New 5er

[mspoe]

Okay, thanks all for your insight and experience. Not sure what I'm going to do now. I had everybody at the Dodge and RV dealerships telling me my truck selection was "fine .. no problem". Now I'm not so sure.

Thanks again all.

Marshall

[transamz9]

Originally Posted by mspoe

Chris:

Is there a fifth wheel that my truck is safely capable of towing?

Buddy, don't take all these post to heart. You and only you in the end are going to be the one to say it feels safe or unsafe. All these numbers are standards that are set buy information that is gathered by our government, and we know how that goes. I have a 3/4 ton and I am slightly over my OEM ratings and have been for 7 years now with no problems to date. I have 62,000 miles towing that way and I am still on original tires/brakes/trans/ everything but oil, fuel, and filters. I do have a tuner on it which people told me that the truck would never hold up. I use it for what it was designed for and not hot rod it and it has been flawless to date. I know I'm over my payload by 500# and my trailer(s) weight is pushing 18'000. (Yes trailers) I pull a Sandpiper 345 RET with a 21' bass boat behind it.

What I'm trying to get at is take your time , keep the maintenance up and enjoy your camping. You may experience a spongy ride with the weight of the pin and may want to put some sort of bag or helper under it later but I think you are going to be just fine.

Keep'er tween da ditches.

[lbrjet]

Originally Posted by mspoe

Okay, thanks all for your insight and experience. Not sure what I'm going to do now. I had everybody at the Dodge and RV dealerships telling me my truck selection was "fine .. no problem". Now I'm not so sure.

Thanks again all.

Marshall

Do what I suggested with the CAT scale and figuring the numbers with your truck's ratings. Once you get the numbers then you can make an informed decision. This will give you your available payload and your available rear axle capacity to support the hitch and pin weights.

You are not the first to have gone this if that makes you feel any better.

[Rugged Brown]

Originally Posted by transamz9

Buddy, don't take all these post to heart. You and only you in the end are going to be the one to say it feels safe or unsafe. All these numbers are standards that are set buy information that is gathered by our government, and we know how that goes. I have a 3/4 ton and I am slightly over my OEM ratings and have been for 7 years now with no problems to date. I have 62,000 miles towing that way and I am still on original tires/brakes/trans/ everything but oil, fuel, and filters. I do have a tuner on it which people told me that the truck would never hold up. I use it for what it was designed for and not hot rod it and it has been flawless to date. I know I'm over my payload by 500# and my trailer(s) weight is pushing 18'000. (Yes trailers) I pull a Sandpiper 345 RET with a 21' bass boat behind it.

What I'm trying to get at is take your time , keep the maintenance up and enjoy your camping. You may experience a spongy ride with the weight of the pin and may want to put some sort of bag or helper under it later but I think you are going to be just fine.

Keep'er tween da ditches.

Couldn't have said it better. My thoughts exactly.

[crocus]

Rugged, sorry to take so long in getting back to you. Boy, did this thread ever take off!
The hemi and the Ecobeast make about the same torque, but the EcoBeast does it at 2500 rpm, while you have to rev the chit out of the hemi to match it, 4000 rpm. That means a lot when you are towing, unless you like the sound of your engine screaming?

[transamz9]

Originally Posted by crocus

Rugged, sorry to take so long in getting back to you. Boy, did this thread ever take off!
The hemi and the Ecobeast make about the same torque, but the EcoBeast does it at 2500 rpm, while you have to rev the chit out of the hemi to match it, 4000 rpm. That means a lot when you are towing, unless you like the sound of your engine screaming?

The torque is at 2500 the HP is at 5500.

[dretired]

Marshall.. That 5ver is a rockwood 8288ws ?? I looked up a dealer that sells them... Wana rv in Indiana. Yours comes in at 7992 dry weight, And a pin weight at 1500 lbs +..add you and passengers , the weight of the 5th wheel hitch itself... seems like you would be at least 500lbs over your trucks Payload capacity... SO many people here with diffrent OPINIONS And ideas.. BUT.. ALL with good intentions to help you .. I started with a 26 ft Travel trailer ( TT) and got the 5ver bug this last summer..went from towing around 7000 lbs loaded to ,7700 lbs dry I added an extra leaf spring to my F150 (No sag now) I know iam a little over on Payload .. I will go to Florida with my rig after Christmas and decide on the way down if i return from there with a F250 or not.. good luck with what you decide on !!!!

[crocus]

"The torque is at 2500 the HP is at 5500"
===========================
And since it is torque that does the pulling, you have to agree that the EcoBoost is better than the hemi.
Don't get me wrong, the hemi is a great engine, but when combined with a light truck like the Ram 1500, just doesn't compare to the F150 EcoBeast.
Hey, I love my new Ram, but I wouldn't pull my fifth with it.

[Rugged Brown]

Originally Posted by crocus

Rugged, sorry to take so long in getting back to you. Boy, did this thread ever take off!
The hemi and the Ecobeast make about the same torque, but the EcoBeast does it at 2500 rpm, while you have to rev the chit out of the hemi to match it, 4000 rpm. That means a lot when you are towing, unless you like the sound of your engine screaming?

Crocus: I wasn't really expecting a reply, but since you did, if there is one comment I would like to make, is that if it comes down to sound, I would much rather the roar of the V8 big block Hemi over the whine of a car sized 6 cylinder ecoboost anyday. I think the debate over the Hemi versus ecoboost has been knocked around so much in other Ford and Dodge Forums and you tube postings, with no definitive winner and I admit that I'm not qualified to make any assertion other than one is no better than the other, which I believe was my original assertion, at the risk of again becoming the laughing stock of emoticon posters.

"The ecoboost is a very fine engine, if it was put in anything but a Ford"

The question at hand in this thread is related to weights, which is another hot topic and those that profess to be experts are passionate about their views. Posted weight capacities of any truck are merely numbers , but if we adhered strickly to these capacities, I should be able to make an assumption that if I am 1 lb over my payload capacity, I will break something or otherwise be in peril. If I am 1 lb under, I am fine? What is the weakest link. I venture to say, the idiot behind the wheel, who will drive the highways recklessly, with no concern for other traffic and put everyone at risk, whether he be driving a custom tuned ferrari or an overloaded truck with camper in tow. My bottom line is not to overload your truck to the extent of dangering yourself or others and drive with due care and caution. Arrive alive. To the original poster, I think you will be fine. I have the exact same setup and I do ok. Just take it slow and wide, as was posted earlier.

[crocus]

Rugged, I think you are missing the fundamental point.
If a person has the choice, why would they buy an undersized truck?
One can drive with all the care and caution they can muster, but it is the unexpected events that put people in danger. I know, as I have experienced a few, and if I had been driving an over-loaded truck, I would have been in big trouble, probably upside down in the ditch.
Those who have never gone through such an experience simply do not understand just how dangerous it is.
And someone who seldom ventures father than 100 kms from home should not be giving towing advice.

As for your comment "I would much rather the roar of the V8 big block Hemi over the whine of a car sized 6 cylinder ecoboost anyday", that pretty much sums up your mentality. Sadly.

[lbrjet]

Crocus,

It seems you go to great lengths on this forum to tout the ecoboost and the F150. Every other word, ecoboost this, ecobeast that, etc etc etc. Yet you drive a F250. Why don't you give it a rest until you actually have some experience pulling with the F150.

[Labzy]

Originally Posted by mspoe

Okay, thanks all for your insight and experience. Not sure what I'm going to do now. I had everybody at the Dodge and RV dealerships telling me my truck selection was "fine .. no problem". Now I'm not so sure.

Thanks again all.

Marshall

This in itself is the problem; RV and truck dealerships giving out incorrect information.

When we are new to all of this, we do not even know what questions to ask, so why would we not trust and believe what the salespeople are telling us?
It is their job right?
Who else would know more about towing than them?

When I shopped for the TV and TT, never once was I told any correct information regarding any of this, which is pretty sad.

I was curious about how 'payload' was defined, and if the tongue weight was included in it or not.

I called dozens of TT dealerships.
I searched on the internet.
I called hitch installation garages.
I called Chrysler Customer Service.

Each one of these places informed me that tongue weight was not included in the payload.

Then found this forum and made an ass out of myself, when I posted a reply on here telling a guy to not worry about payload because tongue weight is not included.

So to make a long story short (which is impossible for me) I wanted to throw out the idea to all you guys...

Can we make several threads with many, many, tags, that will be easy for people to find when they search on the internet with questions regarding how to choose a truck, TT, etc?

Or perhaps one of you 'smarter' guys can create a page on this topic separate from FR forums, that could be viewed when the topic is searched.

Not everybody knows that this forum even exists, and also, it would be nice to educate all RV'ers, and not just owners of FR trailers, of the proper ways to calculate TT and TV combos.

Hope this did not hijack the thread.

[Len & Cheri]

Originally Posted by Rugged Brown

"The ecoboost is a very fine engine, if it was put in anything but a Ford"

It would have been an injustice to put this great engine in anything else

[wayne anthony]

Back in 2000 when I was looking to buy my first 5th wheel, one site said there was no such thing as having too much truck. Wayne

[Rugged Brown]

Originally Posted by LFugate

It would have been an injustice to put this great engine in anything else

I can't take credit for that quote. I stole it from another source on a different forum. I thought it would be appropriate to inject it here given the hype around the subject matter; just for a laugh. I did own a Ford truck once, loved it. This time around purchased a Dodge and I love it as much. I opted for the tried and true Hemi. The Ecoboost wasn't available when I purchased. Would I have bought the Ecoboost truck if it was available, probably not. No appreciable difference and the Ford truck is a tad ugly.

[dretired]

Originally Posted by Rugged Brown

I can't take credit for that quote. I stole it from another source on a different forum. I thought it would be appropriate to inject it here given the hype around the subject matter; just for a laugh. I did own a Ford truck once, loved it. This time around purchased a Dodge and I love it as much. I opted for the tried and true Hemi. The Ecoboost wasn't available when I purchased. Would I have bought the Ecoboost truck if it was available, probably not. No appreciable difference and the Ford truck is a tad ugly.

And.... Beauty is in the eye of the beholder !!! I am pretty sure the "new" 2012 F150 ecoboost.. can give someone 3,000 lbs payload capacity (8ft box) 11,300 lbs tow ing ( conventional TT OR 5ver ) and yet get over 20 mpg when NOT towing... And Oh by the way being a Ford Retiree i would save THOUSANDS OF $$$$$$ !!!!!! When i get one...

[Len & Cheri]

Originally Posted by dretired

And.... Beauty is in the eye of the beholder !!! I am pretty sure the "new" 2012 F150 ecoboost.. can give someone 3,000 lbs payload capacity (8ft box) 11,300 lbs tow ing ( conventional TT OR 5ver ) and yet get over 20 mpg when NOT towing... And Oh by the way being a Ford Retiree i would save THOUSANDS OF $$$$$$ !!!!!! When i get one...

Hey! Hey! Enough with the facts, we just want opinions here, lol.

[Rugged Brown]

Originally Posted by wayne anthony

Back in 2000 when I was looking to buy my first 5th wheel, one site said there was no such thing as having too much truck. Wayne

And 3 scoops of potatoes is better than 1 scoop.

[dretired]

Originally Posted by LFugate

Hey! Hey! Enough with the facts, we just want opinions here, lol.

Sorry !! I KNOW i have a Jaded opinon about FORD F150s and will be the first to admit it !!

[Snowsail]

Originally Posted by dretired

Supposedly.. The ecoboost will get 22-25 mpg. when NOT towing.. And probably with a 3.31 rear gear ratio.. NOT What we would want for towing.. I would like to know what kind of true Mileage people are getting with a 3.73 or 4.10 rear axel ratio ??

I have the 2011 f-150, 4X4, EB, with 3.73 and 6.5 bed and I get 16 MPG US. On the highway but I ALWAYS drive at 75 MPH