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Old 10-15-2013, 05:33 AM   #1
theasphaltrv'er
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Yá'át'ééh;
I want to throw this out to the Owners of 150/1500's that are towing 1/2 ton 5er's. We have a 13' F-150 XLT Ecoboost HD 157", 8200 GVWR TV and now tow an 07' 294RLS Cougar TT (fantastic setup). DW wants to upgrade to a newer but shorter, same floor plan RV (1/2 ton TT or possibly a 1/2 ton 5er). What I'm looking for is the real life experiences, not what you think about towing a 1/2 ton 5er with a 1/2 ton. Would like to know your weights of both. I know we can tow the 1/2 ton TT but have some concerns about pin weights of the 1/2 ton 5er's being to much. Truck ready to tow is FAW 3555 & RAW of 3275 & VW of 6830#.

Milo

Thank you
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Old 10-23-2013, 03:25 AM   #2
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Wow! I can't believe it. There is not one person on here towing a 5th wheel with a 1/2 ton truck whether it be a 1500 or a 150.
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Old 10-23-2013, 03:37 AM   #3
Bob Landry
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Old 10-23-2013, 06:32 AM   #4
Trent McCain
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What's interesting is your unloaded weights Our '09 F350 4x4 SRW weighs 8,700 / 11,400 GVW full of fuel. Steer axle is 5,220 / 6,000 rating, drive axle is 3,480 / 7,000 rating. We pulled our first 5th wheel on acouple short weekend trips < 60 miles to the lake with a '08 F150 4x4. It became apparent quickly, that we probably wanted to travel more, and the F150 wasn't the best choice long term. I hated to let the F1 go as I ordered it new and it had 16K on it in 2011 when we traded it. We purchased the F350 with 39K and are glad we did. It'll handle any trailer we'd ever want to pull.

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Old 10-23-2013, 07:47 AM   #5
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I bought a 2010 F150 FX4 with a GVW of 7700 lbs to tow our 2010 Springdale 242 fifth wheel. Shipping weight was 6800 lbs, tongue weight 1100 lbs. Trailer GVW was 8100 lbs. It's about the lightest fifth wheel in the Keystone line. We were constantly looking at ways to cut weight, things "NOT" to take, we bought all plastic leveling blocks to replace the wooden ones, plastic chocks, many times we made the conscious decision whether to take extra food or firewood since we knew we couldn't take both. One or the other we'd have to buy after we got set up and made another trip to get what we left.

Is it "do-able" ? Yes, is it difficult? Yes Would we do it again? NO WAY !!!

When we were looking to trade up, we looked at the Cougar XLite series. The one we decided to buy is the 27RKS. Empty weight is 7200, pin weight 1120, GVW 10,000 lbs. It's advertised as a "half ton towable" In actuality, loaded for our first trip, the tongue weight was over 1800 lbs. The payload on our F150 was 1900 lbs.

If you do even the "casual" math, you'll see it's not feasible in our situation. There have been members who have 3/4 ton trucks and have commented that their XLite pin weight is at or over their payload. So, even with some of the "half ton towables" a 3/4 ton truck isn't big enough.

Do your math carefully, figure on 25% pin weight (usually max) and figure from the trailer GVW. that way you'll have calculated "worst case"

Sure you can calculate "best case" at 15% of shipping weight and "promise never to load more than 500 lbs of cargo" and make almost any truck work. In fact, you can load all your cargo behind the trailer axles and get the pin weight low enough to tow it with a Ranger.... But can you really put that "creative math" into "reality towing" ????

In my case, we bought an F250 to tow our "half ton towable" and I'm glad we did. We can tow without having to leave things at home that we'd normally want to have on the trip. We no longer have to plan and load every trip with the red pencil marking off things we can't take. It's nice to be able to load and go and know we're within the payload of the truck AND trailer.

Now, if you think I'm against towing with the F150, look back through my previous posts, I'm probably one of the biggest supporters of F150's and fifth wheels.... BUT ONLY WHEN THE MATH WORKS !!! With the "half ton towables" of today, it really takes looking only at the two smallest Cougar XLites to even come close with almost all F150's. Sure you have an F150 HD with 8200 lb GVW, But you're going to be at your payload limit almost every trip and you'll have little or no reserve, so that's not a good option. If you were going to do that, I'd recommend a 3/4 ton since you'd get much more versatility.
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Old 10-23-2013, 09:39 AM   #6
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Comes down to payload vs pin weight I would say.
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Old 10-23-2013, 12:28 PM   #7
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I have a 2013 f 150 rated to tow at 11,300 lbs. I ordered it from factory. V6 with ecoboost. I have a 2004 cougar fifth wheel that weights 8100 gvw. I can tow it at any speed up hills in Michigan. With no problem. Lots of power. Good luck. I love my truck. I have a crew cab as well. Mine is 2 wheel drive with 373 rearend. Contact me if u want more info. Oh my trailer is 30 ft long. Thanks.


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Old 10-23-2013, 07:26 PM   #8
BobnLee
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1/2 ton towing

I have the Cougar 26SAB xlite 5th wheel. Had a 2011 Ford F150 5.4 tow package but 3:55? rear end. Took it to Florida first year. Couldnt use cruise because it wanted to stay in 5th gear all the time. Worked pretty hard going up the hills in Tennessee . The next year we went to Maine and hit the bigger hills there. We got back and dealt the truck. Loved the truck just not enough truck in our opinion. 2012 Ford F250 diesel 6.7 now pulls it and we throw it on cruise all the way to Florida. Got to be careful even going up hills that Im not speeding. Dont even know the trailer is there most times. Gives us the option of getting a bigger trailer if we wanted. I think the 1/2 tons are maxing out pulling these kind of weights regardless what the sales people want to tell you. Stopping is a little easier with the 3/4 as well.
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Old 10-28-2013, 12:58 PM   #9
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I have a Ram 1500 5.7L 3.92. Payload capacity 1400, tow limit 10,000. I specifically got a B&W turnover ball hitch to minimize the additional weight that put in the bed. I just drove 1200 miles bringing my 275SBH Laredo from MI to CO. Payload on the Laredo is 1195, weight was about 7000. I am currently trying to decide if my truck is really enough to handle this camper in the Mountains of CO. I am trying to get an idea from people that have towed near/at/above capacities and what that "feels" like and sounds like with the truck. My brain (and math) tell me I'm ok and being paranoid. My gut tells me I messed up and need to cut my losses and upgrade my truck.
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Old 11-29-2013, 03:47 PM   #10
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I had a Titatum 5er, dry weight of 8k, and a gross of 10k . At the time (2004) they called it a 1/2 ton towable fifthwheeler. The Dealer said no problem towing it with a 1/2 ton pickup, what a joke, it was a real dog, couldn't get out of it's oun way. I even installed extra springs in the rear. Just forget it. You will need a 3/4 ton to be safe.
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Old 03-29-2014, 04:35 PM   #11
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I have an older setup, 1999 Springdale. The Keystone website its 4700# dry. I think its a bit heavier than that. Tow with an older 1/2ton GMC 4x4. Seems to work well.

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Old 04-07-2014, 03:41 PM   #12
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We have this and it tows beautiful...has for 2 years now...

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Old 04-07-2014, 05:08 PM   #13
theasphaltrv'er
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An update .... for all the replies .. We decided on a Cougar 26SAB 5er for our itty bitty teeny weeny little F-150 to pull around. Had it out a couple of times and OMGoodness ... it's a match made in heaven.
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Old 04-11-2014, 04:46 PM   #14
robo
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LeonineThor View Post
I have a Ram 1500 5.7L 3.92. Payload capacity 1400, tow limit 10,000. I specifically got a B&W turnover ball hitch to minimize the additional weight that put in the bed. I just drove 1200 miles bringing my 275SBH Laredo from MI to CO. Payload on the Laredo is 1195, weight was about 7000. I am currently trying to decide if my truck is really enough to handle this camper in the Mountains of CO. I am trying to get an idea from people that have towed near/at/above capacities and what that "feels" like and sounds like with the truck. My brain (and math) tell me I'm ok and being paranoid. My gut tells me I messed up and need to cut my losses and upgrade my truck.
Well it feels scarry. I have been above weight will never do it again

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Old 04-16-2014, 04:18 AM   #15
raycan2
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Hey

I have a 2014 Cougar 27 BHS and a 2013 Eco F-150 and I do not care what anyone says this F-150 pulls the 5th wheel like a dream, I pull a trailer behind the 5th wheel for my Polaris Ranger side by side crew...I live in Wyoming and pull it up in the mountains toward Yellowstone and 60-65 mph with no problem.
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