Suggestions for older pickup to tow 18k lbs 40'+ FW

[michelb]

Because of our growing family, we're looking at trading our 40' DP for more family friendly FW so I need to get a tow vehicle. The truck would pretty much just be used to pull the trailer and we'd drive it for in-city transportation when we're on vacation.

I'm not a truck guy and don't know much about them or what I should be looking at. I'd like to spend $5k-$10k (or less). Need to be able to sit 5 comfortably. I'd rather not get a DRW since I'd rather drive a SRW when we're not towing. Do I need 4x4 or is 4x2 okay? I'd like to get a diesel but would consider gasoline. With diesel, I'd like to get an exhaust brake.

My first thought is something like a 04-07 Dodge Ram 3500 Megacab (not sure if it's even in my budget) but I'm open to suggestions. Please don't make this into a brand X is better than brand Y. I'm really looking for something like "Brand X, model Y with this engine would fit your needs and budget ...".

Thanks

[carringb]

Every trailer I've owned has had the trailer brakes fail for one reason of another, including my current trailer. I like being able to stop the full combination with the tow vehicle only.

[Fast_Mopar]

Stefonius wrote:

The nice thing about an F450 is that the brakes are designed to stop 26,000 pounds without assistance. My brake controller failed last year while I was towing a 15,000 pound fifth wheel on hills and around curves. The truck still stopped perfectly.

Not trying to hijack the thread, but I thought the tow vehicle brakes were designed for the weight of the tow vehicle itself plus the payload rating of the tow vehicle plus some type of safety margin, but not to include the entire theoretical trailer tow rating as well. But, hey, I've been wrong before.

[Stefonius]

Michelle.S wrote:
I really find some of these responses very interesting, such as:

"The nice thing about an F450 is that the brakes are designed to stop 26,000 pounds without assistance. My brake controller failed last year while I was towing a 15,000 pound fifth wheel on hills and around curves. The truck still stopped perfectly."

The reason I find this interesing, we had a brake problem in the spring and had our rig (approx 17K) towed to the Dealers. Now a very large Tow rig showed up, don't remember exact brand, but certainly much, much bigger than any 450. Well towing on the flat at 40-45 MPH our rig pushed that truck through several Red lights as there was no way he could stop it. Glad it was all flat with no grades or sharp curves.

I'm wondering if the shop that towed you sent a truck out that wasn't up to the job. I had to get towed two years ago. My F450 with attached 36' fifth wheel weighed in at over 20k pounds. They sent an enormous wrecker - HDT body, 14 wheels. We were over 100 feet long when hitched. That wrecker didn't seem to notice that it had anything behind it.

I'm glad you made it to the dealership safely. It sounds like quite the hair-raising experience!

[Jarlaxle]

Re-gear it (4.11's, maybe even 4.56's) and I suspect it would do fine.

[Lantley]

Hannibal wrote:
XL or not, that's a good looking truck jerem0621. I could be very happy with something like that.

It is a nice truck,But not for towing 18K.

[Hannibal]

XL or not, that's a good looking truck jerem0621. I could be very happy with something like that.

[Michelle_S]

I really find some of these responses very interesting, such as:

"The nice thing about an F450 is that the brakes are designed to stop 26,000 pounds without assistance. My brake controller failed last year while I was towing a 15,000 pound fifth wheel on hills and around curves. The truck still stopped perfectly."

The reason I find this interesing, we had a brake problem in the spring and had our rig (approx 17K) towed to the Dealers. Now a very large Tow rig showed up, don't remember exact brand, but certainly much, much bigger than any 450. Well towing on the flat at 40-45 MPH our rig pushed that truck through several Red lights as there was no way he could stop it. Glad it was all flat with no grades or sharp curves.

[Bedlam]

Yes - The F450 chassis cab brakes are the same they use in F550, so you get better braking than your GVWR indicates. My F250 had the underpinnings of the F350 which gave me greater capacity margins. That was an excellent price for your bed - I paid more than that for my flat bed.

[Stefonius]

carringb wrote:
Definitely need an F450 for that weight. It's only the very newest 350s/3500s that can even come close.

Aftermarket beds are available for the cab-chassis that looks just like stock, or even have built-in storage but mirror the stock bed profile.

That's what I have on my truck. I found a one-piece fiberglass hauler bed that looks like a stock pickup bed and fits on the chassis cab frame. The folks that had it sold it to me (installed!) for $2,500. I think they were happy to get it out of their shop. I only paid $5,000 for the truck before doing any work to it.

The nice thing about an F450 is that the brakes are designed to stop 26,000 pounds without assistance. My brake controller failed last year while I was towing a 15,000 pound fifth wheel on hills and around curves. The truck still stopped perfectly.

[NC_Hauler]

Whatever you do, don't cut corners on the safety factor...With wife and children included in the equation, try to match up a truck to tow with that won't cause safety issues even if you only tow once or twice a year...it only takes one time to regret decisions we make in our life. Good luck with whatever choices you make with a 5er and what you're going to tow it with, enjoy and make great memories with the family:)

[michelb]

Thanks again for the information.

I'm finding more options for BH FW that we like but looking at floorplans, the ones we like are 40'+ and in the 16k lbs range (I said 18k lbs to give me some buffer space but it looks like that's around where I need to go from large truck to very large truck! Looking closer at the weights, we can probably do 16k which might give us more cheaper options). The reason we don't like any of the 37' ones is that all the ones we've seen don't have the 'living rm / kitchen' space we want to comfortably sit 5+. They seem to all have the dinette or stand alone chair and a sofa (often only 2 seater) inline against the far wall (and the travel trailers are similar). The 40'+ ones have another sofa or euro recliners perpendicular to the sofa. Travel Trailers also don't have the storage space we'd like.

As far as towing a smaller travel trailer or tenting, it just doesn't work with our family. Our kids are not old enough to stay in tent by themselves so wife or I have to stay in the tent and many of the campgrounds we go to won't let us have a tent. As far as a small TT, we'd need to get 2 sites and again, we'd have to split up.

Spending more on the truck is certainly an option but I don't think I need to (since I think I can find something in my budget) and as mentioned, I don't want to as the truck will only be used to pull the trailer so I don't want to spend $20k-30k on it. Ideally, I'd just rent a truck when we camp but I'm not even sure if we can rent a suitable truck but more importantly, it doesn't really work for us as we drive and leave our rv in Florida every winter so we'd have to do a one-way rental twice / year (or do the return trip).

As we all know, with RVs often comes compromise (budget, space, style, storage, etc) and we just have to decide what the best option is for us. We really like our class A for the living room space but we kind of need more sleeping options so we're looking at large fifth wheel. Obviously, for us, getting a FW means we need to compromise on the tow vehicle and it also means giving up driving in the class A which we prefer. We haven't seen any TT that we like as much as our current setup but we haven't given up.

[Bionic_Man]

Keep what you have now and put the older kids in a tent.

[RedJeep]

See my Sig. I basically have the setup you're looking for. On an older truck with a big trailer I consider the following to be must haves:
Diesel with a tuner. Mpg towing average about 8.
Exhaust brake.
6.0L transmission cooler.
Dually

I live in Oregon and do lots of mountain driving. This setup when driven carefully does just fine. Truck only cost $10k.

Also, I bought my truck with 200k miles from a gentleman that had taken very good care of it. I tend to not be afraid of high mileage vehicles.

Given all that, a 40' trailer is a PITA to navigate around heavily wooded tight campgrounds, but I do love it once it is set up.

[jerem0621]

OP... This is what $5500.00 Cash got me a few years ago.



Its a XL Gasser... Basic truck, manual roll up windows, Vinyl bench seat's, rubber floor mat, V10, Automatic, AC, PS, PB...

Basic truck... it did one thing really well.. haul a load. IIRC this thing had around 4,000 lbs of payload... but only about 11,000 lbs tow rating due to the pitiful 3.73 gearing.

A few things need to happen to make this budget work

1) Open up to other fivers... There are TONS AND TONS of family friendly Fivers out there... some with HUGE double slide bunk rooms and two bath rooms, and separate living space for Mom and Dad and the kids at around 37 overall feet. These can come in well under 14k loaded to the brim... I am thinking Montana Mountaineers specifically... these can be found on the used market for well under $30,000.00

2) Once you get the weight of the trailer down then your truck options really open up... like big time. If you drop your price on your trailer then you can spend more money on a better truck. For instance 20k can get you a much newer V10 or 6.2 Ford gasser that can handle that load. Or an older Diesel... Just remember that the diesels in your price range are 20 years old... plain fact of the matter. There is a really nice Crew Cab Dually F350 with the 6.ohno in King Ranch trim for 22k.... just as an example.

3) Consider a big nice Travel Trailer... Your budget can get you a top of the line BRAND NEW Open Range Travel Trailer and you will be able to pull it with a much more affordable vehicle (Like my Dually Above), or, with the right SUV.. Like an older Excursion V10 or Suburban 2500 with the 8.1 V8... All of which are well in your budget.

Here is the TT I was thinking about specifically... Open Range Roamer RT310BHS

This thing is as tall as many fivers yet it weighs under 10k lbs unloaded. Is a four season RV and doesn't need a MDT or HDT to be moved around. A SRW 2500 or 3500 can EASILY handle this kind of trailer. and SOME SUV's can handle this.

The reason I mention SUV's is because you mention seating five comfortably.... That Third Row makes a HUGE difference on a trip and it gives everyone room to spread out. The truck above seated 6 people.. we stuffed 6 people in the cab for about 300 miles... fun times it was NOT.

Thanks!

Jeremiah