I am considering buying a fifth wheel trailer.I have a 97 f-150 scab 4x4 auto.with the 4.6 . Will this be ok to pull a 25 ft. What are the towing specs for that vehicle.Any input will be appreceated.

 

From what I've been able to gather(www.trailerlife.com) Your truck can tow between 6200 and 6700 pounds. Since yours is 4x4 it's prolly the lower number. If the 5ver you're looking at is a Lite version then you're prolly OK, barely. Not only will you have the weight to tow but the added wind resistance. Expect your truck to struggle on any incline. Lots of 3rd gear and 2nd gear downshifts. Add a large tranny cooler even if it has one already. You also should worry about the gross combined weight rating. I think for a F150 it's 12,000 pounds. Add up the weight of your truck, passenges and gear then subtract that from 12,000. The number left is what you can tow. I bet it is less than the trailer tow rating.

If I were to get a F150 to tow a 5ver I'd opt for the LD F250(7700 lb payload pkg)and a 5.4L V8.

 

I think you will find you will be at your max or overloaded with a 25' fifth wheel.
Do you know the weight specs on it? Most of them I think will have a dry weight of 6000 to 7000lb and your loaded weight will be more. Unless like V10 man said it a lite weight trailer or something.

I had a 98 Supercab with the 4.6L. We tow a 31ft bumper pull trailer.

The truck was rated to tow 7000lb. You need to take off 300lb due to the 4x4.

My GCVR was 12000 lb.
My trailer dry weight 5600lb
Truck 4500lb (4x4 add 300)
hitch 100 ~ 200lb

That left me with about 1800lb for passengers, dog, fuel, propane, food, supplies etc.

Awnings and other add ons are not usually factored into the trailer dry weight.

If you calculate the weight on the truck you probably have a 6000lb capacity minus 4500 ~ 4800lb for the truck. That leaves 1200-1500lb cargo capacity. The king pin on a 5th wheel of that size will be 800~1000lb. That will leave you with 200 to 700lb. Add 2 passengers and you could be overweight.

I was maxed out will my trailer so we never carried water and always emptied the holding tanks.

On a positive note we did tow 4000~5000 km's last summer in one trip and as much as 1100 km's in one day and the truck did fine with no problems. I would add a second tranny cooler. We now have a 5.4L and will give me a little more capacity. I now have a GCVR of 13000lb.

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2001 Silver XLT 2x4 SuperCrew (Gen II) 5.4L 3.55LS Tow Package (now with 2.02" rad) & Cab Steps

Mods: K&N Filter, LoRider by Raider Fiberglass Tonneau, Stull Billet Grille (Black)

Tow: 31FT. Glendette Deluxe Camper Trailer

 

Don't forget about the extra tounge weight of a fiver compaired to a Tag-a-Long. A fiver cuts into your GVWR more. The tounge weight on these fivers are 15 to 20% of the trailers GVWR.

And I just happen to know that your truck is a 6600 GVWR and it probably weighs 5400 to 5500 pounds without passengers (I had the same truck and I did weigh it and that what I got). Leaving you with only 1000 pounds for the tounge weight passengers and gear. No way are you going to be under. I doubt you want to do this.

Unfortunately a tag along will be close too in the 25 foot range. Think about it. The 12000 GCVWR figure cited is for a 4X2. Now take off 500 pounds for 4X4 and you get 11,500 (given you don't have 17 tires or larger than stock 16's and your rear gear ratio is 3.55 to 1 or you could lose another 500 pounds) Now subract the 5400 from that = gives you 5100. Now subtract two passengers (lets say 175 each)= 4750 (GCVWR left over) Now lets add some gear to the ratio. Beer cooler, bicycles, chairs, fire wood and maybe a little generator? Say 350 more at the least (low but for the sake of argument)? Now we are down to 4400 left to tow. And we are about out of payload capacity without even adding the tounge weight!

My "Lite model" 24 footer pull along is a 5600 GVWR. See? you just can't do it. None of the figures I have used are unreasonable, trust me. I faced the same delema already and had to go up to a bigger truck. Weigh your truck and see if I'm not right about this. Good luck.

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2000 F-250 Super Duty, SuperCab XLT, Oxford white with medium grey cloth captains chairs, 5.4L Triton V8 (260 HP - 345 FP Torque version!), 4R100 4 Speed Automatic Transmission, 3.73, 4 wheel ABS, Deluxe Aluminum Wheels, Trailer Towing Package, Telescoping Trailer Towing Mirrors, Class IV Hitch, Reece load distribution system, Escort Sensor II Electronic Brake controller, Sure Stop towing skirt, "Westin" black powder coated step bars, Herculiner bed liner, ISSPRO Tranny Temp Guage, Excursion center console, Ford moulded mud gaurds, K&N Air and Oil filter, Amsoil XL7500 5W-30, Air filter minder, Perma Cool 8" (800 CFM) Tranny Cooler Fan (manualy switched), Deflect-a-Sheild Aluminum Dimond plate Tool Box.

 

thanks for the help. i found the answer i was looking for and will have to wait.

 

Go over to this web site and use the calculator ofr 5th wheels. Fill in as many as the boxes as possible and you will get a true reading of whether your truck will do it or not.

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

If the F150 with the baby diesel (4.4) has a decent towing capacity and GVWR and curb weight, I am hoping to buy one instead of a SuperDuty. Everytime I use the calculator, the numbers coming up say an F250 is the only way to go.

Good Luck

 

The problem with 1/2 ton pickups and 5th wheel trails is not enough payload/GVWR. With most 5th wheel RV's @ 20-25% pin weight, plus a 200 pound hitch in the bed and passengers, you are over GVWR.