How will my truck handle these two 5th wheels?

[dzirkelb]

2014 F 250 Diesel, crew cab.

I'm looking at the following 5th wheels:

http://kz-rv.com/stoneridge/39BH.html

http://www.heartlandrvs.com/index.php?p=35&c=fifthwheels&sc=SV&i=SV+38QBS&view=floorplans&fcmd=showfplan#showgallery

Both have the dry weight well within my trucks' limits, but the GVWR on both are 15,500, and the truck is listed at 15k. Anything I should be concerned with? Will my truck pull these ok, or not at all? I do plan to camp in the mountains on occasion, like every other year or so, and plan on going on some long trips

[12thgenusa]

dzirkelb wrote:
Here are the specs for Heartland camper:

Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) 15,500 lbs
Dry Weight 12,745 lbs
Hitch Weight 2,185 lbs
Carrying Capacity 2,755 lbs
dry hitch weight % = 17% times 15,500 = estimated 2657 hitch weight at GVWR

and her is the KZ camper:
UVW (Unloaded Vehicle Weight)* 12,920
Dry Hitch Weight* 2,290
Dry Axle Weight* 10,630
NCC (Net Carrying Capacity) 2,580
GVWR 15,500
dry hitch weight % = 17.7% times 15,500 = estimated 2747 hitch weight at GVWR

Depending on your truck's GVWR, you only have 400-600 lbs for cargo and passengers if you load either trailer to GVWR. Subtract a couple hundred pounds from that for the hitch.

[Old-Biscuit]

whistlebritches wrote:
We have an 03 Silveraldo 2500HD crewcab with the Duramax diesel/Allison and the door sticker says GCWR (truck and trailer) is 21,500. Our 05 37' Cedar Creek loaded with us, 3 grandkids and dog, loaded weighed in at 20,090#. We've never had any problems towing it as of yet. Now that said, we haven't pulled it over the high elevations of Colorado, like Monarch Pass or the Eisenhower tunnel. The highest we've been is about 8000'elevation and it just chugged right up there.

GCWR isn't the whole story.....

What were your other weights.....Axles, total vehicle loaded up?
Under trucks GVWR, under RAWR, under Rear Tire Max Load Rating?
What was the trailers weight & pin weight?

Within ratings.......any truck should tow comfortably (1500,2500,3500)
That is what towing is about.

[whistlebritches]

We have an 03 Silveraldo 2500HD crewcab with the Duramax diesel/Allison and the door sticker says GCWR (truck and trailer) is 21,500. Our 05 37' Cedar Creek loaded with us, 3 grandkids and dog, loaded weighed in at 20,090#. We've never had any problems towing it as of yet. Now that said, we haven't pulled it over the high elevations of Colorado, like Monarch Pass or the Eisenhower tunnel. The highest we've been is about 8000'elevation and it just chugged right up there.

[MFL]

powderman426 wrote:

MFL wrote:
My thinking has always been, if you need a diesel to pull it, you are going to need the higher capacity 350/3500, to carry it.

A 250 could be modified to carry a similar load, as the 350, but may cost more than just getting the 350 to start with.

Your yellow tire placard will give the manufacturers payload number. It will be on the driver's door jam.

Jerry

I can't speak to Ford, but in the Ram there isn't a dimes Worth of difference between the 2500 and 3500 except a extra leaf spring. Axle weight rating, tires, wheels and brakes are all the same. Now if your talking dually then all bets are off.

Take a look at the sentence in the middle of my post.

Jerry

[powderman426]

MFL wrote:
My thinking has always been, if you need a diesel to pull it, you are going to need the higher capacity 350/3500, to carry it.

A 250 could be modified to carry a similar load, as the 350, but may cost more than just getting the 350 to start with.

Your yellow tire placard will give the manufacturers payload number. It will be on the driver's door jam.

Jerry

I can't speak to Ford, but in the Ram there isn't a dimes Worth of difference between the 2500 and 3500 except a extra leaf spring. Axle weight rating, tires, wheels and brakes are all the same. Now if your talking dually then all bets are off.

[dzirkelb]

That's the info I was looking for guys, thanks. I'll try to get something in the range of 13k gvwr, as I know how that tows with my truck currently.

I have never towed anything near the max of the specs so I didnt' know what to expect, besides on the farm when we overload everything all the time (and drive 10 miles at 40 mph), thanks for the feedback.

[fla-gypsy]

Can you tell us what the payload sticker in the door jamb says? It would help unwind this easier.

[Old-Biscuit]

Both those 5vrs have a 'dry' weight that is heavier than your current trailers GVWR.
Stick to a trailer that is within your trucks 'real, actual' towing capabilities NOT the magical max tow numbers from FORD (OR Chevy, Dodge, any others)

What's within your trucks capability......you already know that
Quote concerning current rig
"This tows very, very easily." 12,500# GVWR trailer......

Otherwise disregard any advice/opinion I have expressed based on experience and REAL world towing limitations. Just go with the mfg.s hyped up magical numbers.

[MFL]

My thinking has always been, if you need a diesel to pull it, you are going to need the higher capacity 350/3500, to carry it.

A 250 could be modified to carry a similar load, as the 350, but may cost more than just getting the 350 to start with.

Your yellow tire placard will give the manufacturers payload number. It will be on the driver's door jam.

Jerry

[dzirkelb]

I did find my current camper specs:

Dry: 9915
Dry Hitch: 2100
GVW: 12500

This tows very, very easily. But, is also 3000 lbs lighter than what I'm looking at, so I now see the point of I should be worried. I am definitely concerned now, but I'd still like to know if my truck will be ok or not. As like you guys said, the numbers on the camper specs aren't necessarily realistic, if they were, then I should be fine.

[dzirkelb]

Ford towing guide puts me at 15,900 max loaded trailer:

http://www.ford.com/trucks/superduty/specifications/towing/

I have the F250 diesel srw 4x4 crew cab

http://www.ford.com/trucks/superduty/specifications/payload/
puts my payload at over 3k on all options. I'm not sure which option is mine though, it's either 3150 or 3250 max payload

Here are the specs for Heartland camper:

Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) 15,500 lbs
Dry Weight 12,745 lbs
Hitch Weight 2,185 lbs
Carrying Capacity 2,755 lbs

and her is the KZ camper:
UVW (Unloaded Vehicle Weight)* 12,920
Dry Hitch Weight* 2,290
Dry Axle Weight* 10,630
NCC (Net Carrying Capacity) 2,580
GVWR 15,500

So what I'm really wondering is what is the GVWR actually entail on their specs? Estimated packed weight? Meaning, for the KZ for example, it is dry at 12,920, but I can load it up to 15,500, but nothing more than that, making 15,500 the actual max the camper would ever be? If that is the case, then I think I'm fine, maybe pushing the top end, but for 99% of my camping, it is all within 1 hour of driving.

[Old-Biscuit]

Both have a GVWR of 15,500#

I don't care what the mfg. magical tow rating is cause you will not be able to reach that magical number without exceeding trucks GVWR, RAWR, Rear Tire MAX Load Rating and/or Payload Capacity

Fine print on mfg. tow guidelines
Addition of trailer king pin load weight and weight of passengers and cargo must not cause vehicle weights to exceed rear GAWR or GVWR.

You have a GVWR of 10,000#
You have a cargo capacity of maybe 2,000# depending on truck trim level

And you are not going to tow 'DRY'

You would be better suited to look for a trailer with a GVWR of 12,000#

When towing is no fun....you don't tow as much....less towing/less fun.

[fla-gypsy]

You should be very concerned. Very doubtful that truck has enough payload (3k+) for a 15k FW.

[wski]

Keep in mind that one never tows the dry weight of the RV. You must also consider cargo, TV weight and passengers when calculating your GVW. I towed a 2006 Keystone 3475RL with a 2007 Dodge RAM 2500 and really never got comfortable towing it. If you want true numbers, calculate the full gross weight of the trailer, add the pin weight, tow vehicle including passengers and fuel.

[joelc]

I have a 2006 F-350 Dually and I had a K-Z Durango. No problems.