A little nervous

[ihsolutions]

I think you'll be in good shape. I'm towing a 3670RL with a 2500HD pickup, and I'm about 250lbs over the GVWR of the truck (when loaded for a 2 week trip) but well under all other ratings (rear axle and GCWR).

I did have some sag which I mitigated with Ride-rite airbags and it tows great. The published pin weight on my rig is 350lbs or so below your 3585, but you've got a lot more payload capacity. Heartland's "dry" pin weights are pretty much right on the money unless you add options like 2nd A/C or genset. I made them weigh mine before it left the factory while I was present because I was nervous after reading RV.net weight police tell me that pin weight would be 1000lbs more than published dry weight...which it was not.

 

[lwmcguir]

Just the standard LT275/65SR18,0 FN T/S

That is a good combination that is stocked well in our area. The 20's are still rare here.

 

[lwmcguir]

There is a lot of discussions on the payload of the Fords F250 and F350 and I did some searching on the mather. I own a Ford 2005 F250 and realized that the SRW F250 and F350 are actually Identical trucks with 2" of lift and tire size differential. I read that the F350 was rated higher because the 2" of lift in the back allowed it to ride higher when loaded. For myself I have 2 extra long spring leaf that adds minimum 1500 Lbs to the spring carrying capacity. The Camper Suspension on my truck, or helper spring is for stability and does not increase the carrying capacity of the springs. The larger tires will increase the capacity of the tires but limited to the rear end capacity.

For the most part you are correct. The F350 comes with the overload spring which allows more payload without the rear end sag we get with the F250's. You have the option of ordering the 11,500 GVWR package as well.

 

[funntheson]

View attachment 010711Truck and Trailer Weight Report (Simple) v1.0.pdf

Well, here are the results from the scale. There were 4 adults in the truck, about 350# in the front seat, and about 300# in the back seat.

Were are close to our limits in a couple areas, but are quite a bit over on rear axle and truck GVWR.

Please advise on what I can do to improve these numbers. I would even consider converting to DRW, but how much would that cost? I would have to pay to have that done, as I am not much of an auto tech.

 

[wyleyrabbit]

Larry,

I think you'll be disappointed to learn that there is virtually nothing that you can do to your truck that will legally change the weight limits as outlined on the placard on your truck. Airbags (and similar), converting the truck to a dually, upgrading tires, upgrading springs, etc. doesn't generally allow you to legally tow heavier trailers.

At the risk of being accused of being a part of the fictitious "weight police", some here may tell you that they "pull a heavier trailer than yours with an F-250 (or 2500HD), and pulls just fine". That doesn't mean that they're legal to do so, and aside from a very nasty ticket (depending on the state or province you're in when you get nailed) it's also possible you may invalidate your insurance by exceeding the limits on your tow vehicle.

IMHO, you might be better to go to your Ford dealer, bite the bullet and move up to a 2011 F350 DRW truck.

Good luck.

Chris

 

[wyleyrabbit]

Larry,

Might want to read this thread:
//heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/9561-RCMP-checking-truck-weight-ratings

Cheers,
Chris

 

[lwmcguir]

View attachment 11551

Well, here are the results from the scale. There were 4 adults in the truck, about 350# in the front seat, and about 300# in the back seat.

Were are close to our limits in a couple areas, but are quite a bit over on rear axle and truck GVWR.

Please advise on what I can do to improve these numbers. I would even consider converting to DRW, but how much would that cost? I would have to pay to have that done, as I am not much of an auto tech.

Contrary to a couple of posters, you have found what the rest of us did, the pin weight is much higher than anticipated. We reduced our load in the coach, tool box in the pickup and so on until we were legal.

We did opt for the 20 inch tires/wheels on our F350 SRW to get around the heavy pin. We can now scale the Augusta legally by watching what we stick into the storage area.

 

[Dave012]

I also got advice on my weights on this thread: //heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/16295-F-350-gvwr?highlight=

Based on the advice in that thread I moved some items from the front of the trailer to the back which reduced the GVWR. In your case you can do the same to reduce the weight on the rear truck axle and GVWR.

Personally, I wouldn't get a new truck. You have a sweet ride, and it should handle your unit just fine with a bit of rebalancing.

 

[letourno]

GOOD NEWS!!!
I asked Ford (sales & Marketing) to clarify the ambiguity on their web site with regards to Payload Capacity (the brochure and the web site show different numbers). The configuration that I ordered is F-350, Crew Cab, short box, SRW,Diesel. Following is the answer I received today:
The GVWR and payload capacities vary on every make and model depending on the options and packages included on the vehicle. The standard 2011 F-350 Crew Cab SRW with 156.2 wheel base, 6.7L Automatic and GVWR of 11,000 has a payload rating of 4430 lbs.

 

[HappyKayakers]

View attachment 11551

Well, here are the results from the scale. There were 4 adults in the truck, about 350# in the front seat, and about 300# in the back seat.

Were are close to our limits in a couple areas, but are quite a bit over on rear axle and truck GVWR.

Please advise on what I can do to improve these numbers. I would even consider converting to DRW, but how much would that cost? I would have to pay to have that done, as I am not much of an auto tech.

Was the trailer also loaded for a normal trip? If not, I would definitely be concerned about weights.

 

[rustyshakelford]

down here in texas, i dont think they will bother you unless you gross greater than 26,001 lbs. then you would need to have a commercial DL. I do think there is an exception for RV's though. I think you are so close to the guidelines you would be fine. I personally wouldnt invest the money in a dually conversion unless you had some issues with control (excessive sway). If you are worried about the legalities, check your local tag/tax office. you should be able to register your truck for a higher weight by just paying more registration fees (texas for sure)

good luck and enjoy

brett

 

[GOTTOYS]

Nobody really cares about what you can "legally" haul. If you can beef your truck up to the same as a one-ton dually there's nothing stopping you. Nobody has yet been required to run over a scale or had the GVWR placard on the truck checked that I am aware of. Not saying this is what you should do or not. You will have to be the judge of that. If your State has weight specific license plates just make sure you have it plated high enough to haul the load. Hot-shot haulers do it all the time. JMHO..Don

 

[caissiel]

I live in NB Canada and my truck is licenced for 12000 Lbs and the door shows 10000 lbs. We are licenced for the capacity of the axles and not what the door says. All Trucks here are licenced the same.

I had my experience with the provicial Insurance program in Manitoba and I was very glade to return in NB to save on the truck insurance coverage. Here in my province I was assured that the laws were not going to change before I bought the larger trailer.

I figure that the laws are created to take the RV trailers off the road to advantage the Motorhomes. Ontario is going through the same problem.

Resident should not let the motorhome owners push them around.

 

[floridarandy]

I don't think you'll have any problem with your truck. To be sure, tow your rig to a scale. Below is an Excel file, Truck and Trailer Weight Report (Simple) v1.0, that will help you figure out the numbers. Ratings are one thing, real numbers is what you want to see.

Funntheson -

I'm glad you took advantage of Dave's (DW_Gray) spreadsheet and did the numbers. See mine below.

Remember, the F350 has the same engine as the F450 and F550 so "pulling power" won't be the issue. From my own study of the matter its also likely that your GCVWR (truck and rig) total weight will be OK. And, in my case see //heartlandowners.org/showthread.ph...2900MK-Weights?p=153372&highlight=#post153372, you may also be OK on front axle and rear axle weights. The likely overweight will be the total weight carried by your truck....its GVWR. I, like you, was surprised how little weight capacity was left on my truck after taking into consideration the hitch, spray in bed liner, gear, fuel and passengers.

I'll be playing with reducing unnecessary carried weight in the trailer and moving heavy things to the rear of the coach for transit. Most of the heavy things come out when we're camping anyway (ice maker, tool box, compressor, etc).

Since you may be OK on axle weight what exactly does this GVWR overage mean? My take is that the greatest "risk" is stopping. Our truck's suspension and brakes are designed to carry and stop a design weight. If they publish the GVWR it seems safe to assume there's a safety factor built in but for me, at least, I use the 1000 lbs I'm over in GVWR to add to my separation from vehicles around me on the road. It helps me realize that I may not stop as fast as "designed". As for suspension you'll tell a lot from looking at your rig. As long as you're not drooping in the rear you may not be concerned. Although they DO NOT add to your weight carrying capacity there are helper springs see http://www.supersprings.com/ that can help level out the load.

At the end of the day I urge you to DO THE NUMBERS. Know the facts. You'll quickly see that there are many big rigs here and elsewhere on the net that are being pulled by half ton trucks...the only real issue is how much overweight they are.

If I had it to do over again I'd have bought your truck...the SRW F350. And when I do buy a different truck it may be an F450 or F550....just to increase the weight margin so I can look at the really big rigs .

 

[caissiel]

The GVW has everything to do with the heat and cooling capacity of the powertrain. The braking is covered by the trailer brakes. The larger F450 and F550 power is derated and will pull larger load without heating up. The rearends are also bigger to handle the extra loads with increased Ratio. Now I read that the F450 has no more advantage over the F350 after adding all the weights involved. Now the F550 has the main advantage.

 

[funntheson]

My test weights were run using simulated packing for a trip. We overdid the amount of weight that we had in the front of the trailer.

I have also upgraded my tires from 3195# load capacity each, to 3750# each.

We feel a lot more comfortable now, but appreciate and will continue to read suggestions.