Ford F-250 towing 303RLS

[Ernie_diaz]

I completely understand all the arguments and agree, that by the numbers a lot of rigs out there (including mine) are over the limit. Now, that being said, I truly believe my F-250 will handle the 303 without a problem, towing and load. Thank you for everyone for chiming in.

[GENESIS]

And now.....I give you something to really ponder.

Do a search for Rob&Cate. Rob tows a 303RLS with an F150 with a special order max tow package. Rob has towed this rig up & down and up & down and up & down the East Coast and other points in between. To my knowledge, after at least four years, Rob has encountered ZERO issues with his truck towing that rig. I'll leave it to Rob to fill in the blanks.

"paging Rob to the house courtesy phone"

And BTW.....there ain't nothing wrong with having too much truck. However.....if you ain't never gonna go big, why waste the money?

And FWIW.....when it comes to TV, there's an in-betweener that is sorely overlooked. From personal experience, the Nissan Titan XD with the baby Cummins is an awesome TV for 5er's in the 303RLS range. It rides like a 1500 series truck, pulls within 80% of a 2500, gets better fuel mileage than a 2500 diesel, and when loaded with all the bells & whistles, the MSRP is slightly more than a F150 mac-daddy. To me it's an unsung hero. It pulled my 337RLS with no problem for over a year. Why did I opt for a RAM 3500 Dually? Only because we had plans to move up in rig and wanted to not have to worry about the TV. OH - and because of Nissan's dismal sales numbers, you can score a Titan XD at a crazy price.

Tom

[gsfitzsr]

I took my 303RLS to a truck scale right after buying it. I was surprised my truck (RAM 2500 CTD) was now 10600lbs. with the trailer attached. I'm still within the axle ratings since the same axle is used on the 3500, unless you have a high output CTD or dual rear wheel setup. I towed with this setup a few thousand miles, then I had to do something about the bouncing or porpoising so I added Timbren units. They were just too harsh so I changed to air bags (Timber Grove) with an onboard compressor setup. This has nearly eliminated the porpoising with only 35psi bag pressure. I'm still over the GVWR of 10K lbs. but it rides better now.

I recently replaced my brake magnets and all wiring from the pigtail back to each brake unit. I found the wiring inside the axles had shorted out inside the axle tubes. I replaced the wiring with #10AWG which is what Dexter recommended but GD used much smaller wire. I did not have any grease inside my brake units because the seals were OK, but there was minimal grease inside some hubs. I recommend everyone open their axle bearings and check things out. It's not that much work for anyone with auto repair experience.

[Jim&Ang]

LOL! Thanks Jeff, I have that kind of affect on people. The reality is, I do appreciate all their comments, and they are probably 100% correct. But to your point, I see most people towing these 5’ers with 250/2500’s and bigger trailer than mine. So that being the case, I can’t wait to hook up the trailer and see how it tows (spray-in liner and hitch rails going in tomorrow). I’ll look into the overloads you mentioned, I installed bags in the 1500 and they worked great, I was just hoping to avoid changing the ride of the vehicle.

I read in another thread, people saying that this truck is not enough for the 303’s. Someone replied, if that’s the case, then what do the owners of Solitudes and Momentum’s need, F450/F550/F650? Again, I understand the argument, and by the numbers, I don’t disagree, it just doesn’t seem feasible. Maybe the issue is that I haven’t gotten into a dangerous situation where my truck was outclassed and I couldn’t control my rig. Hopefully that will never happen.

I’ve been towing since I learned how to drive, I’m very comfortable and confident with my abilities. I welcome these comments because it wasn’t till I purchased a bigger trailer that I started to to pay attention to these numbers and the capacity of my vehicles. I used to just look at the tow capacity of the truck, and if my tow vehicle could pull more, I’m good, I now know that’s just incorrect.

BTW, I felt my 1500 towed it well, even though it was totally out classed. I switched vehicles because I figured long term, it was going to bring problems and I was limited to only towing in South Florida due to the flat terrain (there could be worse places). Not saying I’m going to tow this rig up Pikes Peak, but I don’t want to be limited.

With regard to the Solitudes and Momentums, a 350/3500 diesel with the correct options for transmission/ratio (and DRW for the 20,000 lb trailers) will pull these and be within limits. You certainly see people pulling these big rigs with lesser trucks, with no apparent problems. But I did see one with 2 blown rear tires looking rather pathetic on I-85 not too long ago. Wish I had a picture.

[fsgarrett]

I completely understand all the arguments and agree, that by the numbers a lot of rigs out there (including mine) are over the limit. Now, that being said, I truly believe my F-250 will handle the 303 without a problem, towing and load. Thank you for everyone for chiming in.

I bought a 303RLS three years ago, upgrading from a Jayco 30 ft bumper pull. I did not check the weight limits....assumed they would be good with my F250 6.7 diesel. Power and pulling capacity has not been an issue. I live in Arkansas and have pulled my 303RLS to both coasts, through MT, WA, OR on the west coast and to Niagara Falls, PA, WV, NJ, etc. on the east coast. I joined this blog a few months back and this issue comes up often....so I decided to weigh my trailer, fully loaded and ready to camp. My TV/trailer package weighed 18,580. I weighed my truck by itself and it was 7,860, which leaves my trailer at 10,720. I am overweight. I do not plan to change anything with this setup, but if I buy a new truck in the future, it will be a F-350. Enjoy your trailer and truck.

[Ernie_diaz]

I bought a 303RLS three years ago, upgrading from a Jayco 30 ft bumper pull. I did not check the weight limits....assumed they would be good with my F250 6.7 diesel. Power and pulling capacity has not been an issue. I live in Arkansas and have pulled my 303RLS to both coasts, through MT, WA, OR on the west coast and to Niagara Falls, PA, WV, NJ, etc. on the east coast. I joined this blog a few months back and this issue comes up often....so I decided to weigh my trailer, fully loaded and ready to camp. My TV/trailer package weighed 18,580. I weighed my truck by itself and it was 7,860, which leaves my trailer at 10,720. I am overweight. I do not plan to change anything with this setup, but if I buy a new truck in the future, it will be a F-350. Enjoy your trailer and truck.

Pulled the trailer this weekend with the new setup. It pulled great, have no complaints. I'm going to add Timbrens SES to rear to take up some of the squat. I think this is going to be my setup for a while, when it's time for another truck, I'll go F350 and will probably upgrade the trailer at that time as well.

[Banshee94]

Dam you guys don't beat up the 3/4 ton guys for being over payload as you do the 1/2 ton guys for being at payload 200 lbs over.
I've seen you guys beat on us for being at 80% capacity screaming at the folks telling them they need a bigger truck. At 80% come on lol.
Playing favorites.

[Ernie_diaz]

Dam you guys don't beat up the 3/4 ton guys for being over payload as you do the 1/2 ton guys for being at payload 200 lbs over.
I've seen you guys beat on us for being at 80% capacity screaming at the folks telling them they need a bigger truck. At 80% come on lol.
Playing favorites.

LOL. It's a tough crowd. The facts are the facts, and thats ok. The reality is, I wasn't going to change out the truck, it's just not possible. I believe when I install the Timbrens, it's going to tow even better (more stability). Can't wait to do an extended trip with this setup. Now I'm beginning to wonder about mileage, for the people that have the same setup, what kind of mileage are you seeing when you tow? I'm planning a month long trip for early next year and I'm trying to figure things out.

[DaveMatthewsBand]

I just purchased a 2019 F-250 SWR with the 6.7 diesel 4x4. The vehicle has the #10000 GVWR package. For individuals that have the same truck and trailer package, did you have to add air bags or something similar to handle the pin weight? I previously towed the 303 with a RAM 1500 with air bags, just wondering if I have to do the same for this truck. I haven't had the 5th wheel hitch installed yet, so I can't hook up the trailer and check the amount of squat.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I had 3” of sag on my F250 diesel 4x4 SWR. Reflection pin is 1,600#
I added Timbrens because I wanted something inexpensive and easy for a non-mechanic non-electrician to install in half an hour by himself.
Airbags have a pump and bags that eventually fail and electrical wires to run. The Timbrens are fool-proof. My sag is maybe 1” tops now, fully loaded with gear. When I’m not towing the axle doesn’t touch the Timbrens so ride is unaffected. It was a night and day difference in handling when towing, you’ll be glad you installed them.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ernie_diaz]

I had 3” of sag on my F250 diesel 4x4 SWR. Reflection pin is 1,600#
I added Timbrens because I wanted something inexpensive and easy for a non-mechanic non-electrician to install in half an hour by himself.
Airbags have a pump and bags that eventually fail and electrical wires to run. The Timbrens are fool-proof. My sag is maybe 1” tops now, fully loaded with gear. When I’m not towing the axle doesn’t touch the Timbrens so ride is unaffected. It was a night and day difference in handling when towing, you’ll be glad you installed them.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's great to hear. I had bags in my last truck, and while they worked great, I wanted a different/simpler solution for this truck.