Half ton towing

[jeeperman]

Anyone tow a small fifth wheel with a half ton ?
25ft.to 29ft
Dry weight 7000
Hitch weight 1400lbs
Truck f-150
5.0 v8 3rd gen. 400hp 400lbs tq
9200 trailer tow rating
2210 payload.
Firestone air bags
Do you feel this would be safer than same size trailer considering sway ect.

[time2roll]

Yes, been doing this for 15 years. No issues. Braking is no trouble. Yes on the steeper grades you will be hanging out with the loaded semis big deal. Been over the Rockies, through Death Valley, Yellowstone, west coast, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns, would not hesitate to go about anywhere. Very stable in all conditions. Has never felt unsafe. Truck has just over 200,000 miles and still does great. No maintenance issues. Original transmission. New 400hp vs my tired 260hp would make pulling a breeze.

Can't say it is for everyone but I am very happy.

[milo]

jeeperman your 150 has 52 pounds less payload capacity than ours. We tow a 29' 5'er and put pertnear 15,000 miles on that puppy in the past 7 years with the majority of miles in the southern Rookies of southwestern Colorado. Only suspension addition has been a set of SumoSprings (at 56,000 miles). Truck just turned 58,000 miles and got a set of Bilstein's to replace the crappy OEM's. Oh... the main different is ...you got a 5.0 V8 & we got that little 3.5 v6 (ecobeast). So!

Milo

[jeeperman]

Thanks for all the thoughts and opinions, after more consideration I will stick
To my TT and f 150. The ride when not towing is hard to give up as well as the
Cargo room without the hitch in the bed. Happy camping everyone.

[Curly2001]

My neighbor has a Ford F150 with the ecoboost engine and pulls a Cougar 29' fifth wheel with it. The truck has the heavy duty payload package along with LT tires in lieu of the P-metric tires. He said it also has heavy duty brakes compared to the standard truck. Pulls and stops the trailer very well, according to him. I have seen him on some hills when we camped together and he has no problem keeping up with traffic. Seems to have good stopping power also. I wouldn't want to do it but he has no issues, as of yet.
Curly

[philh]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Bottom line you need side wall stability on any tow rig!

I followed a F150 towing what I would guess to be a 30' 5th wheel. I forgot to get the name of the 5er. The truck was definitely squatting, and best way to describe it, wallowing.

I know when I went to 10 ply tires on my F150, towing my TT was much improved.

[Cummins12V98]

Bottom line you need side wall stability on any tow rig!

[valhalla360]

JIMNLIN wrote:
jeeper....Straight answer would be if your F150 has enough rawr. A 7k dry weight which grows to 8500 lbs, maybe more, = 1600-1800 lb pin weight. Add 200 lbs for hitch/rails/etc......the truck has maybe 2000 lb siting on the rear axle. Now load the cab with all the people and other gear.

This.

Add in 400-800 for people and gear in the truck and I'm betting you are overloaded by the time you head out.

I would want to stay under 7k FULLY LOADED if you are insistent on using a 1/2 ton truck.

Assuming the setup is within weight ratings and properly set up, I wouldn't expect a significant safety difference between 5th wheel and bumper pull. A properly set up bumper pull is not dangerous.

[TXiceman]

First thing is to forget the dry weights. Use the trailer GVWR from the tag on the left front of the trailer. This is the maximum weight of the loaded trailer. To estimate your loaded pin weight take 20 to 22% of the trailer GVWR.

Now look on the drivers door jamb for a yellow sticker that provides the payload capacity of the truck. Take your estimated pin weight plus a hitch plus passengers plus any cargo in the truck bed. All of that added up needs to be less then the payload capacity of the truck.

A 1/2 ton truck will reach its payload capacity long before you reach the trucks maximum towing capacity.

Good luck.

Ken

[Mike134]

Some do it safely A F150 can be bought with a heavy duty payload package which gives you about 2800 lbs of payload. That's more payload than a F250 diesel. Just need to do your homework.

[2112]

I worked all the #'s (well, most) and concluded my F-150 could comfortably tow the 32' FW in my sig. And it does great. It tows so much better in every aspect than a 35' TT I previously had. Only one problem I didn't consider. I'm within RAWR until I fill the gray and black tanks. My waste tanks are forward of the FW axles. With full waste tanks, my pin weight pushes me WAY over RAWR. I crawl to the dump station avoiding every bump and dip as I go.

As far as brakes, the trailer came with a full set of functional brakes. This is the most ridicules argument of all. And then they'll say what happens if you lose your trailer brakes. That same argument applies to a 3/4 or 1 ton towing a 40+ ft monster FW.

Will your truck work well with a particular FW? Only research can answer that question.

[JIMNLIN]

jeeper....Straight answer would be if your F150 has enough rawr. A 7k dry weight which grows to 8500 lbs, maybe more, = 1600-1800 lb pin weight. Add 200 lbs for hitch/rails/etc......the truck has maybe 2000 lb siting on the rear axle. Now load the cab with all the people and other gear.

JMO if your truck has the 4550 rawr then your looking for around 2200-2300 lb payload on the rear axle. That size trailer will max out its load carrying capacity.

Ford markets the F150HDPP that comes with a 4800 rawr. Those numbers can give you a 2400-2500 lb rear axle payload and would be a good choice for under 10k 5th wheel trailers.

[bpounds]

People are doing this exact thing daily. You can argue against it as unsafe, but the highways are far from littered with disabled F150's. Those who won't should move over for those who do.

[MFL]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Bags n “E” tires G-G.

Like 🙂

Sarcasm, maybe, but a little truth also. Your truck has a good payload for a 1/2 ton, and likely a RAWR of 4K+

Your truck should be capable of a smaller FW, with a loaded to camp wt of say 8-9 K. I would rather tow a 8,500 lb FW with your truck, than the same wt TT

Jerry

[Michelle_S]

You say 7000 Lbs dry, do you plan to always tow it totally empty? The typical load people put into a 5er is between 1000 & 2000 Lbs. What is the GVWR of it, 20 to 25% of that will be you're more realistic pin weight.