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cwobosn
LONG ISLAND NY
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Joined: 11/28/2002
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I JUST BOUGHT F250 6.0 DIESEL CC, SWD, 3.73, AND PLANNING BUYING 32" MOUNTAINEER, 2 S/O. HOW DO YOU FIGURE MAX. TRAILER WEIGHT. 250 BROCHURE READS MAX LOADED TRAILER WEIGHT 12K, UNLOADED TRAILER 9,200K. WHAT OTHER CONSIDERATIONS AND WHAT IS THE FORMULA TO MAKE SURE I DO NOT EXCEED MY TRUCKS CAPACITY?
Artie & Karen
2008 F-350 Lariat, diesel, cc, drw.
2010 Landmark Augusta
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Mello Mike
Phoenix, AZ
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Welcome to the forum. There are two basic issues when is comes to towing: weight and trailer length.
The GCWR is THE figure you need to be concerned with when it comes to weight. That's the weight of both your tow vehicle and trailer. That's actual weight, loaded vehicle and loaded trailer. The other consideration is wheel base. The basic rule of thumb is 110" for 20 feet of trailer. Plus 4" for every additional foot of trailer. So with a wheelbase of 122" you can safely tow a trailer of 23'. You can compensate for wheelbase with a top of the line tow system, but those are the basics.
1972 Airstream Sovereign
2003 Ford Excursion, 6.0L PSD
Prodigy Brake Controller, Equal-i-zer Anti-Sway Control, Link 10 Battery Monitor, Honda EU2000i Generator
CWO3, US Navy (ret.)
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hotrod4x5
Southern Calif
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Joined: 07/19/2003
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Is that trailer a 5th wheel? Your T/V's capacity is slightly higher if you have a 5th wheel.
I am also looking for a new tow rig. We like both GM and Ford's Crew Cabs, so it will come down to the best deal I can find on a diesel, probably used.
Did you get yours used? What year is it and what did you pay?
Rodney 2005 Laredo 29GS 2002 F250 V-10 Hughesnet Satellite Internet
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bandit67
Boulder, Colorado
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hotrod,
Be careful when buying a diesel used, unless you know the person you're buying it from. If you're anal about maintenance, and the previous owner wasn't, you could be in for some problems. Just changing motor oil regularly doesn't necessarily mean the truck was well cared for.
If I had it to do all over again, I would buy my diesel brand new so that I would know it's history. Turbo diesel pickups seem to have a lot more components that can go bad than their gasoline counterparts. And many people think since it's diesel, they can beat the crap out of it, so that's how it may have been used.
Just something to think about.
2001 F250 7.3L PSD Crew Cab Long Bed 4x4, BTS Transmission, Garrett BB turbo, AIS Severe Duty intake, DPPI exhaust, BD X-Monitor, Prodigy brake controller, B20 Biodiesel.
2003 Forest River Wildcat 29BHS with Hensley Arrow
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TXiceman
(Near) Houston,TX
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If this is a 5th wheel, check the pin weight of the trailer and also check it against the GVWR for the truck. Weigh the truck with full fuel, passengers and normal cargo. Subtract this loaded truck weight from the GVWR and you have the MAX pin weigh or hitch weight for the truck.
The trailer towing capacity as quoted by the maufacturer is based on a basic truck, no options and only a 150# driver. Add cargo, options and passengers and the tow limits come down.
With a 5er, you will hit the GVWR on the 3/4 ton truck well before you reach the GCWR. Most 5ers have a pin weight that runs between 15 and 20% of the loaded trailer weight and some as high as 25%. So for a max normal pin weight, figure 20% of the trailer GVWR, but it is best to weigh the trailer. So if your trailer is rated at 12,000# GVWR, you could see pin weights of about 2400# when loaded which are beyond the limits of a 3/4 ton truck.
The non-weight-police bunch will scream at me that they pull their 34' quad slide all day long with their 3/4 ton trucks, but they are over rating...I can guarantee it. If you get involved in an accident, the judge and jury are not going to listen to the story that well I saw two other folks doing the same thing right before I crashed.
Just be sure and weigh the truck and trailer and add ample weight to the trailer for your sullpies. The numbers do not lie.
Ken W
KE5DFR
Vintage 1979 Silver Streak Supreme Rocket toted by a 2002 F350, crewcab dually, 7.3L,4.10 axle,SCMT. Travel with two miniature Schnauzers and one African Gray parrot. Practicing for retirement!
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hotrod4x5
Southern Calif
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Quote:hotrod,
If I had it to do all over again, I would buy my diesel brand new so that I would know it's history. Turbo diesel pickups seem to have a lot more components that can go bad than their gasoline counterparts. And many people think since it's diesel, they can beat the crap out of it, so that's how it may have been used.
Just something to think about. Wish that was an option, 20,000 vs. 40,000 bucks isn't in our budget.
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bandit67
Boulder, Colorado
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cwobosn,
Your combined (truck and trailer weight) is 20,000 lbs, per Ford. You can check your truck's weight on a scale at a truck weigh station, or your local retail landscape supply (they usually have a scale to weigh your truck before and after you pick up rock, topsoil, etc). Then add in the weight of the rest of the family, and whatever stuff you'll take along. Subtract that total from 20,000, and that's the gross weight rating of the trailer you can purchase.
For example, based on me loading my F250 to it's max VWR of 8800#, that leaves me an allowable gross trailer weight of 11,200#. If you had an F350 with a max VWR of 9900#, you'd potentially only be able to tow a trailer with a max VWR of 10,100#. One thing you may want to know, and regardless of any hell raising that may come from the weight police, the fact is that your F250 is exactly the same as an F350 single rear wheel with a supposed 1100# advantage to GVWR. Suspension, motor, brakes, rear end is identical except for one thing - Ford puts in 2" blocks on the rear of the 250, and 4" blocks on the rear of the 350, so that when the 350 is loaded with that extra 1100#, it will still sit level.
So, if you were to accidentally load your 250 to the ratings of a 350 SRW, you won't have to worry about putting yourself or your family in any real danger. Now, if, as many would chime in, you were to get into a major wreck, and the police were to weigh your truck and it were over the 250 ratings but still under the 350 ratings, you'd still be ticketed for being overloaded. Just a little bit of extra information for you.
Now, before the weight police accuse me of condoning overloading your truck, let me clarify why I brought this up. I feel much more comfortable when I've got my family in my 3/4 ton truck that's loaded near or at it's GVWR, knowing that it has the same suspension, brakes, and driveline as the 1 ton version that has an additional 1100# rated capacity. I know I'm still plenty safe in my loaded truck.
This same scenario does not hold true, from what I understand, with the Dodge and GM pickups - those manufacturers actually do use different components based on 3/4 or 1 ton ratings. Apparently, Ford decided it was cheaper for them to just install the higher rated components into their 3/4 ton as the 1 ton, rather than installing 2 different sets of parts into nearly identical trucks.
* This post was
edited 09/05/03 02:28pm by bandit67 *
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Matt in AZ
Glendale, AZ
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Joined: 06/20/2002
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Whatever size trailer you buy, be SURE that you have towing insurance. The insurance will will also need to take care of rescuing and storing your trailer while your truck is having its fuel system fixed.
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HJGyswyt
Buckley Washington
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Why did you say that Matt, was that supposed to funny? Hans
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Matt in AZ
Glendale, AZ
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I was afraid, after I posted that, that it would seem unduly sarcastic. I wasn't trying to be funny, and I do have the sort of towing insurance that I mentioned, but have never needed it.
The reason that I posted is that the 2003 and newer Ford diesels have changed from the proven 7.3 liter to a 6.0 liter model. The reduction in displacement, by itself, is no big deal in power output. Dodge gets 500 ft-lbs (or more--I've lost track) out of a 5.9 liter Cummins.
However, the Ford 6.0 liter diesels have had way more than their share of driveability problems. It seems that many have been returned under various states' lemon laws, so I would want to know the history of a used one. The problems seem to be largely a fuel injection system that isn't quite up to the high power output demand. One of the local electric utilities bought a fleet of them, and has had trouble with them, according to an upset person I talked to. Spend some time at this website: http://www.thedieselstop.com/ Check the articles and discussion forums. Not all have been bad, but the experience of many has been frustrating.
My own personal rig is a 1996 Dodge diesel, which has been fully satisfactory but not trouble-free. I've observed that criticizing someone's preferred truck brand is much like insulting their mother, so I try to keep it neutral. Sometimes, I do not succeed. I don't have any particular brand loyalty. The makes my family had brand loyalty to have disappeared, including Studebnaker, Hudson, Nash, Star, Terraplane (I could go on). Brand loyalty from us seems to be bad for the brand!
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