total weight and pin weight for a confortable tow

[walthallm]

Just bought a 2014 250 super duty diesel. I know what all the charts say about towing capacities but I want to know what pin weight and total weight would make for a comfortable tow. Towing in the mountains of Missouri and Tennessee.

[christopherglen]

It also depends on the type of 5er you tow, toy haulers are extremely pin heavy unloaded, they are designed to have the garage weighted down to make the pin more reasonable. I tow an empty TH, the garage is a bedroom by night and a playroom by day (the 5&7 yr olds are back there). Mine came with a generator in the front, which doesn't help, and is maxing out the rear axle of my dually. An empty 30' TH would likely overload your rear axle.

[JIMNLIN]

walthallm wrote:
Just bought a 2014 250 super duty diesel. I know what all the charts say about towing capacities but I want to know what pin weight and total weight would make for a comfortable tow. Towing in the mountains of Missouri and Tennessee.

I'm comfortable towing max tow ratings and carrying max axle/tire loads with every truck I've ever owned for my hauling business or my private use trucks. Some RV folks are not. Your call there.

The F250 has the same frame/brakes/engine/tranny/front and rear axle as the F350 SRW so it will pull the same weight. The SRW has higher rated rear spring pack/wheels and tires for more load carrying capacity.

The F250 has 6100 RAWR which many owners say weighs in the 2800-3000 lb range. This leaves around 3100-3300 lb for a max payload.

Or as some RV folks they use the trucks GVWR to figure loads on the trucks rear axle/tires.

How much payload your truck actually has is determined by actual separate front and rear axle weights from a certified scale. Get the weights and you do the math for your truck.

[donn0128]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Once you weigh your truck 'camp ready' (that is with you, passengers, stuff in cab and stuff in bed plus 200# for hitch) then you will know how much 'payload' you have available.
Truck GVWR minus cmap ready weight equal payload (keeping in mind available rear axle weight and rear tire load ratings.

Using 20% of the 5vrs GWVR will give you a close guesstimate of what 5vrs wet pin load will be. IF that number is within your camp ready payload number (and rear axle weight/tires load ratings) good to go.

Even with the 'new' inflated tow ratings........trucks GVWR, rear axle rating, rear tire rating and/or available payload will be reached/exceeded before reaching that magical tow rating

Go weigh your truck......then crunch the numbers. Stay within the ratings and you will have an enjoyable towing experience.

My '07 has a tow rating somewhere above 16K but at just under 14K I am at truck ratings. Been towing it FT for 7 yrs. and all's good even in the rockies.

X2 and beyond.
No one is going to be able to tell you how much you can tow, etc,etc,etc. That is because no one is going to load even an identical vehicle the same as you will. Load it, get to the scales and run the math.

[Old-Biscuit]

Once you weigh your truck 'camp ready' (that is with you, passengers, stuff in cab and stuff in bed plus 200# for hitch) then you will know how much 'payload' you have available.
Truck GVWR minus cmap ready weight equal payload (keeping in mind available rear axle weight and rear tire load ratings.

Using 20% of the 5vrs GWVR will give you a close guesstimate of what 5vrs wet pin load will be. IF that number is within your camp ready payload number (and rear axle weight/tires load ratings) good to go.

Even with the 'new' inflated tow ratings........trucks GVWR, rear axle rating, rear tire rating and/or available payload will be reached/exceeded before reaching that magical tow rating

Go weigh your truck......then crunch the numbers. Stay within the ratings and you will have an enjoyable towing experience.

My '07 has a tow rating somewhere above 16K but at just under 14K I am at truck ratings. Been towing it FT for 7 yrs. and all's good even in the rockies.

[mdamerell]

Maybe I'm missing something here. Pin weights are about 20% on average of the trailers weight. They can vary some depending upon model and how it's loaded. I tend to run around 22% pin weight. If the pin weight is to light the trailer will porpoise and give you a bad ride.

If your trying to figure out how heavy of a trailer for your truck, figure out how much pin weight you can stick in the bed of that truck and using the 25% rule of thumb figure out your gross trailer weight. That will give a conservative idea. The hitch for your 5er will weight around 300#.

5er's will max out the load capacity of the truck before you will exceed the tow capacity of the truck. You need to weight your truck full of fuel and people like you are going on a trip and weight it on a CAT Scale (guess 7,500#). Subtract that from the GVWR on the door sticker of you truck (10,000# if my research is correct) and that's the pin weight you can handle. A 2,500# pin weight (25%) is a 10,000# trailer. Look at the 5r's GVWR not its dry weight as that is useless. The individual trailers empty pin weight and dry weight will give you an idea of its 5 pin weight ratio or percentage but once you load up the "basement" and/or other cabinets that will change.

2014 Ford Specs

Ford says 12,500# but your pin weight will probably limit getting to this number. 12,500# times 20% is a 2,500# pin weight. Don't forget the wife, kids, dogs, hitch and everything else you need for the trip that goes in the truck limits pin weight. Air bags improve ride not capacity.

Good luck.

[MFL]

Look at the payload # on the door jam. This is the # that the factory has figured for your truck, as shipped from the factory. It will say all pass etc. not to exceed this #.

When you subtract everthing that will be in your truck,including the bed, it will give you an idea of how much is left over for pin weight.

Jerry

[Michelle_S]

With any of the newer Diesels, towing isn't the problem as any of they will just about tow a house. What you need to worry about in the Pin Weight as that is the Down Fall of 250/2500 and 350/3500 SRW series TVs. So you need to load everything in the TV (passengers, pets, cargo, hitch, and full tank of fuel) as you would for a trip, weigh it then subtract that number from the TV GVWR (gross) as shown on the driver's door pillar. That number that's left over is the pin weight you can carry.

[ependydad]

It really depends on what you load into the vehicle. Is it just you? Is it you + a spouse? You, a spouse and kid(s)? You, a spouse, kid(s) and pet(s)? Do you carry much in the truck? Much in the truck bed? Do you have a heavy rolltop cover?

We need more info. 🙂