5th wheel real world number request

[sgfrye]

Ok made the mistake of going to rv show last weekend with wife. We have. 33ft TT that I'm happy with. Rear kitchen model. Wife myself and 4 small dogs.


Well as wife's go she always likes to window shop and loves fivers. I love 3 things about fivers. Ceiling height, pass thru storage and fifth wheel hitch. To help me explain to her what our truck can handle will the fiver veterans chime in on what weight range we could handle.

She knows we can't even look at 15k fivers. New truck is not an option. I would love a diesel but that's not happening

I'm not a newbie I know factory weights mean nothing but at least they are a baseline to start. Below are my truck specs. I'm not looking to push limits been down that road with a f150. I prefer a comfortable towing experience Looking for a baseline on fiver weights to compare to my truck

Any advice is appreciated.

My truck

2017 f250 4x2 crew cab 6.2 gasser 6 foot bed 3.73 rear end


Gvwr 19500 lbs
Gvwr 10,000 lbs

Fr gawr 4100 lbs
Rear gawr 6340 lbs

Loaded to camp on cat scales

6640 lbs total

Front axle 3800 lbs
Drive axle 2840 lbs.

We are weekend warriors. We only load for 3 days camping. empty tanks maybe 10 gallons fresh tank for bathroom breaks on the road. We don't dry camp or boondock

[crcr]

MPI_Mallard wrote:
The rear kitchen isn't something I'd go for, the stuff in the cabinets at the rear really take a licking.

We're on our second rear kitchen rig and have never had any issue with things in the cabinets. Perhaps it depends on the specs of the model...

[laknox]

sgfrye wrote:
Ok made the mistake of going to rv show last weekend with wife. We have. 33ft TT that I'm happy with. Rear kitchen model. Wife myself and 4 small dogs.


Well as wife's go she always likes to window shop and loves fivers. I love 3 things about fivers. Ceiling height, pass thru storage and fifth wheel hitch. To help me explain to her what our truck can handle will the fiver veterans chime in on what weight range we could handle.

She knows we can't even look at 15k fivers. New truck is not an option. I would love a diesel but that's not happening

I'm not a newbie I know factory weights mean nothing but at least they are a baseline to start. Below are my truck specs. I'm not looking to push limits been down that road with a f150. I prefer a comfortable towing experience Looking for a baseline on fiver weights to compare to my truck

Any advice is appreciated.

My truck

2017 f250 4x2 crew cab 6.2 gasser 6 foot bed 3.73 rear end


Gvwr 19500 lbs
Gvwr 10,000 lbs

Fr gawr 4100 lbs
Rear gawr 6340 lbs

Loaded to camp on cat scales

6640 lbs total

Front axle 3800 lbs
Drive axle 2840 lbs.

We are weekend warriors. We only load for 3 days camping. empty tanks maybe 10 gallons fresh tank for bathroom breaks on the road. We don't dry camp or boondock

2 model lines to look at that are "half-ton towable" (yeah, right), are the Jayco Eagle HT and the KZ Durango 1500 line. The Jaycos have a GVW of 9,950 on most models and the KZs have a GVW of 10,500 on most models. The KZs, which is what I ended up with, all have larger black tanks, which is necessary as we do boondock on occasion. The Jayco model we were looking at went to 2 grey tanks for '18, so have quite a bit more than the KZ, but that's not an issue for me. Fresh tanks are slightly larger on the KZ, overall, but not always. I'd feel comfortable towing my KZ, at just under 32', with a gasser.

Lyle

[MPI_Mallard]

The rear kitchen isn't something I'd go for, the stuff in the cabinets at the rear really take a licking.

[2012Coleman]

You can have the fifth wheel prep package installed. Talk to the service dept at your dealer. They can sell you the part, and tell you who can install it - if not them. Then check out the lineup from Grand Design. We just put down a deposit on a 303RLS, and I'm having the puck system installed very soon.

[xtech]

We also tow a 30ft 5th wheel that is just over 10000 lbs loaded. We tow with a 2011 F250 6.2 gas with 4.30 axle. No problem at all, tow back and forth each year to Arizona from Canada and in summer all through mountains in Canada. It is not like a diesel but I never feel it struggles or need excessive rpm with that load. Very happy. Enjoy!

[Dave_H_M]

I have the same truck as you but an old 2012. It does have the 4.30 diffy. Our fifth wheel weighs in at 10K plus or minus a few.

i tow in 6th. as indicated earlier, I think you will be in 5th but that is not a bigie. That set up suits me just fine.

I got bags on to help with the big woop de doos.

Let us know down the road how it goes.

[goducks10]

MFL wrote:
You don't need to look at 1/2 ton towable FWs, but I'd suggest the next level up, maybe dry wt of 9-10K. Lots of people using the F250 6.2, towing FWs, others may chime in with their experience.

Jerry

x2

[MFL]

You don't need to look at 1/2 ton towable FWs, but I'd suggest the next level up, maybe dry wt of 9-10K. Lots of people using the F250 6.2, towing FWs, others may chime in with their experience.

Jerry

[MFL]

Not sure how heavy your TT is, but if around 8K, you should have an idea how it would handle a FW, with a little more weight. With the newer rounded FW fronts, I think they have less wind resistance than many TTs. The nose of mine is almost bullet shaped. I tow in 5th gear around 2,200 rpm, and get 8-10 mpg.

Jerry

[sgfrye]

MFL wrote:
I think your 6.2 with 3.73, will be your limiting factor. Mine is rated to tow a 12,300 lb FW, and has no problem carrying the weight. While yours may be slightly higher, a FW of 12,500 actual ready to camp weight, would likely be your drive train limit. If you switched to 4.30 gears, not too costly with 2wd, you could likely handle 14K loaded to camp FW.

Do you have the FW prep pkg?

Jerry

Don't have the 5th wheel package. Wish I had went with 4.30 gears originally but that was basically a special order option when I bought the truck. Non available at dealerships.

[MFL]

I think your 6.2 with 3.73, will be your limiting factor. Mine is rated to tow a 12,300 lb FW, and has no problem carrying the weight. While yours may be slightly higher, a FW of 12,500 actual ready to camp weight, would likely be your drive train limit. If you switched to 4.30 gears, not too costly with 2wd, you could likely handle 14K loaded to camp FW.

Do you have the FW prep pkg?

Jerry