tow vehicle advice

[mlew85]

I recently purchased a skyline rampage 30 foot bumper pull toyhauler. this is a triple axle toyhauler with a 15,000 GVWR. I have a 2002 f250 with a 7.3 powerstroke. I know this is too much trailer for this truck . . . . legally anyway.
What is a good used truck that will legally pull this trailer? what do most people use to pull a trailer like this?

[lamopar]

We purchased a 36' bumper pull toy hauler tripple axle unit in 2012. I pulled it with a SRW Ram 2500 until my injector stuck and blew the motor going over the Tetons in 2017. We then purchased a Ram 3500 SRW and have been pulling since. We use the Reese Dual Cam sway control and I have never had a problem with sway or weight transfer. Our tongue weight is 1950 measured at the scale. From my experience having both the biggest difference is power a new truck has. With the old 5.9l we could pull just fine and did from coast to coast loaded but in heavy winds or up the passes it would struggle. With the 6.7l 2017 I don't have any problem. From my personal opinion I would try driving with the current truck, ensuring you have something like a Reese Titan hitch and proper hitch components along with making sure your wiring is perfect for the braking. Lastly, even if you have a new truck, slow is good and keep your distance from the other vehicles.

[allcool]

TRIPLE8 wrote:
Hi, personally I cant imagine that 30 foot toyhauler will weigh anywhere near 15000 loaded up. I have a 32ft fifthwheel toyhauler in sig fully loaded with 130g of water, rzr, ready to camp that scaled at only 12500 lbs. (cat scale) I would not hesitate pulling it with that truck.

Well, I was surprised also,, imagine this... My FSW3200 in sig, as empty as I could get it, tipped the scales at 11,800.

Now imagine adding 150gal of fresh water, +10gal in WH, +40 gal fuel in fuel station, 2o gal in genny tank. Now its way over its 13,000gvw sticker with no toys or any supplies, tools, groceries, kitchen stuff, clothes, bedding, etc, all stuff that adds up quick.

Then add just 1 SxS 1600lb for a turbo Polaris or Can Am, and maybe 1 or 2 atv for another 1000lbs.

Good thing WW used 3 6000lb axles, and South Cal RV doctor did my extensive frame upgrade many years ago. And with the Michelin XPS Ribs, no blowouts.

Still, even at that weight, the 2014 f350 does tow it good, no sway at all. But most of the time fully loaded it is over the F350 tow rating of 14,000, but not the axle or TW rating, most of the time.

So, loaded even lightly not really ready to camp, with no fresh water,,, puts my triple axle bumper pull in the heavy 15,000 lb range for sure.

I posted the cat scale paper here years ago, you can find it if you search for it...

[deltabravo]

F350 with a 6.7 Diesel would do the trick.

[Bedlam]

TRIPLE8 wrote:
Hi, personally I cant imagine that 30 foot toyhauler will weigh anywhere near 15000 loaded up. I have a 32ft fifthwheel toyhauler in sig fully loaded with 130g of water, rzr, ready to camp that scaled at only 12500 lbs. (cat scale) I would not hesitate pulling it with that truck.

My 22' toy hauler dry weight was 7500 lbs and pushed 11,500 lbs when loaded and filled. If I had an extra 8', I could easily add another 2000 lbs of vehicles. This would not be even include the weight of additional length and third axle.

[carringb]

twodownzero wrote:

The only rating that usually matters on an SRW truck is GVWR.

GCWR or "tow rating" are illusory as you'll never load the truck carefully enough to get near that without busting something else.

I gotta disagree with this.... The GCWR of a 2002 7.3L was only 20,000 pounds. Even approaching that, the transmission cooling is marginal. Going over that was bad news, unless transmission cooling AND lockup strategy were updated (lack of lockup in 2nd gear, and slow lockup in 3rd gear, is why they run so hot)

[carringb]

Dennis58 wrote:
Personally I would not put a 15k bumper pull trailer behind single wheel 3/4 ton truck. I would look for at least a 3500 DRW truck and buy a Hensley Hitch.

https://hensleymfg.com/

DO NOT attempt to tow a 15k Toy Hauler with a Hensley. It will rip itself apart. Ask me how I know....

Mine didn't last halfway through it's maiden voyage.

[TRIPLE8]

Hi, personally I cant imagine that 30 foot toyhauler will weigh anywhere near 15000 loaded up. I have a 32ft fifthwheel toyhauler in sig fully loaded with 130g of water, rzr, ready to camp that scaled at only 12500 lbs. (cat scale) I would not hesitate pulling it with that truck.

[twodownzero]

allcool wrote:

ppine wrote:
You truck is rated for 13,000 pounds or less. Ignore the people that tell you everything will be fine.

You need a newer truck or an older F-450.

Dennis58 wrote:
Personally I would not put a 15k bumper pull trailer behind single wheel 3/4 ton truck. I would look for at least a 3500 DRW truck and buy a Hensley Hitch.

https://hensleymfg.com/

My Ford 2014, F350 srw Platinum is rated for 14,000 range conventional towing,as are most all cc sb 4wd srw of its era. The very newest, usually in hard to find configurations get max tow ratings over 15,000. Yes, if you order a new srw 350/3500 2020 truck you can get 1 that has 20,000lb max conventional tow ratings.

My 2014 F350 2.5" hitch is rated for 1850lb tw and 18,000 tow. I try not to go over that tw rating, but sometimes slightly, always keeping under max awr... if the trailer is loaded correctly it tows great. Needs max tw or more to tow good. With these big 3 axle tag TH, TW is everything... Can't stress that enough, don't be scared of huge tw numbers as long as your truck can handle them. If it can't you'll need a new truck....

Also, the Hensley hitch recommend is rated to 14,000lbs max. and goes for $2000+

I just got a new WD anti sway Anderson hitch $650.00 that has a 20,000lb ball, 16,000lb tow, 2000TW. It just uses chains, no heavy bars, no sway bar.
It controls sway better than any hitch I've ever used and tows the best I've ever used on a big TH. My last hitch was a husky 14,000 with bars and a sway bar. It worked ok, but not nearly as easy to use as the Anderson. Nor did it tow as well, and it could not control sway well when tw was not enough... The Anderson is a more forgiving in loading/tw...

As suggested above, a drw will tow a big 3 axle much better for sure, but a newer srw 350 tows fine and optioned out correctly is not over its ratings.
But get a newer drw if you can justify owning a more or less $50,000+ single purpose truck thats not really at home in urban daily driving...

Been shopping for a new truck before this cv19 hit. Saw a beautiful drw F350 limited for $101,000 at my dealership... Who would have thought trucks could cost over a 100grand...

jmo

The only rating that usually matters on an SRW truck is GVWR.

GCWR or "tow rating" are illusory as you'll never load the truck carefully enough to get near that without busting something else.

[allcool]

ppine wrote:
You truck is rated for 13,000 pounds or less. Ignore the people that tell you everything will be fine.

You need a newer truck or an older F-450.

Dennis58 wrote:
Personally I would not put a 15k bumper pull trailer behind single wheel 3/4 ton truck. I would look for at least a 3500 DRW truck and buy a Hensley Hitch.

https://hensleymfg.com/

My Ford 2014, F350 srw Platinum is rated for 14,000 range conventional towing,as are most all cc sb 4wd srw of its era. The very newest, usually in hard to find configurations get max tow ratings over 15,000. Yes, if you order a new srw 350/3500 2020 truck you can get 1 that has 20,000lb max conventional tow ratings.

My 2014 F350 2.5" hitch is rated for 1850lb tw and 18,000 tow. I try not to go over that tw rating, but sometimes slightly, always keeping under max awr... if the trailer is loaded correctly it tows great. Needs max tw or more to tow good. With these big 3 axle tag TH, TW is everything... Can't stress that enough, don't be scared of huge tw numbers as long as your truck can handle them. If it can't you'll need a new truck....

Also, the Hensley hitch recommend is rated to 14,000lbs max. and goes for $2000+

I just got a new WD anti sway Anderson hitch $650.00 that has a 20,000lb ball, 16,000lb tow, 2000TW. It just uses chains, no heavy bars, no sway bar.
It controls sway better than any hitch I've ever used and tows the best I've ever used on a big TH. My last hitch was a husky 14,000 with bars and a sway bar. It worked ok, but not nearly as easy to use as the Anderson. Nor did it tow as well, and it could not control sway well when tw was not enough... The Anderson is a more forgiving in loading/tw...

As suggested above, a drw will tow a big 3 axle much better for sure, but a newer srw 350 tows fine and optioned out correctly is not over its ratings.
But get a newer drw if you can justify owning a more or less $50,000+ single purpose truck thats not really at home in urban daily driving...

Been shopping for a new truck before this cv19 hit. Saw a beautiful drw F350 limited for $101,000 at my dealership... Who would have thought trucks could cost over a 100grand...

jmo

[Dennis58]

Personally I would not put a 15k bumper pull trailer behind single wheel 3/4 ton truck. I would look for at least a 3500 DRW truck and buy a Hensley Hitch.

https://hensleymfg.com/

[ppine]

You truck is rated for 13,000 pounds or less. Ignore the people that tell you everything will be fine.

You need a newer truck or an older F-450.

[SMarquez]

Google the truck you want from that year and look at the specs for towing. A new Ford F250 single rear wheel is rated at 15,000 and a diesel is rated at 14,000. Your numbers change with gear ratios. Dually puts you at 18,000. Lots of research to be done to be safe.

[lincster]

Depends on what you want.
If you want to stay within the tow ratings of the truck, you have to have a 2011+ F350.
2011 is when the tow ratings took a decent step up.
Will a 2002 F250 tow that trailer?
Yep, all day long.
Are you over the ratings of the truck?
Yep, all day long.

Depends on what you want.

[Bedlam]

Make sure your receiver and hitch can handle the weight. If you are running stock tires and rims and also load up your bed, you may need to upgrade wheels.