I bought a 2019 F350 SRW thinking I could tow any 5vr out there I decided to purchase. I acquired a 2021 Solitude 377mbs. I ran across the CAT scales and found out I'm within GCWR, GAWR, but 400lb over on GVWR. Sad day for me. I'm going to rearrange my cargo to the rear of the trailer but doubtful I can get under the GVWR.
F350 Towing 5vr
- Thread starter coglesby
- Start date
I feel your pain and had the same thought when I bought our 2019 SRW 350. I was right at capacity with our 310GK. We wound up upgrading to the 350 dually and never looked back. It's a tough pill to swallow.
My payload capacity is 3525 but the pin weight on my 5vr is 2918. Not much left over after adding 220lb slider hitch and 148lb splindide washer/dryer combo in the front.
Me, the wife and the dog weigh more than the left over 239 lbs.
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My 2019 had a payload of 3600#, the dually is at 5400#
Mine has 4726 pounds capacity. 2023 F350 Super cab 4x4 gasser
That makes sense. The weight adds up/gets eaten up quick. I also didn’t consider the washer/dryer or a gen if one has that.
If you're talking about the trucks rating, find this sticker on your door..... it tells you what your max cargo wt rating is for your truck. You've already eaten up 2750 lbs of that rating just with the hitch / pin alone not including anything you added to the rig after market, like a generator or washer / dryer combo should they be up front.
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Same reason why we went with a 2023 F250 Super Cab 4x4 7.3 gasser at 3545 pounds capacity!
I’m talking about GVWR of the truck. Trailer is fine. CCC on the truck is 3525. Per the GD paperwork pin weight is 2918, not 2750. Add 220 for slider hitch and 300 for me wife and dog. Since RV came with 148 lb washer/dryer directly over pin, I’m over without putting any cargo in the truck or trailer.
RV2600RB
Senior Member
If it tows fine and you feel good driving it, don’t sweat it (my experience). Just go and enjoy. Trucks can handle more than they’re rated for. I’m not aware of any state that requires out-of-state RVs to weigh in before entering.
I’m sure you will see plenty of opposition to my post.
Take it for what it’s worth.
Rich
I’m sure you will see plenty of opposition to my post.
Take it for what it’s worth.
Rich
IMO the Solitudes are all in dually territory since a typical one-ton diesel SRW has a payload of ~3500 lbs: once you substract the weight of the driver and passenger(s), dog(s), hitch, and everything else in the box and cabin, you're left with less than 3,000 lbs of capacity for the pin. The rule of thumb for pin weight is 23% of GVWR; so even the smallest Solitude (15,000 lbs GVWR) would exceed the payload capacity of a one-ton SRW.
We had a 2017 Solitude 300GK and a 2016 3500HD Denali Duramax SRW short box [3716 lbs payload] with a 323 lbs slider hitch, so definitely overloaded. Towing was quite bouncy, even after adding air bags to eliminate the 2.5” squat, and the light steering feel.
Going full-time we upgraded to a 2022 3500HD Denali Duramax DRW 8’ box [5233 lbs payload], giving us a better towing experience and peace of mind knowing that we now have extra margin. Love our new setup.
We had a 2017 Solitude 300GK and a 2016 3500HD Denali Duramax SRW short box [3716 lbs payload] with a 323 lbs slider hitch, so definitely overloaded. Towing was quite bouncy, even after adding air bags to eliminate the 2.5” squat, and the light steering feel.
Going full-time we upgraded to a 2022 3500HD Denali Duramax DRW 8’ box [5233 lbs payload], giving us a better towing experience and peace of mind knowing that we now have extra margin. Love our new setup.
Well, I'm going to make a confession here and admit to doing something even worse. Way back in the 2011 time frame, I will admit that I knew just about absolutely nothing about towing capacities, tow ratings, etc. All I knew is that one day I wanted to get a camper trailer, a Toy Hauler specifically and I wanted a truck to be able to "pull" it with. So in my ignorance and failure to actually learn what might be needed for the future, I just went ahead and bought a new 2011 F250 CrewCab Diesel XLT. This was the first year of the then new, 6.7L engine and I was blown away with the HP and Torque numbers. In my mind, that truck should be able to tow anything that I wanted to buy.....with zero issues or struggles. I towed my 16' enclosed motorcycle trailer with it for several years, and of course.......zero issues.
Then, in 2016 I started finally looking at 5th wheel camper trailers/Toy Haulers and joined a couple of forums. Talk about an eye opening experience and a whole world of disbelief when I discovered that my "tow anything I wanted" F250 Diesel truck also needed to have the proper amount of available payload for any trailer I was interested in. That's when reality really started sinking in that I had made a HUGE mistake several years back and the proof was right on that little yellow/white sticker on the driver side door post.........2143 lbs of payload capacity. Some of the Toy Haulers I had been looking at had EMPTY Pin weights in the 2700/2800 lbs.
Long story short(er)....I ended up buying a tow behind Toy Hauler as my first one, then started focusing on getting a Dually Diesel in a few years. By then, I had spent the time and put in the effort to learn about the GVWR, RAWR, FAWR, GCVWR, Payload, Tire Capacity.....all the stuff that goes into picking out the right truck for the trailer, and staying within the weight capacity limits. It was a very tough lesson and definitely cost me some money to get to that point, but those tough lessons are the ones that you never, ever forget.
Finding the limiting factor for towing is always a fun math challenge, but we've discovered (after running the numbers 3-4 times) that it's almost always tow vehicle GVWR (aka cargo). As many previous posters have pointed out, that tends to be what tops out first (especially since most vehicles assume a single 150 lb adult and nothing else in the vehicle when they calculate tow capacity).
Reference "breaking the limit" - I agree that we haven't ever been forced onto scales, but going over engineering numbers will wear out your vehicles sooner and (more critically) may be used in court to find you responsible for accidents. We definitely aren't willing to roll those dice.
Reference "breaking the limit" - I agree that we haven't ever been forced onto scales, but going over engineering numbers will wear out your vehicles sooner and (more critically) may be used in court to find you responsible for accidents. We definitely aren't willing to roll those dice.
RV2600RB
Senior Member
The only way you could be found responsible for an accident is if you were at fault.
Rich
Rich
Can you cite any case where an RV being overweight resulted in someone being cited in court as responsible for an accident? If not, please don't contribute to rumor mongering. Could it happen? Maybe. Has it happened? Never that I've ever heard of.
There are lots of reasons to not carry, or haul, overweight. No need to create any that aren't factual.
I am not a lawyer.
I was advised (~ 10 years ago) that the GVRW limiting factor on my truck was brake capacity, aka stopping distance. Thus, if you exceed your GVRW you cannot stop quickly enough and could be found at fault in an accident which might otherwise have been no-fault/the other driver's fault. This was in Colorado, so maybe it's a state thing. I don't know. Do I know of specific cases? No, and I haven't looked into it to know otherwise. How would they know the weight? No clue. If I'm wrong, sorry for passing on bad info.
I was advised (~ 10 years ago) that the GVRW limiting factor on my truck was brake capacity, aka stopping distance. Thus, if you exceed your GVRW you cannot stop quickly enough and could be found at fault in an accident which might otherwise have been no-fault/the other driver's fault. This was in Colorado, so maybe it's a state thing. I don't know. Do I know of specific cases? No, and I haven't looked into it to know otherwise. How would they know the weight? No clue. If I'm wrong, sorry for passing on bad info.
In my estimation, the more likely scenario for a serious litigation coming up would be in the event of an accident with very serious injuries and/or a fatality accident. As we all know, and have seen, almost anyone can sue someone about pretty much anything. So if you are involved in an accident like I described above and you get sued for damages, the lawyers will try to prove that you had at least some fault in the accident.
Let's say that someone pulls out in front of you while you have the green light at the intersection and they clearly ran a red light or made a right turn on a red light, and you hit them. Their lawyers would try to determine and come to a conclusion that you had at least some fault. Were you driving over the speed limit? Were you and your trailer overloaded in any way? How about your tires....were they within the standard for the vehicle and was there enough tread depth? Were you talking on the phone or texting at the time of the accident? There's probably a million things that they could/maybe/would check out to see if YOU had any fault in the collision. Then the court would ultimately decide that you did NOT, or that you had some percentage of fault because it was determine that you were .....whatever they come up with that is verifiable and true without doubt. So the point is, why run the risk of giving them free ammunition by being overloaded, speeding, being distracted, running bald or almost bald tires, and so on.
Let's say that someone pulls out in front of you while you have the green light at the intersection and they clearly ran a red light or made a right turn on a red light, and you hit them. Their lawyers would try to determine and come to a conclusion that you had at least some fault. Were you driving over the speed limit? Were you and your trailer overloaded in any way? How about your tires....were they within the standard for the vehicle and was there enough tread depth? Were you talking on the phone or texting at the time of the accident? There's probably a million things that they could/maybe/would check out to see if YOU had any fault in the collision. Then the court would ultimately decide that you did NOT, or that you had some percentage of fault because it was determine that you were .....whatever they come up with that is verifiable and true without doubt. So the point is, why run the risk of giving them free ammunition by being overloaded, speeding, being distracted, running bald or almost bald tires, and so on.
See my post above.
RV2600RB
Senior Member
The officers on scene would determine which driver was at fault.
Not attorneys.
I’m not concerned. And, through my research I’ve not found any evidence to support that theory.
Rich
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