What kind of truck to pull 3931FB

[greenportbeach]

I am looking at gas pickups to tow my 5th wheel...but only towing if we have to evacuate the campground because of a hurricane. Both retired and not traveling anymore.
I was looking at a SuperDuty 250 Ford XL but then some friends were saying I probably needed the SuperDuty 350.
I know the hitch weight and load capacity of the truck would probably determine what I need, but how do I find the pin weight of my camper to know what to get?
I have the sticker weight of the camper, but didn't know if that was the same as the pin weight?
So new to 5th wheel living....have always owned motorhomes....lol.

[lightsout]

Your Dry Pin Weight is 2,530 lbs, 5er weight is 13,542lbs so figure a pin weight loaded 20%-25% of the overall dry weight so on the high end about 3,400lb pin weight.

You absolutely need a 1 ton.

Frankly while a Gas truck is cheaper they are NOT very high in Demand and do not hold value like Diesel does. If you carefully shop you can buy a used Diesel 1-ton keep it for a few years and it will still be worth close to what you paid. 1-ton Diesels have one of the lowest depreciation rates of all vehicles, Gas versions of the 1-ton not so much as nobody wants gassers these days...

[DQDick]

What he said!

[Texan]

I agree that you need a 1 ton and probably a dually but even though diesel's are the best your statement that basically only in an emergency then I would think a gas would be just fine. I like most on this forum have a diesel on account of traveling long distances but using it only for emergency's only, it is pretty hard to justify the expense of buying and maintaining a diesel. Sure it will resale for more but you pay much more up front. I probably would consider a 1 ton single in your case as it would be much more user friendly around the house and you may never see the emergency you are talking about. There's probably no wrong answer but the cost of buying and maintaining would be at the top of my list.

[DutchmenSport]

Consider the most extreme scenario that you would find yourself in and then ask yourself if the vehicle you settle on can handle it. It may happen only 1 time, but it takes only 1 time for a lesser vehicle to fail miserably when you need it the most. It takes only 1 event for "lesser" equipment to fail and you find yourself in dire straights or worse. Think about that and you'll find your answer.

[richfaa]

Did anyone read post # 1 by the OP.

[greenportbeach]

But we are not traveling at all....will only be towing if a hurricane hits Myrtle Beach. Don't need to diesel to just sit around and is much more expensive than a gas. Thanks for the info though on the weight

[lightsout]

Originally Posted by greenportbeach

But we are not traveling at all....will only be towing if a hurricane hits Myrtle Beach. Don't need to diesel to just sit around and is much more expensive than a gas. Thanks for the info though on the weight

Keep in mind if you are moving from a Hurricane it is not just a few mile move. Anyway if money is not tight a diesel truck is a great investment in terms of getting your money back when yo need to. Since you need a 1 ton buying a gasser may be very hard to sell when you need to and you will likely lose money on it. You can buy a Reliable older 1 ton in the 20K range and if kept well with right miles it is still worth $20k 5 years from now

[mlh]

Any 3/4 ton truck will work just fine to get your camper out of a camp ground in an emergency. If you wont a one ton it would be better but certainly is not necessary. Go for the one you would like to own and drive.
Lynwood

[greenportbeach]

Thank you!

[greenportbeach]

Thank you!!! Hope we don't have to move it at all, but we sure don't want to spend extra money on something we don't need.

[Lakelife]

Our 2018 3661rl weighs about the same as your rig. We had a 2010 f250 Deisel and it towed it just fine. Little weak going up hills but nothing terrible. We went f350 Deisel on the next purchase just because we want to take longer trips. A 3/4 ton truck will do the job in a pinch.

[CADman_KS]

Originally Posted by greenportbeach

Thank you!!! Hope we don't have to move it at all, but we sure don't want to spend extra money on something we don't need.

You didn't say if you were going to be using this truck to drive around with, but I'm going to make the assumption that you will be using for some local driving.

With that being said, even a 1-ton SRW is going to ride rougher than a 3/4-ton SRW.

In an emergency situation, you would be fine with a 3/4-ton gasser, but you will need patience when towing. The gasser will not have the uummph that a diesel does...

[greenportbeach]

Thank you!! If we have to tow it we will be doing it very slowly and carefully.

[mtlakejim]

Anyone on here will tell you real quick that I almost always argue for more truck than you need. In this case I am going to totally shock some folks and suggest if your only going to use the truck to pull in a DIRE EMERGENCY as you describe and it will be your daily driver otherwise then my normal recommendations are out the window. I would look the other way if you had it hitched even to a 1/2 ton if you were towing it during a hurricane evacuation. That's going to be some really slow driving by default. And hopefully you will only be going a few hundred miles at most. Mighty hard to justify a larger truck and rougher empty ride for what is an unlikely single event. I wouldn't tow it with anything so small that you will be breaking the springs or overloading the tires to the extreme but you sure don't need a 1 ton to tow it once for a short distance, much less a dually.


Now if you tell me you might tow the camper in anything other than a dire emergency then we are going to have a different conversation.

[CADman_KS]

Originally Posted by mtlakejim

... I would look the other way if you had it hitched even to a 1/2 ton if you were towing it during a hurricane evacuation. That's going to be some really slow driving by default. And hopefully you will only be going a few hundred miles at most. Mighty hard to justify a larger truck and rougher empty ride for what is an unlikely single event. I wouldn't tow it with anything so small that you will be breaking the springs or overloading the tires to the extreme but you sure don't need a 1 ton to tow it once for a short distance, much less a dually.


...

Eeeekkkk! A 1/2 ton would be scary, if not even impossible!

The OPs 5er and ours are close to the same numbers empty. We pulled ours home with a 3/4 ton 2002 Chevy diesel, and yes we were way over the payload and Max towing and everything, but it got it done. I checked later and while we had hit the bump stops, we were not riding on them. A 1/2 ton would not only be on the bump stops, it would have them smushed to nothing in a few miles...

[Goliath-goes]

My Montana has pin weight of 3220. Gvwr is 17000. I pull it with F350 6.7 power stroke. Diesel. I’d never wanna think about trying to pull it with gas. I don’t have dually and it pulls awesome. Just my thoughts

[lightsout]

Originally Posted by mtlakejim

Anyone on here will tell you real quick that I almost always argue for more truck than you need. In this case I am going to totally shock some folks and suggest if your only going to use the truck to pull in a DIRE EMERGENCY as you describe and it will be your daily driver otherwise then my normal recommendations are out the window. I would look the other way if you had it hitched even to a 1/2 ton if you were towing it during a hurricane evacuation. That's going to be some really slow driving by default. And hopefully you will only be going a few hundred miles at most. Mighty hard to justify a larger truck and rougher empty ride for what is an unlikely single event. I wouldn't tow it with anything so small that you will be breaking the springs or overloading the tires to the extreme but you sure don't need a 1 ton to tow it once for a short distance, much less a dually.


Now if you tell me you might tow the camper in anything other than a dire emergency then we are going to have a different conversation.

Contrary to your advice The Law Suggest otherwise and I assume the insurance companies also agree. Desperation is no substitute for for willful negligence.

[richfaa]

Had a 05 F-350 V-10 gasser LB,CC, Dually. We pulled our 06 3400 all over the country. It pulled every grade yes a bit slow on the hard pulls but it pulled them. MPG was not good 7/8 towing on a good day and 4 or less on a hard pull . We did not want to buy the 6.0 Ford diesel so went with the gasser till the Ford 6.4 in 2008 we are still pulling with it . It was a very good truck and we had no trouble selling .It sold in 3 days.


The OP will be only using it in a EMERGENCY should a hurricane hit actually a 3/4 ton gasser will work just fine in the manner he says he will use it.


BTW the only way you can know your actual pin weight is to weigh the RV ready to tow.

[mlh]

You will have insurance even if you are overweight. I checked with my agent and they called Allststate. Allststate said I haft to cover me if I was overweight. If you speed or run a red light or DWI or overweight you are covered.
Lynwood