Towing capacities aren't realistic, completely unachievable

[backwater83]

New to this forum, but looking for advice. My truck is a 2014 F350 SRW. Stated fifth wheel capacity is 15,900. I'm looking to buy a 39 foot 5er that weighs in at 14,400 with a pin weight of 2900. No way I can tow that because my cargo capacity is 3113. Once I put me and a bucket of chicken in the cab, I'm over weight. Pisses me off. I saw that Ford increased their super duty towing capacities on their 18-19 models.

The listed fifth wheel towing on the '19 F350 is 21,000. Problem solved. Its only gonna cost me 70 thousand dollars to get a truck that can tow the 5'er I want. I went to the dealer and looked at the door sticker on the '19. Guess what the cargo capacity is... 3200 pounds. What the holy hell! That's the same as I have now!! the '19 wont pull the camper either.

So I did some research. There isn't a 5th wheel out there over 14,000 lbs that has a tongue weight less than 2800 pounds. There is NO WAY the '19 truck with a listed 5th wheel cap can tow anywhere near the stated 21,000 pounds. ****, why not give it a 50k tow rating? 21,000 is just a meaningless arbitrary number that you'll never EVER be able to tow and stay in your weight rating!

I DO NOT want to buy a DRW truck. I put 50k miles on per year without towing, so yeah, it's a daily driver.

This is serious false advertising.

What do I do here? I'm trying to do things right but I feel like I'm going to have to tow overloaded just like the 70 percent of other people out there who I laugh at for towing WAY too much weight.

[laknox]

backwater83 wrote:
New to this forum, but looking for advice. My truck is a 2014 F350 SRW. Stated fifth wheel capacity is 15,900. I'm looking to buy a 39 foot 5er that weighs in at 14,400 with a pin weight of 2900. No way I can tow that because my cargo capacity is 3113. Once I put me and a bucket of chicken in the cab, I'm over weight. Pisses me off. I saw that Ford increased their super duty towing capacities on their 18-19 models.

The listed fifth wheel towing on the '19 F350 is 21,000. Problem solved. Its only gonna cost me 70 thousand dollars to get a truck that can tow the 5'er I want. I went to the dealer and looked at the door sticker on the '19. Guess what the cargo capacity is... 3200 pounds. What the holy hell! That's the same as I have now!! the '19 wont pull the camper either.

So I did some research. There isn't a 5th wheel out there over 14,000 lbs that has a tongue weight less than 2800 pounds. There is NO WAY the '19 truck with a listed 5th wheel cap can tow anywhere near the stated 21,000 pounds. ****, why not give it a 50k tow rating? 21,000 is just a meaningless arbitrary number that you'll never EVER be able to tow and stay in your weight rating!

I DO NOT want to buy a DRW truck. I put 50k miles on per year without towing, so yeah, it's a daily driver.

This is serious false advertising.

What do I do here? I'm trying to do things right but I feel like I'm going to have to tow overloaded just like the 70 percent of other people out there who I laugh at for towing WAY too much weight.

First off, RELAX! We =all= feel your pain as we're pretty much all in the same boat. Now, check your RAWR and your tire ratings. If you can keep your payload within your RAWR and tire ratings, go for it. Remember, these numbers are CYA driven to be pretty conservative. Hell, most 250/2500 trucks use the exact same components at their 1t brothers, but they short a leaf or 2 from the springs and put smaller brakes on them; otherwise the part #s are the same on most of the rest of the truck. I know that I was towing my old Komfort at about 1k over my combined GVW and had no problems in the 13 years I did so. My new KZ is > 800 lbs ligther, but I'm still just over my CGVW. In both cases, I was within my axle and tire ratings...easily, and never felt like the tail was wagging the dog.

As others have said, get some real-world #s from others who have the same FW as the one you're looking at and see how they work out for you.

Lyle

[memtb]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Sad when people think "my rear axle is rated to carry XYZ so all I need is bags and 19.5's"

Sorry but there is much mort to it than that!

But hey it tows just fine!

Yes it does! 🙂 Please elaborate, on your statement!

[rhagfo]

MFL wrote:

grampachet wrote:
If my old 2004 F250 had a stick instead of auto trans I would have a greater towing capacity. Wouldn’t that have to do with warranty instead of safety?

Yes, GCWR is to protect the drive train, for warranty purpose. In many cases though, the auto is rated more than stick.

Jerry

The reason for the higher Tow ratings in the 1990’s and earlier 2000’s was the automatic transmissions were not as strong as the manuals. Nowadays the automatics are stronger, Ram has dropped the manual for 2019, they were the last holdout.

[Cummins12V98]

Sad when people think "my rear axle is rated to carry XYZ so all I need is bags and 19.5's"

Sorry but there is much mort to it than that!

But hey it tows just fine!

[ACZL]

Guess I'll toss my $.02 into this. We had a '15 F350 SRW, cc,4x4,sb,6.7 w/a GVW of 11,500. It weighed 8500 set up ready to tow. Rear axle capacity was 7,000, tire capacity was 7280. Bought new RV in spring of '17. Dry weight was 14,000, max was/is 16,000, pin wt of 2860. So empty wt wise, I had 6480 on rear axle out of 7000 and total empty combo wt of 22,500 out of 23,500. Now, fully loaded, things shot up. Rear axle went to 7360, Pin 3740, truck GVW 12350, gross combo 24970.

So what does this all mean? I was over on truck's rear axle, GVW, combo GVW as well as the tires. Also had Torque lift upper/lower stableloads. Truck did very well towing it and we liked the truck very much. HOWEVER, it was just plain over everything and when it came time to plan for last years summer trip (FL in July/Aug), I had this nagging gut feeling about being over on things....especially the tires. I really didn't care about the truck being over, but the tires really bothered me. So we ended up getting a '17 F350 DRW,cc,4x4 and all "fears" went away. Yes I miss the SRW a ton, but safety /w the wife and crew w/ me won over my love for the SRW.

FWIW, IMO, I personally think that a RV w/ gross GVW over 15k is DRW territory. Yet we saw many a SRW trucks towing as heavy of RV as ours and God bless them.

[MFL]

grampachet wrote:
If my old 2004 F250 had a stick instead of auto trans I would have a greater towing capacity. Wouldn’t that have to do with warranty instead of safety?

Yes, GCWR is to protect the drive train, for warranty purpose. In many cases though, the auto is rated more than stick.

Jerry

[grampachet]

If my old 2004 F250 had a stick instead of auto trans I would have a greater towing capacity. Wouldn’t that have to do with warranty instead of safety?

[JIMNLIN]

OP wrote:
There is NO WAY the '19 truck with a listed 5th wheel cap can tow anywhere near the stated 21,000 pounds. ****, why not give it a 50k tow rating? 21,000 is just a meaningless arbitrary number that you'll never EVER be able to tow and stay in your weight rating!

Read Merrykalia reply closely. He is right.
There are 21k lb trailers out here that a 350/3500 SRW can tow safely/legally. Ford/Ram and GM tow ratings aren't just for a RV type trailers like we use but all types and sizes of trailers.
I have a 36' 16k tri axle GN stock trailer. It has several interior gates for loading small stuff in the front and large heavy animals over the trailer axles and small stuff out back. That way I can keep my 2500 truck under its 6000 rawr. Same with my flatdeck trailers. I can load freight on the deck to keep under the trucks rawr.

I hauled commercially with mostly one ton DRW trucks. Today we see a whole lot more one ton SRW truck on the road towing commercially with some large GN flatdeck/enclosed trailers legally and safely.
How do they do it ??
In this type of work if were looking for a one ton srw truck we look for the one with the biggest RAWR as its carrying part of our "PAY" load. The trailer carries the biggest part of our "PAY" load.
Also in this type of work the GVWR or its payload sticker isn't used for any purpose. Hell our older trucks didn't have a payload sticker as it didn't become mandatory till the '06 era for all trucks to be placarded although some mfg were using the sticker prior to that date.

The F350 SRW has eleven different GVWR numbers and three RAWR numbers. Ford markets several trucks with two different gvwr/rawr/payload numbers for the same exact truck per fleet Ford specs.
Example is a crew cab 4x4 6.7 diesel 176 wb truck. We can get it with a 11500 gvwr and 3760 payload.....or a 10000 gvwr and 2260 payload. Both trucks mechanical specs per fleet Ford are identical.
I keep posting this just to show how silly a gvwr based payload number can be.

Stay under fawr/rawr and the truck/you/all on the highways/bus load of kids and nuns/POTUS will all be safe.

[rhagfo]

2edgesword wrote:
The manufacturers are going to publish the highest weight possible in the best configuration to achieve that highest weight (only the things required by J2807). Then it's left to the consumer to figure out how much weight the truck can handled in their particular configuration.

:S

The big issue with the advertising, is that much is pointed at being the biggest and best, as pointed out the too many look at the ONE MAX towing number! That is the MAX tow (pulling power) it ISN'T what the vehicle is capable of CARRYING.

Those numbers change, to lower numbers if a short bed, and if 4X2 for all brands.

Too many listen to the salespersons, RV salesperson "yep, you can tow that no problem!"
Truck salesperson "This 3/4 ton HD can pull any RV you want!"

[memtb]

backwater83 wrote:
New to this forum, but looking for advice. My truck is a 2014 F350 SRW. Stated fifth wheel capacity is 15,900. I'm looking to buy a 39 foot 5er that weighs in at 14,400 with a pin weight of 2900. No way I can tow that because my cargo capacity is 3113. Once I put me and a bucket of chicken in the cab, I'm over weight. Pisses me off. I saw that Ford increased their super duty towing capacities on their 18-19 models.

The listed fifth wheel towing on the '19 F350 is 21,000. Problem solved. Its only gonna cost me 70 thousand dollars to get a truck that can tow the 5'er I want. I went to the dealer and looked at the door sticker on the '19. Guess what the cargo capacity is... 3200 pounds. What the holy hell! That's the same as I have now!! the '19 wont pull the camper either.

So I did some research. There isn't a 5th wheel out there over 14,000 lbs that has a tongue weight less than 2800 pounds. There is NO WAY the '19 truck with a listed 5th wheel cap can tow anywhere near the stated 21,000 pounds. ****, why not give it a 50k tow rating? 21,000 is just a meaningless arbitrary number that you'll never EVER be able to tow and stay in your weight rating!

I DO NOT want to buy a DRW truck. I put 50k miles on per year without towing, so yeah, it's a daily driver.

This is serious false advertising.

What do I do here? I'm trying to do things right but I feel like I'm going to have to tow overloaded just like the 70 percent of other people out there who I laugh at for towing WAY too much weight.

backwater83, We have a similar issue.....do not want a DRW. For our use of a truck, a DRW is very impractical. Our only use would be for towing.

Our5th wheel is at or slightly above (depending upon what we’re carrying) 20K pounds, with over 4K pin weight....and tow with our 2007 Ram SRW. And “”NO” our rig it doesn’t comply with the “little yellow sticker”. We have Firestone Air Bag system to maintain a level ride height. But, most importantly.....we put on aftermarket wheels and tires. We bought 19.5” steel wheels manufactured right here in America by Riskson Wheel Manufacturing. They even have the proper offset for your particular vehicle....something not offered by the import wheels. Check out their website!! As we use our truck for off-road use, winter driving, ect. , we chose Hankook DH 07 tires all the way around. With two winters of ice, snow, and mud.....they’ve done about all you can ask! While the wheels/tires are not cheap....far less than $60 - $70 K for a new, unwanted truck!!!

Our Ram axle is rated plenty high enough for the weight, the tires/wheels were the problem. The Rickson Wheels and the Hankooks, brought us real close to 4K pounds each......the wheels are rated at 5K pounds each, the tires @3940 # each!

[ford_truck_guy]

backwater83 ,

I was killing time the other day while DW was shopping so I walked to the Ford dealer across the street....

Saw zero DRW's, and a few SRW, 2 @ Platinum... and 1 @ Lariat... ALL 3 were diesel. Long Bed (176") , 4 X 4, 3.55 rear.

The Platinuum yellow sticker was 3105# capacity... the Lariat was 3100# capacity.. BTW, BOTH are advertised at 4500.. AND the salesperson who was haunting me also told me the weight was much more.. he changed his tune AFTER I showed him the sticker...

My "2015" SRW has a sticker of 3380#... and I have rubber that will hold 3750# each ( 7500# ) with a RAWR of 7100...

My trailer is 15,840 scaled... with a pin of 3460#

I am a "BIT" over my GVW,, but JUST UNDER my RAWR.. AND tires..

KNOW your weights ...
disclaimer - I am a weekend warrior and pack very light... when this "15" is ready for the field, OR I start towing more,There will be a NEW DRW in my driveway... either a Ram, OR Ford...

[Cummins12V98]

Sorry but the fact is they are "SORTA" right. How you say??? If the 5er is a triple axle the pin weight will be around 15% but on tandem axle 5er's they are 20-25% as mine is.

A post here BEFORE truck and RV purchase may have been a good idea.

Believe me you are not the only one that thinks "TOWING" numbers are ok to go by. It's ALL about what can it carry.

[2edgesword]

The manufacturers are going to publish the highest weight possible in the best configuration to achieve that highest weight (only the things required by J2807). Then it's left to the consumer to figure out how much weight the truck can handled in their particular configuration.

[rhagfo]

RobWNY wrote:
My 2017 3500 Ram SRW Gasser has a payload capacity of 3900 pounds. Your 3113 pounds seems low for a one ton truck

Well I test drove a 2016 Ram Tradesman diesel with Aisin on a dealers lot, it had over 4,000# payload from the yellow sticker. The reason is that the MAX GVWR of a Ford F350 SRW is 11,500#, MAX GVWR of a Ram SRW is 12,300#, so Ram starts with a 800# advantage.

Before you listen to those that say just bag it and go, look at what the loaded weight is on rear axle and make sure you have enough TIRE!
If you daily drive a F350 Crew Cab Long bed, going to a DRW would not be that big of change.

Back to Max 5er towing, has to do with pulling not carrying. As pointed out before it is not just RV's and that max is for the base level trim package AKA stripper model.

[RobWNY]

My 2017 3500 Ram SRW Gasser has a payload capacity of 3900 pounds. Your 3113 pounds seems low for a one ton truck