oostertoaster

Hi All,
I have a 2016 short bed crew cab F150 with the 3.5L and tow package (not max tow). The opportunity has come up recently for me to purchase a 5th wheel camper. However I'm not even sure my truck is capable of pulling a 5th wheel. I pull a travel trailer every summer, but I've never pulled a fifth wheel before.

My main question: Is my truck capable of pulling a 5th wheel with the specs below? My payload sticker says I have a payload capability of ~1800lbs. However I only have the short bed.

5th wheel specs are as follows:

chimmike

It'll pull it, but the question is, do you have enough payload for the loaded pin weight? probably not. It's likely to be a bit higher than 910lbs pin weight. Plus weight of 5er hitch. And you can figure on loaded weight to be 8,000lbs or so, maybe more...but that GVWR may be higher than your max trailer weight rating.

mass-hole

How much weight in people and other belonging will be in the truck? Does that pin weight include propane and batteries? How much does the hitch weigh?

I am guess no, you will not have enough payload once all is said and done for that big of a 5th. There are F150's that could do it, just not yours.

Sweetlou

Don’t even look at dry weight or dry pin weight.

Get a good comfortable estimate of loaded weight. Usually 1200lb over “dry.” Then take 20% of that and that’s your actual pin weight. Add 100lb for the hitch itself.

So figure 8000lb loaded. Thats 2000lb pin weight plus 100lb hitch, so 2100lb in bed.

Add you (180) wife (150) kid (130) dog (50). You need at least 2500lb payload.

Pass.

Superbigben

You will be overload and not secure.

chimmike

to clarify overloaded in this instance, overloaded means you've exceeded the GVWR of the truck by a good bit.

Sweetlou

Not just the GVWR but also the gross axle weight rating. This is in my opinion even more important as at least if you exceed the GVWR you could still be within your front and rear axle ratings, but once you exceed your axle... you are just OVER WEIGHT no two ways around it!

chimmike

I have a hard enough time explaining payload to people who hitch up a 35' bumper pull on a Ram with 1400lbs payload let alone that their individual axles have ratings that they've blown thru as well. The sure do get butthurt when they find out there's more to it than "the dealer said I could pull this".

oostertoaster

Thanks for the insight guys. The person I was buying it from insists its half-ton towable (and that he pulled it with a ram 1500), thanks for confirming my initial doubts. I'll probably be passing on the camper.

Sweetlou

It’s amazing how it seems like it’s ALWAYS a ram 1500 that’s severely overloaded... and the ram and the tundra share the lowest payload in our class. Scary!

Guys just add air bags and think they are fine