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Towing fifth wheel with f-250 6.2L


Ramrod79

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Anyone find their trucks squatting to much pulling a fifth wheel with their f-250. Purchasing a fifth wheel rv and wondering how their truck handled the weight.

 

I have an '08 with the diesel, so it isn't an exact comparison, but my truck handles the 9k lb fifth wheel just fine. I do get a bit of squat, but not terrible. You didn't mention the weight of your fiver, but Your truck should do better than mine since it is a gasser (more payload...mine only has 1999 lbs) and the '11+ has an updated suspension.

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Your owners manual should have all of the towing capacity guides. I would read it and compare it to the weight of the trailer you will be towing and determine if it meets your need. I am currently in the market for a 5th wheel and the unit I am probably going to purchase is 41 feet. My 2005 F250 Regular Cab is not capable of hauling this unit so I am also in the market for a F350, possible with Dual rear wheels.

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Your owners manual should have all of the towing capacity guides. I would read it and compare it to the weight of the trailer you will be towing and determine if it meets your need. I am currently in the market for a 5th wheel and the unit I am probably going to purchase is 41 feet. My 2005 F250 Regular Cab is not capable of hauling this unit so I am also in the market for a F350, possible with Dual rear wheels.

 

41'? Yes, please get dual rear wheels. You won't regret it!

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Thanks for the input guys. I am going in this Saturday to sign the papers for my fiver. It has a pin weight of approx. 1700lbs, gvw of 9100lbs, well within my trucks specs. I have looked at the blocks on the 350's and they are about twice the height of the 250. That would be a easy and cheap way to go if my fiver squats my suspension to much.

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I believe that the only difference in suspension of the 250 vs. 350 is a spacer of approximately 1 1/2" in the rear springs. Might be cheaper to just buy the part(spacer) from Ford, and have it installed along with the appropriate shocks etc.

 

The F350 has 4" blocks instead of 2" blocks and the F350 also has an additional helper spring (leaf spring).

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Honestly, I'd do the bags from the get go. You already bought the truck and trailer, the firestone set with onboard compressor and driver controls is not much money in the grand scheme and you can actually vary it for all conditions and trailers.[/

 

I have been looking at going this route as well. I have talked to the guys at E-trailer and was told that the curt frame rails have the bolt hole that work with the Firestone airbags. I will hook it up dry first and see how she looks before I make any decisions on which route to go.

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I had an 05 F-250 when I first purchased my 40' fiver . . . I swapped out the 4" blocks for the stock F-250 2" blocks... I also installed firestone air bags.. when filled with about 50% air , the truck sat perfectly level.. Just watch the mounts for the air bags if you go that route , I had to get additional mounts because of the hitch mounts on the frame . .

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I have a 2014 F250 and tow a 30 ft 5th loaded is 9700 lbs found truck did squat once hooked up so bought the firestone airbags $300 took about an hour to install. Manual fill off the licence plate and love it best investment!! And now no squat and actually tows better once trailer and box of truck is loaded. I keep approx 50-60 lbs in bags and works great.

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Honestly, I'd do the bags from the get go. You already bought the truck and trailer, the firestone set with onboard compressor and driver controls is not much money in the grand scheme and you can actually vary it for all conditions and trailers.

I have never air spring helpers on a big truck, but they worked great on a pre-Panther Grand Marquis that did a lot of heavy hauling !

 

The taller spacer WITHOUT the helper springs does NOT sound like a good solution.

 

 

EDIT: The best part of the air bags is airing the DOWN when not towing !

Edited by theoldwizard
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  • 2 weeks later...

The Airbags work well to help level the truck. They don't do anything to increase the load rating of the truck. Which is usually a combination of the tires, wheels, axles, springs etc.

 

Take your existing truck, Put all the people in it that will normally accompany you on any camping trip. Throw the kind of stuff in the bed that would normally be in the bed on a camping trip. i.e. Generator, 5th wheel hitch, tools, leveling blocks what ever. and go get the truck weighed on a scale. Specifically each axle, So you know what weight each axle is carrying. Subtract the actual weight from the load rating for the axle and see if you have enough capacity left to carry your trailers pin weight. Most of which will sit on your rear axle.

 

Trailer mfg advertise their trailer weights as Dry weight. So you know that when you get water, propane,bedding and all your household items inside the trailer that weight will increase, Most F-350 SRW trucks have a 11,500 lbs GVW rating. Most F-250 SRW have a 10,000 lbs GVW rating. And most of that difference shows up in the rear axle capacity. Most 5vers will have 15% to 25% of their total weight on the pin. Your numbers above are showing 18% of the dry weight will be on the pin. You will probably break 20-22% when you get the trailer loaded.

 

I didn't catch the configuration of your truck, But most F-250 CC, 4x4, diesel trucks will only have 1900lbs of load capacity, Subtract you and your wife, a full tank of fuel and your 5th wheel hitch, You are down to 1300-1400 lbs of load capacity left. Your trailer will most likely put you over your ratings. If you have a 4x2 Regular cab, gas engine your capacity will be higher and you might be just fine. . Lots of folks tow with a F-250 over their ratings. That's your choice, But do what you can to stabilize the load and enhance the trucks capacity. Squatting is just one small problem that will need to be dealt with.

Edited by Painted Horse
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Thanks painted horse, my truck is a 2011 F-250 4X4 CC with the gas engine, it has the camper package(upgrade front springs and overloads like the F-350 on the rear). My 5ver is the flagstaff 8528bhws, I chose the 250 because I know it is going to handle the pin weight and tow the trailer just fine. I am just wondering how much it will actually squat the truck? Anyways I just got the B&W 16K hitch installed the other day so I just need to head down to the dealership and hitch up. I live in Canada so we have to wait at least a couple months before we can take it out! Moving up from a tent to a 5ver, no more sleeping on the ground for this guy!

Edited by Ramrod79
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Thanks painted horse, my truck is a 2011 F-250 4X4 CC with the gas engine, it has the camper package(upgrade front springs and overloads like the F-350 on the rear). My 5ver is the flagstaff 8528bhws, I chose the 250 because I know it is going to handle the pin weight and tow the trailer just fine. I am just wondering how much it will actually squat the truck? Anyways I just got the B&W 16K hitch installed the other day so I just need to head down to the dealership and hitch up. I live in Canada so we have to wait at least a couple months before we can take it out! Moving up from a tent to a 5ver, no more sleeping on the ground for this guy!

 

We have nearly the exact fiver. Ours is the 8528 BHSS, which is the model previous to the 8528 BHWS. Yours has the wardrobe slide (correct?), our does not. We love the extra room and bathroom in the bunk area for the kids. You will do fine as far as squat on the truck. Let us know how the 6.2L tows!

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Fordmanptw how has your 5ver held up? Do you happen to know the payload # on your truck, mine is 2749lbs, I'm sure it is a bit higher being a gas job.

 

Our fiver has held up extremely well. The only issue we've had is the blower on the furnace locked up. It was replaced under warranty free of charge. Well, only issue if you don't count the time I slid the slide in without closing the door to the back bunk. Popped the wall right off the lower wall plate. I spent more time cussing than it took to actually fix it and it isn't at all noticeable.

 

This is actually our second Flagstaff. Our first was a bumper-pull. We had it for 7 years and it held up very well in that time. Of course, we do store ours inside, which is a tremendous help!

 

Never mind on the payload, went back and saw you already posted it. That is a huge difference in payload!

 

Yeah, the diesel makes a big difference! But mine is also an '08 (the payload was upped for '11) and I have the 20" wheels (that hurts payload too). I really wish I had another 500 lbs of payload.

Edited by fordmantpw
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  • 1 month later...

It's been a long wait, finally picked up my new FW today! It was a short trip home from the dealer and I had a wicked head wind to drive into and only got about 7mpg. The last bit was up a steep hill and the 6.2 was screaming on the way up but she held speed. Suspension dropped about a 1 1/2" hooked up dry, we are going to load the trailer up tomorrow and take another measurement. Other than pushing some serious wind I felt the truck pulled the FW great.

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The Airbags work well to help level the truck. They don't do anything to increase the load rating of the truck. Which is usually a combination of the tires, wheels, axles, springs etc.

 

Take your existing truck, Put all the people in it that will normally accompany you on any camping trip. Throw the kind of stuff in the bed that would normally be in the bed on a camping trip. i.e. Generator, 5th wheel hitch, tools, leveling blocks what ever. and go get the truck weighed on a scale. Specifically each axle, So you know what weight each axle is carrying. Subtract the actual weight from the load rating for the axle and see if you have enough capacity left to carry your trailers pin weight. Most of which will sit on your rear axle.

 

Trailer mfg advertise their trailer weights as Dry weight. So you know that when you get water, propane,bedding and all your household items inside the trailer that weight will increase, Most F-350 SRW trucks have a 11,500 lbs GVW rating. Most F-250 SRW have a 10,000 lbs GVW rating. And most of that difference shows up in the rear axle capacity. Most 5vers will have 15% to 25% of their total weight on the pin. Your numbers above are showing 18% of the dry weight will be on the pin. You will probably break 20-22% when you get the trailer loaded.

 

I didn't catch the configuration of your truck, But most F-250 CC, 4x4, diesel trucks will only have 1900lbs of load capacity, Subtract you and your wife, a full tank of fuel and your 5th wheel hitch, You are down to 1300-1400 lbs of load capacity left. Your trailer will most likely put you over your ratings. If you have a 4x2 Regular cab, gas engine your capacity will be higher and you might be just fine. . Lots of folks tow with a F-250 over their ratings. That's your choice, But do what you can to stabilize the load and enhance the trucks capacity. Squatting is just one small problem that will need to be dealt with.

I was looking at the payload ratings 2011 vs 2015 4x4 crew cabs. Quite a difference at about 1000lbs according to the charts. Maybe I'm not reading them right.

 

An 1 1/2 is not big deal. The pin weight won't increase that much when you load it up. I avoid traveling with the water tank full because I don't like the way it is mounted and would really hate to see it shift. What you put in the truck will increase the squat. The 6.2 loves to rev that's how it does work. What rear end do you have?

Edited by Drivenhard
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