Who's Towing a 5th with a half ton?

I used to. I had a 2006 Dodge Ram 1/2 ton. It was a quad cab, 4x2 with the hemi and 3.92 rear gears. I put air bags on it. The old trailer was a prowler 27.5 ft 5th wheel. Dry weight was around 6900 pounds. Loaded it about 7500. I was close on payload limits with that combo but it towed it alright

Then I got the 3500 with the Cummins and it was night and day.

I've seen Dakotas, colorados and Rangers towing 5th wheels. But they were usually small single axle ones.

Basically it is doable with the right combo and set up. Its just harder to match truck and 5th wheel when you have a half ton as most half tons don't have the payload.

I thought below was a really good informative post. Its a great example of a typical reality IMO. Gives reader pros & cons to allow him to be in the know and make up his own mind. One caveat the older 5.3 6 speed is a far cry from todays 6.2 8 speed max tow. For the guy who uses his truck to commute etc as well as camp he might prefer the 6.2 8 speed chevy to a 3/4 ton diesel. Just depends on preferences & priorities including the particular 5er.

thomas201 wrote:
My experience with a ½ ton fifth wheel, on a drive to Yellowstone, from New Jersey. The 2011 Silverado was set up with the 5.3 and 3.73 gears, along with the towing package. It is a standard bed and rated for a 9600 pound trailer. Trailer was a new 2011 Wildcat.

Over the Cat scales at Flying J exit 2 in Jersey with a full freshwater tank, and loaded for a long camping trip:

Truck only:
Front 3320
Rear 2360
Gross 5680

Truck & Trailer:
Front 3180
Rear 3740
Trailer 8000
Gross 14920

Calculated:
Truck 6920
Pin 1240
Trailer 9240

So, with the truck rated at 7000, and the combined at 15000 and the trailer at 9600, I ain’t no bricks shy of a full load. This was a little high to me, so for our first journey we decided to not go to Alaska. So we dropped a second spare tire for the truck and the fresh water. Thus we dropped 400 to 450 pounds of gross weight all out of the trailer. The cost to weigh was $10.50, cheap to know as opposed to guessing.

So over the mountains we went. It pulls fine on the flat lands along the Atlantic coast. At 65 mph the transmission saw 180-190. Even with the fairly low pin weight it handled well, no swaying, just a well behaved load. Crossing the eastern continental divide from the town of Seneca Rocks, WV I had my first worry moment. Outside temp was about 80 at the bottom of the mountain. The truck pulled this steep mountain at about 30 to 40 mph, mostly in 2nd gear, with an occasional drop to 1st in the tight turns. The coolant peaked at about 240 or so, and then the temperature dropped to 220. I guess the electric fan has two speeds. Transmission fluid also hit 250 for just a moment, before dropping into the 230 to 240 range. The truck did not give a warning light. Anyone know the temperature to throw a warning and drop into the limp mode?

The tow/haul mode works sweetly going down the mountains, only an occasional use of brakes was necessary. The rest of the mountains pulled with no real drama. Topped most of them in 3rd at 40 to 50 mph. Got about 8.4 mpg on this leg from Jersey to Elkins WV.

Continuing on across the plains all was fine until the long constant pull against a strong headwind in South Dakota. With an outside temp of 105 the truck began to heat up on any extended grade. Four times the temp of the coolant climbed to 240 or so, and the transmission fluid also climbed to 221. Each time this happened, I shut down the A/C for 15 minutes and cooled everything down. The truck spent most of its time in 3rd gear under these conditions, at about 55 to 60 mph. The big headwind (maybe 40 mph) killed my mileage down to 8 even. A bigger truck would be needed to keep up with traffic. The strong headwind limited me to 4th and about 65mph on the downgrades. It would not stay in 5th, unless dropping into a river valley.

Easier pulling from Rapid City, SD to Gardiner, MT with no real headwinds. With temps in the mid 90’s the tranny held 190 to 205. Got about 9.2 mpg. Truck made it West, but I will be shopping for ¾ ton in either gas or diesel for more performance in the mountains.

On the trip East, I normally had a tailwind and cooler temperatures. Across North Dakota and through the Michigan UP, and on down to WV, mileage was in the middle nines with one whole day at 10.1. Plenty of truck for this driving.


After this trip I upgraded to a 2012 F250 with the 6.7 diesel. In 15,000 miles of towing in 13 and 14 no drama at all. The bigger brakes only were needed after the loss of trailer braking between Durango and Silverton Colorado. Ford replaced the trailer brake controller under warranty in Steamboat Springs. I like the F250 with a 10k door sticker since it gives me the towing limits I need (I like to de-rate the manufactures about 10%) and it allows me to use the left lanes and some parkways in the Northeast without the camper.

I pulled an Open Range Light (LF318RLS) 5th wheel for about a year and a half with a 2013 Tundra. The Light was one of the few 5th wheels made to pull with a 5-1/2 foot bed without any special hitches. One of the so-called 1/2 ton towables.
I ditched the "P" tires and put 10 ply tires on the truck for safety and had no issues whatsoever. I was probably 100-150lbs over the payload. I also added air bags, but found that I didn't need them at all and never put air in them after the first pull.
A few weeks ago I purchased a 2106 F-250 with the 6.7. The new truck "handles" the same trailer a little better, but not a lot of difference.
When hooked up to the trailer, the new 3/4 ton actually squats more than the Tundra...prior to air bags.

Im not the weight police, but I've had a 2011 Silverado 1500 with tow package. Owners manual specifically says NOT capable/acceptable or whatever for 5th wheel. Yet, there's at least two people who posted that clearly have virtually the same vehicle, who, I guess, feel they know better than the manufacturer. That's fine.. their choice.

Or maybe they contacted chevy truck folks as I did and found out the reason GM didn't recommend the wifes 1500 4x4 crew cab chevy/GMC 5' 10" bed for towing GN/5th wheel trailers was because they felt the bed was too short for those type of trailers. Engineering said it had nothing to do with the trucks load carrying capability.
Her '16 truck now has a GN plate in the bed and safely tows my GN trailers to and from muddy worksites.

See my Sig

FW weighs 9200lb ready to camp, 1450lb hitch weight. She tows great and stops great. Much more stable than the 35' TT we had before.

The one issue I have is I exceed RAWR when tanks are full. I'm right on the edge when tanks are empty.

60K on the TV with original stock P tires and nothing fell off yet. She still drives and runs like new. I'm due for LT tires soon at $1100, ouch!

FWIW I replaced the SuperGlide with a Reese manual slide to shed some weight.

Supercharged wrote:
We pulled so many miles with our 1/2 years back, when we sold it it was 18 in. longer.

Been to some of the areas you pulled. I believe you. Good to see your back, doing well and mind is still sharp.

The dealers love these kind of commercials. Example: Average Joe purchases an average half ton and soon trades it for a F-250 when he discovers that he did not get the half ton mentioned in the fine print. Maybe the original question should have been, "Who is using their 8,000 pound GVWR pickup at 8,000 pounds GVWR?"

Don't matter what you have if it is overloaded. I saw a f250 lariat pull in yesterday with a big 5th wheel.looked like it was down 6 inches in the rear. Very obvious. Right tool for the right job . I have seen some 1\2tons pulling small 5th wheels that looked alot safer

I forgot to answer the original question and some don't look at the sig.

Our 5th is a "1/2 ton towable". Dry pin of 1400, lightly loaded: 1700.

Lightly loaded, two people(350 total), 3yr old, we were right at the ratings. Rear axle rating on our F150HD(not Harley-Davidson) was 4800 and it was right at that.

It is a fairly heavy 6000+ lb truck but there is little chance that anyone with one of these 5ths and a normal 1/2 ton (even a max tow) is remotely close to the rear axle rating.

The light 5th was a perfect match for our F150 HD payload but right at the limits. Towing performance and stability was right up there with my current F250, even better. I'm not saying the F250 wouldn't perform better in a panic situation, just that I preferred the F150HD in every condition I've experienced so far. Everything about it; power, ride, stability, steering wheel controls, Taller box sides, more rear leg room, flat rear floor... I like that I can load up anything I want now, but it's a big trade-off.