pin weight

[scrnt]

How do you come up with true pin weight. I am looking at the cougar 322qbs. Says around 1500lbs. My truck is an 02 F 250 7.3 liter diesel. Payload of around 2500lbs. I am new to 5th wheels, and am a little confused with this. Have talked to some and they say I am good to go. Others say I may want to consider a f350. I will have a wife and 2 kids along with my self that I want to keep safe. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[f6bits]

True pin weight can only be found by taking the truck and trailer to a scale. Weigh the truck by itself, then hitch up the trailer and weigh the truck again (with the trailer wheels off the scale).

Or you can ask a 322 owner who’s already weighed theirs when packed for a trip.

Back to the issue…if the pin weight is accurate, which is probably isn’t, that leaves you 1000 lbs of payload. A fifth wheel hitch in the bed is at least 150 lbs, so you’re down to 750 free. A family with two teenagers is going to be pretty close to that.

Now you have next to nothing left for your payload. Add in the *real* pin weight overage, plus 20% of whatever your load into your trailer, and you’re probably over.

[JRTJH]

Pin weight should be (emphasis on should) between 15 and 25% of the trailer weight. Since you don't know what the trailer will weigh loaded for a trip with your family, you can use the GVW as the extreme situation.

15% of 12,000 lbs is 1800 lbs, the lightest your pin weight should be and
25% of 12,000 lbs is 3000 lbs, the heaviest your pin weight should be.

Those may be "extreme" high and low, but you'll find your proposed RV somewhere between those numbers.

My guess would be you'll probably find you load about 1000 lbs of cargo by the time you get several trips under your belt and then probably another 400 in water if you're going to dry camp. That means you'll be pulling somewhere around 11,000 lbs.

15% of 11,000 lbs is 1650 lbs, the lightest your pin will probably weigh and
25% of 11,000 lbs is 2750 lbs. the heaviest your pin will probably weigh.

As you can see, by the time you take your 2500 lb payload, subtract 150 lbs for the hitch, you have 2350 left. Add your DW and two kids at 100 lbs each and you're around 350 lbs heavier, leaving 2000 lbs for all your cargo and pin weight.

If you put anything in your truck bed (firewood, generator, gasoline, etc) you'll subtract from your potential pin weight capacity.

So, realistically, you're looking at about 150 lbs of added cargo in the truck making your max pin weight about 1800 lbs. Is it doable? yes, it is, but you'll be very hard pressed to maintain your low end pin weight unless you carefully load your RV and remain consistently aware of how you're loading and towing your rig.

[smiller]

You pretty much have to get weighed to know the real answer, otherwise you will have to rely on bleak worst-case rules of thumb. FWIW my unit (a 325SRX) is very similar to the 322QBS in terms of length, empty weight, and pin weight (actually the 325SRX has a higher published pin weight.) That doesn't mean they will transfer weight the same so your situation will certainly vary, but just FWIW my rear axle weight when fully loaded in full-time mode with full propane, full fuel in the truck along with a large toolbox with generator, etc. (and obviously including the hitch) and two of us on board is still 500 lbs. under the maximum gross axle rating on a Dodge 2500 diesel.

[therink]

I have a very similar 5er, 329fbh Sydney Gvwr 11,800. My pin weight loaded and scaled is around 2000lbs. I was over Gvwr on my old 08 Silverado 2500hd. I now have a 1 ton srw and am,well within its limits.
You should consider more truck.
Steve

[Murray0512]

You also to watch your tire rating for their max load or you will spend on tires

[Cool Canuck]

Originally Posted by scrnt

How do you come up with true pin weight. I am looking at the cougar 322qbs. Says around 1500lbs. My truck is an 02 F 250 7.3 liter diesel. Payload of around 2500lbs. I am new to 5th wheels, and am a little confused with this. Have talked to some and they say I am good to go. Others say I may want to consider a f350. I will have a wife and 2 kids along with my self that I want to keep safe. Any help is greatly appreciated.

The only way to know what you have and what you are dealing with it to get the truck loaded as you would to travel - full fuel, wife, kids, dog and the 50 or so lbs of stuff. Find a weigh scale and get the actual weight. The difference between that weight and the GVWR number on your door sticker is your payload.

Having said that: The only real difference between your 2002 F250 and a 2002 F350 is the sticker on the door, the badge on the side and a 4" block on the rear spring. For all intents and purpose, the trucks have identical suspension and brakes. Ford built one truck and marketed two.

Your F250 sticker says GVWR 8800 lbs. The F350 says GVWR 9900lbs. My '01 F250 weighed 7400 ready to go. My Jayco that had a 1400 lb pin which brought the truck up to 8800 lbs or the listed GVWR.

I upgraded to an Everest which had a 2500 lb pin. That brought the truck up to 9900 lbs. Because this was within the F350 GVWR and knowing the suspensions were the same, I never felt safety was an issue. The truck handled the trailer just fine. In fact, the Everst pulls much better than the Jayco.

The only way to know what you have for weights is to hit the scales. My Everest propaganda said 1900 lbs for pin weight. It weighs 25% more and that is not because of all the junk in the basement.