Anyone pulling a Bighorn with a 3/4 ton?

[MagellanTX]

There are a lot of helpful people in this forum, I didn't expect so many replies and I appreciate it.

I've spent the last two days talking with a Ford dealer but nothing really productive came of it.

I did, however, decide that a 450 is no longer an option. In Texas, I'll fall under the commercial insurance and was pretty surprised at the rates. I did find a 350 dually that I was thinking of ordering but the dealer just wasn't working hard enough for me to buy it.

 

[Peteandsharon]

I pull the BH 3055 with a 2008 F250. It is, of course, SRW. I added Hellwig helper springs to it so it now has as strong as or probably stronger springs than the F350 SRW. It pulls and stops just fine. Having said that, I doubt that I would pull anything heavier than the 3055 with a single rear wheel configuration. I think I've pushed that envelope as far as I would want to. I will say though that there are an awful lot of people that do. Last Thursday I took a 95 mile trip down I75 from Findlay, OH to Dayton. I was stunned at the number of trucks pulling fivers of all kinds that were heading north on I75. Not sure what the occasion was but I was surprised at the sheer number of trailers going north. I was also very surprised at the number of SRW trucks pulling these fivers. I would bet that easily 75% of the trucks were SRW regardless of the size of fiver. A surprising revelation.

 

[Theresau]

We pull a 2010 BH 3410RE with a 2007 Chevy Duramax 3/4 ton. Our BH's GVWR is 14500. Factory pin weight was 1790. Joe installed air bags in the truck but hasn't had to air them up much - about 10 lbs. No issue with this combination. We have a new Big Country on order - will have more pin weight but we purposely kept factory weights in mind before ordering. However, truck has no problem towing our current Bighorn at all and we feel pretty sure we are within the truck guidelines on overall weight.

 

[Peteandsharon]

I thought it was interesting that the recent Trailer Life magazine featured a Heartland fifth wheel being pulled by a SRW F350. Seems they are not too worried about it for what that is worth.

 

[TravelTiger]

I thought it was interesting that the recent Trailer Life magazine featured a Heartland fifth wheel being pulled by a SRW F350. Seems they are not too worried about it for what that is worth.

The Gateway has a GVWR of 14k, much lighter than the Bighorns, Landmarks, Big Countrys and Cyclones.


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[Peteandsharon]

I believe the Gateway's pin weight is somewhere around 2300 pounds which makes it heavier than my BH 3055.

 

[GOTTOYS]

The Gateway has a GVWR of 14k, much lighter than the Bighorns, Landmarks, Big Countrys and Cyclones.


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My BC 3250 Has a GVWR of 14,000#. I weighed it in Goshen during the 2011 Rally. With more junk in it than I now carry it still only weighed about 11,800. I've pulled it around 20,000 miles with my sgl rear wheel Dodge. My only concern is that it does wobble slightly in high cross wind situations. I'm talking 30-40 mph winds. I don't feel unsafe when driving in those conditions it's just a little more tiring. If I was to do it again I would get something with DRWs but I have no problem at all pulling it with what I have...Don

 

[cindy7096]

Hi Everyone. We are going through the same type of analysis as this thread is talking about. We have our sights on a little smaller 5th Wheel Big Horn or BC. Husband likes the 3055 or something no larger than 35 feet total which is a challenge in itself. We have a TT 2010 North Trail 26 footer now with our RAM1500 4x4. We bought the truck and maxed out our towing with the 26ft light weight. We are trying to figure out if the 2013 Ford 250 Lariat 4x4 Crew would have enough payload. Any thoughts. We don't want to buy a new truck and have to sell it in a couple years because of weight issues. My husband said we should just get a freightliner so we don't have to worry (Kidding). We cannot get a douley because of HOA restrictions. Considering ford and Dodge both. F250 might get us by but think we would need to go with the 3500 on the RAM side

 

[danemayer]

Hi Cindy7096,

There are people towing Bighorns with 3/4 ton trucks, but most are probably overloaded on the rear axle. Single rear wheel 3/4 tons typically are going to have a payload of 2,500 or less. A 1 ton Ford or GM will be around 4,000. Of course the actual payload varies a lot based on the configuration.

It's pretty easy to get above 2,500 vertical load with any 5th wheel. Keep in mind that you have to consider weight of passengers, pets, tools, hitch, bed lining, bed cover and anything else that's in the truck.

If you take a look at the pricing, you'll find the difference between a 3/4 ton and 1 ton truck is pretty minimal. Well worth the extra $1-2 thousand.

When you think you know which truck you want, make sure you check the payload spec before making the purchase decision.

You also will find it helpful to visit Fifth Wheel Safe Towing.

 

[scottyb]

I agree with Dan. The difference in a F250/F350 is very small. Maybe even less than he quoted. The footprint is the same and they have the same power train and gear ratios available. I would definitely go with a F350 over a F250 for towing a 5th wheel, if purchasing new.

 

[Eddhuy]

IMO the TV needs to be adequate for the job for optimum safety, it does no good to have a nicer/newer trailer if you are not safe. My FW is 14K GVWR with over 2200 lbs on hitch. I have an F350 PSD SB SRW. I have no problems and feel safe towing. But then there are many with 3/4 ton TV that feel the same way with BH/LM.

 

[jcarnevale]

MagellanTX,

This topic has always been and will always be a very touchy personal subject. There is a lot of misinformation here and on other forums regarding the safe towing of RV's. Some people talk safety, and some people talk numbers. Two entirely different subjects in my opinion. What's good for someone else might not be good for you. Do your homework, as it appears you are. Know and understand your limitations, and be comfortable with them. fifthwheelst.com is a great place to start.

Jay

 

[Theresau]

It depends on the fifth wheel and the configuration of the 3/4 ton TV. There are lighter weight BH's and BC's - we have purposely kept to that footprint - we've never been interested in a 1 ton vehicle. We recognize we "could" pull more as the truck has never been under any duress even going up and down mountains but want to keep within the "legal" limits not only from a safety perspective but because we don't want any more wear and tear than needed. (Reason we haven't even considered a Landmark even though they are beautiful.)

Fifth wheels seem to be going by the way of LCD/LED TV's...they just seem to keep getting bigger (and heavier too). We're thankful that we could find a BC that started with a dry weight of only 10,990 and pin weight of 1970 - however, it turned out that it's official dry weight out of the factory is 11,980 and that was taken without the sofabed and battery so it's over 12k dry.

We plan to get it weighed at the Goshen rally to get a handle on the new pin weight - especially loaded.

We have had the TV weighed fully loaded and feel comfortable that our truck can pull the new BC loaded legally.

I agree with Dan. The difference in a F250/F350 is very small. Maybe even less than he quoted. The footprint is the same and they have the same power train and gear ratios available. I would definitely go with a F350 over a F250 for towing a 5th wheel, if purchasing new.

 

[cindy7096]

Thanks everyone and please keep weighing in. We think we are in the clear on the tow weights. The payload is the concerning part. Not only safety but a pretty big investment (sort of like marriage) and could be a costly mistake (or mismatch) if the weight is boarding on max. Really didn't give the Payload issue enough credit until you really start getting into the specifics (4x4, Diesel, Cab size). Now I get why the tailgate doors come off )

 

[taken]

I'm not sure about Dodge and Chevy, but with Ford I know 100%. From 1999 to 2010 the difference between the 250 and 350 SRW was the height of the spacer block between the rear axle and the springs as well as an overload spring. EVERYTHING else was identical. Brakes, axles, tires, etc. The new gen starting in 2011 also has a few extra splines in the axles and they are a slightly larger diameter. With either generation, the price difference was $800. All this being said, if one was to upgrade, going to DRW is the only real way to go. Going from a 250 SRW to a 350 SRW just doesn't justify the loss when you trade.

 

[JohnDar]

Using the factory pin and dry weights may get you in trouble. My dry weight was 12115 (catalog said 11820) and the pin was 2065. RVSEF weighing resulted in a loaded weight of 14525 and a pin of 2950. 3500 GMC dually for me. Just enough isn't good enough.

 

[ronefx]

We have a 2012 f250 with airbags & own a BH 3010RE. I know it is a smaller Big Horn, but I am very comfortable & don't feel unsafe at all when traveling. I like the smoother ride of SRW vs DRW trucks, plus its easier when it comes to parking & finding places to get it washed when we are not towing with it.

 

[MTPockets]

Sounds like it's all been said, but my two cents is this: Regardless of how you "feel" about it, it's physics. If your truck door post is labeled for a maximum payload of 'X' ... say 3400 lbs., or whatever, then that's all you should pile on. Misinformation, opinions, feelings, guestimates, etc... won't change the fact.

 

[Mrsfish]

We have a 2012 f250 with airbags & own a BH 3010RE. I know it is a smaller Big Horn, but I am very comfortable & don't feel unsafe at all when traveling. I like the smoother ride of SRW vs DRW trucks, plus its easier when it comes to parking & finding places to get it washed when we are not towing with it.

It has a lot to do with what year f250 you're talking about. We HAD a 2004 f250 CC LB 4x4 and we also were buying a 3010re --- our weights were so far off it wasn't funny. There is a notation in small print n the specs for that year truck that refers to added options to be considered when figuring out towing capabilities. After you add the weight of the Diesel engine and the crew cab we had the capacity of around 10,000 pounds. I know lots of people do it and I'm not passing judgement. Our truck had bags and a programmer. It wasn't "can we" it was "should we"? All of the people and 4 legged friends I adore are in my truck when we travel. I opted for safety over price and now own a f350 with plenty of factory towing capacity. My point is that a 2012 f250 has a lot more towing capacity than a 2004 f250 because of engineering design. Good lick on your decision and happy trails. Hope you love your 3010re as much as we do - its frigging awesome!!

 

[ronefx]

The Maximum Loaded 5th Wheel Trailer Weight Rating for our F250 is 15,200# a F350 SRW is 15,600#, so not much difference. Our trailer shows to weigh 11,043# from the factory with a max weight of 14,000#,so I believe we are well in our limits. Believe me as a former truck driver with plenty of heavy haul experience, if I felt we were unsafe, we would go a different route with the tow vehicle. We may be limited in what trailers we can haul in the future but for now we are happy with the 3010RE.