Truck Advice - Page 2

We got it to tow this... A 2011 Gulf Stream 5th Wheel RV. This thing is beautiful. We had a fifth wheel before and this is sooooo much nicer. Again, if interested, PM and I will tell you what I paid. I really considered putting these two scores in the garage sale boo-ya thread.

Back in the early '00's, we had a '94ish fifth wheel and '01 Tundra ext cab we used for three? four? years. We were paid more for them when we sold them than we paid for these. We are so effing stoked!

Wow ... really nice looking truck and trailer combo. They're beautiful.

I would second what Patriot was saying. The F-150's vary on their payload and towing capacity depending on the cab style and model year. You might want to look up the specifics on yours to see if the truck and trailer combo will work well together.

I've been running Ford trucks for as long as i can remember. Granted ... mine are usually older machines and i am extra careful about what i go over the road with. As a rule of thumb, i try to avoid putting over a thousand pounds of weight in the back of an F-150 or E-150 with extra load tires. They get a bit squishy and harder to handle as you increase the load over that point.

The best truck for weight that i've had was an "85" F-250 that came through with helper springs. I beefed that one up with an air bag suspension,oversized clutch,oversized brake pads,ten ply truck tires, and a tow bar from a large dump truck that reached back and tied into the frame at six points. It was a good work truck. It handled 3200 lbs of stone in the back well enough with local driving. It was a bit scary when i towed a small backhoe from the rental place to one of my jobsites and back again. The hills and corners were a bit of a struggle. That's not an experience i would want to repeat again.

I think i would feel more confident about towing with a F-350 or F-550. They're better suited for that kind of work.

Just my two cents.

Originally Posted by hills

Wow ... really nice looking truck and trailer combo. They're beautiful.

I would second what Patriot was saying. The F-150's vary on their payload and towing capacity depending on the cab style and model year. You might want to look up the specifics on yours to see if the truck and trailer combo will work well together.

I've been running Ford trucks for as long as i can remember. Granted ... mine are usually older machines and i am extra careful about what i go over the road with. As a rule of thumb, i try to avoid putting over a thousand pounds of weight in the back of an F-150 or E-150 with extra load tires. They get a bit squishy and harder to handle as you increase the load over that point.

The best truck for weight that i've had was an "85" F-250 that came through with helper springs. I beefed that one up with an air bag suspension,oversized clutch,oversized brake pads,ten ply truck tires, and a tow bar from a large dump truck that reached back and tied into the frame at six points. It was a good work truck. It handled 3200 lbs of stone in the back well enough with local driving. It was a bit scary when i towed a small backhoe from the rental place to one of my jobsites and back again. The hills and corners were a bit of a struggle. That's not an experience i would want to repeat again.

I think i would feel more confident about towing with a F-350 or F-550. They're better suited for that kind of work.

Just my two cents.

His new trailer is manufactured using new technology which makes is immune to dry rot and very light to tow the only caution I would do is to avoid towing in heavy cross winds. These new trailers are light.

Heavy duty shear at work.

It is a fifth wheel, so the weight on the truck will be on the rear axle. I guess we will see. The camper itself is 5200 Lbs, so I am thinking that the truck will be capable of pulling the unit. I would like to thank all for their input and advice. Once we get the truck fitted with the hitch and pull the unit back to Sarasota, I will be able to report the feel of the tow. I am thinking it will be fine as long as I use my head.

Yeah, you would definitely want a fifth wheel to put the load over the axle. I made a dump run yesterday afternoon and the guy behind me was running an F-150 with a 20' flatbed trailer on a bumper hitch. The trailer didn't seem to have very much on it but the truck was tipped way back. So much so .... that it was probably taking the weight off his front tires and affecting the ability to steer the truck. It seemed like a monkey trying to do a gorilla sized job.

You might think about airbags for the rear suspension. The airbag kit is about 350.00 $ for an f-150 and it's not terribly hard to install. It offers some advantages:

1: It increases your load carrying capacity. Kinda like adding a helper spring or a couple of extra leafs in the stack.

2: It levels your truck back up after a load has been placed on it. You get better weight distribution and better steering.

3: It's totally adjustable.You can run the bags anywhere from 10 - 90 psi depending on your load.

4: They act as shock absorbers so that the truck & trailer combo is less apt to see - saw when you go over a bump.

5: It's not often that you need it ... but the airbags can level out an uneven load on your truck. Let's say that you had an oddly shaped thing that put 500 lbs on one side of the bed and 1000 lbs on the other. You could compensate for that by running one airbag at 50 psi and the other at 90 psi. That would level you up side to side.

The airbag suspension is nice to have if you're moving weight from place to place.

Originally Posted by mikeinreco

As an owner of an F150 I would not want to tow that trailer behind it very far.........I have pushed my truck to its limits and now unfortunately I know what they are...........It will probably be ok in the short term just to move the trailer from one place to another but if you are going to do any serious travelling I would suggest at least a F250 and possibly a 350..........I wish you all the luck in the world and my opinion is just that an opinion

We'll see how it goes. The truck feels heavy and wide. it has larger than stock tires, and a towing package. I really think this will be fine. The Tundra/fifth wheel package we had was pushing the limit a whole lot closer and that felt solid when we drove it. I am feeling good about it for what we want it for, when we decide to take longer trips and head into mountains, we will look for a 3/4 or 1 ton.

I looked up the towing specs for the truck we bought. Looks like the truck is capable of a fifth wheel almost a ton heavier....

Well, the truck had a few mechanical issues that had to be addressed. Some of them were expected and some were a bit of a disappointing surprise. I still feel it was a good buy and below what I would have paid from a buy here/pay here place and would have had to do the same work. Today it gets an Anderson hitch in the bed. That was also a bit more that I was expecting, but it is an aluminum pyramid frame that weighs about thirty pounds. They say it will be a much more comfortable tow that the standard 5th wheel hitch and it has the benefit that I can easily pull it if and use the whole bed of the truck without hitch brackets sticking up off the bed of the truck. I'll post a pic of the hitch for those whos are interested later on today or tomorrow.

I know it's a little off topic..but Toyota dealers will pay insane amounts of money for (correct me if I'm wrong) 96-01 Tacomas with the rusted frame. Years ago when I worked at a Toyota dealership a guy came in with a new one every week or 2...pick them up for a grand or 2..Toyota inspects it and paid him double if not triple what he paid for it.

Originally Posted by Jay89

I know it's a little off topic..but Toyota dealers will pay insane amounts of money for (correct me if I'm wrong) 96-01 Tacomas with the rusted frame. Years ago when I worked at a Toyota dealership a guy came in with a new one every week or 2...pick them up for a grand or 2..Toyota inspects it and paid him double if not triple what he paid for it.

That is very true. They either have to replace the frame under recall or they can offer to buy it back to avoid having to do the recall work which costs them more than buying it from you. But the frame has to be rusted to qualify for the recall. I would be buying and selling to the dealer if I lives somewhere there was a rust problem but all the tacoma's around here are rust free.

Here is the new hitch. This thing is really cool. It only weighs maybe 30 pounds and it is guaranteed against structural failure. We pick up the camper tomorrow from St. Pete (about an hour away and we have to cross the skyway bridge ). This will be a true test of everything.

Good looking truck and trailer combo. Curious where did you find the fifth wheel hitch? I would love to have a hitch that light in my truck. (Providing it can handle the weight)

Originally Posted by Jay89

Good looking truck and trailer combo. Curious where did you find the fifth wheel hitch? I would love to have a hitch that light in my truck. (Providing it can handle the weight)

I got it at a place called the Hitch House here in Sarasota. It is an Anderson Hitch, so I would bet you can do a search and come up with an installer near you.

Well, we tow it over to the in laws so they can check it out. My FIL asks the length and I tell him it says 27 ft on the title. We get a tape out and measure and it turns out to be 31 ft by the tape measure. I was a little worried I would not be able to park it in my yard but I managed to squeeze it in. Here is the final product. That is me by the door.…