Ours which is the 7.3L, 4x4, crew cab, short bed, with the full fuel, me, hubby, dog, 2 Honda generators, 2 5-gallon cans of extra fuel, 1 5-gallon of gas, and the pullrite superglide hitch = about 8,000 lbs for us..........
whew.......
Jo
2007 Keystone Cougar, 291 RLS
2003 Ford F250, 7.3L, Lariat, CC, SB, 4x4
Isspro Gauges-overhead mount, 14K Pullrite Superglide
Firestone RideRite airbags & pressure gauge
Two Honda eu2000i generators, parallel kit
Bell Morningstar Canoe, bent shaft paddles
2Lane: At the risk of seeming to be cavalier in my attitude; here's my thinking: you have a decent truck with a proven performance/reliability record, you have a chance to take ownership of a decent "known-to-you" trailer that is perhaps SLIGHTLY on the "heavier-than-desired" side of GVW. I'd go for it in a heartbeat! You don't sound like a person that is a newby to towing and have put enough thought into this to prove you're not jumping into the deep end of the pool without having learned to swim. You will do fine and my bets are that you will enjoy the experience. At the very least, you will have gained valuable insight into a future trailer purchase vis-a-vis floorplans and weights and will not have "mortgaged your first born" to go RV'ing. At a later date, if you decide the trailer is just wrong for you you still wont have as much invested as you would have buying a cheaper built, lighter unit of newer vintage.
Today is just the tomorrow you worried about yesterday!
'04' International 4400 LoPro 310Hp/950FtLbs 10Spd Harley/RV Toter
'05' Mobile Suites 38RL3
'01' Harley Ultra in the bike barn.
Thanks, Bruce, that is what I was hoping to hear but I was also wondering if I was thinking straight. Sometimes we need to step outside the box to see the big picture. I know it's on the heavy side and I know it may not be the most pleasant experience getting from one point to another but I feel I can hardly pass up the deal. If I feel what I'm pulling is unstable or unsafe I fix it or I don't pull it.
I'd like to think I have a pretty good understanding about towing an RV... I drive tractor trailers (although not on a fulltime basis) and we've owned travel trailers and fifth wheels before but nothing this big or heavy. My comment about wishing the speed limits were lower when I tow was only because I don't like impeding traffic. Angry drivers cause accidents but I also don't like pulling over every 5 miles to let traffic by. Maybe every 10!
We would also have to drive to Oregon to pick it up and I'm a bit hesitant on a 2000 mile, "shake-down" maiden voyage!
2Lane, if you're worried about diving 55 or 60 on the Interstates, don't be. I do it all the time. The left lane is for passing, so anyone wanting to go faster than you should have no problems. That's why four-lanes were invented. And with the price of fuel nowadays, many people are slowing down anyway.
On two-lane roads, the speed limits are generally 55 mph or so, and you'll be at that limit on those.
Also, there are several of the trucking firms who have lowered the speed on the governors lately. I like to find one of them to run behind when on longer trips.
charlie
2006 Toyota Tundra Crew Cab
2003 Skyline Nomad 24ft Fiver
Me and Wife
Maggie the Old English Sheepdog
2Lane: You're more than welcome. You may notice on your run out to Oregon how much less hectic the drive is. I recently made a run bobtail down to Goshen Indianna and was surprised to find the commercial boys running around the 60mph rather than the 70 as before. We thoroughly enjoyed the drive.
Like yourself, I USED to obsess over being a rolling roadblock to the commercial guys who were out there trying to make a living but have come to realize: I'm driving a sizeable portion of my own investment potential not someone else's, nobody else pays for my tires or blow-out damage, nobody else is reimbursing me for fuel costs, nobody else pays for depreciation of my equipment. I purchase fuel and pay the taxes without rebates or discounts so; as long as I'm attaining the legal limit in a timely fashion and maintaining it; those who wish to go faster will either need to be patient or pass me to the left.
With oil being a finite resource it has never made sense to me that we would allow business to use the highways for wharehousing and have all of these individual trucks running around delivering goods on a "just-in-time" basis while some or most manufacturing stuff could still be shipped by rail.
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Maybe every 10! 
