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Old 08-14-2004, 09:42 PM   #1
JohnG3
Seasoned Camper
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Morro Bay
Posts: 98
M.O.C. #1972
2004 F25SD and a 2880RL

My wife, Elaine and I are new to this 5th wheelin'. Elaine likes a Montana 2880RL she saw for sale. We have a 2004 Ford F-250 Super Duty, Ex.cab, tow package, V-10 gas, 3.73 gears. For the next year or so we will be going on short (local) weekend trips. After I retire (hopefully) in Dec. 2005 we will be gone a little more frequently and on longer trips.

In the opinion of this learned group, will the tow vehicle safely handle the 2880RL? If so, can I go to a bigger 5th wheel?

Thanks in advance.

John and Elaine

 
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Old 08-14-2004, 11:39 PM   #2
HamRad
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Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Bakersfield
Posts: 5,316
M.O.C. #15
John,
You may want to do a "search" on this one. You can find that feature at the top of the page. Seems to me several folks have discussed this very issue. I know at least one fellow who started out with the gasser but now has gone to the diesel. After you get all the opinions and do all the research and reading it will still come down to what works for you. So even though it may use a lot of gas since you are doing mostly weekend type trips... perhaps that is not a major issue. As far as the power goes I don't think you'll have a problem. Now in regards to the transmission..... well that is another story.

We started pulling with a 250SD 7.3 PSD. It was a year 2000 model. After the third transmission we bought a bigger pickup. But many folks are using the exact same setup and have not had the transmission problems that I did.

No problems since we went with the 450 with the 4.88 rear end. But that was an $$$$$ lesson for us.

Good luck. HamRad
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Old 08-16-2004, 02:52 AM   #3
Jetson
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Houston
Posts: 104
M.O.C. #180
Your truck will handle that camper, but the gas engine will get lower MPG and it will slow down considerably on long hills. I also have a friend that switched from a V-10 to diesel, but that was partly because he was trading to a longer and heavier 5th wheel.
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2002 Montana 2880RL
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Old 08-20-2004, 01:12 PM   #4
sreigle
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Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Oceanside
Posts: 20,028
M.O.C. #20
John, our first Montana was a 2001 2880RL and we towed it with the exact truck you have except ours was a '99 model F350 superduty, supercab, shortbed, V10, gas, 3.73 rear gears, automatic. The 2000 and later models have higher hp and torque than mine did. Mine did a super job with the 2880RL. We later traded for a 3295RK and used the same truck to tow it for the first year including the first three months of our fulltiming, which covered several thousand miles. Not a problem including towing up Vail pass on I-70 in Colorado, west to east. When we traded we went diesel and it's even better. You can relax. That truck will do super. Be aware the V10 is being used in some pretty heavy motorhomes, too. Good luck. The 2880RL is a very nice rig. We really liked ours.

You probably won't have the problem but if the pinweight makes the truck squat you can add airbags to take care of that problem.
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