Forum Discussion

HGL's avatar
HGL
Explorer
Jul 17, 2015

Tow Vehicle Calculations

Hey all...we are looking to upgrade to a 5er in the next year. Currently have a 2014 F350 CC with a Gvwc of 23,500. We have weighed the truck fully loaded with all of our gear with TT stuff at 8,800lbs. We know that 500lbs will be taken out of the bed and put into the 5er...so by my calculations I am looking at a fully loaded 5er with a payload of 14200. Did I do this right???

Thanks Guys!
  • Thanks all...

    Checked the door tag and our GVWR is 11,500. That keeps us in a pin weight of 3,000. The RAWR gives us 3,500 and the hers that I am looking at at stating a fully loaded rating of 13,900 so I think we will be fine.


    Again thank you!
  • I think you could easily go to a 15000 GVWR fiver with no issues if you keep your trucks loaded weight to max 8500 plus pin of 3000lbs .I tow a 15 k fiver on a lot of mountain grades with a 2015 3500 gmc 3500 , 18 k autoslider, handles the load very easy,peasy,amazing what these new trucks can handle.
  • I have a 2007 3500 SRW with GVWR of 10,100

    I tow a 5vr with a GVWR of 14,375 (CAT Scale weight 13,380#)

    It has a 2980# pin weight

    I am over trucks GVWR, slightly under trucks RAWR and right at trucks rear tire max load rating (sidewall)

    Tows strong, stable, comfortable and no issues past 8 yrs.
    7 yrs. FT traveling weekly

    Your 2014 F350 will handle a 14K GVWR 5vr if truck is SRW.
    IF DRW it will handle 16K GVWR 5vr
  • Thanks guys...He is actually a she!

    Since this is my idea to move up, I am the one doing the calculations to narrow down our search so that we don't spend a lot of time spinning wheels listening to sales people who say that we can tow anything on the lot. Been there, done that and ended up getting the F350 for our TT to feel safe as we have so much truck now that we don't notice the hills like we did with our F150.

    Will grab the information off the sticker later today...

    thanks again!
  • Don is right, in the correct way to figure, and that many with 350 diesel trucks, tow up to 14,000# FWs.

    However, if you want to stay under your payload rating, that is right on the door jam tire loading sticker. Most important, will be your rear axle rating, and tire load rating.

    To make it easy, if your truck weighs 8,500 loaded, including a 200# hitch, and your truck GVWR is 11,500, you will have 3,000#s left over for FW pin weight.
    That would be a FW with about a 15,000# GVWR

    This is just an example, to show easy figuring.

    Jerry
  • I think the OP is saying his F350 weighs 8300 lbs.

    But, what is the TV GVWR ?
  • He is removing 500lbs from the 8800lbs into the 5th wheel so his truck weight without hitch is 8300lbs.

    OP, what is the payload sticker on your door post? What GVWR is your truck 11,500?

    Probably in the 13-14k 5th wheel range?
  • I assume you mean GCWR?
    OK, 8800 plus 250 for hitch means your truck ready to go is 9050 pounds. GVWR of the truck is what? 11,000 pounds? 11,000 minus 9050, OK round it to 9000 equals 2000 pounds. That is how much pin weight you can carry before exceeding the trucks GVWR if you calculate pin weight at the accepted 20%, then you can safely hitch up to a 10,000 fiver. Im guessing that is really consertarive as most folks with 350/3500 SRW series trucks are pulling 13-14K fivers with no problems. You need to understand that what the factory claims their truck can pull is assumed pulling a flat bed trailer, not a high walled sail. So take their numbers with a grain of salt! If we assume yo1ur loaded truck including hitch at 9000,look on the drivers door post for the MFG GVWR number, subtract B from A and you have your answer.