Tow vehicle advice

We bought a Big Country 3690SL (39ft 1,980Hitch) at the Hershey show last weekend and now need to get a tow vehicle - yeah, I know that's kind of backwards. We went to Hershey looking for a trailer I could pull with my Ford SportTrac and fell in love with this behemoth! So, we're looking at the Ford 350 crew cab short bed. My question, do we need Ford's fifth wheel package which adds some reinforcement under the bed? We can't find one with this package and would have to wait 8 weeks before we could get it and pick up our BC!

Hi jjmorri999

Congratulations on your BC purchase and welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum. You'll find a lot of useful information here along with a great bunch of people who are willing to share their knowledge and experience.

I'm sure others will jump in pretty quickly to answer your question about the Ford package.

Let me add that there was a recent thread about hitches for short beds with discussion about the differences between Ford, GM and Dodge. If that post was correct (I don't know for sure), GM places the axle further back which gives you a bit more separation from the cab when making those 88 degree turns. I think the gist of it was that you might want to consider a sliding hitch for a Ford or Dodge.

No doubt others will comment on how accurate my memory is and relate their experiences with short beds.

You did not do it backward, you were smart enough to get the unit you realy wanted and now is the challenge to get the truck that will be right for the trailer.

You do not need Ford's 5th wheel hitch. Aftermarket hitches have brackets that bolt to the chassis and through the box to the hitch rails. That connects the hitch down to the chassis, the frame.
Why a short box?
Make sure you get the truck set up with the trailer tow package.

Fords short bed is 3ins longer than chevys. there are a lot of hitches available with hidden rails.

Not cab to axle for sure on SD, maybe on 1/2 tons
That is the reason i went from a sort GM to a long wb ford


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The right 350 or 3500 should be no problem. I say the right one because some models will not have the axle rating you'll need. Try out the free Before You Buy RV app.

Just a point for clarification. It is not Ford's Fifth Wheel Hitch package. It is a Reese Signature Series Hitch that Ford installs as on option. You can buy the same hitch elsewhere, probably for less money.

Congrats on your new rig jjmorri999. Welcome to the Heartland Family.

Frank

I have said this a thosands times on this site and will ONCE MORE! DW_GRAY is correct in many areas but soooooo far of in others! This TV is the most confusing for most and the most worrysome for others. DO NOT let a salesman for your 5er tell you what to pull with, it normally is the wrong setup. Gross Vehicle weights and Combined Gross Vehicle weights and a hundred other terms really mean confussion for the average puller, which is exactly what they want! Aford F350 or a Dodge 3500 or a Chevy will pull any rig out there simple as that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A dual real wheel 2 wheel drive is even better....will outpull a 4WD! Do you need an exaust brake...absolutely NO! Most of them cause more damage to the engine than they help!!!! After market add ons are an absolute bunch of garbage and if you fall prey to them you will be one that says your deisel is garbage when in actuality it is the add on that is. KEEP YOUR ENGINE AS DESIGNED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How much more crap do you want to put on your engine to make it better because someone says it will................?

By the way K&N deisel filters are considered the WORST filters on the market! DO SOME RESEARCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are responsible for many turbo failures!

I agree with almost everything rumaco said other than the 2wd part. Yes a 2wd is rated to pull more weight than a 4wd but I have pulled way too many 2wd trucks off the wet grass.

Not going into any tow vehicle merits other than to encourage you to consider a dually. If you are looking at newer Fords, the dually has a higher towing capacity. Also, we've found our rig to be super stable.

We also recently purchased a new 3690SL, as well, and love it. Best floor plan ever!

Now here's a Tow Vehicle for you.
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/09/17/ram-building-business-case-for-long-hauler-concept/

WilmanJim said:

Now here's a Tow Vehicle for you.
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/09/17/ram-building-business-case-for-long-hauler-concept/

Click to expand...

I've been asking Ram for the last two years for this truck. I can only imagine what it will cost. Now that it's nearly here, my app sales need to pick up a lot to afford one.

I agree with Jon, I've pulled a few off wet grass, and muddy campsites.
I love my FX4 F-350.

Hockster

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jnbhobe said:

Fords short bed is 3ins longer than chevys. there are a lot of hitches available with hidden rails.

Click to expand...

I have the ford shorted with a husky 24k slider hitch crew cab and I pull a cyclone and have not had to use the slider once it turns like a dream with 6 in left between the cab and front cap I love this truck I'm sure the other big two love theirs also ...

rumaco said:

I have said this a thosands times on this site and will ONCE MORE! DW_GRAY is correct in many areas but soooooo far of in others! This TV is the most confusing for most and the most worrysome for others. DO NOT let a salesman for your 5er tell you what to pull with, it normally is the wrong setup. Gross Vehicle weights and Combined Gross Vehicle weights and a hundred other terms really mean confussion for the average puller, which is exactly what they want! Aford F350 or a Dodge 3500 or a Chevy will pull any rig out there simple as that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A dual real wheel 2 wheel drive is even better....will outpull a 4WD! Do you need an exaust brake...absolutely NO! Most of them cause more damage to the engine than they help!!!! After market add ons are an absolute bunch of garbage and if you fall prey to them you will be one that says your deisel is garbage when in actuality it is the add on that is. KEEP YOUR ENGINE AS DESIGNED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How much more crap do you want to put on your engine to make it better because someone says it will................?

Click to expand...

I agree 100%

Why do I need a 7800 lbs truck to haul 2200Lbs payload. I could do that with my previous 3200 lbs 1/4 ton Ranger. Why can I safely pull a 15K trailer for 3 years without overheating. Why do we have to spend $70K for a truck that barely last over 100K miles.

The old days we loaded them like bears and they lasted over 400K and hardly needed maintenance.

I still say that our trucks have the potetial if we drive them right and do the proper modifications to make them working trucks that we can use everyday and not feel we overload them.

My 6.5L GM hauled 13000 lbs trailer for 9 years while rated for 8600 Lbs and due to modified exhaust and intake never overheater and gave me 200K miles of excellent service.

My Ford Ranger while rated to tow 3500Lbs trailer with Standard transmission towed a 5600 Lbs 5th wheel for 3 years and cost me $1500 in depreciation cost. After I streched the exaust manifold studs on the first trip I installed a proper exhaust and for 3 years was trouble free driving and towing.

My naturaly aspired 6.2 L GM diesel that was suppose to be a cash cow for GM dealers towed a trailer for 3 years with great fuel mileage while power was gained by the use of K & N air filter and an greatly improved exhaust. Again this truck gave great service after the modification that both protected the truck while increasing speeds in the hills while towing.

Hi Heartlanders,

When reading the recent posts I guess that when an F350 is reffered to it probably means a recent (2005 and above) model. Please advise me, I want to pull a 38 foot River Canyon with a low miles 2003 F350 7.3 DRW. The stated GVWR figures don't stack up. In your collective experience can I do it?

All advice much appreciated

Shipscook said:

Hi Heartlanders,

When reading the recent posts I guess that when an F350 is reffered to it probably means a recent (2005 and above) model. Please advise me, I want to pull a 38 foot River Canyon with a low miles 2003 F350 7.3 DRW. The stated GVWR figures don't stack up. In your collective experience can I do it?

All advice much appreciated

Click to expand...

Hi Shipscook,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum. You'll find a lot of useful information here along with a great bunch of people who are willing to share their knowledge and experience.

Since most of the people who frequently use this site are Heartland owners, I'm not sure if anyone familiar with a River Canyon RV will see this post. However, I can give you some general help.

There are 2 things to look at: the load when pulling forward, and the vertical load on the hitch/rear axle of the truck. So if a 38' River Canyon has a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of 16,000 lbs, to pull forward, you'd want a tow vehicle with that much capability. The truck manufacturers sometimes give 2 towing capacity numbers: one for conventional trailer hitch towing, and another for 5th wheel towing. Most of the newer 1 ton trucks (Ford F350 Diesel, GMC 3500 Diesel, Dodge 3500 Diesel) will have a towing capacity somewhere in the 16,000 neighborhood. Older trucks the numbers will be less. As to vertical load, this can vary quite a bit. In general, you can plan that pin weight for a 5th wheel will be around 20% of the trailer's GVWR. For a 16,000# trailer, that would be around 3200 lbs. Most of the newer Ford and GMC single rear wheel (SRW) models will have payload capacity to support that pin weight, plus hitch weight, passengers, tools, bed liner, etc. On Dodge, you might have to look at Dual Rear Wheel models (DRW) to get enough payload capacity.

In order to really answer your question, you'll need to find out the GVWR of the trailer, and the 5th wheel towing capacity and payload capacity of the truck you're considering.

One of our Heartland owners has developed a website to help with this question. You ought to visit Fifth Wheel Safe Towing.