New to owning a truck and RVing

pierredev wrote:
TY Camping
I think I will enjoy this forum. I know I will certainly learn a lot

Just don't ask about tires or dog poop :p

I have done some research and the door sticker on my truck list it as 6700# but the VIN lookup on the dodge website list it as 9600#. After a couple of phone calls I got to the bottom of it which is where the rubber meets the road. With the tires provided to me by dodge on my truck it was rated for 6700#


I towed my TT with my 1500 for the first time and it had no issues with a 6900# TT behind my Ram 1500 V8 with 3.92 gearing. Road was hilly and had a 6% grade that I did lose speed on but still managed to go up it doing 65. I am trying to work out something with the tires and so far to get D's or E's I may have to get a smaller wheel as my truck has 20" wheels. My prev truck was a 2500 that would have been more capable but when dodge purchased it back and I needed a new truck I forgot

Yeah, you need a F550 minimum! haha
Actually the '11 5.0 F150 was the best towing, quickest gasser I've ever had. To qualify, I havent had a newer than 08 Hemi or any of the Vortec max 6.0 or 6.2's.
I've had every other brand/model/engine of gasser pickup in the last 20 years and that 5.0 will even bury my new (company) 6.2L F250.
As long as you're at low altitude it will tow that trailer with relative ease.

I am new to towing this year. I have a 2011 F150 FX4 , 5.0, 3.73, tow package.
Door sticker says max payload is 1425 lbs.I'v since added a tonneau cover,mud flaps and spray in bed liner,so my max payload is more like 1325 lbs.

We bought our first trailer in March 2013.It's a 23ft Evergreen i-Go ,GVWR 6250lbs. We have travelled almost 4500kms with it through Alberta, B.C ,Montana,Idaho and Washington. Mostly it's just me and the wife,but we have had 3 adults and 2 childen in the truck for 1 week from Calgary to Idaho and back. I normally travel in the 90-105 km/hr speed range.

The truck handled great with 5 people and the trailer weighing about 5600lbs through the Rockies at 30C.I was able to maintain 80-90 km/hr while climbing up the mountains.

Depending on how many people you have in the truck,and how much stuff you have in trailer,you should be okay,but the trailer fully loaded at 7000lbs,and a fully loaded truck might be a handfull.

rightyouareken wrote:
A lot of people posting here have probably never driven a truck with the 5.0 engine and are being overly pessimistic in my opinion. This engine is rated at 360 hp and 380 ft lbs. My 5.0 tows my 7500 gvwr trailer very well. Power is not a concern. I've towed my trailer about 3,000 miles this year all around Oregon and Washington including over Snoqualmie Pass, up with 10 mile grade from the Columbia river westbound near George, Washington, over the passes on I5 in southern Oregon, and up the 10% mile long hill near my house. On all hills the truck has shown power to accelerate at will and maintain the speed limit without flogging it, with the exception of one grade on I5 in southern Oregon where I was foot to the floor in 3rd gear at 3500 rpm holding 55 mph. Held the speed but couldn't gain more on that one...was fairly steep. Otherwise I've never had the truck over 4,000 rpm over any of the hills and the truck NEVER feels sluggish or like its struggling. These trips were also pretty heavily loaded with at least 50 gallons of fresh water on board, so I'm sure I was near 7,000 lbs trailer weight.

The difference between our trucks is that mine is a 4x4 so a little heavier (7350 gvwr) so I have slightly less payload (1420 lbs). I also have 3.73 gears as opposed to your 3.55. Not sure how much that changes things.

But I'm confident some of these apocalyptic visions some are trying to give are nonsense. This engine has more power than nearly all half tons (and even some 3/4 tons) from just a few years ago, and the 6 speed transmission also helps tremendously.

Oh, and I've also averaged 10mpg towing those 3,000 miles. 17mpg mixed city driving unloaded. 20mpg highway unloaded.

Hell ya!

A lot of people posting here have probably never driven a truck with the 5.0 engine and are being overly pessimistic in my opinion. This engine is rated at 360 hp and 380 ft lbs. My 5.0 tows my 7500 gvwr trailer very well. Power is not a concern. I've towed my trailer about 3,000 miles this year all around Oregon and Washington including over Snoqualmie Pass, up with 10 mile grade from the Columbia river westbound near George, Washington, over the passes on I5 in southern Oregon, and up the 10% mile long hill near my house. On all hills the truck has shown power to accelerate at will and maintain the speed limit without flogging it, with the exception of one grade on I5 in southern Oregon where I was foot to the floor in 3rd gear at 3500 rpm holding 55 mph. Held the speed but couldn't gain more on that one...was fairly steep. Otherwise I've never had the truck over 4,000 rpm over any of the hills and the truck NEVER feels sluggish or like its struggling. These trips were also pretty heavily loaded with at least 50 gallons of fresh water on board, so I'm sure I was near 7,000 lbs trailer weight.

The difference between our trucks is that mine is a 4x4 so a little heavier (7350 gvwr) so I have slightly less payload (1420 lbs). I also have 3.73 gears as opposed to your 3.55. Not sure how much that changes things.

But I'm confident some of these apocalyptic visions some are trying to give are nonsense. This engine has more power than nearly all half tons (and even some 3/4 tons) from just a few years ago, and the 6 speed transmission also helps tremendously.

Oh, and I've also averaged 10mpg towing those 3,000 miles. 17mpg mixed city driving unloaded. 20mpg highway unloaded.

14 years ago I owned a Ford F-150 4x4 (4.6 engine) with a smaller 20' TT. The TT, empty, was about 3500 lbs. It pulled ok, but I only got about 8-10 miles per gallon. Small hills were slow, sometimes dropping down below 50 mph.

7k loaded is a good limit for most half tons. 5.0L has similar power to the 6.0L in my 3/4 ton. 6-spd trans provides 5 usable towing gears. 1700 pounds of payload is plenty. If you can tolerate the occasional 3000-4500rpm up some ills, you should enjoy the experience. Get a WDH with integrated sway control.

bigcitypopo wrote:
Fwiw, most trailer tires are rated for top speeds of 65mph. I tow. 55-60. CA max speed while towing is 55mph. If you get a speed ticket with a trailer in tow you will be stupefied as to the cost. Not worth it, not safe... Period.

X infinity


save a ton in fuel as well...slow down.

Fwiw, most trailer tires are rated for top speeds of 65mph. I tow. 55-60. CA max speed while towing is 55mph. If you get a speed ticket with a trailer in tow you will be stupefied as to the cost. Not worth it, not safe... Period.