New Member, Hopefully soon a NEW OWNER! 150 Series Reflection Q's

[JDRhoads714]

Greeting from sunny California!

We really want to believe we can purchase and SAFELY tow a 5th Wheel Trailer with our 1/2 Ton truck.

I am interested in how many of you 150 Series owners are towing with a 1/2 ton and what has your experience been like in doing so?

I'm sure I would be pleased with the 240, but the 280 seems to really fit our lifestyle, any help would be appreciated!

2020 F150 XL - STX 4x4 Shortbed
3.5L Ecoboost
Max Tow Package
Tires - 305x55 R20
Shocks - (F) Bilstein 6112 (F) Bilstein 5160
Payload - 1933 lbs.

[bertschb]

Are you wanting to remain below your truck's payload rating? If so, take the GVWR of the 5th wheel you're looking at and take 20% of that as an estimate for the pin weight. Then add to that number:

- The weight of your hitch
- The weight of your passengers
- The weight of anything in your truck (tools, pets, firewood, etc)

Compare that number to the payload rating of your truck - which in your case is 1,933lbs.

As an example - If we use rough numbers, figure the hitch is 200lbs, passengers 150lbs and the "stuff" in the truck is 150lbs (500lbs total). That leaves you an allowable RV pin weight of around 1,433lbs (1,933-500) which means you need an RV with a GVWR of around 7,150lbs (20% of 7,150 = 1,430). The lightest Reflection 150 series has a GVWR of 9,995lbs so they are all too heavy for your truck. You can get a lighter hitch which would help a little but not much overall.

Now having said all of this, if like many people you don't care about exceeding the payload rating of your truck, just ignore all this and buy whichever 5th wheel you want!

[Second Chance]

Do these two things... first, plug the numbers in here:

http://changingears.com/rv-sec-calc-...eight-fw.shtml

Then watch these two videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwFLOBrADBs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRDydK3LyBw

You'll be hard-pressed to find a fifth wheel you can tow with your truck and be within limits.

Rob

[JDRhoads714]

Using the calculator with the following inputs
GVWR 7000
CGWR 16200
Max Loaded Trailer Wt 10500
RGAWR 4050
GVW 5067
Trailer GVW 8491
King Pin Wt 1310

Calculation Results Weight (lb)* Weight (kg)*

Maximum Trailer Weight - 10,500 lb 4,763 kg
This is the maximum trailer weight based on the most restrictive tow vehicle ratings provided (maximum loaded trailer weight rating).

Maximum Trailer Weight with Margin - 9,975 lb 4,525 kg
This is the maximum trailer weight based on the most restrictive tow vehicle ratings provided, reduced by a safety margin of 5%.

Maximum King Pin Weight - 1,575 lb 714 kg
This is the recommended maximum king pin weight, based on 15% of the calculated Maximum Trailer Weight.

Did I do something wrong? It says I'm fine towing the 280RS

[jakev383]

Welcome from North Carolina! I'm not a 150 tower, but wanted to say hello!

[Second Chance]

Using the calculator with the following inputs
GVWR 7000
CGWR 16200
Max Loaded Trailer Wt 10500
RGAWR 4050
GVW 5067
Trailer GVW 8491
King Pin Wt 1310

Calculation Results Weight (lb)* Weight (kg)*

Maximum Trailer Weight - 10,500 lb 4,763 kg
This is the maximum trailer weight based on the most restrictive tow vehicle ratings provided (maximum loaded trailer weight rating).

Maximum Trailer Weight with Margin - 9,975 lb 4,525 kg
This is the maximum trailer weight based on the most restrictive tow vehicle ratings provided, reduced by a safety margin of 5%.

Maximum King Pin Weight - 1,575 lb 714 kg
This is the recommended maximum king pin weight, based on 15% of the calculated Maximum Trailer Weight.

Did I do something wrong? It says I'm fine towing the 280RS

One issue - the loaded pin weight will definitely not be 1,320 lbs. The advertised pin weights are empty/dry. Loaded to GVWR, the pin weight on the 280RS will be around 2,200 - 2,400 lbs.

Rob

[bertschb]

Did I do something wrong?

As Rob mentioned, the pin weight for the 280RS will be significantly higher than the advertised empty weight. As a rule of thumb, you should use 20% of the GVWR at a minimum. If you take 10,500 (GVWR of the RV) and multiply by 20%, you get 2,100lbs. That means you will exceed the payload rating of your truck (1,933lbs) even if there is nothing in it (no hitch, no passengers, no junk). And that's using 20%. My three Grand Design 5th wheels have had pin weights of around 22-23% of GVWR.

[JDRhoads714]

So using the 20%, the new GVWR goes down to 7750 Lbs. so the maximum would be the 260RD if these specs are correct.

UVW1 7306 lbs
Hitch Weight1 1325 lbs
GVWR 9995 lbs
Length2 29'9"

Would you agree?

[bertschb]

Would you agree?

Sorry, but no.

Here's what I wrote in post#2 above:
"As an example - If we use rough numbers, figure the hitch is 200lbs, passengers 150lbs and the "stuff" in the truck is 150lbs (500lbs total). That leaves you an allowable RV pin weight of around 1,433lbs (1,933-500) which means you need an RV with a GVWR of around 7,150lbs (20% of 7,150 = 1,430)."

[Ynot4me2]

I also agree with the others. Sorry. There's not to many 1/2 ton that has the payload to tow the 150 series. You'll need a f150 with the HDPP (heavy duty payload package) and max tow package.

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