Preparing for full time!

Hi,

The 1995 - 2004 F-250 had a meager 8,800 pound GVWR, so at least you have the 10,000 GVWR and a gas truck will weigh around 7,000 pounds empty with 2 WD and regular cab, so you have plenty of cargo capacity. With the crewcab, (about 400 pounds) diesel engine (about 500 pounds) and some other options, your base weight might be pushing 8,000 pounds. That only leaves about 2,000 pounds for all the cargo and passengers.

So it depends on your curb weight. 10,000 pound fifth wheel with 20% 2,000 pound pin weight will limit the amount of passenger weight that you can add, and limit the things you might otherwise want to carry in the truck.

Also the 2007 PSD needs a water coolant filter. Napa #FIL4070 will work fine, and kit #FIL 4019 to install it on your heater hose line.

Your truck will "pull" a 15,000 pound trailer, but not a 15,000 pound fifth wheel with a pin weight greater than about 1,800 pounds. That is the limiting factor, so about 10,000 pounds is what is practical for your 1,800 pounds of cargo rating above your current curb weight.

Check the curb weight for YOUR truck, it might show you can carry more or less weight. You can tow just about any travel trailer, they only have around 1,200 pounds max hitch weight.

You can find your towing guide here. http://www.fleet.ford.com/towing-guides/

Good luck,

Fred.

Good advice.

I too an planning on full-timing with a 3/4 ton (an 08 F-250 6.4l supercab LB.) However I'm planning on pulling a TT with it as the bed will only carry 2730lbs. Remember you will be carrying all your worldly goods so the trailer's CCC is important. Most people suggest no less than 3,000 lbs for a FTing couple. This will be your limiting factor when considering TTs as few (other than some toy haulers) have that much CCC. I'm looking at something in the 7-8,000 lb range as this gives me 3,000 lbs of carrying capacity before approaching my self-imposed 10-11,000 lb limit. (Ford suggests a 12,500 lb towing limit for my truck.) They also say it will handle a 15,900 lb fiver, but the pin weight of a trailer that large would easily exceed its rear axle rating.

If you are dead set on a fiver, I suggest no less than a 1 ton dually for FTing. We are choosing a TT because of the lack of internal stairs and my DY has a hard time negotiating steps (she can, but it's painful). Also we plan on carrying a couple light-weight motorbikes with us (150 lbs each) in the bed as they won't fit in the basement storage of a fiver. Plus fuel mileage (economy) is important to us (as we plan on traveling a lot) and the lighter we go and the less frontal area we have, the better the MPG will be. We are currently looking at the Keystone Sprinter 331RLS (we love the floorplan of the new 319MKS if it's within our specs), the Forest River 28VFKS Work and Play toy hauler and the Wildcat Maxx 28RKX.

Chip

We went from owning a home and years of recreational boating, and no RVing, to full timing.

A year prior I did a ton of research and purchased my TV. The hard part during this decision process was picking between a dually and SRW. There was never any question the truck had to be at least a one ton.

By going with a F350 SRW we limited ourselves in FW lengths. This last year we have been slightly over on our weights which drove me crazy. As a full timer putting on a lot of tow miles every year I always thought you should try to stay within all your weight limitations/specification for your truck.

We just went though our fiver and got rid of about everything we hadn't used recently. It was amazing how much stuff we were hauling around and not using. Several heavy pots/pans that hadn't been used in over a year.....the list goes on and on, but all those small items add up. We will be hitting the scales soon and I am hoping to be where I need to be.

The short version is if, as full timers, you don't want to limit your present or future towing capacity then get a 1-ton dually. Just keep in mind that you will have to get used to some tight parking issues when using it as your daily transportation.