12valve@heart

Help me out here guys and gals. A friend of mine is planning to retire in a few years, sell the house, buy a new truck and RV and RV full-time. He says that the RV that he's looking at weighs in around 17.7K and that by Dodge's own specs, a 3500 won't handle it but a F350 will. I looked and Ford does appear to have a higher rating. Is this just PR spin and hype or does the Ford handle the larger load better? What has to be done to a Dodge to make it handle the larger RVs?

Thanks in advance

thumper 549

there is all kinds of hype and peo will belive what they want to belive...tell them once and go do something you like rather then bang your head against a hard headed person

J BODY

There isn't a pickup out there that is capable of routinely pulling a weight like that. No matter what truck he buys that trailer will bring it to it's knees and of course is will be the trucks fault.

Buckshotmckee

For the kinda weight that he's going to be hauling, if on a regular bases. I would recommend getting a Ford 650 or International ISX with a Cummins or a Cat in it.

RickG

The trailer is too heavy for a 1 ton . Tell him to avoid the Ford 6.0 Powerstroke . If he really wants a trailer that size , he'll have to go to a larger truck but the trailer must be huge and something I wouldn/t want to haul much . He'll be burning a lot of fuel and having a hard time manuevering it .

TxDiesel007

I agree

Pulling 20K for 80 miles just about literally brought my truck to its knees, for something like that if he wants a ford really bad get a 450 or 550 but with the rep that 6.0 is developing, I DONT THINK it be a wise investement, a medium duty like buckshot said would do just fine..

Tx

truckjunkie

That kind of weight + RVing full time = medium duty truck.

Enough said

Patrick Campbell

What is a F350's GCWR? That is a big trailer...

ds1rider

Is it better to pull it faster(ford) or farther(dodge)?

12valve@heart

Thanks guys.

I don't get the impression that he really WANTS a Ford because he was seriously looking at Dodge until the specs issue came up. In looking at Ford's web site, it really looks like the F350 DRW single cab w/ the 6.0L diesel , an automatic transmission, the 4.3:1 rear end, and the TowBoss package is rated for 19.2K. What I don't know is whether comparing this to Dodge's rating of 16.3K is comparing apples to apples. Ford's GCWR is 3K higher than Dodge's for some reason.

I know nothing about RV towing so I'm looking to you for information. I know that some of you RV full-time or for extended periods of time. What do your RVs weigh and what have you had to do to make your Dodge handle it?

Thanks again.

12valve@heart

Ford claims 26K
http://www.fordvehicles.com/trucks/s...res/specs/#tow

Dodge claims 23K
http://www-5.dodge.com/vehsuite/dispatch.do

Mcmopar

My Dad has been towing his boat/trailer combo behind his '96 3500 Ram with no problems since the truck had 0 miles on it. No problems, the trailer/boat weighs in at 17,500!! Add in the truck weight and .

There are guys like Haulin that tow a bunch more-I think he uses a 2500!!

4X4 HULK

Ford has to have this( listed below) in order to tow that much weight.

TowBoss Pkg
(Mfr. Code: 53B)
Rear Axle, 4.30 Ratio Limited Slip

Notes and Relationships
Requires 5 Speed Automatic w/Overdrive & TorqShift 44B Transmission, and Turbo Diesel, 6.0 Liter Engine: V8.

MadDog01

@heart, I won't be much help here, I'd rather walk then drive a Ford! And my fifthwheel is only about 10,500lbs. With the weight he's talkin about pullin it must be over 40feet long!

Gary

Patrick Campbell

Funny you have to get the auto trans to pull 26K?