ryeboy

I have a 2011 F150 XLT club cab with a 6 and 1/2 ft. bed and a 5.0 liter V8 with a 3.55 rear end. My truck is set up to two 9500 lbs. max. My Cougar 5th wheel is a 2012 27RKS and the dry weight on it is 7,140 lbs. according to the Cougar brochure. I bought a used Curt slider hitch on ebay for $220 in very good condition (hardly used). I did have to purchase the new rails that the hitch fastens to and the hardware to fasten the rails to my truck bed. I paid to have it installed and my have gotten a little bit screwed on this deal, but I paid $500 to have the hitch installed but that included two Timbrens that take the place of my old bump stops. These Timbrens were $99 apiece (two of them) and it cost $30 to mount the pair, so if you figure that in as a portion of the $500 it's not as bad. I have absolutely NO sag in the bed of my truck - None!


Now to get back to your short bed. As of now, I have never had to used to slider part of my 5th wheel hitch when backing, I'm not saying I never will but have not used it so far. But in a really tight backing situation I may have to. I am super careful when backing and I always keep an eye on the trailer to make sure it won't hit the corners of my truck when making really tight turns while going forwards or while backing up. You will have to be even more careful because your bed is one foot shorter than mine. The slides on my Curt 5th wheel hitch are 12 inches long, so by sliding the hitch backward, you will gain an extra 12 inches of clearance when backing into a tight spot at a campground. Like I say, as of yet, I have never had to use my use the slides on my slider hitch while backing but I have them if ever need them. And, you may very well need them on a 5.5 foot bed, just depends on how tight of area there is to back at the campground. If you have never towed a 5th wheel before then be EXTRA careful when stopping to get gas. Make sure you make very wide swings when you turn and GO SLOW and let NO ONE hurry you - because it's YOUR RIG that will be messed up and your money so SCREW anyone that tries to get you to hurry! They can just wait or go to hell. I know about this from personal experience and did some minor damage to my trailer which is repaired by now. As far as an extension on the hitch of the trailer - I didn't know you could get one but it might not be a bad idea. You just need to talk to a tech/trailer mechanic at an RV sales and service place about that.


But, Yes I think you will be able to tow fine with a 5.5 foot bed, you'll just have to be a little more careful than me with my 6.5 foot bed and with that said I have to be more careful than a someone with an 8 ft. bed. I have towed some long distances with no incidents. Only had one minor problem at a gas station that was tight. Good luck and contact me on here if I can help you at all, I will.

Vectorr66

Ok so I have no idea if anyone is still monitoring this thread but didn't realize so much was involved with our trucks and weight. I currently have a 2015 27 foot TT, I am not very happy at all towing it. I am VERY interested in seeing if I can go to a fifth wheel. I am attaching my door stickers to see if anyone can help me decipher these properly?

I have a 2015 F150 FX4 with the V8 5.0 in it. DID NOT realize the 3.5 ECO actually towed or what I see tows better on paper.

Thanks for ANY input!

Platinum_Sean

The rear GAWR shows 3800. What you need to do is find out what the weight of the truck is, at the rear axle, with people, gas, dogs, ... in the truck

Subtract that number from 3800. The left over, is the max weight that a 5th wheel pin can weigh- that is, the trailer pin and the truck hitch. For example, if the truck weighs 2700, this leaves 3800-2700, or 1100 pounds for a trailer pin and hitch. If the hitch is 100 lbs, that now leaves 1000 pin weight for a 5er. Good luck finding that !!! maybe a 25 ft one, not much else.

After that, you need to check that the GVW is not over (sum of truck + people + trailer), check tire rating (per tire times 2, is this more than the GAWR loaded?), ...

S

Vectorr66

Sean, thank you very much for getting back to me. I am feeling really jaded here. I mean I was under the assumption of the ability to tow 12200 when we bought it and all and the FX4 had the better suspension and all. UGH if this was the case we would have gotten the 250 from the start.

Vectorr66

Wow, I am glad I have been looking things up. We saw a deal on these 33ft Salem units. Yeah that pin weight is way more then you are saying the truck can handle.

Platinum_Sean

Well, this is the great marketing debate. Heck, love Ford's, but let's be real... they advertise 11,300 lbs towing. Assuming 20% pin, whether a tow behind or 5th wheel, 20% of 11,300 is 2200 lbs. So Ford says you can put 2200 lbs as either payload, or trailer pin/tongue. BUT if the GAWR rear is 4000 lbs, and weighs 2700 unloaded, that is only 1300 lbs remaining, max. Where is the extra 900 pounds gone???????? Marketing. that's where.

Same crap for their payload numbers. they say payload = 2500 lbs... but 2700 dry + 2500 exceeds their GAWR. Argh

that pull number is pretty fictitious IMHO.

smcox1

You just have to remove the back seat, spare tire, gas tank and take the bed off and you're good to go! LOL!!

AZ5r

I've been pulling a 28 ft Fox Mountain all over Colorado with my 2013 F150 for two years. The 5.0 liter engine is more than adequate. I did modify a few things: Firestone air bags, trans and differential have added cooling capacity, drilled and slotted brakes, Michelin LT tires.
Dry weight for the 5r is speced at 8200, pin weight 1500.
The acid test is pulling up to Sunset Point on I17 out of Phoenix on a summer afternoon: neither T gauge moves past 3/4 max doing 55 in second gear up the long, 7% grade.
From a practical standpoint, the F150 is indeed "Ford Tough"!

BStrummin

Just curious, but what specifically is the problem? Maybe that can be addressed? Is it a sway issue? I towed a 27' TT no problem with my 14 and it had a GVW of 7,000lbs with no issues at all.

Yeah the weight limits thing is shameful but all manufacturers do it. And the sales people in my experience don't even know it's a joke.

Vectorr66

Yes it is the unexpected sway that gets me. I am fine up to about 50-55 MPH. We had a 2010 Nissan Titan prior to getting the F150. We basically just swapped out the truck but didn't really get a chance to adjust anything or have the shop look at my setup. I did notice that the F150 sits a little lower with the hitch. It does seem level though when attached to the trailer. We were getting a lot of dolphin feeling with our first short ride with the F150, we called the shop and they recommended putting more weight on the hitch with adding another chain link when attaching the weight distribution bars.

This is the kit we received when buying our trailer. I am wondering though if the 1 sway control arm is enough with my weight of trailer? The original trailer we bought was a 20 foot hybrid with the same kit. It seems though they give the same kit out with all trailers they are selling. Would a friction kit help me better? The kit gets great reviews...ugh frustrating. The truck is on lease for 2 years, we just got it in June so worst case we live with what we have until we can upgrade later to either a 250 or 350.