more capable. Better to have more truck than you need, than to be at the trucks limits. On a recent trip back from the East Coast we got caught in some nasty weather coming through Akron. Tornado warnings and highway signs in the road type winds. The truck and trailer behaved better than most semi's I've driven.

Bottom line is when it goes to heck, it's better to have more truck, brakes and power than you think you might need. Ford prints those numbers for a reason other than the lawyers.

Granddad use to say "use the right tool for the right job" and in this application your truck is the tool.

We have a Jayco Eagle Superlite HT 26.5 RLS that came from the factory with a weight sticker of 7,282 and a total weight of 9,950. We tow with a GMC 2500HD with a D/A combo and pull a 19' Crestliner SuperHawk 1900 behind the FW. Our outfit tows great and I would expect yours to tow fine as well, as long as you get the max towing package. Pin weight should be ok for your outfit if you don't go above the 9,950 rating. I guess I am more comfortable towing with a 3/4 ton since that is all I have used since getting our first FW in 1993. But we have also towed a boat behind our FW all these years.

I have a 2011 EB with a cougar lite 26sab 2012 with a sidewinder pin that way I didn't need a sliding hitch. I've done about 5000 miles So far one trip to fla for the winter. It was great !!

We have the Jayco 26.5RLS anf haul with a 2012 ecoboost F150. We have not had any trouble and love the combo! Jayco makes a great rv- this is our third Jayco!

To the original poster. Watch the dealers, they will sell you anything for a buck. I have a hard time with numbers so when I bought my ecco with max tow I went to an rv show in february and told a salesmen what I had. He sold me a 8600 pound dry 5th and told me we were under the limits. Not paying attention we went for it. Now doing the math I'm going trade up to a 250 or 350 in the spring. My fx4 150 tows fine, I'm just concerned with being over my payload.

Dave

Yeah, but that picture is staged. The landing gear is still down and the tv antenna is still up. I'd bet that there isn't even a 5er hitch on thar Mazda. I use to own a Honda Ridgeline and my bass boat maxed it out.

Water-Bug wrote:
I have a 2012 Keystone Springdale 247FWRLLS, dry weight 6415 lbs, pin weight 975 lbs, cargo capacity 1560 lbs. It towed very nicely behind my 2005 Ram 1500 hemi. Springdale is a step below the Cougar, in the Keystone line, but shares many of the same layouts and features

Similar to this being towed by a Mazda.

DHC Camper wrote:
Apparently has no future here either. Ford is keeping their EcoBoost strategy. Friends say that the dynos are taking a beating in Dearborn.

It is interesting GM, Chrysler/Fiat and Nissan are looking at a diesel option or improved naturally aspirated engines.

I have a 2012 Keystone Springdale 247FWRLLS, dry weight 6415 lbs, pin weight 975 lbs, cargo capacity 1560 lbs. It towed very nicely behind my 2005 Ram 1500 hemi. Springdale is a step below the Cougar, in the Keystone line, but shares many of the same layouts and features

Sorry, late to the party on this thread. Lots of prior discussion in other threads on this, so do a search on f150. My experience:

MAKE SURE to get both the Max Towing and the HD Payload options. Especially the second. Without the HD payload, forget getting a 5th Wheel. The truck may pull the weight, but you will be greatly exceeding the pin weight that the truck can carry. Many dealers are not clear about this option. Make sure! Our dealer ended up with a spare truck to sell because we ordered it, but he assumed it was included as part of the max tow package. It is NOT.

You're fifth options are kind of limited, but they are out there. As a rule of thumb, when shopping, do not look at anything with a dry advertised weight of over 7,000lbs. Well under that is far, far better. If you do fall in love with that 5th that is marketed at over that - work very, very hard to find out real world numbers as to what it will really weigh when delivered and then subsequently loaded. Even with the HD option on the truck, it is surprising how fast pin weight can add up.

As for my experience - search for my contributions as to my recent trip. The two that I was considering were from Jayco, and Cougar. From my sig., you can see I ended up the the Jayco. Everything is perfect on that setup, and I will be very happy with the combination for several years to come....