Who's Towing a 5th with a half ton?

broncobill1964 wrote:
How many people out there are towing a 5th wheel with a half ton truck, and the weight of your 5th wheel?

ME...ME...ME...ME
DW & I tow a '14 26sab Xlite Cougar 5th wheel with our little '13 F-150 HD Eco 4x4. Awesome combo.

Milo

lawnspecialties wrote:
For what its worth, I was driving down I-40 here in the Raleigh area a few weeks ago. A new white F-150 was beside me with a nice Cougar fifth wheel. I know Cougar makes some lighter versions and I must admit, it was an impressive looking rig.

I imagine the guy had air bags because that truck had no squat whatsoever. It appeared very stable and it just made me sad knowing they were headed somewhere toward the coast and .... :(

Lawnspecialties...that very well could have been us but noooo ...DW & I have never been anywhere near that area. Our little 1/2 ton, suspension wise, is pure stock (no air bags or helper springs) and it sets pertnear level (1/2 inch high in the rear) with the 5er attached. So regardless of what all the so called expert say or think .. a properly equipped 1/2 ton can safely pull & stop a 5er and also be well within weight limits. We is.

Milo

Mote wrote:
We saw this little 5th wheel in Yellowstone last summer.

Those little Scamp fifth wheels weigh just 3000 pounds fully loaded with about 600 pounds of pin weight. They can be pulled by almost any small pickup.

I bought a new TT last week at a very large dealer that sells GMC, Buick and a number of RV manufacturers. The subject of 1/2 tons and fifth wheels came up. The salesman said: "It is our policy to not sell a fifth wheel to anyone with a 1/2 ton. We have many TT's that are appropriate to be towed by a 1/2 ton and we have many trucks appropriate to tow a fifth wheel. There is no reason for anyone to leave with an unsafe combination and we will not permit that to happen just to make a buck".

Bold statement but I applaud them for that. I'm sure that they would make exceptions for the few extremely small fifth wheels (which they do not sell) and the very few capable 1/2 ton HD's.

Flapper wrote:
Just to chime in - I Am! But, you have to shop very carefully. My F150 with both the Max Tow and Max Payload packages (a pretty rare, custom ordered, configuration) JUST makes the pin weight of my 5th. And we pack very light. To date, I haven't seen specs (not that I am looking very hard) for a 1/2 ton that can do better. Almost all are worse, and therefore not suitable for a fifth. They can pull, but they can't carry.

I have the same configuration and have no problem. As you can see by the picture f'ver and pickup are level with NO mods. I will add that there is only the wife and I so yes we are on the lite side in weight. It's winter so and dark out and no I don't know my pin weight, sorry but we have had this f'ver for 10 years and always pulled it with a F150. I f'ver is a keystone hornet 275

We saw this little 5th wheel in Yellowstone last summer.

I had a '82 1500 chevy towing a new '84 7200 GVWR 5th wheel trailer. This was in the 55 mph era so no issues.
Some of todays new gen 1/2 ton trucks have higher GVWR and RAWR than older 3/4 ton trucks.

Ten years and running fine. Been over the Rockies, through 115° heat, -10° cold, snow, lots of rain, couple ST flats, up/down plenty of 10%+ grades. Plenty said at the start the gear change would be a waste as I would soon be trading to a one ton. Set the cruise and go have some fun.

We pulled so many miles with our 1/2 years back, when we sold it it was 18 in. longer.

06Fargo wrote:


I don't know if any OEM has different trailer weight ratings for bumper pull trailers vs 5th wheel/gooseneck trailers nowadays.

I know that GM does, or at least did, in 2011 & 2012. The factory rated my truck for 10.7K bumper pull and 11.5K 5th wheel/Gooseneck. Right in the owners manual.

We had a small 5th wheel that weighed 6500. Our GMC 1500 hated it.