buying a 397th real soon

[Carverelli]

By definition...Common Sense: "The meaning of COMMON SENSE is sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or FACTS.

Facts....
1. Your proposed truck/trailer combination will be over Payload.
2. Your proposed truck/trailer combination will be over GVWR
3. Your proposed truck/trailer combination will be over GCVWR
4. Every single manufacturer of vehicles....trucks, cars, motorcycles, etc. clearly states that you should Never exceed the listed capacity ratings/limits

Probabilities....
1. Likely your truck/trailer combination will be over the RAWR
2. Likely your truck/trailer combination will be over tire load capacity ratings
3. Likely your truck/trailer combination will be over the towing capacity

The bottom line is that the choice is yours on what truck/trailer combination to have, drive, tow with, but in my humble opinion, common sense is not in play here when 4 different items are clearly out of the range of common sense because those items exceed listed capacities, and at least three items are suspect, as well as very likely/probable....again, my opinion.

They put warning and caution labels on kids toy saying "dont injest".
We all take on and assume risks every day it what we do.
This forum have opened my eyes as to what the guidelines are referring to towing limits and truck capabilities. I will not throw caution to the wind but will take the info under advisement.
Will I obey every limitation to the letter? Probably not. But it's good to know where the rub exists so decisions can be made.
I've always asked questions when limits come up up. I ask why...what will or might happen if I push the boundaries.
Truthfully I appreciate the concern, realizing the information freely given here is meaningful. The wife and I will look for alternatives to the 397th fir a rig. I wont be trading in my truck I still owe 25k on

[xrated]

They put warning and caution labels on kids toy saying "dont injest".
We all take on and assume risks every day it what we do.
This forum have opened my eyes as to what the guidelines are referring to towing limits and truck capabilities. I will not throw caution to the wind but will take the info under advisement.
Will I obey every limitation to the letter? Probably not. But it's good to know where the rub exists so decisions can be made.
I've always asked questions when limits come up up. I ask why...what will or might happen if I push the boundaries.
Truthfully I appreciate the concern, realizing the information freely given here is meaningful. The wife and I will look for alternatives to the 397th fir a rig. I wont be trading in my truck I still owe 25k on

I've told others before, but you've probably not heard my story, so I'll share it with you...as briefly as I can. In 2011, I bought a brand new F250 Crewcab diesel truck, the first year with the new 6.7L diesel. I knew absolutely ZERO about towing heavy and just figured.....It's a heavy duty truck with a monster motor in it, I should be able to tow anything that I want behind it. It worked perfectly fine for my first Toy Hauler....a 34 1/2' tow behind, not 5th wheel. After a couple of years, we decided to go for one of the big triple axle Momentum T.H. and that's when my eyes were opened and I found out that the TH that we wanted had almost 1100 lbs more pin weight when it was empty, than the entire payload of my truck. I just couldn't believe my eyes and I spend hours and hours reading, asking questions, doing calculations, etc, and finally gave in to accepting my HUGE mistake. I ended up getting a F350 Dually with a little under 5300 lbs of payload capacity and then bought the Momentum. Every since then, I had tried my best to educate folks about all the weights/capacities of towing a 5th wheel camping trailer and what you will likely encounter. So why do I put myself through this? The simple answer is that I would hate to see someone make the same mistake that I did and end up costing them a bunch of $$$ to get a bigger truck.

The second reason, and it really hasn't been discussed in this thread, at least I've not seen it so far. Liability! I am simply not willing to take a chance on willfully and knowingly towing overloaded and then IF....I'm in an accident that is serious or even a fatality, I feel like there is a lot less chance of "at Fault" on my part vs. knowing I'm overloaded and basically saying the heck with it and doing it anyway. I've worked way too hard to get to where I am (retirement) to give some lawyer and easy case against me when someone sues me for the accident. I may be at fault, but it won't be because my rig was overloaded. To knowingly and willfully tow like that (overloaded) would certainly give the other party a lot better shot at you in court.

And just so you know....I think every single one that has posted in this thread has many of the same concerns for you with having too small of a truck and too large of a trailer for that truck. There are literally hundreds of years of towing experience on this forum (not saying you don't have towing experience) and lots of folks that have been there, done that, got a bigger truck.....myself included in the last one. I had almost 50 years of towing experience before my first camping trailer and I screwed up royally and bought too small of a truck....because, I had never towed heavy before. It was always motorcycle trailers, boat trailers, enclosed trailers...pretty much everything a F150 could handle. So that's my story, and I'm glad to hear that you have taken in some of the shared knowledge/advice here from some folks that have a lot more experience towing heavy than I do so far. Stay safe.

[huntindog]

I have a Momentum 398M. I have a dually. Short and sweet. You need a dually for a 397TH

[Crazybanshee]

I have a F350 that sits in my driveway that I wouldn't even try and hook up to our 5th wheel. Pin weight on ours is 6K

[Grandstander]

Here’s the complete ford guide. The payload for all their super duty’s are at the bottom of the specifications tab. Since my wife’s requirements are a 5th wheel and a washer and dryer, a 5th wheel dually is in my future! If I did not join this site and sought the facts presented here by these great contributors and experts, I would have made a huge mistake shopping for a future truck and fifth wheel.

https://www.ford.com/trucks/super-du...s/f350-lariat/

[xrated]

Here’s the complete ford guide. The payload for all their super duty’s are at the bottom of the specifications tab. Since my wife’s requirements are a 5th wheel and a washer and dryer, a 5th wheel dually is in my future! If I did not join this site and sought the facts presented here by these great contributors and experts, I would have made a huge mistake shopping for a future truck and fifth wheel.

https://www.ford.com/trucks/super-du...s/f350-lariat/

And thus the problem of trying to use "spec" sheets/stats from any of the manufacturer's guides. They are always going to give you the "best case scenario" for the payload numbers. And then in the small print, which many people overlook or ignore....is the statement about payload being reduced based on trim level, options, passengers, etc. Their "bragging rights" have led many folks astray. Those are the trucks that almost no one buys....a stripped down, base trim, with zero options, 2WD, etc.....in other words, the lightest weight version of that truck/model/cab style. For the most part, those trucks, or some slightly better equipped models are bought by businesses or commercial companies, not the everyday folks that actually want at least some of the comfort and and features/options. I wish I had a $ for every post or comment that I've seen on forums and facebook pages that goes something like this. "yea, my new Ford/Chevy/Ram/whatever has 4250 lbs of payload, that's pretty good for a 3/4T truck huh" They have no clue that the brochure or ad that they saw is not the actual payload of the truck, which of course is the real number and is usually located on the driver side door post. Then, if they are "fully committed" to being correct and you point out where to find the real numbers and ask them to post them up, they go ghost and you never see or hear from them again.....OOPS. The real numbers are so much lower than what they were bragging about, they are too embarrassed to come back and say something about what a huge mistake they made.

[Grandstander]

Well said @xrated

[xrated]

Well said @xrated

Thank you Grandstander.....it makes my head hurt when I encounter one of them because probably 8 out of 10 times you will not be able to convince them otherwise, to the factual payload number for their tow vehicle.

[FT4NOW]

Thank you Grandstander.....it makes my head hurt when I encounter one of them because probably 8 out of 10 times you will not be able to convince them otherwise, to the factual payload number for their tow vehicle.

I completely agree. I had a co-worker who switched from an F350 to Sierra 2500 w/airbags. His stance was the new truck was essentially a 1 ton due to the airbags....there was absolutely no convincing him otherwise.

[xrated]

I completely agree. I had a co-worker who switched from an F350 to Sierra 2500 w/airbags. His stance was the new truck was essentially a 1 ton due to the airbags....there was absolutely no convincing him otherwise.

Send him to the AirLift website and have him read THEIR statement of facts about airbags NOT adding any additional payload capacity. Then blow his mind and tell him that airbags actually REDUCE the payload capacity because the weight of the airbags, mounting brackets, compressor (if installed), etc. Wait for the Kodak moment! LOL