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Old 12-29-2012, 03:54 PM   #1
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looking for some real weights

Hello. I am shopping for a new 5er and really like the Sabre 33RETS and 34REQS. I am trying to figure out if the loaded pin weight will be ok for my F250. I am aware that everyone loads differently but I am interested to see what the loaded pin weights have been working out to be. If you could include your 5'ers loaded weight as well, that would help me too as I can figure out percentages to calculate with what weight I know I will be putting in it. I have about 2800 lbs to play with on my RAWR to include pin weight and hitch weight (still haven't bought a hitch yet). I am not interested in being too overloaded and I want to be safe. If any of you are towing w/ something similar to my F250 super cab long bed 4wd w/ 6.4L PSD could you please let me know how it handles these 5ers? Thank you.
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Old 12-29-2012, 09:19 PM   #2
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If you PM me your email, I''ll send you my excel spread sheet from the scale and as ready for a week trip. I'm on my tablet right now. If you don't have excel just let me know.
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Old 12-29-2012, 09:28 PM   #3
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Oh!! Sorry I just finished reading the original post. One thing you posted was that you have 2800 on your rear axle. I think that would put you about 1500 to 1800 lbs over your max gross weight for your truck. Have you weighed your truck? If so post them and you will get lot of opinions. HAHA.
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Old 12-29-2012, 09:56 PM   #4
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Yes I will be over my gvwr. I'm aware of that. Unfortunately the reality of my truck is the 1500 lb payload. We plan on adding heavy duty leaf springs to help. I have been to the scales..... steer axle is 5200 lbs, rear axle is 3260, gross weight is 8460. The gvwr is 10000 lbs. The front gawr is 5600 lbs the rear gawr is 6100 lbs. The GCWR is 23000 lbs giving an adjusted tow capacity of 14540 lbs.

I guess a good question is how much can the leaf springs buy me if I stay within the rawr? I think the springs would work better than air bags but if necessary could do either or both. I don't want to upgrade tv as we just bought it last january thinking it would be plenty od tv for an upgrade. I didn't realize the low payload at the time. We knew we were buying a diesel 3/4 ton and thought that would be plenty. Rookie mistake. If necessary we will just stay with current tt rather than compromising on a new 5 er due to tv. Thanks.
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Old 12-29-2012, 10:07 PM   #5
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Welcome to the world of 5W towing. You're in the same boat as many 3/4T diesel owners in that the payload by the truck's GVWR is in the 1500 - 1800 lb range. Most look at the payload by RAWR is the limiting factor for pinweight. If the payload limit is 2800 lbs, I wouldn't think either floorplan will weigh that much as they're at 1750 and 1890 lbs dry.

I'd recommend the air bag set-up as all you need to do is level the rear ride height. It's an adjustable system and it won't ride as harsh when empty compared to a heavier spring pack.

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Old 12-29-2012, 10:41 PM   #6
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I did just discover about 5 min ago the root of my weight issues. I only have the 3.55 axle. For some reason I thought I had a 3.73 but I just double checked the door codes and found my answer. Now I need to see how much an axle upgrade would cost and what kind of weight changes that would get me.
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Old 12-29-2012, 10:59 PM   #7
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Looks like you have 1540 TOTAL cargo capacity. Individual axle cap. is what they are rated for, but still not to be in excces of the gvrw.
- most semi axles, other than steer are rated for 20-22 k each. But you excced 80k gvrw for 5 axles and johnny law will hang your butt.

Most people also think that a 5er only effects weight on the rear axle, but most hitches will transfer some of the weight to the front axle also.

I would probably look at the 1000-1200 lb pin rated trailers for your setup.

I don't like bags- for the reason that they most people use them to justify an overload situation.

Also if you follow manuf. recomendations in the event of an accident it takes any liabity away from you, if it is a failure of your equipment, and not operator error.
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Old 12-29-2012, 11:13 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by anaro View Post
I did just discover about 5 min ago the root of my weight issues. I only have the 3.55 axle. For some reason I thought I had a 3.73 but I just double checked the door codes and found my answer. Now I need to see how much an axle upgrade would cost and what kind of weight changes that would get me.
The rear gear ratio will impact on the max towing weight and GCWR, but has no impact on payload. Are you sure about the 3.73 rear...I thought the 3.55 is the usual ratio with the 6 spd auto trans.

The only difference between your F250 and a F350 SRW is the spring pack...if your ordered the camper package on your F250, the rear springs are the same. Personally, I see no issue with a 2400 - 2500 lb pin weight with your truck, in fact that would be fairly common with a lot of similiar set-ups.

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Old 12-29-2012, 11:19 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by MillerTime View Post
Most people also think that a 5er only effects weight on the rear axle, but most hitches will transfer some of the weight to the front axle also.
The king pin is typically around 2" ahead of the axle centerline on most installations. The pin weight added to the front axle is really minimal..2" compared to truck's wheelbase is a very small number. I had a 20 lb increase in the front axle weight and that could have been within the weighing error. I believe the smallest increment on the CAT scales is 20 lbs.

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Old 12-29-2012, 11:43 PM   #10
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Our truck was bought used last jan. I know it has the tow package but don't know about heavier springs for camper. As for which axle, I definitely have 3.55. The code on the door for axle reads 35 and according to ford 35 is the 3.55 and 37 is the 3.73. We seem to be really good at learning things the hard way. In 2011 we bought our current tt which had a gvwr of 7700 lbs to be towed by an 04 armada. Didn't understand weights at all back then but was told it could tow 9100 lbs. Well with a loaded tongue weight of about 1000 lbs it was too much tt for the tv. So out shopping we went. We thought buying a diesel would net us enough payload and towing capacity for a future upgrade. We may have been wrong. Still deciding what we might do. We may add the leaf spring and try it with the knowledge that a truck upgrade may be necessary if weights are really too much and handling is poor. Or we may just bag the whole idea for now and stay with a well matched set up for awhile longer. Getting real world weights of these 5ers will help me make a more educated choice on the matter. Right now I know nada value is higher than I owe on the tv so a trade would be at a loss but not too horrible of a loss. The tt has already had an offer of about what I owe on it, so again a loss but an acceptable one.
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Old 12-29-2012, 11:55 PM   #11
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Changing gears on a 4x4 would probably be $1500 at best probably more at a deslership.

I use to think that the rear spring was the only difference inbetween 1 tons and 3/4 tons and working at a dealership I have people say " are you sure?". Actually I think on most the difference is front and rear torque or load rating on the springs,torsion keys can vary, brake systems or sizes can be different, and most have smaller tire sizes on 1 tons- thus effectivly lowering overall gear ratio. Also u joint sizes and drive shaft size, material or rating may differ. I cant verify all of this, because every manf. is different, and you cant find every difference, unless you cross vins and look up each part for both.

You will probably have a hard time ever finding a srw truck with axle load ratings much over 6k because most E rated tires are only rated for about 3200lb for singles.

Obviosly you will do what you will, I just like being overly safe than sorry- and I don't want to incur any liability from what I recomend.

Good luck!
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Old 12-30-2012, 12:13 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by anaro View Post
In 2011 we bought our current tt which had a gvwr of 7700 lbs to be towed by an 04 armada. Didn't understand weights at all back then but was told it could tow 9100 lbs. Well with a loaded tongue weight of about 1000 lbs it was too much tt for the tv. So out shopping we went. We thought buying a diesel would net us enough payload and towing capacity for a future upgrade. We may have been wrong.
The payload is almost always the limiting factor, not the maximum tow rating. This is true whether it's a SUV, half ton, three quarter or one ton truck. If there's a difference, with 5W you use up payload easier as pinweights are typically around 20% of the camper weight. With TT, tongue weight is recommended to be around 13% of the camper weight.

Dave
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Old 01-01-2013, 10:26 PM   #13
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I have a 2012 Sabre 34RLQS that I pull with a 1997 F250 4x4 Powerstroke with 3:55 gears and automatic. I did install a set of air bags just for good measure but really didn't need them, only running about 25lbs in them when loaded.
Trailer pulls great and actually handles better than my old 28', I am going to change out my 3:55 gears for 4:10's before summer gets here. With the automatic and 3:55's it is just too high geared, unless you plan on pulling at 75mph.....
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