Can my truck hold the load

[LONE-STAR]

On our next trip to the fort I was wanting to use our dodge 3/4 ton instead of the ford 1 ton because the dodge gets double the mpg when towing. So here it is - the dodge is a 2005, 2500, 4x4, 5.9 diesel, 6 speed manual, quad cab long bed, with a 3:73 rear end. My trailer is a bumper pull. (2009 wolf pack 30wp) It will weight about 11,000lb's loaded and has a tongue weight of 1,250 if loaded perfect.( one time loaded wrong and the tongue weight was 1,750lb's) I want to haul a gas golf cart in the bed of the truck- weight's about 900lb's. Passenger's plus cooler and a car seat for my baby girl about 500lb's. Is that over loading the truck? The sticker in the door of the dodge truck says payload 1,739lb's(this is the sticker that also talks about tires). Where in my ford it says 3400lb's. If it is too much weight do you think it could be made to work? I still have the factory E rated tires on it but would put new E rated tires on it before the trip.

Thanks for your help.

If all else fails I will just take the Ford

 

[Specularius]

I think you would be fine, but with all that weight, I would bet that the mileage drops to something very close to what the one ton gets with the same load.

 

[medic9016]

It looks like you will be over by about a 1000 or so Lbs by the numbers. Since the manufactures numbers are on the conservitive side, I think you will be ok. I would load it up and weigh it to be sure all you weights are correct. What I'm not real sure about, does tongue weight subtract from you total payload.

 

[LarryJ]

On our next trip to the fort I was wanting to use our dodge 3/4 ton instead of the ford 1 ton because the dodge gets double the mpg when towing. So here it is - the dodge is a 2005, 2500, 4x4, 5.9 diesel, 6 speed manual, quad cab long bed, with a 3:73 rear end. My trailer is a bumper pull. (2009 wolf pack 30wp) It will weight about 11,000lb's loaded and has a tongue weight of 1,250 if loaded perfect.( one time loaded wrong and the tongue weight was 1,750lb's) I want to haul a gas golf cart in the bed of the truck- weight's about 900lb's. Passenger's plus cooler and a car seat for my baby girl about 500lb's. Is that over loading the truck? The sticker in the door of the dodge truck says payload 1,739lb's(this is the sticker that also talks about tires). Where in my ford it says 3400lb's. If it is too much weight do you think it could be made to work? I still have the factory E rated tires on it but would put new E rated tires on it before the trip.

Thanks for your help.

If all else fails I will just take the Ford

The only way to really know is to load it up and actually weigh it, but my SWAG is that will be too much for the Dodge tires and/or RAWR. While 10% TW for a bumper pull is the min, most find that 13 to 15% the best and you're just barely over 11%. I run a TW of right at 13%, but my Van towing weighs almost 2500lbs more than what is on the TT axles.

I would take the Ford, but again I would want to hit a set of scales even with that so you know where you are at.

Larry

 

[rock_doctor]

I would take the ford. You will be over weight for the dodge and forbid you have an accident you will have some legal issues with police and your insurance company. In the end how much are you going to really save in fuel...a hundred dollars over the whole trip? Your call you can make it work by packing lighter but you always end up heavier then you plan. Have a great trip.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

That's a heavy trailer.

 

[disney4dan]

That is a heavy trailer! I think you'd be fine without the golf cart in the bed, but that is probably going to be the final straw so to speak.

I've heard that some of the 3/4 ton diesel pick-ups can come factory loaded for additional weight, but it sounds like your door sticker has the reliable weight limits on it.

Nice to have the option of a second tow vehicle with more capacity. I guess you could also compare the cost of the fuel to a cart rental from Kenny?

 

[LONE-STAR]

Thanks for all the replies. Y'all are pretty much thinking the same way I am. With out the cart in the bed I would be with in my limits. I would save almost $500.00 in fuel with the dodge. The ford gets 5-6 mpg pulling the trailer and the dodge gets 10-12 mpg. I can actually fit 2 golf cart's inside the trailer it just makes it hard getting in and out of the trailer while traveling. With both cart's in the trailer my trailer is right at 12,000lb's. (In case your wondering I bring a cart for my parents besides mine). I have a camper shell on my ford so if I put both carts in the trailer I need to use the ford to haul stuff in the bed with out it blowing out. Our trip is 2000 miles round trip. Again thanks for all the input and I am still listening.

 

[LarryJ]

Thanks for all the replies. Y'all are pretty much thinking the same way I am. With out the cart in the bed I would be with in my limits. I would save almost $500.00 in fuel with the dodge. The ford gets 5-6 mpg pulling the trailer and the dodge gets 10-12 mpg. I can actually fit 2 golf cart's inside the trailer it just makes it hard getting in and out of the trailer while traveling. With both cart's in the trailer my trailer is right at 12,000lb's. (In case your wondering I bring a cart for my parents besides mine). I have a camper shell on my ford so if I put both carts in the trailer I need to use the ford to haul stuff in the bed with out it blowing out. Our trip is 2000 miles round trip. Again thanks for all the input and I am still listening.

5 to 6 mpg for the Ford is probably the lowest mpg I have ever heard of and it should be up around 10mpg towing even that heavy of a trailer. Even an F-450 with the 6.0L and 4.88 rear grossing in the 25K+ range gets around 8mpg. Something might be seriously wrong with your Ford. Yes the 5.9L will get better mpg, but it should only be between 1 and up to 3mpg.

While I'm a lot lighter, but still towing a full sized TT like yours in 40K+ of actual towing miles I have averaged 10.5 to 11mpg with my 7.3L engine.

Larry

 

[WeCampDisney]

Michael, just wondering, does your Ford have the V-10 or a diesel. Obviously my Trail-Lite was a lot lighter than your trailer. It weighs 4760 dry, we loaded a lot of stuff in in but never weighed it. I had the V-10 and on my trip to the Fort and back I got 9.3 mpg. I drive 60-65mph. Oh, btw, I am also 1000 miles from WDW. We live in Kilgore, about 60 miles west of Shreveport on I 20. What town are ya'll in?

 

[figmentfan1]

Michael, just wondering, does your Ford have the V-10 or a diesel. Obviously my Trail-Lite was a lot lighter than your trailer. It weighs 4760 dry, we loaded a lot of stuff in in but never weighed it. I had the V-10 and on my trip to the Fort and back I got 9.3 mpg. I drive 60-65mph. Oh, btw, I am also 1000 miles from WDW. We live in Kilgore, about 60 miles west of Shreveport on I 20. What town are ya'll in?

Hi neighbor! We live in Carthage!! We have a Ford Diesel 350 and LOVE it! Tows our 26'er with no problems!

small world, 'er small board. LOL

 

[ftwildernessguy]

5 to 6 mpg for the Ford is probably the lowest mpg I have ever heard of and it should be up around 10mpg towing even that heavy of a trailer. Even an F-450 with the 6.0L and 4.88 rear grossing in the 25K+ range gets around 8mpg. Something might be seriously wrong with your Ford. Yes the 5.9L will get better mpg, but it should only be between 1 and up to 3mpg.

While I'm a lot lighter, but still towing a full sized TT like yours in 40K+ of actual towing miles I have averaged 10.5 to 11mpg with my 7.3L engine.

Larry

Wow, I gotta get on that RV.net board so I can learn to diagnose serious engine problems by mpg alone. I can get 18mpg on the highway with my F150. When I tow I get 11-12mpg. My wife is lucky if she gets 9 mpg with it empty with the wind behind her going downhill. There must be something seriously wrong with my truck.

 

[heathriel]

We've got an F350 diesel, Extended cab, and haul around 18000lbs GVW wih our 40' fifth wheel, fully loaded.

We have a bully dog installed and air bags on the tires to pull the extra weight - and even going through the mountains, we still get 10mpg.

 

[LarryJ]

We've got an F350 diesel, Extended cab, and haul around 18000lbs GVW wih our 40' fifth wheel, fully loaded.

We have a bully dog installed and air bags on the tires to pull the extra weight - and even going through the mountains, we still get 10mpg.

Have you ever actually weighed it and what were the weights axle wise. That is a lot of 5er even for a F350 dually IMHO.

Larry

 

[LONE-STAR]

In all fairness to Ford my truck is not stock. The same week I bought the truck I put a 3" leveling kit on the front end and then put 35"x12.50"R18 E rated pro comp extreme all terrain tires on it and a full front replacement iron bumper on it. Now that said we towed our old 5er with it and had no problems and got 10mpg running 70 mph. But once I got the the toy hauler (current trailer) the truck really did not have enough power to pull it. After getting back from the fort only getting 6 mpg I took it to the Ford dealership.
Found out I had blown head gaskets, bad egr cooler, and a bad oil cooler(got to love a 6.0 diesel). All was fixed under warranty. Tried pulling the trailer again and the power was better but not good enough and the mpg were still the same. So I then did a gear swap. Got rid of the 3:73 and put in 4:30's front and rear. Power for pulling the trailer was much better but as far as mpg nothing changed towing or not. When the larger tires were put on the truck ford reprogramed the computer for that size tire. Oh and I agree something is wrong with the truck, it has a 6.0 and not my old 7.3 in it.

 

[LONE-STAR]

What town are ya'll in?

Around Houston.

 

[caveat lector]

Wow, I gotta get on that RV.net board so I can learn to diagnose serious engine problems by mpg alone. I can get 18mpg on the highway with my F150. When I tow I get 11-12mpg. My wife is lucky if she gets 9 mpg with it empty with the wind behind her going downhill. There must be something seriously wrong with my truck.

You just never know. 03 f150 crew cab 5.4 with tow package pulling cougar 29bhs xlite.Barely managed 6 mpg pulling it through the hills of TN. The rest of the trip I was thrilled with 7.5 mpg at 65 mph. There are just too many variables to consider, but this was one persons real life example.

 

[heathriel]

Yup - pulled through a weigh station We were hovering around 17.6.. 18.5 is the absolute max.

Unladen, the thing is at 11.8, and then we've got the two satellites (one's 300lbs by itself), tvs, and all the toys.

It's a triple axle, with axle hangers, and our truck gets a bit sad when we go around the mountains but still manages to do it. Got a golf-ball sized bulge in a tire in Tulsa, so we replaced all 4 just to be safe.

It's a truck - it's supposed to haul stuff

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

I would sell them both and get a Chevy, then you wouldnt have to worry anymore.......

 

[LarryJ]

In all fairness to Ford my truck is not stock. The same week I bought the truck I put a 3" leveling kit on the front end and then put 35"x12.50"R18 E rated pro comp extreme all terrain tires on it and a full front replacement iron bumper on it. Now that said we towed our old 5er with it and had no problems and got 10mpg running 70 mph. But once I got the the toy hauler (current trailer) the truck really did not have enough power to pull it. After getting back from the fort only getting 6 mpg I took it to the Ford dealership.
Found out I had blown head gaskets, bad egr cooler, and a bad oil cooler(got to love a 6.0 diesel). All was fixed under warranty. Tried pulling the trailer again and the power was better but not good enough and the mpg were still the same. So I then did a gear swap. Got rid of the 3:73 and put in 4:30's front and rear. Power for pulling the trailer was much better but as far as mpg nothing changed towing or not. When the larger tires were put on the truck ford reprogramed the computer for that size tire. Oh and I agree something is wrong with the truck, it has a 6.0 and not my old 7.3 in it.

Ah yes lifting and putting on those huge oversized tires will kill your mpg and make it gutless which is why I only alluded to a potential issue with your truck that you might want to look into since I didn't know about the mpg/pullin' power killing mods you had done. I still think 5 to 6 just seems a couple of mpg low unless you're towing at 70 to 75 or are in the mountains, but with those mods you would definitely take a hit in the mpg department. However, I really don't have a feel for how much those would effect what the normal stock towing mpg numbers should be normally and that is in the 9 to 11 range on average.

Larry