F150 asa TV for 5th wheel

[Blanch]

I need some opinions on the F150 as a 5th wheel puller. I am looking to upgrade my TV. I have a 03 Duramax. {I don't think I can afford to go diesel again. Looking at the F150 as a tow and be our main vehicle. What are the opinions on F150 as a puller? Thanks

[TurnThePage]

Well one caveat, according to TFL and Ford's Build Your Own site the F150 HD payload option appears to be restricted to the 5 liter V8. There goes that class leading torque.

Not only that, the option list gets VERY short too. No remote start, nice wheels, chrome package, etc.

[demiles]

Yes they all use 10% conventional 15% fifth wheel and very few will actually list a maximum pin weight anymore. You will see that in most cases the 15% of TWR is very close to the payload capacity except the Ford F-150 HDPP trucks. So if the rated 15% pin is 1755 and the max TWR is 11,700 if you calculate as intended a trailer with 20% pin weight @1,755 lbs would be about 8,775lbs TWR. Every manufacturer that is SAE j2807 compliant uses this method and they are still very stout numbers for a class 2a truck. The industry norm in general is that pin weight need only be less than the available payload and the TWR reflects that. Ford decided to against the norm and rate TWR less than available payload to be SAE compliant and the TWR’s shows it. It is the person that is behind the wheel responsibility to understand and know the limitations of the vehicle which would clear Ford of any liability because the numbers are there in black and white.

[spud1957]

rhagfo wrote:

spud1957 wrote:
The info demiles provided is correct. Read Ford's 2017 F150 Towing Guide notes on page 3 for 5th wheel towing;

1.Calculated with SAE J2807 method

Note: Trailer king pin load weight should be 15% of total loaded trailer weight. Make sure vehicle payload (reduce by option weight) will accommodate trailer king pin load weight and weight of passengers and cargo added to towing vehicle. Addition of trailer tongue load weight and weight of passengers and cargo cannot cause vehicle weights to exceed rear GAWR or GVWR. These ratings can be found on the vehicle Safety Compliance Certification Label

F150 Towing Guide

Yep! Another Ford slide of hand, first is was stripper base trucks less spare tire and rear bumpe, now you can carry/tow an 11,700# 5er, BUT you need to keep the pin weight to 15% of the 11,700# or 1,755#. Now as a 5er tower, towing a 5er with ONLY 15% pin weight is going to be one rough ride, it will chuck like crazy! That and to get to 15% on almost all 5ers you would need to load heavy behind the axles, this could make for an ill handling 5er.

No that is not the total available payload of that F150, BUT they know there are other things that eat payload, passengers, fuel, hitch, and stuff!

Now that 11,700# 5er with a realistic 20% to 22% that would be 2,340# to 2,574# pin!

You might want to check your Ram towing guides before anyone points their finger at Ford.

Ram does the same.

Take a look at the note #7.

http://www.rambodybuilder.com/2016/docs/ram/rammlup3500.pdf

For those that won't bother looking, here it is;

Tongue weight: 10 percent of the gross trailer weight for Conventional Hitch, 15 percent of the gross trailer weight for a 5th Wheel or Gooseneck hitch.

As far as no bumper or spare tire. I call BS on that. Ford uses J2807 just as Ram. Show me where this internet folklore is stated.

Take a look at the Ram 2500 guide. There are tow ratings there for certain models that if you use 20% pin weight, you will also exceed your payload as well.

[CWSWine]

It's not just Ford that uses the 15% pin weight to get those high towing numbers is also Ram, Chevy and GMC. Not only the F150 but all the way up to and including the F450 uses 15% to rate towing capacity. When people say 5th wheel they think RV but the ratings are done with 5th wheel flat bed trailer with the load adjusted to get that magical 15%.

[rhagfo]

spud1957 wrote:
The info demiles provided is correct. Read Ford's 2017 F150 Towing Guide notes on page 3 for 5th wheel towing;

1.Calculated with SAE J2807 method

Note: Trailer king pin load weight should be 15% of total loaded trailer weight. Make sure vehicle payload (reduce by option weight) will accommodate trailer king pin load weight and weight of passengers and cargo added to towing vehicle. Addition of trailer tongue load weight and weight of passengers and cargo cannot cause vehicle weights to exceed rear GAWR or GVWR. These ratings can be found on the vehicle Safety Compliance Certification Label

F150 Towing Guide

Yep! Another Ford slide of hand, first is was stripper base trucks less spare tire and rear bumpe, now you can carry/tow an 11,700# 5er, BUT you need to keep the pin weight to 15% of the 11,700# or 1,755#. Now as a 5er tower, towing a 5er with ONLY 15% pin weight is going to be one rough ride, it will chuck like crazy! That and to get to 15% on almost all 5ers you would need to load heavy behind the axles, this could make for an ill handling 5er.

No that is not the total available payload of that F150, BUT they know there are other things that eat payload, passengers, fuel, hitch, and stuff!

Now that 11,700# 5er with a realistic 20% to 22% that would be 2,340# to 2,574# pin!

[demiles]

The F150 is the only truck I’ve found that has a TWR that doesn’t take pin weight out to the max payload capacity or at least very close to it. If Ford allowed that the 5th wheel rating would be much higher than what it is because that’s how the SAE standard works. This is the very reason I contacted them for further clarification. Quoting what the commercial truck guy told me is that “ the primary purpose of the HDPP on the f150 is to increase the payload of the truck stand alone. It is not meant to increase the tow capacity by expanding pin weight or hitch capacity.” The Ford rep on the phone said a pin weight higher than %15 of the TWR is above it’s rated limits and course had to add that it can void the warranty of the vehicle. It’s obvious that having extra payload capacity on the truck has its advantages while towing a trailer but with this truck payload and towing are looked at as two totally different things by the manufacturer.

[spud1957]

The info demiles provided is correct. Read Ford's 2017 F150 Towing Guide notes on page 3 for 5th wheel towing;

1.Calculated with SAE J2807 method

Note: Trailer king pin load weight should be 15% of total loaded trailer weight. Make sure vehicle payload (reduce by option weight) will accommodate trailer king pin load weight and weight of passengers and cargo added to towing vehicle. Addition of trailer tongue load weight and weight of passengers and cargo cannot cause vehicle weights to exceed rear GAWR or GVWR. These ratings can be found on the vehicle Safety Compliance Certification Label

F150 Towing Guide

[CWSWine]

demiles wrote:

mhamershock wrote:

troubledwaters wrote:

demiles wrote:
FYI, The maximum pin weight you will find on a 2017-2018 F150 is 1755 lbs...

You making things up as you go? I have never seen any such thing as a "Maximum Pin Weight" spec.

LOL. My BS meter went off with this claim too.

OP - I have a 2018 F150 HDPP 3.5EB. Mine's a SCREW Lariat 6.5 box with 2400 lb payload. As set up with an ARE cap, I have 2000 lbs left on the 4800 RAWR. You can get over 3000 lb payload with the right Regular Cab config but you will have to custom order like I did. Done right, it should easily handle an 1800 lb pin. I wouldn't go that high on my config but it can be done. And the 3.5EB with 470 ft lb of torque is a fine motor.

Mike

Call it whatever you want but it’s no claim on my part, it came right from Ford. First from a Ford commercial truck salesman then a phone call to Ford. Your right they don’t come right out and say what the max pin weight is, which is the reason I asked in the first place. If you check any other manufacturers ratings you will find that the max pin weight is 15% of the 5th wheel TWR.

Not sure what you are trying to with the 15% but I don't think there is any 5er with a dry pin of 15%. Most 5er run with dry pin weight between about 18 and 22 percent. Since most the storage in forward of the wheels (their are a few exceptions) so the percentage goes up as you load up to camping. What is 15% is the pin weight that a truck manufacture uses to figure towing capacity. Take a 10,000 5er with 15% gives a pin 1500 so that when in some 1/2 tons but put the pin at more realistic percentage of 22% now you at 2200 pin weight which not only over almost all 1/2 tons but over a lot diesel 3/4 tons.

[demiles]

mhamershock wrote:

troubledwaters wrote:

demiles wrote:
FYI, The maximum pin weight you will find on a 2017-2018 F150 is 1755 lbs...

You making things up as you go? I have never seen any such thing as a "Maximum Pin Weight" spec.

LOL. My BS meter went off with this claim too.

OP - I have a 2018 F150 HDPP 3.5EB. Mine's a SCREW Lariat 6.5 box with 2400 lb payload. As set up with an ARE cap, I have 2000 lbs left on the 4800 RAWR. You can get over 3000 lb payload with the right Regular Cab config but you will have to custom order like I did. Done right, it should easily handle an 1800 lb pin. I wouldn't go that high on my config but it can be done. And the 3.5EB with 470 ft lb of torque is a fine motor.

Mike

Call it whatever you want but it’s no claim on my part, it came right from Ford. First from a Ford commercial truck salesman then a phone call to Ford. Your right they don’t come right out and say what the max pin weight is, which is the reason I asked in the first place. If you check any other manufacturers ratings you will find that the max pin weight is 15% of the 5th wheel TWR.

[jerem0621]

falconbrother wrote:
There's more than a few F-150s in the campgrounds pulling 5'ers.

My dad owns a Sundance Ultralite fiver. He told me I could pull it with my truck... 😕

Just because you can doesn’t always mean you should.

OP... I love F150’s. They are my favorite truck... but... if you want to upgrade and pull a fiver then I recommended to get a newer HD Gasser of whichever brand.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

[falconbrother]

There's more than a few F-150s in the campgrounds pulling 5'ers.

[rhagfo]

kw/00 wrote:
Before this gets all crazy lol... What fifth wheel are you planning to pull and what are the specs? For all we know the OP may be downsizing to a smaller fifth wheel or the truck has become to much to keep up with repair and money wise. Some smaller fifth wheels do well with 1/2 ton trucks. Power wise I don't think it would be a huge gap with the ecoboost. Funny because the eco 3.5 is putting out very close on what his 03 diesel is.. anyway let us know and I think it will be easier for us to help out.

First let me state I don't see an issue with carrying/pulling a 5er with a 150/1500, see it done fine a lot.
That said the 5er in the OP signature is 32' long and a dry weight of 8,377# and GVWR of 11,500#, that is a lot of fiver for even a Max/Max F150 EB, based on the OP's signature.

03 DMax CC Short bed Pewter
02 305 Jayco 30' BH
Husky Underbed slide hitch with Prodigy Brake
great wife two daughters and one boy
Sadie, the family's golden retriever

Not stated is if the current DMax is a 2500 or 3500, if 3500 likely within all numbers.
If 2500 with a family of five with a good sized dog, likely over the GVWR, while still a safe package, going down to a F150, the strength of axles and maybe tires will go down.

[kw_00]

Before this gets all crazy lol... What fifth wheel are you planning to pull and what are the specs? For all we know the OP may be downsizing to a smaller fifth wheel or the truck has become to much to keep up with repair and money wise. Some smaller fifth wheels do well with 1/2 ton trucks. Power wise I don't think it would be a huge gap with the ecoboost. Funny because the eco 3.5 is putting out very close on what his 03 diesel is.. anyway let us know and I think it will be easier for us to help out.

[burningman]

Why would you give up a Duramax you already own and buy a half-ton for towing a 5th wheel?
Especially if budget is enough of a concern that you can’t buy an equal new truck?
I can’t see the sense in that.

[mhamershock]

troubledwaters wrote:

demiles wrote:
FYI, The maximum pin weight you will find on a 2017-2018 F150 is 1755 lbs...

You making things up as you go? I have never seen any such thing as a "Maximum Pin Weight" spec.

LOL. My BS meter went off with this claim too.

OP - I have a 2018 F150 HDPP 3.5EB. Mine's a SCREW Lariat 6.5 box with 2400 lb payload. As set up with an ARE cap, I have 2000 lbs left on the 4800 RAWR. You can get over 3000 lb payload with the right Regular Cab config but you will have to custom order like I did. Done right, it should easily handle an 1800 lb pin. I wouldn't go that high on my config but it can be done. And the 3.5EB with 470 ft lb of torque is a fine motor.

Mike