Tow question

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by beeje

Being 200-500 lbs overweight I wouldn't get too upset about. But when you're talkin 1000 pounds over your payload with just the dry weight of the camper to me that's a major issue. By the time he's fully loaded he could be more than double that over his payload.

Yep, and folks do it all the time. The guy I was talking about was way over his gawrs. When you hit payload/gvw your gawrs usually give you a cushion. When you hit that and just keep going....? It would be the same with the situation you describe....just scratch you head and make sure you go the opposite direction.

[Snowwolfe]

Made up my mind........if a fifth wheeler joins our family next year it will be towed by a 2021 or 2022 F450 4x4.
We already contacted a contractor to remove about 25 trees so we have a place to park the trailer and turn it around. All it takes is time and money, lol. After the trees are gone then the gravel comes in and is spread and leveled. Then another 50 amp plug on a pole will be added.

[Dam Worker]

Not positive but it seems like people are reading yellow stickers that look like they are tire ratings. Use that but also look at the stickers that tell you GVW and GAWR front and rear. Nothing personal but us dumb dually owners have a rear axel that dwarfs the SRW trucks, maybe that is why they put two tires on each side. I believe they can make SRW axles stout enough to carry the weight but they need to put 19.5” tires on them. Hell if they did that I would have bought one.
Happy and safe roads to you.

Tom Marty

[dfb]

Originally Posted by snowwolfe

made up my mind........if a fifth wheeler joins our family next year it will be towed by a 2021 or 2022 f450 4x4.
We already contacted a contractor to remove about 25 trees so we have a place to park the trailer and turn it around. All it takes is time and money, lol. After the trees are gone then the gravel comes in and is spread and leveled. Then another 50 amp plug on a pole will be added.

happy happy...

[DebNJim B]

Originally Posted by Snowwolfe

Made up my mind........if a fifth wheeler joins our family next year it will be towed by a 2021 or 2022 F450 4x4.
We already contacted a contractor to remove about 25 trees so we have a place to park the trailer and turn it around. All it takes is time and money, lol. After the trees are gone then the gravel comes in and is spread and leveled. Then another 50 amp plug on a pole will be added.

Wise move Snowwolfe. I have an F-350 SRW. I love the truck and it is within the weight limits, not a lot of head room but within. However, if I had a do over it would be a 450 dually. I just love the looks of that truck.

[Dam Worker]

Just did some comparisons on my 2019 DRW one ton and (RipNC’s truck) SRW.
Yellow sticker on SRW 4539, DRW 5518, so my DRW has a supposedly 979 lb advantage. Yellow stickers are a bit misleading in my opinion.
GAWR front SRW 5600 DRW 5990. GAWR rear SRW 7230 DRW 9900.
GVWR SRW 12,400 DRW 14,000.
I know my dually (355 gears) weighs more but axle weights equals 15,890 but rated at 14,000. The SRW axle weights equal 12,830 but rated at 12,400. Looks like a huge difference in the safety factor. GAWR added together DRW 1,589 verse SRW of 430. I am not sure how Ford is suddenly getting the huge payload numbers on their SRW trucks.
Hopefully I didn’t have any errors in my math.

Tom Marty

[Montana Man]

Originally Posted by Dam Worker

I am not sure how Ford is suddenly getting the huge payload numbers on their SRW trucks.
Hopefully I didn’t have any errors in my math.

Tom Marty

My 2014 ram srw has a gvwr of 12300. That's a 6 year old truck. As ratings inch up all the time I would think they should be way over that by now. Even if a load equals a load rating of the truck, there is a safety margin built into that.

If one needs a dually to tow safely then they have to accept the inconvenience of such a vehicle. Or, choose a smaller trailer. Or use hotels instead of trailers. Or stay home. It's all choices.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by Dam Worker

Just did some comparisons on one ton SRW and DRW. Yellow sticker on SRW 5256 DRW 5518, so my DRW has a supposedly 262 lb advantage. Yellow stickers are a bit misleading in my opinion. GAWR front SRW 5600 DRW 5990. GAWR rear SRW 7230 DRW 9900. GVWR SRW 12,400 DRW 14,000.
I know my dually (355 gears) weighs more but axle weights equals 15,890 but rated at 14,000. The SRW axle weights equal 12,830 but rated at 12,400. Looks like a huge difference in the safety factor. DRW 1,589 verse SRW of 430. I am not sure how Ford is suddenly getting the huge payload numbers on their SRW trucks.

Tom Marty

I've got to ask; where did you find, I suppose, a 1 ton SRW pickup with a 5256 payload? Asking because I spent a year or more opening doors between TX and FL and never saw anything like that.

[Dam Worker]

Sourdough I had accidentally listed the wrong weight for the yellow sticker. That is why I ended up with a double post. I deleted that inaccurate post. The second post had the correct numbers, sorry for the confusion.
Montana Man I have been a fan of the Ram with it’s 12,300 rating for years as we have both Ford and Dodge at work. The Ford SD in 1999 SRW Jumped ahead of the competition with their 9900 pound rating and again in 2003 with their 11,300 or 11,500 ratings. The Ram returned the favor when they jumped ahead in trucks like yours. One interesting thing with my 2019 DRW and my old 2000 SRW one ton is I can go through more drive throughs with the new truck as it turns sharper than the old one. As for parking yes I park out in the far end of the parking lots but I did that with my old truck also because of the undersized parking spaces of today with Costco being the exception. I don’t like door dings from my fellow shoppers. I can also tow a little tiny trailer or a really big one with my DRW.

Happy and safe roads to all of you.

Tom Marty

[Snowwolfe]

Originally Posted by RipNC

Should have included that! Yes it is 4x4. Only negative so far is I miss real butt cooler seats - "ventilated" ain't cutting it. I'll be Googling how to refrigerate my seats while having my a.m. coffee tomorrow...

Rip,
How do you like your truck so far? What size gears did you get?
Thanks

[RipNC]

3.55 Electronic locking. Other than driving it a couple hundred miles home, it hasn't moved (parked under our house). Ordered a 3121RL not due until Dec. Our other "car" is an F150 CC w/ Ecoboost so it is our daily driver. Putting our house on the market soon so will probably run both trucks to storage unit(s?). Still shopping for my hitch, probably a B&W Companion for Ford puck system.

[DebNJim B]

Originally Posted by RipNC

3.55 Electronic locking. Other than driving it a couple hundred miles home, it hasn't moved (parked under our house). Ordered a 3121RL not due until Dec. Our other "car" is an F150 CC w/ Ecoboost so it is our daily driver. Putting our house on the market soon so will probably run both trucks to storage unit(s?). Still shopping for my hitch, probably a B&W Companion for Ford puck system.

I have the companion and it's an awesome hitch and the puck system is so much better than rails. However it weighs 275 lbs. and I need a hoist to get it out. If I had a do-over I would seriously look at the Anderson that weighs like 40 lbs. Course you have the long bed so you won't need a slider like I do so your B&W will be lighter.

[RipNC]

Thanks Jim! Been told about 75# for each piece, no tools to setup or breakdown. 75 is about all I want to handle anymore (using the term "want" very loosely).

[RMcNeal]

Rip, I can confirm each piece is about 75 lbs. The head piece is a little lighter than the base. I can lift them out separately, but at my age it's a chore. It is a great hitch and makes for a very smooth ride. Our unit has the Road Armor suspension, and coupled with the B&W Companion hitch and Timbrens on the truck, I love how it rides.

[RipNC]

Thanks Robert! How tall is the rail of your F350 bed? My truck looks so high sitting next to my F150.

[RMcNeal]

It's pretty high stock. I had to buy a tire step on Amazon to work the hitch because I'm not as agile as I used to be and climbing on the tire was getting very difficult. I'm 5'11" and I can walk up to the truck and rest my arms at the armpit straight out. It measures 56 3/4" at the front of the bed and 58" at the rear of the bed with no load, except the hitch. Haven't measured it, but just eyeball, it sags maybe 2" when hitched. My only change is adding Timbrens, which doesn't effect the truck at all until under heavy load.
I do have about 8" clearance between the bed rail and the 5er when hitched and it rides just a touch nose high.
Oh, also I have the 20" tires if that matters. 2014 offered 18" and 20" depending on the package. It's funny, the tailgate came with a pull out step and hand hold post that pops up. The step is so high, it's almost useless without stepping on something to get up to the step.

[Twopetes]

To Daryles:

Thanks for the info - We just bought the same truck and have a similar size Montana. Have not had the chance to weigh the rig yet but I suspect we are very similar overall.

On a note to the OP (and this may have been said already) sticker weights are at best a guess. Only way to know is to weigh you rig. Remember the cargo figure for the truck is totally empty, no fuel or passengers. And we always under estimate what we haul.

[RipNC]

Robert, thanks. You should see Beth use that step at 5' tall. I wonder if my rig will be nose high to get rail clearance? I'm going to measure our truck but I think 58 is about right (looks like it close to the top of Beth's head;-). All academic until Keystone pops our unit out. Though a safe bet that wherever I bolt the hitch height it will be wrong...

[RMcNeal]

My companion hitch is set right in the middle. It was set up by the dealer. I thought about lowering it but I like having the bed rail clearance and it pulls just fine so it hasn't been a priority. Its only slightly nose high. I'm guessing about an inch to 1 1/2 inches front to back of the rig. I've been told 6 inch minimum rail clearance so I have a little wiggle room.

[RMcNeal]

Oh...I was just in Camp Creek, WV and had some pretty good grade on roads and turns. At one point, I was afraid the rig was going to hit the bed rail on the passenger side the road had that much pitch in a sharp right curve. It looked like about an inch before hitting. Normal roads aren't a problem but those Appalachian goat paths are tough. I hate my GPS. :-)