New Ford F350

[hduncan]

We purchased our 2019 Ford F350 SRW prior to purchasing our 2020 Solitude 380FL. I was initially concerned about the payload of the truck and the weight of the RV. After reading a lot of posts regarding the debate on payload and SRW versus DRW, I elected to move forward with the truck we purchased as our tow vehicle. The current F350 has all the accessories and options one would need for pulling the Solitude. Unfortunately, the payload capacity on the F350 was 3,300#'s because of all those accessories and options. Based on the weight of the RV and all the other things that contribute to payload, we estimated that we were about 800#'s above payload. Is this something to be concerned about when on the road? We convinced ourselves that we were fine and completed a couple of long trips during the summer of 2020. I will say that we had absolutely no issue or problems during these two long trips, which only reinforced our opinion about the F350's capability.

Our planned RV adventure for this year takes us to the western area of Colorado. As we started working through the details of the drive, we realized that we had a lot of concerns about the almost 3 hours of driving through the mountains west of Denver. We started asking ourselves once again about the payload of the F350 and the associated risks with being slightly over payload. Where am I going with this tale? Well, we decided after a lot of debate and discussions to move forward with trading the SRW for a DRW. It really all boiled down to one simple thing. Regardless of the debate and opinions, I need a better safety margin for my family. So we drove the F350 SRW to the dealership and told them we wanted exactly the same vehicle but in the DRW version.

The vehicle has been ordered, and we are patiently waiting on delivery. We were informed last weekend that a VIN has been assigned and the expected delivery date is May 24th. Long time to wait so I am hoping that somewhere in the process we are able to get an improved delivery date. Our decision to move forward with a DRW was based on a lot of information from this forum. Although we took a lot of people's opinion into consideration, we decided this was something we had to decide for ourselves. My message to you without getting myself dragged into the debate is to do what you feel is right for you and your family because you will be the one who will have to live with the decision.

Safe travels!

[JCR GD]

Congrats! You won't be disappointed. Peace of mind is very valuable! Safe travels.

[WeirdAl]

We purchased our 2019 Ford F350 SRW prior to purchasing our 2020 Solitude 380FL. I was initially concerned about the payload of the truck and the weight of the RV. After reading a lot of posts regarding the debate on payload and SRW versus DRW, I elected to move forward with the truck we purchased as our tow vehicle. The current F350 has all the accessories and options one would need for pulling the Solitude. Unfortunately, the payload capacity on the F350 was 3,300#'s because of all those accessories and options. Based on the weight of the RV and all the other things that contribute to payload, we estimated that we were about 800#'s above payload. Is this something to be concerned about when on the road? We convinced ourselves that we were fine and completed a couple of long trips during the summer of 2020. I will say that we had absolutely no issue or problems during these two long trips, which only reinforced our opinion about the F350's capability.

Our planned RV adventure for this year takes us to the western area of Colorado. As we started working through the details of the drive, we realized that we had a lot of concerns about the almost 3 hours of driving through the mountains west of Denver. We started asking ourselves once again about the payload of the F350 and the associated risks with being slightly over payload. Where am I going with this tale? Well, we decided after a lot of debate and discussions to move forward with trading the SRW for a DRW. It really all boiled down to one simple thing. Regardless of the debate and opinions, I need a better safety margin for my family. So we drove the F350 SRW to the dealership and told them we wanted exactly the same vehicle but in the DRW version.

The vehicle has been ordered, and we are patiently waiting on delivery. We were informed last weekend that a VIN has been assigned and the expected delivery date is May 24th. Long time to wait so I am hoping that somewhere in the process we are able to get an improved delivery date. Our decision to move forward with a DRW was based on a lot of information from this forum. Although we took a lot of people's opinion into consideration, we decided this was something we had to decide for ourselves. My message to you without getting myself dragged into the debate is to do what you feel is right for you and your family because you will be the one who will have to live with the decision.

Safe travels!

Congrats! Hopefully the May 24th date is with the shutdown already taken into account.

[dragonfly]

We purchased our 2019 Ford F350 SRW prior to purchasing our 2020 Solitude 380FL. I was initially concerned about the payload of the truck and the weight of the RV. After reading a lot of posts regarding the debate on payload and SRW versus DRW, I elected to move forward with the truck we purchased as our tow vehicle. The current F350 has all the accessories and options one would need for pulling the Solitude. Unfortunately, the payload capacity on the F350 was 3,300#'s because of all those accessories and options. Based on the weight of the RV and all the other things that contribute to payload, we estimated that we were about 800#'s above payload. Is this something to be concerned about when on the road? We convinced ourselves that we were fine and completed a couple of long trips during the summer of 2020. I will say that we had absolutely no issue or problems during these two long trips, which only reinforced our opinion about the F350's capability.

Our planned RV adventure for this year takes us to the western area of Colorado. As we started working through the details of the drive, we realized that we had a lot of concerns about the almost 3 hours of driving through the mountains west of Denver. We started asking ourselves once again about the payload of the F350 and the associated risks with being slightly over payload. Where am I going with this tale? Well, we decided after a lot of debate and discussions to move forward with trading the SRW for a DRW. It really all boiled down to one simple thing. Regardless of the debate and opinions, I need a better safety margin for my family. So we drove the F350 SRW to the dealership and told them we wanted exactly the same vehicle but in the DRW version.

The vehicle has been ordered, and we are patiently waiting on delivery. We were informed last weekend that a VIN has been assigned and the expected delivery date is May 24th. Long time to wait so I am hoping that somewhere in the process we are able to get an improved delivery date. Our decision to move forward with a DRW was based on a lot of information from this forum. Although we took a lot of people's opinion into consideration, we decided this was something we had to decide for ourselves. My message to you without getting myself dragged into the debate is to do what you feel is right for you and your family because you will be the one who will have to live with the decision.

Safe travels!

Our story was similar. We had 2013 F-350, Heavy optioned plus added a 61 gallon Titan fuel tank. We loaded up and took off on a 1,250 mile trip, no problems until within 30 miles of home we came down a 7% grade and found our exhaust brake was not holding us back . It had worked fine in other mountain areas but not on a true 7% grade on the 2013 SRW 6 speed.
That caused me to do more research and reading of the GD forums. I found I was 1200lbs. Over on the GVWR of the truck.
I now am awaiting any day delivery of F-450 King Ranch. It was ordered Jan. 10th and suppose to be delivered 4/10/21.
I too am hoping for early delivery. I think many of us have been fooled by the power of the Power Stroke and the classification of 1 Ton . Oh I think I left out I was pulling a Solitude 385 GVWR of 16,800lbs. And actual weight was 15,500lbs. I’ve never pulled with a Dually but have test drove empty and found it nice!

[vedodge1]

Our story was similar. We had 2013 F-350, Heavy optioned plus added a 61 gallon Titan fuel tank. We loaded up and took off on a 1,250 mile trip, no problems until within 30 miles of home we came down a 7% grade and found our exhaust brake was not holding us back . It had worked fine in other mountain areas but not on a true 7% grade on the 2013 SRW 6 speed.
That caused me to do more research and reading of the GD forums. I found I was 1200lbs. Over on the GVWR of the truck.
I now am awaiting any day delivery of F-450 King Ranch. It was ordered Jan. 10th and suppose to be delivered 4/10/21.
I too am hoping for early delivery. I think many of us have been fooled by the power of the Power Stroke and the classification of 1 Ton . Oh I think I left out I was pulling a Solitude 385 GVWR of 16,800lbs. And actual weight was 15,500lbs. I’ve never pulled with a Dually but have test drove empty and found it nice!

I'm relatively new to this so I hope this doesn't sound silly. Just curious how you were so far over an F350 GVWR with the trailer weight of 15,500 lbs. Do you know what the hitch (pin) weight was? I read somewhere that fifth wheel hitch weight was estimated to be 15% of the trailer weight.

Thank you

[dragonfly]

I'm relatively new to this so I hope this doesn't sound silly. Just curious how you were so far over an F350 GVWR with the trailer weight of 15,500 lbs. Do you know what the hitch (pin) weight was? I read somewhere that fifth wheel hitch weight was estimated to be 15% of the trailer weight.

Thank you

That 15% you are referring to is fir travel trailers or bumper pull, not Fifth Wheels. You can easily figure on 20 to 25% on Fifth wheels.
My pin weight was 3,780lbs. and my truck alone loaded was over 9,000lbs. My truck’s GVWR was 11,500lbs.

[vedodge1]

That 15% you are referring to is fir travel trailers or bumper pull, not Fifth Wheels. You can easily figure on 20 to 25% on Fifth wheels.
My pin weight was 3,780lbs. and my truck alone loaded was over 9,000lbs. My truck’s GVWR was 11,500lbs.

Thank you so much, that' very helpful. My fifth wheel is at the dealer and I've had the walk through. The "Vehicle Weight Information Sheet" I was given lists the RV GVWR at 15,000 lbs and the unloaded RV weight as 11,678 lbs. It also lists the hitch weight as 2246 lbs and I asked if that was loaded loaded and they told me it was max hitch weight for a fully loaded RV. Now it sounds more like the unloaded hitch weight.

Thank you again.

[Always Learning]

Thank you so much, that' very helpful. My fifth wheel is at the dealer and I've had the walk through. The "Vehicle Weight Information Sheet" I was given lists the RV GVWR at 15,000 lbs and the unloaded RV weight as 11,678 lbs. It also lists the hitch weight as 2246 lbs and I asked if that was loaded loaded and they told me it was max hitch weight for a fully loaded RV. Now it sounds more like the unloaded hitch weight.

Thank you again.

What model of fifth wheel do you have?

[vedodge1]

What model of fifth wheel do you have?

We just purchased our S-Class 2930RL. Also, I just got off the phone with Grand Design, and they assured me that 2,246 lbs listed as on the weight sheet (with the RV VIN) was the fully loaded hitch weight. Of course I think now I will have it weighted the first chance I get.

[Fsalmy]

We just purchased our S-Class 2930RL. Also, I just got off the phone with Grand Design, and they assured me that 2,246 lbs listed as on the weight sheet (with the RV VIN) was the fully loaded hitch weight. Of course I think now I will have it weighted the first chance I get.

Let's do some quick math to check what you were told.
Worst case scenario: 25% pin weight of GVWR = .25 x 15,000 = 3750 lbs.
Unloaded hitch weight is 2246/11,678 = 19.2%
Best case scenario: .192 x 15,000 = 2884 hitch weight. That seems a little light to me.