# towing capacity



## bailey1 (Aug 9, 2011)

hi folks-- I am new to the forum, so I hope my question isn't too silly. My wife and I currently have a 2011 denali 265rl travel trailer, but are thinking about moving up to a fifth wheel. My question is--How much weight could I pull with my 2009 Ford F250 crew cab with the 5.4l engine and I believe 373 gears, definitely not 4:11's. Any info would be helpful. thanks


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## bobrussell (Jul 13, 2009)

go here and download the Trailerlife towing guide:http://www.trailerlife.com/Towing-Guide/2009-Towing-Guide/
best place i know to get the info, it's PDF format.


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## artmart (Sep 21, 2010)

You also need to know 4x2 or 4x4, transmission type and what cab type (crew, super, regular)?... just a glance at the ratings is that you can tow about a 10,000 lb trailer. But the problem is you need to know how much your truck weighs, what it can carry per axle and what the combined rating will be and whatever weight is leftover for the trailer and cargo.

Don't expect to tow a big 5th wheel. The biggest problem area for an F-250 gasser is the rear axle and the 20% of the GTWR that the truck will be carrying!

This is NOT a silly question at all. It could be the difference between successfully towing and having a serious accident. It is estimated about 40% of all rigs are OVERWEIGHT! The first part of you solving this is knowing how to understand the ratings everywhere and how they interrelate. If ANY rating is OVER then your rig combination is OVERWEIGHT!


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## PhilnJill (Aug 3, 2011)

artmart hit the nail on the head. find your weight capacities of your specific truck before buying a 5th wheel and the weight and capacity of the 5th wheel itself. 

you can find all the information on your truck in your owners manual.


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## dogbone (Sep 22, 2009)

I found these spec's on a Ford website for a 2010 F250 with you engine and rear.
4x2 4x4
Curb weight: 6,308 lbs. 6,727 lbs.
empty weight

Max Payload: 3,220 lbs. 3,000 lbs.

Max towing cap: 16,900 lbs.

Hope this helps. You didn't say if your truck was a 4x4. The site didn't have how much weight you could put on the rear axle. The max towing looks a bit high to me, but that's what they had up there.

Bob


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## artmart (Sep 21, 2010)

It's not wise to use a different year for comparison especially a newer year since trucks are upgraded every year, it seems. And reading a posted curb weight is not accurate either since there are so many things that can change this including hitch weight. The only way to know this is to get to a scale with all the fluids topped off, everything you keep or attach to the truck and have it weighed. Then you'll know how much you have left over.

I weighed my 2006 Ford F-250 and with just fluids and me in the truck the curb weight is over 8,000 lbs. Not even CLOSE to any documented curb weight, but then I have a lot of mods (6.0PSD, spray on bed liner, bed cover, F-350 spring set, air bags, tools, & other hardware of all kinds). Then when I load up the gear, passengers and the hitch ready to tow, it jumps to over 8,400 lbs. This takes away from payload and what I can tow. Even though my truck can tow 15.300 lbs according to the book, I must tow less than that because the Combined rating would be exceeded with a trailer that heavy.

The 2009 ratings are NOT what is shown by what dogbone posted (I think the max tow he states is for a higher differential and dually) and also since they are the 2010 ratings. Bobrussell's post has the information you need with the options such as 4x?, bed size, cab size, differential and number of tires.

If you have trouble reading the link from bobrussell, let me know and I'll cut and paste it out for you and only with the information for the statistics you posted (F250, crew cab, 3.73 diff, 5.4L gas engine). Then these ratings are impacted by the actual weight of your truck and how the loads are distributed.


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## dogbone (Sep 22, 2009)

Sorry,I stated the year of the spec's I put up. They were to be used as an example/information purposes only, not etched in stone. I was in a rush and couldn't find 2009 on the website. They had all the years around it. Most times they don't change much year to year, but as you stated, Art, they do change a bit. The OP should have the info, on his truck, in the manual or on the door jam plate.
I should not have even stated the curb weight, as it means nothing. It is the weight of a basic/stock truck as it comes off the assembly line. All rest of the options add to the weight, tow package, bucket seats( bench seats are lighter ), heavy duty alternator, well you get the picture. The only way to know for sure, about the weight of the truck, is to scale it with all your stuff in it. Hitch, spray in liner, gas, people. Again you get the picture. This all comes off your gross/max vehicle weight or how much your payload will be. If your truck weighs 8,500 lbs. and your gross/ max weight for your truck is 10,000 lbs you can put 1,500 lbs in the truck total.
What the OP may or may not know is that the pin weight is added to the weight of the truck, along with everything else he or she puts in it. If the trucks gross weight is 9,500 lbs, you not supposed to go over that. The pin weight can be 1,500lbs more or less, depending on the trailer. Don't go by the spec's in the trailers book. I have yet to see a pin weight accurate. It will be off, because of the options put in the trailer. It will probably be higher. Use it as a guide. The way you load the 5 ver will effect the pin weight. The more you load, in front of the axles, will add to the pin weight. Where his TT tongue weight would be 500 or so lbs, added to the trucks weight.
Remember, just like your TT, everything you put in the 5ver will add weight to the trailer and the pin weight(which will go onto the truck). It's not as critical in a TT, because of the weight distributing hitch and the location of the axles, about the middle of the trailer. The 5ver's axles are off set towards the rear.
The towing capacity is probably pretty close, 16,000 lbs. Art, as you stated spec's change from year to year and to go up a few 100 lbs seems reasonable. Your 2006, by the book, can tow up to 15,300lbs. Ford has been raising their capacities for a few years now. Ford doesn't make a F 250 dually, it wasn't in the spec's either. The 3.73 rears where stock then. 4.10 rears, might have been an option, which is a lower rear not a higher one. The higher the numbers the lower the rear. It's a ratio thing. Back in my drag racing day's, I had 4.50 and 5.13's in my 59' Vette. I wish I still had her, but.
Hopefully the OP knows that if he or she gets a trailer that max's out the towing capacity or pin weight of the truck, as soon as they put a toaster in the trailer it will be overloaded.
Sorry about the long winded post. Happy camping everyone.

Bob


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## artmart (Sep 21, 2010)

Right on Dogbone. Thanks for posting the clarification. I just wanted to make sure the OP compared apples to apples and oranges to oranges. All your other points are right on too.

Since you touched on it, a RESIDENTIAL fifth wheel carries from 18% to 25% of its gross weight on the pin. This tends to confuse people that if the Gross weight is 15,500 for example, then why are there only 14,000 lb axles (two at 7.000 lbs each)? This is because a fifth wheel will have the remaining weight on the landing gear near the hitch pin, or on the pin itself which is carried by the tow vehicle and NOT on the axles, tires and wheels. Like dogbone mentions, all this pin weight including all the stuff in the truck bed is carried by the rear axle and this is where 3/4 ton trucks become overweight. Even the pad and pencil you keep to log what you're doing adds weight!

Other fifth wheel types, like horse trailers or utility trailers carry about 15% or more on the pin. Residential trailers have more height and load at the pin which is why as much as 25% can occur. Most of the large storage areas are at the front of residential trailers in front of the axles and this can increase the pin weight a lot.

I hope all these posts help the OP gain the precautions and concerns about weighing down any tow vehicle.

It humors me so many times when some manufacturer tries to show how tough their vehicles are by towing trains, sleds, construction tractors and other incredibly heavy weight items. Have you noticed that none of these are towed at high rate of speeds and for very long or for very far? This is a big difference than trying to tow within weight ratings, a trailer for 3,000 miles, across country, with your loved ones and their belongings in tow. Then there are road and weather conditions all pounding the rig at the same time and for hours and days as you venture forth. Keep this in mind, please.

The ratings are there for a reason and for the long run!


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## bailey1 (Aug 9, 2011)

thanks everybody for all the info. There is more to consider than I thought. There is a lot to be considered, especially safety as was pointed out. It takes longer to heal. now that I am 60. Again, thank you for the help. I will let you know how I make out. Happy camping


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