1/2 ton towable FW

[2halfs]

Can you recommend some 1/2 ton towable FW manufactures....

In looking at units it is important to us to have a walk around queen bed.

Extremely important to have access to the bathroom and refrigerator when slides are in.

Unit should be under 27 or 30 feet in length.

Any recommendations on manufactures or floor plans?

Thank you,

[SULTINI]

Hi 2halfs, I have owned several trailers along with motorhomes. I now have my first FW. It is a Forest River 8524RLWS about 26.5 long. It's light and I tow it with my 2010 Ford F150 5.3 LTR engine 3.55 tranny. Short box 6.5. The FW came with a Resse Revolution pin Box that will keep it far enough from the cab when turning or backing. I just returned from a trip to Orlando, Fl no problems. I have had it out a couple other times. No problems pulling or swatting. I purchased a B&W Patriot hitch on line and installed it myself. You don't need to spend 40K /50K for a new tow vehicle as long as you can hit the scales comfortable. On these Forums everyone driving a 3/4 or 1 ton will be na sayers, why? Because their scared to tow with a 1/2 ton. And they listened to many people that didn't know what they were talking about. If you buy the right size FW and load it properly and follow all the safety procedures properly you should be alright.
PS. Walk around Queen bed, and can get to the bathroom without sending the slide out, but it's tight and the control panel is right inside the door if you have to send the slide out a few inches no problem.

[avvidclif1]

I got a good laugh last winter. We traded in a 33' fifth wheel trailer on a toy hauler. The one we traded was rated at 12,300 GVWR and in camping trim and ready, no water, weighed ~11,500. The pin weight was around 2,450lb. Our F350 had no problems with it. About a week later the dealer was advertising it on their website as a used trailer, half ton towable. I got a good laugh out of that.

[rhagfo]

2halfs wrote:
Lots of great information has been given on this post.

This is why I posted this question about 1/2 ton towable with a Silverado 1500 HD. True life experiences are the best.

After reading all information and comments....I do believe the best idea for our situation is to upgrade the pickup first. Then we will not have slim pickings on options.

One more silly question....I see the wording "OP" used. What does "OP" reference. I know I will bang my forehead when I see the answer.

I do hope this thread continues with others who have an opinion. This is how we gain our information.

2PM's wrote:
OP is you, I believe original poster.

To 2halfs, I hope you used a soft surface to Bang Head! :B

In addition, if you are worried about numbers, then be looking at 350/3500's SRW. The issues is many 250/2500 if diesel don't have a ton of rated payload. It depends on the options installed.

I say this as I have a 2500, that is a ways over it's GVWR, but still well under both axle ratings, and way under the tire ratings.

You may ask how I got in this situation. Well DW and I were looking for a bigger and newer 5er than our 1986 King of the Road 28' no slide, starter. We found the Copper Canyon 293 FWSLS, and checked it out, we really liked it, but knew it was heaver than the current unit.

I stated I would not sign the papers until I hooked it up to our truck. Well dropped the rig on our 2500 (with Camper Package) and it dropped about 1.5inches! TV still better than level with the new 5er sitting on it.

Well all was great until I crossed the scales for the first time! :S
I am well over the TV stated GVWR, which is the same as the non camper package! :h

This rig tows, handles, stops, and goes great, I have no plans to change the TV or 5er. Just a heads up, I should have run the numbers, but we are happy with the current result.

[CKNSLS]

2PM's wrote:
The December 2014 issue of Trailer Life said at under 9000 pounds, the Grand Design Reflection 27RL, like mind, is built to be towed behind a "properly equipped 1500" or 2500 series trucks. I will stay with 2500 Ram.

We need to define properly equipped half-ton.

[2PM_s]

OP is you, I believe original poster.

[2halfs]

Lots of great information has been given on this post.

This is why I posted this question about 1/2 ton towable with a Silverado 1500 HD. True life experiences are the best.

After reading all information and comments....I do believe the best idea for our situation is to upgrade the pickup first. Then we will not have slim pickings on options.

One more silly question....I see the wording "OP" used. What does "OP" reference. I know I will bang my forehead when I see the answer.

I do hope this thread continues with others who have an opinion. This is how we gain our information.

[2PM_s]

The December 2014 issue of Trailer Life said at under 9000 pounds, the Grand Design Reflection 27RL, like mind, is built to be towed behind a "properly equipped 1500" or 2500 series trucks. I will stay with 2500 Ram.

[minnow]

I've got a 2015 Grand Design 27RL. Advertised as half-ton towable. Brochure listed spec's are Unloaded Vehicle Weight of 8013 lbs. Hitch Weight of 1516 lbs. Had my truck and trailer weighed at CAT scale both hooked up and truck by itself. Real world weight with two people in truck (2004 Silverado 2500HD crew cab) and the normal amount of clothes and camping stuff for 2 people:

Steer Axle, trailer attached: 4140 lbs
Steer Axle, truck solo: 4140 lbs

Drive Axle, trailer attached: 5120 lbs
Drive Axle, truck solo: 3220 lbs
Pin Weight: 1900 lbs or 384 lbs over advertised dry pin

Trailer Axle: 7100 lbs

GCWR: 16360
Truck weight Hitched: 9260
Truck solo: 7360

I'm not convinced that this is a 1/2 ton truck fifth wheel.

On edit, I looked again at the brochure and I didn't see anything that said the 27RL was half-ton towable, only that it is a "super-lite fifth wheel"

[CKNSLS]

In reality.....there are only very short "fiberglass fifth wheels" that can be towed by the average half-ton. Everything else puts you over payload. So except for what I noted-there are really NO FIFTH WHEELS THAT ARE HALF=TON TOWABLE!

-coming from a half-ton owner.

[2PM_s]

I have the Grand Design Reflection 1/2 ton towable. Yes, the posted pin weight is 1516lbs, however my actual pin weight is 1700lbs. The actual weight of the my Reflection is 8800lbs. I have a 2500 Ram 4x4 diesel. This puts 4800lbs on my front axle and 5100lbs on my rear axle with hitch and tool box. That's a total of 9900lbs GVWR or 300lbs over my rated 9600lbs. I guess if I could replace the diesel with a V6 I could stay under my GVWR. I know the new 1/2 tons are stronger than ever before, but I am so comfortable with my 2500.

[goducks10]

The two Grand Design 5ers are barely 1/2 ton towable. The average 1/2 ton, that is ones with 1200-1750lb payloads won't work. As is the case with lots of "1/2 ton towable" 5ers. Only a select few 1/2 tons will work. So saying that a 5er is 1/2 ton towable is really misleading.
Take the two Grand Design models for instance. One has a 1476lb pin and the other a 1516lb pin. That's before adding propane or batteries plus cargo. Now figure in 150-200lbs for a 5th hitch and with just the hitch alone plus dry pin, even the lowest pin weight would be 1676lbs without adding anything.
The average 1/2 ton is now at or near it's max on RAWR. And no one's even in the truck. Only way to make it work towing a 5er with a 1/2 ton is to start with a 1/2 ton that has a high payload in the 1700-2200lb range and also start with a dry pin in the 1200lb range.

[CKNSLS]

thomas201 wrote:
My experience with a ½ ton fifth wheel, on a drive to Yellowstone, from New Jersey. The 2011 Silverado was set up with the 5.3 and 3.73 gears, along with the towing package. It is a standard bed and rated for a 9600 pound trailer. Trailer was a new 2011 Wildcat.

Over the Cat scales at Flying J exit 2 in Jersey with a full freshwater tank, and loaded for a long camping trip:

Truck only:
Front 3320
Rear 2360
Gross 5680

Truck & Trailer:
Front 3180
Rear 3740
Trailer 8000
Gross 14920

Calculated:
Truck 6920
Pin 1240
Trailer 9240

So, with the truck rated at 7000, and the combined at 15000 and the trailer at 9600, I ain’t no bricks shy of a full load. This was a little high to me, so for our first journey we decided to not go to Alaska. So we dropped a second spare tire for the truck and the fresh water. Thus we dropped 400 to 450 pounds of gross weight all out of the trailer. The cost to weigh was $10.50, cheap to know as opposed to guessing.

So over the mountains we went. It pulls fine on the flat lands along the Atlantic coast. At 65 mph the transmission saw 180-190. Even with the fairly low pin weight it handled well, no swaying, just a well behaved load. Crossing the eastern continental divide from the town of Seneca Rocks, WV I had my first worry moment. Outside temp was about 80 at the bottom of the mountain. The truck pulled this steep mountain at about 30 to 40 mph, mostly in 2nd gear, with an occasional drop to 1st in the tight turns. The coolant peaked at about 240 or so, and then the temperature dropped to 220. I guess the electric fan has two speeds. Transmission fluid also hit 250 for just a moment, before dropping into the 230 to 240 range. The truck did not give a warning light. Anyone know the temperature to throw a warning and drop into the limp mode?

The tow/haul mode works sweetly going down the mountains, only an occasional use of brakes was necessary. The rest of the mountains pulled with no real drama. Topped most of them in 3rd at 40 to 50 mph. Got about 8.4 mpg on this leg from Jersey to Elkins WV.

Continuing on across the plains all was fine until the long constant pull against a strong headwind in South Dakota. With an outside temp of 105 the truck began to heat up on any extended grade. Four times the temp of the coolant climbed to 240 or so, and the transmission fluid also climbed to 221. Each time this happened, I shut down the A/C for 15 minutes and cooled everything down. The truck spent most of its time in 3rd gear under these conditions, at about 55 to 60 mph. The big headwind (maybe 40 mph) killed my mileage down to 8 even. A bigger truck would be needed to keep up with traffic. The strong headwind limited me to 4th and about 65mph on the downgrades. It would not stay in 5th, unless dropping into a river valley.

Easier pulling from Rapid City, SD to Gardiner, MT with no real headwinds. With temps in the mid 90’s the tranny held 190 to 205. Got about 9.2 mpg. Truck made it West, but I will be shopping for ¾ ton in either gas or diesel for more performance in the mountains.

On the trip East, I normally had a tailwind and cooler temperatures. Across North Dakota and through the Michigan UP, and on down to WV, mileage was in the middle nines with one whole day at 10.1. Plenty of truck for this driving.


After this trip I upgraded to a 2012 F250 with the 6.7 diesel. In 15,000 miles of towing in 13 and 14 no drama at all. The bigger brakes only were needed after the loss of trailer braking between Durango and Silverton Colorado. Ford replaced the trailer brake controller under warranty in Steamboat Springs. I like the F250 with a 10k door sticker since it gives me the towing limits I need (I like to de-rate the manufactures about 10%) and it allows me to use the left lanes and some parkways in the Northeast without the camper.

265 tranny degrees you will get a warning from the DIC.

[jffnkrn]

wow a lot of tow vehicle info.
Forest River has the Rockwood Ultra Light,
Grand Design has the Reflection,
Keystone has Cougar, Laredo and Outback,
I think it is Forest River also that has the Cheerokee.
Go to the websites and check out each one and see what they have for weight ratings etc. Lots of them out there. Be sure to choose what will work for your vehicle, we ended up with a different unit than originally planned as the usability of some thing wasn't good for us.
Happy with our New Grand Design 303 RLS, now just to upgrade tow vehicle.
we looked a lot and ended up with a Grand Design. They make 2 half ton towable units and others they have may work out for your weight ratings.
Good Luck & Be Safe ! ! !

[Ryan_Elli1]

The 1500HD is NOT a half ton rated truck. It has the same drive train and brakes as the 2500HD and the frame is the same as the 2500. I had an 03 and pulled the FW in my signature without issues. It has a 6.5 bed I didn't use a slider. I traded for something new because the other components were getting old. The ac didn't work and the windows were starting to go along with rusty cab corners. It had 147K and I got 9.0 mpg towing. The 1500HD is a very capable truck just tow in the specs.