Considering a 5th Wheel?

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

We've started considering trading our Super C for a 5th Wheel. We'd have more living space, a cheaper payment, and less insurance,etc. I know I can probably look this up, but what do people tow with an F250? If this happens, I'm insisting on a toy hauler, so we could load the gold cart. 

 

Too bad those 40 foot units look so awesome because I know they're way too heavy. LOL!

[bhall 115]

You need to find out two things.

1. What is the tow capacity of your F250?

2. What is the payload capacity of your F250?

With 3/4 ton trucks towing 5th wheels, a good amount are under tow capacity but are over weight on payload (the weight directly in the bed). Especially more so if they are diesels.

Campers will advertise dry weight and dry hitch weight. A camper on the road going camping is never as light as the dry hitch weight as advertised. A good way to figure out what your hitch weight may be is to find the GVW of the camper and then figure about 20% of that to be your hitch weight. With that new figure then find out if it less then your payload capacity. Remember you and passenger weights and other things riding in the truck with you need to be deducted from the payload rating. That reduced rating is what you need to be under.

Bob....... The downer.

Sent from my iPhone

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

I'd look at Livin Lite if money is no object.  They have toy haulers and are made light on purpose.

[BigTom 76]

My son pulls a 33' KZ toyhauler with his 3500 dually diesel. Dry tongue weight is listed at 1800 pounds which would be a load on a 2500. Make sure you have enough truck to handle the load safely, the 5th wheel hooks up faster and tows easier than a bumper pull trailer.

[weekender 5]

We are in the process of researching 5th wheel Toy Haulers as well and have ultimately come down to the Heartland Torque or Keystone Impact line. Depending upon what floor plan you are looking for and all the options these lines have some models that could fit in the F250 tow range. 

 

First I am not the weight police so I am willing to play with the numbers slightly in order to see what my 2013 F250 can tow.  Jason will have to run the numbers and you will have to determine what you are willing to do.  I say this as there are many F250 trucks pulling very large 5th wheels and toy haulers even though they are over some of the weights.  Have you purchased a truck yet?  If not when you do look also consider the F350 line as well as it is not much more to upgrade so you are "legal" when towing.  I can tell you that my F250 is a F350 in every sense of the word except for a 2" block vs. 4" block and my rear axle is slightly smaller the an F350.  Everything else on my truck is exactly an F350.  With that said my door sticker only gives me 2080# of payload, but when I weighed my truck I have 2800# before I exceed my RGWR.  So given this weight and knowing that I will be over my truck GVWR of 10000# I am ok with it.  If you have questions on all of the weights and limits let me know as I have been calculating this over the past several months.

 

Now with that said if you look at the Torque line by Heartland and the Impact line by Keystone (there are others out there, but these are the ones we like for price, weight and options) you can get some very nice units with alot of options while keeping the weight below the limits for your truck.  My hard stop of dry weight is #12,500 and around 14,000# fully loaded.  One thing to look at is how long and how tall your golf cart is.  My cart is exactly 8' 6" and may not fit in some models due to cabinets in the garage. If you are looking for bunks in the garage area your cart may also not fit especially if you have a lift kit on the cart.  Double and triple check that.     

 

Good luck in your search and as I said let me know if you have questions as I am going through this right now.

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

We think you should just chuck it all and go back to tent camping... the golf cart is ugly anyway

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

We are in the process of researching 5th wheel Toy Haulers as well and have ultimately come down to the Heartland Torque or Keystone Impact line. Depending upon what floor plan you are looking for and all the options these lines have some models that could fit in the F250 tow range. 

 

First I am not the weight police so I am willing to play with the numbers slightly in order to see what my 2013 F250 can tow.  Jason will have to run the numbers and you will have to determine what you are willing to do.  I say this as there are many F250 trucks pulling very large 5th wheels and toy haulers even though they are over some of the weights.  Have you purchased a truck yet?  If not when you do look also consider the F350 line as well as it is not much more to upgrade so you are "legal" when towing.  I can tell you that my F250 is a F350 in every sense of the word except for a 2" block vs. 4" block and my rear axle is slightly smaller the an F350.  Everything else on my truck is exactly an F350.  With that said my door sticker only gives me 2080# of payload, but when I weighed my truck I have 2800# before I exceed my RGWR.  So given this weight and knowing that I will be over my truck GVWR of 10000# I am ok with it.  If you have questions on all of the weights and limits let me know as I have been calculating this over the past several months.

 

Now with that said if you look at the Torque line by Heartland and the Impact line by Keystone (there are others out there, but these are the ones we like for price, weight and options) you can get some very nice units with alot of options while keeping the weight below the limits for your truck.  My hard stop of dry weight is #12,500 and around 14,000# fully loaded.  One thing to look at is how long and how tall your golf cart is.  My cart is exactly 8' 6" and may not fit in some models due to cabinets in the garage. If you are looking for bunks in the garage area your cart may also not fit especially if you have a lift kit on the cart.  Double and triple check that.     

 

Good luck in your search and as I said let me know if you have questions as I am going through this right now.

 

Thanks so much for the info! Keep us posted and we'll do the same. 

 

We think you should just chuck it all and go back to tent camping... the golf cart is ugly anyway

 

We've decided we're bringing a special decoration for your campsite. 

[stockboys10 2]

We just bought a 2015 Montana, Towing with a Dodge 2500 4x4.... Dry trailer weight is 11k, hitch weight is 2k. Truck pulls just fine on the flats, feel it in the hilly areas but gets along well enough, Drops maybe 2" when hitched. Mine is not a toy hauler so we assume pin weight to be 18 - 22% of trailer weight. I believe toy haulers have a higher pin weight until you add a toy to balance it out. You would be surprised how fast the 3/4 ton units reach max capacity. 

[PGHFiend 140]

I went back and forth with 250/350, and for me it came down to the fact that I can get my 250 in the garage with about 1/2" to spare and it fits in the car wash I use here in the winter. As Weekender mentioned above, there is no difference in 250/350 running gear or brakes....only a spring overload upgrade on the rear axle. I put a bw turnover and Companion into my new to me 2008, and plan on running a set of inside-the-frame airbags as the fx4 trucks sit level when empty and look silly nose up with a 5th wheel. I'm looking at 5th wheels with 1500 pin weight or so but I wouldn't hesitate to take it up to 2k if I found a good deal. These trucks are tough and can definitely handle the weight in either package.

[weekender 5]

Once you decide what you want or need help deciding check our RV Outlet in Danville, VA.  They are the largest toy hauler dealer in the east and most likely in the US.  Their prices are unbelivable and they carry most brands new and used.  I got 2 quotes from them today and shared one of them with my local RV dealer from whom I have purchased my last 2 trailers from and he told me straight up that he could not touch the deal RV Outlet is willing to give me.  I used to be very loyal to a local dealer, but if someone can save me over $5000 for a RV and provide me good support I am willing to drive 7 hours to make the deal.

 

Just passing this along as this may be a good weekend trip for you and the family to take and explore all the options.   

[Humphrey Bear…Rob 42]

Once you decide what you want or need help deciding check our RV Outlet in Danville, VA.  They are the largest toy hauler dealer in the east and most likely in the US.  Their prices are unbelivable and they carry most brands new and used.  I got 2 quotes from them today and shared one of them with my local RV dealer from whom I have purchased my last 2 trailers from and he told me straight up that he could not touch the deal RV Outlet is willing to give me.  I used to be very loyal to a local dealer, but if someone can save me over $5000 for a RV and provide me good support I am willing to drive 7 hours to make the deal.

 

Just passing this along as this may be a good weekend trip for you and the family to take and explore all the options.   

 

We've been there a couple of times and it true, they have great prices!   We ended up with a Grand Design Momentum, which they don't sell - but the Fuzion was next on my list!

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Once you decide what you want or need help deciding check our RV Outlet in Danville, VA. They are the largest toy hauler dealer in the east and most likely in the US. Their prices are unbelivable and they carry most brands new and used. I got 2 quotes from them today and shared one of them with my local RV dealer from whom I have purchased my last 2 trailers from and he told me straight up that he could not touch the deal RV Outlet is willing to give me. I used to be very loyal to a local dealer, but if someone can save me over $5000 for a RV and provide me good support I am willing to drive 7 hours to make the deal.

Just passing this along as this may be a good weekend trip for you and the family to take and explore all the options.

We bought our current RV when we were "just looking." That trip could be dangerous.

[weekender 5]

We bought our current RV when we were "just looking." That trip could be dangerous.

That exact reason is what has gotten us to the point where we are almost ready to order our new Toy Hauler.

 

After looking at all the features, floor plans, numbers, etc. we will hopefully order a 2016 Torque 321 this week.  The good news is that my local dealer has gotten a lot closer to RV Outlet's number, but we still have a little more to go before I order.  Hopefully they will get me what I am asking for so we can order this new unit this week.   I do really want to buy local if at all possible since this dealer has always taken care of us.

 

Good luck!

[caveat lector 181]

This is aslippery slope indeed. We want to make the 5th wheel jump. The kids are entering finishing college, and the timing feels right to set up for some more frequent excursions. The 5th wheel seems to offer better configurations than my trusty TT. Went to the RV show just outside of St. Louis this weekend. Fell in love with an Open Range 376fbh. Th front room with the dual slides is ridiculous. I could play whiffle ball in there. I can't believe it has 5 slides. My DW gives me that "can we take it home today". Fortunately, I didn't hit the atm on the way to the show, so I was a littl shy of the $64k needed.

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

That exact reason is what has gotten us to the point where we are almost ready to order our new Toy Hauler.

After looking at all the features, floor plans, numbers, etc. we will hopefully order a 2016 Torque 321 this week. The good news is that my local dealer has gotten a lot closer to RV Outlet's number, but we still have a little more to go before I order. Hopefully they will get me what I am asking for so we can order this new unit this week. I do really want to buy local if at all possible since this dealer has always taken care of us.

Good luck!

We'll have to check out that floor plan.

[Helmsey......Todd 134]

We bought our current RV when we were "just looking." That trip could be dangerous.

 

Our last 2 campers were purchased when "just looking", I refuse to "just look" anymore :D

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

Last time we 'just looked' we were safe...no money in checking account!

[ependydad...Doug 176]

At the Fulltime Families rally that I was just at, they did a "Parade of Homes" tour where we all got to go into each others' "homes" (aka RVs). For the most part, I liked what we had more than anything else. But there was one that definitely intrigued me enough that the wife went back for a visit with the family and another look around.

I'm not saying we're switching, but...

[momof3kids-Yvonne 594]

At the Fulltime Families rally that I was just at, they did a "Parade of Homes" tour where we all got to go into each others' "homes" (aka RVs). For the most part, I liked what we had more than anything else. But there was one that definitely intrigued me enough that the wife went back for a visit with the family and another look around.

I'm not saying we're switching, but...

Your wife hasn't said yet?

[ependydad...Doug 176]

Your wife hasn't said yet?

Heh, no kidding. Actually, she's the one that doesn't like a few things about it and isn't sure she'd be willing to change.