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backwater83's avatar
backwater83
Explorer
Mar 26, 2019

Towing capacities aren't realistic, completely unachievable

New to this forum, but looking for advice. My truck is a 2014 F350 SRW. Stated fifth wheel capacity is 15,900. I'm looking to buy a 39 foot 5er that weighs in at 14,400 with a pin weight of 2900. No way I can tow that because my cargo capacity is 3113. Once I put me and a bucket of chicken in the cab, I'm over weight. Pisses me off. I saw that Ford increased their super duty towing capacities on their 18-19 models.

The listed fifth wheel towing on the '19 F350 is 21,000. Problem solved. Its only gonna cost me 70 thousand dollars to get a truck that can tow the 5'er I want. I went to the dealer and looked at the door sticker on the '19. Guess what the cargo capacity is... 3200 pounds. What the holy hell! That's the same as I have now!! the '19 wont pull the camper either.

So I did some research. There isn't a 5th wheel out there over 14,000 lbs that has a tongue weight less than 2800 pounds. There is NO WAY the '19 truck with a listed 5th wheel cap can tow anywhere near the stated 21,000 pounds. ****, why not give it a 50k tow rating? 21,000 is just a meaningless arbitrary number that you'll never EVER be able to tow and stay in your weight rating!

I DO NOT want to buy a DRW truck. I put 50k miles on per year without towing, so yeah, it's a daily driver.

This is serious false advertising.

What do I do here? I'm trying to do things right but I feel like I'm going to have to tow overloaded just like the 70 percent of other people out there who I laugh at for towing WAY too much weight.

115 Replies

  • Your truck has seating for six, so do you expect it to meet all other specs with six 200lb people riding in it?

    Manufacturer gives you maximum values and it's up to you to choose how to configure your truck and choose a trailer within its limits.

    You put options on your truck that ate up the payload. SRW can have nearly 5,000lb payload with the right set of options. The options you have reduce payload but don't reduce trailer towing capacity so there is no reason for them to dumb-down the buying process so people no longer need to think.
  • AZDRYHEAT, Thanks for the very helpful comment. *looks for 'sarcasm' button.
  • The unloaded pin weights of trailer units are published. The loaded pin weight can be estimated based on the published weight or by asking a person with experience the pin weight of specific units. The carrying capacity of all trucks is posted somewhere in every truck as set by the manufacturer. There should be no doubt about how much carrying weight a truck will bear. It is really up to the buyer to do their research before buying either a truck and/or a trailer to determine the pin weight is within the truck manufacturers set capacity. It takes a little research before buying either a truck or a trailer to make sure the trailer is within the carrying capacity of a truck. Unfortunately, a truck or a trailer is purchased before the capacities are determined. Been there, done that. There are many grossly overloaded single rear wheel trucks hauling heavy 5th wheel trailers but it seems to work for most of them.
  • Man you worry too much RELAX:B you are good to go with that truck I tow that same weight with my 2004 3500 Short bed GMC Crew Cab and I am a "little" overweight but Believe me you are Good with a 2014 F350 SRW Just make sure your tires are up to the task now go out and buy that 5er and Enjoy will ya:)