For about 8-9 years I've pulled a 36' Mountaineer fiver at about 10-11k depending on who/what/where the trip was going. Did it with a 2000 F-250 7.3L and 3.73's. Never had a problem, under all the weights as far as I know. Did eat brakes and ball joints though. Never felt unstable at any speed, but I did have Bilstein's, Hawk Performance brake pads, and Powerslot rotors on the truck.
Just upgraded to an F-350 6.0L and 4.10's on a dually long-bed. Higher ratings means a higher margin of safety. Bigger brakes, more power, extra stability with the dually. I doubt we will be upgrading the fiver anytime soon, but I'm still glad I got a heavier truck.
The "weight police" are checking axle loads to protect the highways and could care less as to whether a pickup is pulling too heavy a trailer. If the trailer is within the states per axle limit it is OK.
A DRW will take more of a load on the rear axle with a 5th wheel and it increases the maximum trailer weight by 4,000 lbs. but at least with the GM/Chevy trucks there is no difference in the maximum trailer weight for 3/4 and 1 ton pickups. Nor should it as they have the same frame, same engine, same transmission, same rear axle (with heavy payload option on 3/4 ton), and same front end, same brakes, same rear differential.
With a regular cab and long box with 4WD the maximum trailer weight for the 2500HD is actually 100 lbs. greater than for the 3500HD for the 2011-2012 models (17,500 vs. 17,400). There is a big difference between the 1/2 ton and the heavy duty trucks but no such differences between the 3/4 and 1 ton trucks being made today. The manufacturers have no reason to produce 2 completely different pickup truck lines with different components and they don't. It takes only a couple minutes to download the information from the Ford, GM/Chevy, and Dodge websites so this is not secret stuff.
Any trailer under 15k lbs. is well within the capacity of these trucks though with these loads there is a decided advantage to having the diesel engine and exhaust brake and heavier duty Allison transmission with the GM/Chevy trucks and their counterparts from Ford and Dodge.
Interesting tow truck tests done by the people at mrtrailer.com. Worth a read.
well im just back from Arizona where i bought and pulled home an 08 fleetwood
formula. Set this TH (pin weight #2100 and dry weight 11,700) on my 2010 f250
with no air in the air bags and the squat was only 2 inches. This is a 39 fter
and i was very pleased after pulling over a 1,000 miles and up some 8% grades at
50 mph. On the interstate 70 and 75. The wind would blow semi's around but my TH really tracked straight. I do have 20" tires #3500 lb capacity to give my rear axel 7k support which makes me much more comfortable. Truck is 10k gvwr . thanks to everyone their feedback
jvernon wrote: last summer i bought a 2010 f250 crew cab. im trying to justify buying a raptor 3712 (dry weight 12,500) maybe ill upgrade my tires. im leaning towards the 3210 cyclone (dry weight 10,900) to be more in line and hopefully pullng a 33 ft trailer the po po will leave me alone.
We tow a 302 Fuzion (similar size and weight to the Cyclone) with a '08 F250. It is enough truck but just enough. Stops good and pulls extremely well on good roads with no or little wind. Never had a white knuckle situation because of the rig. Just have to pay attention to conditions and drive accordingly.
Having said that my next rig will be a dually to get the extra stability. Going to a tonner single rear wheel brings almost nothing to the party in my opinion. The limiting factor is still the tires.
elkhornsun wrote: The "weight police" are checking axle loads to protect the highways and could care less as to whether a pickup is pulling too heavy a trailer. If the trailer is within the states per axle limit it is OK.
A DRW will take more of a load on the rear axle with a 5th wheel and it increases the maximum trailer weight by 4,000 lbs. but at least with the GM/Chevy trucks there is no difference in the maximum trailer weight for 3/4 and 1 ton pickups. Nor should it as they have the same frame, same engine, same transmission, same rear axle (with heavy payload option on 3/4 ton), and same front end, same brakes, same rear differential.
With a regular cab and long box with 4WD the maximum trailer weight for the 2500HD is actually 100 lbs. greater than for the 3500HD for the 2011-2012 models (17,500 vs. 17,400). There is a big difference between the 1/2 ton and the heavy duty trucks but no such differences between the 3/4 and 1 ton trucks being made today. The manufacturers have no reason to produce 2 completely different pickup truck lines with different components and they don't. It takes only a couple minutes to download the information from the Ford, GM/Chevy, and Dodge websites so this is not secret stuff.
Any trailer under 15k lbs. is well within the capacity of these trucks though with these loads there is a decided advantage to having the diesel engine and exhaust brake and heavier duty Allison transmission with the GM/Chevy trucks and their counterparts from Ford and Dodge.
Interesting tow truck tests done by the people at mrtrailer.com. Worth a read.
This information is good and correct. Thanks for taking the time and putting this out there. It seems that people want to believe what they believe and the rest of us who take the time to really get into the nuts and bolts of it all are "nuts" to think the way we do! Your post was on the money!
2012 Montana High Country 333DB
*NEW* 2012 Dodge 3500MEGA 6.7 CTD, 2012 Jeep JK Rubicon, 2012 Durango Citadel, 2010 Harley Heritage Softail....American STEEL = American profits.
A ford ranger, with 245/75/16E tires on the rear (~3400 lbs a tire), airbags (5000lbs per set), and a 18k hitch in the bed (with custom rails to mount it to the frame) would be able to tow a 40' 3 axle toyhauler. The rear axle tires would give it the dot rating of ~6800 lbs would LEGALLY allow it to pull the trailer. I assume the first steep hill it got to it would be done, but the trailer brakes would be able to stop the trailer, and until it started to get out of control, the driver could be bragging about how good his pickup was that it could tow a 18k trailer. Stupidly over axle rating, cvwr, cgvwr, etc, but It could move it, and stop it. May be driving uphill on the interstate in 4low. The 2010+ Ford and GM diesels can tow a 18k trailer up almost any hill on the interstate with the cruise on, and barely slow down, for those that want to go nuts, the MDT/HDT can tow just about anything rvers would want without slowing down, and maybe not even dropping more then one gear. A MDT/HDT on a popup is a waste. Pick where between stupidly overloaded, and way to much truck you want to be, and go there.
If your concerned about actual weights you need to weigh the trucks front and rear axle seperatly. Many F250 has a rear axle weight in the 2900-3000 lbs range. Ford gives the truck a 6100 RAWR/tire capacity which leaves around 3100-3200 lbs of payload. Actual scaled weights will vary so get the truck weighed. Eliminates guessing.
Many small town feed mills and grain elevators will let locals weigh for free. One in my area is open 24/7.
"good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment" ............ Will Rogers
'03 2500 QC Dodge/Cummins HO 3.73 6 speed manual Jacobs Westach
'97 Park Avanue 28' 5er 11200 gvwr two slides
Is this correct thinking ? If my 250 weighs 8k at the most 3k would be on my
rear axel ? 3k on just my trucks weight plus 2k of pin weight puts me at 5k
on the back axel leaving 2k for passengers, fuel, and hitch.
But is suppose you go by truck weight 8k vs 10k truck gvwr leaves 2k for
cargo and so i am overloaded a bit. but my tires will support IMO.
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