I think the concern is its almost impossible to pull a 5th wheel and stay within the limits Ford sets for the F150. In addition to potentially being hazardous to yourself and others on the road by exceeding the trucks capabilities, you run the risk of being ticketed for breaking the law.

God forbid you actually do get into an accident and someone is hurt, if you are towing outside of the limits set for your truck you face incarceration as well as potentially devastating civil litigation.

 

I agree with the last two posts the most...lol...I am a poet and didn't know it..

Having a 2003 F150 SCREW, I will not attempt to hook up a 5er after finding information here, and from the Hitch Manufacturers.

I will keep the truck, use it to pull my speedboat and to pull my butt around as a daily driver

I will also start looking at both travel trailers and tent trailers. And I we be sure to use weight distribution and anti sway for the tag a long and anti sway for the TT.

Thanks for all the info Guys.

JTCNB
PS. And yes, the 4000-4500 lb 5er is a 1989 23' model.

 

CAN you tow a 5th wheel with a F-150? Yes you CAN. You CAN tow a 5th wheel with just about anything.

http://picasaweb.google.com/VM.Sanchez/5th_wheel

SHOULD you? In my opinion, NO, unless you have proper equipment AND can stay within the official weight limits. I would not even try with a 5.5' box.

 

I've never understood the 5th wheel-1/2 ton pickup deal....If 1/2 tons were made to pull a 5th wheel trailer, they would come equipped, or be AVAILABLE, with a hitch from the factory.

I have to agree with others, it's probably not a good idea.

 

Where can you buy a 3/4 or 1 ton that comes equipped or available with a fifth wheel hitch? MAYBE a dealer that sells New trucks and New RV's might, at least it wasnt an option where and when I bought my 3/4 ton.

Also, I didnt say the difference in price would be much different, I was speaking of operating costs or having a V10 or diesel as a DD for the purpose of pulling a 5er a few times a year...But then again, if one can afford a new fiver, operating costs are probably lunch money.

 

Yes, I tow a 1996 Jayco Eagle 211 fifth wheel behind the F150. There are plenty of fifth wheel trailers you can pull behind 1/2 tons and stay within the GVWR of the truck. I linked 2 below.

To the OP you could probably get by with a regular slider hitch. With the extended pin boxes on the fifth wheel you can turn pretty sharp without popping the back glass. That would cut the weight of the hitch in 1/2 of a pullrite.

To say no fifth wheels can and should be pulled by 1/2 tons is your opinion. As long as the truck stays within the GVWR, whats the problem?

1/2 ton towable fifth wheel

Another 1/2 ton towable 5th wheel

 

There is no problem if you can stay under all ratings. Most trailers cannot. I question even those two (I questuion every RV manufacturer's weights). Those numbers are all unloaded/dry/without options. Ready to camp, the hitch weight will be more. Besides, those floorplans suck. One can get more trailer with similar weights in a liteweight TT vs. those 5th wheel's.

 

APT, I agree with you that most fifth wheels that have a decent floor plan will put a 1/2 ton over the GVWR as soon as you drop the trailer down dry. Mine is almost identical to the 1st one I have linked. I got it because I knew it was about the only size I could get to stay within or close to the GVWR of my truck. There are much better travel trailer floor plans that can be pulled by a 1/2 ton. Another reason I went with a fifth wheel is the stability and I pull my small boat behind the fifth wheel. Can't go camping without a boat and I only want to take one vehicle.

It is amazing the size of fifth wheels people pull behind their F150's, at least here in MN. Mine looks like a pop up compared to others I have seen behind F150's. They must be 1,000 lbs+ over and have no idea how unsafe it is.

APT I know you are just trying to keep people safe, the potential 1/2 ton fifth wheel towing person and others on the road. You are definately correct that most fifth wheels should not be towed with a 1/2 ton, even the ones that claim "1/2 ton towable." The ones I think are OK to tow would be something as I linked. No slides,aluminum and under 24'.

Speaking of the supposed "1/2 ton towable" fifth wheels, I was at a RV show last weekend. I was looking at a 26.5' fifth wheel with a superslide that cleary had "1/2 ton towable" stamped on the side. I even overheard a guy asking the sales person if he could pull it with his F150. The sales person replied, "Yes, no problem." I was thinking to myself no way in hell. I went and looked at the weight sticker on the trailer, 8,400 GVWR. You would be way over, do not beleive the supposed 1/2 ton towable stamp on the side of the fifth wheel trailers.

 

Keep in mind, the GVWR is not the actual weight of the trailer. That number indicates the weight of the trailer, plus maximum load.

 

The other sticker to compare the trailers GVWR to is that trailers CCC.. Some are less then #1000 and others have over #3000!

My guess is that #8400 GVWR 5th has a CCC of around #2000, meaning it's 'dry' weight is probably around #6000 give or take a couple hundred pounds..

As all of you know that have owned your rigs for a couple of years, I'm sure you have all put in more stuff along the way, so I'll bet there are a lot of rigs out there pretty close to their GVWRs! I know mine is! Heck, my little trailer only has around #600 tw and that puts my truck over it's GVWR by a couple hundred lbs.... Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm a disaster waiting to happen, but I'm aware of it and know what I can and can't do with it.

Lots of variables to weed thru... IMO, it's better to just figure on the rigs GVWR then to quibble about if you are within your trucks 'tow ratings' using only the 'dry' weights.... If your truck can't mathematically handle the rigs GVWR, then you might want to re evaluate your choice of rigs.

Mitch

 

Hijacker out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada also makes a nice slider for the 5.5 bed and it does not require a modification to the trailer's pin to do it so anybody else can still pull your trailer if required. Also 5th Airborne sells something they call a Sidewinder that is a replacement to the pin on the trailer. It moves the pivot point to where the pin attaches to the trailer and not on the hitch of your truck.

As far as a 1/2 ton and 5th wheel. If you going camping once or twice a month you will be fine, if you are planning on touring the country diesel would be better. My father in law pulled his 2.5 foot 5th which is now my 5th for years with a 97 1/2 ton f150. It weighs 5500 lbs loaded and he had his boat hooked to that. He was well under ratings and drove all over the province with it. Don't expect to be getting great mpg or doing 65 mph. Keep it at 50-55 and you will be fine. You will of course need the tow package to get over the 5000 lb limit and actually reach your GCVWR.

I go out today to by my new 08, and I am pulling that trailer and a Lund Prod Sport 1600.

 

Did you goto the Edmonton RV show by chance?
I saw one (fifth wheel) there that said the same thing "1/2 ton towable" and this thing was HUGE, I went inside and looked at the sticker in the cupboard with all the numbers on it and the actual weight was 11000 Lbs.
There were even people outside talking to the dealer about towing this with their 1/2 tons....unbelievable. I just shook my head, laughed and and told them to check the sticker inside as I walked away.

Just goes to show, do your research and dont trust dealers, they just want the sale!

 

11000 lbs and 1/2 ton towable is a BIG stretch but technically not an out and out lie. I *think* someone has a 1/2 ton that advertises 11000 towing capacity, but we all know that's under totally ideal conditions which will never be met.

 

Hijacker AutoSlide:

The AutoSlide, automatic sliding fifth wheel hitch is designed for short box trucks to give additional clearance between the truck’s cab and the trailer during turning maneuvers. This hitch may allow 90° turns, but NOT IN EVERY CASE.

This hitch is designed for use with short box trucks that have a 6 1/2 foot box. If the hitch is installed in any trucks with a 5 1/2 foot or 6’ box there is no expressed or implied guarantee that a full 90° turn can or will be achieved with the AutoSlide hitch.

 

You will not get a 90 degree turn on a fixed hitch in a 6 1/2 foot box either, but most still pull with them. I phoned many RV shops when I was looking for a hitch for my 06 with the 5.5 box and they all recomended either the pullrite or the hijacker depending on what brand they carried.