*Truck and Towing thread........ask your questions here.*

[peg110]

I still have 4 years to go on my F-250. $620/month, higher insurance, higher gas consumption, higher maintenance costs.... Remind me again why I wanted a truck? Oh yeah, to tow the TT.

On the lighter side, I love my truck. It's a comfortable (and safe) ride with lots of bells and whistles... but oh the costs!!!!

I hope I will be able to keep the truck for a couple of years AFTER it's been paid off. It sure would be nice to get some other bills paid down.

 

[PaHunter]

When we went to look at our "new" truck, the dealer asked what kind of payment would we like to have. I told him same as the current one, he asked how much that was and I replied nothing. Our old truck had been paid off for years.
One dealer low balled our trade and did want to even talk about what we wanted, he kept going back to new trucks. Bigger kickback than selling us a used one. Funny, that dealer still has that truck on his lot. We are not in a huge market for 3500 crew cab diesels. Not many farms around here.

 

[Clifton Tesh]

Ok, back to trucks. Its been 12 years since we have purchased a new truck. With the prices they want now we could buy a small house! The worst part is that I was hoping with a new truck with a higher towing capacity we could trade up to a small toy hauler, but not sure we can afford both . Well at least the new truck will have a longer bed so we can put the cart in there......but then where will the bikes go, oh lord, always something.

Worked at a dealer for a long time. They have lots of wiggle room on your middle package and work trucks. If you play your cards right, you can get a $40,000 truck for around $28,000. Look into retired loaners, the best deals are always on extended cabs (not crew or single cabs), and if you go at the end of the year they will do anything to get rid of the "end year" models. Now this really only applies to your 150/1500 models. If you're looking for a 250/2500 or larger, buying used or repo'd is your best option.

 

[WishIwasFishin]

Time to start lurking over here, too.

Bill

 

[tiggerdad]

Time to start lurking over here, too.

Bill

Yyeeeeppp...

 

[peg110]

When we went to look at our "new" truck, the dealer asked what kind of payment would we like to have. I told him same as the current one, he asked how much that was and I replied nothing. Our old truck had been paid off for years.
One dealer low balled our trade and did want to even talk about what we wanted, he kept going back to new trucks. Bigger kickback than selling us a used one. Funny, that dealer still has that truck on his lot. We are not in a huge market for 3500 crew cab diesels. Not many farms around here.

I hate when they ask "What kind of payment do you want?" They will Tweak the terms (as much as they can ) to maximize the purchase price and still meat your payment. I tell them, not to worry about the payment until we have figured out the price of the truck. (I usually already have financing set up at my Credit union at MUCH cheaper then they can even touch).

2 years ago, I traded in my Newer F150 looking for an F250. The 150 had about $7K of equity on it. When I went looking at the one dealership, they weren't budging on price. Not even the slightest. (It was an F250 Lariat Crew Cab SRW Short box). I got up and walked out. Thanked them for their time. Amazingly 2 days later they called and came down a few thousand, but it still wasn't enough.

I ended up going to another dealer (30 minutes away) found a nice truck (similar to the first) and told them the price I wanted to pay "Out the door" (not payments, the final price). I told them of my previous experience with the other dealer. The sales woman took good care of us. Met our price (which was reasonable for US and for THEM) Plus we had the added Sprayed in Bed liner (Best thing I ever did too).

I hate salesman (or rather dealing with them). You almost have to be as stubborn with them as they are with you. It's your money after all. They want it so make them work for it. Don't just give it to them.

 

[pluto67]

When we went to look at our "new" truck, the dealer asked what kind of payment would we like to have. I told him same as the current one, he asked how much that was and I replied nothing. Our old truck had been paid off for years.
One dealer low balled our trade and did want to even talk about what we wanted, he kept going back to new trucks. Bigger kickback than selling us a used one. Funny, that dealer still has that truck on his lot. We are not in a huge market for 3500 crew cab diesels. Not many farms around here.

 

[WishIwasFishin]

Alright guys, give it to me straight. What's the maximum I can do with a 350 diesel SRW?? Pin weight, towing? These RV salesmen are telling me I can pull a big Montana or Sandpiper with no problem. Maybe dry weight, but not with batteries, fuel, etc. I'm not so sure. I keep telling my wife that it's either downsize the camper or get a dually. She's not liking the word "downsize". I have a buddy that pulls his 42' 5th wheel with a 2500 diesel. Looks iffy. He swears it's fine. But what do I know?!

Bill

 

[Teamubr]

Alright guys, give it to me straight. What's the maximum I can do with a 350 diesel SRW??

This depends on a couple of things. Year, cab style, 2WD or 4WD and sometimes axle ratio.

Here's an example: My F350 dually is a 2011. It has similar ratings to 2015/16 trucks. I think the newer trucks are slightly higher.

From Ford's 2011 tow guide: 5th wheel towing with a single rear wheel (SRW) crewcab, 2wd, all axles- 16,100; 4wd is- 15,700. A dually is: 2wd- 22,000, 4wd- 21,500.
Pin weight varies from 3000-3200 depending on wheelbase and cab for the SRW. The DRW is 4500-6000.

So the short answer is, yes, a SRW crewcab 4wd F350 diesel 'can' tow my 42 ft, 14,000 lb, 2700lb pin weight trailer and still likely be just under the limits after you add your family to the truck. I've towed at the limit before with different vehicles. It does 'ok', but the extra stability of the dually makes towing big, much more comfortable, especially on long drives. If the finances aren't right to get a new trailer AND a new truck, use the truck you have and judge, knowing you may want to look at a different truck in a year or two.

I just looked up the 2016 trucks. SRW- 15,700-16,000, DRW-23,500-24,500. The SRW is about the same as my 2011, but the DRW is 2000 higher.

j

 

[sirenia88]

Truck payments? What's that? I don't have those issues... anymore.

AS for the towing with the 350 SRW diesel, you should be fine with with the lighter end 5ers. However the heavier ones it just makes sense to go with a duely long bed. Speaking of which the DW and I will be looking at some trailers in the next few weeks. Just getting more ideas for the next model if we so choose to upgrade.

 

[tiggerdad]

As a general rule: greater than 15,000# then more stable with a duelly. I pulled a 15,000# 5th wheel for my BIL with my old 2003 f-250 and it pulled fine but safety and stability favor the duelly. That's a lot of weight and a blown tire on the rear of a duelly means you still have one more tire to keep you safely to the side of the road.

 

[SouthAlabama5er]

Our Sandpiper GVWR is 15,500# that's right on the top end of a SRW 1 Ton tow rating. That's the number you want to go by, GVWR and Pinbox weight, I would pay the UVW (unloaded vehicle weight) any mind. I've heard of salesmen pushing that number but you wanna be able to handle the biggest weight number on the yellow spec sticker on a 5er. A SRW could handle the weight as Teamubr mentioned but it with little wiggle room. A Dually would handle the load better, if you could take a SRW and tow a 5er a distance and then tow the same 5er with a Dually, you will feel a big difference in handling, you feel more in stable and control and less stressed. I have a buddy with a 11 F250 and a 40ft 5er, and he doesn't like pulling far because it stresses him out, I know everyone is different and don't stress of the same stuff. If it falls under the maximum rated and you feel comfortable driving it, go for it, people do it everyday, but to some It's a peace of mind thing for some, especially while you on vacation to relax and enjoy it. Yeah its expensive peace of mind, but worth it if makes your camping trips more enjoyable and less stressful.

Remember there is a price to pay for having a dually, two more tires to replace, bank & some other drive thru's will be out the window, not to mention parking.

Hope this helps, just my 2 cents worth.

 

[jbrostek]

My Sanibel is a 15500 unit, but she is pin heavy. My previous 2006 SRW pulled it just fine but on any decent grade it struggled due to the gearing of the truck. I figure I am rolling around 14-14500 depending on how loaded up she is for various trips. The one time I rolled CAT scales to check my weights she had no water, was moderately loaded for a 5 day weekend and I had 100# to spare on the RAWR and if I recall 3-500# on my GVW, trailer weighed in at 14xxx.

After towing the trailer with a Dually for my Christmas trip (after my 2006 decided it didn't want to make the trip.) It was night and day difference, and that was in a 2007 Chevy 3500 DRW. The gearing and stability specially over transitions was night and day difference.

I would say it all depends on how much you tow the camper, where plan to tow in the most. If you are generally flat land and 200 mile radius minus a long trip or two like Disney I think you can deal with an SRW. If you are in the eastern hills or western mountains you are not going to be happy trying to climb grades due to the gearing.

 

[rideswithchrist]

My husband would be embarrassed at even posting this in the midst of all the diesels hahah.



17.5 mpg when pulling this little pup through the Texas Hill County, I am not complaining.

 

[SouthAlabama5er]

Nothing to complain about, 17.5 mpg is good! Nice setup!

 

[tiggerdad]

Wish I got that kind of mileage.

 

[SouthAlabama5er]

Wish I got that kind of mileage.

Hard to get that kind of milage at Mach 2 speeds, Mr. IFLYLOW....

 

[tiggerdad]

My husband would be embarrassed at even posting this in the midst of all the diesels hahah.

View attachment 149253

17.5 mpg when pulling this little pup through the Texas Hill County, I am not complaining.

Bet I could make mach 3 with that trailer.

Seriously, I wanted a popup like that but The Boss had a list of needs/wants that had to be met. Once I figured how large of a rig I was going to need to meet that list I was able to find a moderate 2 axle condo that met her specs and I was able to sneak in a few things like an outdoor kitchen.

I really am envious.

 

[SouthAlabama5er]

Seriously, I wanted a popup like that but The Boss had a list of needs/wants that had to be met. Once I figured how large of a rig I was going to need to meet that list I was able to find a moderate 2 axle condo that met her specs and I was able to sneak in a few things like an outdoor kitchen.

Hey you could be on to something new here, a pop up fifthwheel, best of both worlds!

 

[WishIwasFishin]

Great info guys. Not exactly what Heather wanted to hear but she will survive. I'm thinking we will have to downsize a little bit. I would rather be safe than sorry. I plan on traveling farther than Disney in this thing and will probably be doing some smaller mountains, too. I guess I will be looking for lighter campers now which is fine with me. Maybe a smaller price tag Or maybe that's wishful thinking.