Calling weight police - help

[speediq99]

Hello,

I am in the process of getting a new setup, truck and 5th wheel. Truck is a 2022 F350 King Ranch 4x4 SRW short bed Diesel. Fifth wheel is 2021 Solitude 378mbs. I am also planning to add Summo spring helpers as I used these before with my F150 and they worked great.

There will be 2 Adults and a 60 lb dog traveling most of the time. Nothing on truck bed except for a few chairs. We may add an expansion gas tank down the road 30-40lbs in the bed. It is not a must have.

I would like to avoid the duallies but I don't want to be a fool either.

Can someone give me some more feedback on this topic? We take delivery of the truck soon as well as fifth wheel so nothing 8s in stone at the moment.

MC

[Cummins12V98]

FishOnOne wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:

Me Again wrote:

Hey Ron, is your truck still in the hospital?

We all know that's impossible so don't be letting the cat out of the bag.

Yes it's still there and since Covid is so bad I can't even visit it.

Headgasket?

Not running a tuner.

[valhalla360]

speediq99 wrote:
It looks like this may be a good thread to ask about gear ratio given how many here run duallies.

I have 3.55 or 4.10 option for the F350 Dually. Towing 16k.

I like running around at 65-70mph.
Read somewhere that 4.10 mpg really suffers after 65mph. No trying to save on fuel as much as trying to preserve range. I also enjoy a quite ride.
A 10 speed will allow me downshift with a 3.55 to get the rpms higher for the right torque.

Should I go with 3.55?
Would a 3.55 climb a 6% hill just as fast as a 4.10?

I ordered the truck with 4.10s but I may end up using it 30-40% of the time to travel empty. Thinking about changing to 3.55or.

Per the Ford towing guide, the 3.55 is rated for at least 31,300lb 5th wheel, so you aren't even close to the limits. The 4.10 only increases that to 34,700.

With the 10 speed, it will just pick a different gear if you are climbing a grade to result in the same overall gear ratio between the engine and wheels...the engine will never know the difference and you likely won't either as the engine will be turning the same RPM.

4.XX rear ends made a lot of sense back in the days of 3 speed transmissions, there was so much space between gears that when towing, you often wound up either lugging the engine in top gear or running high RPM in a too low gear. With 10 speed transmissions, it can always find a gear that puts the engine in it's ideal RPM range for the load.

[FishOnOne]

Cummins12V98 wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:

Me Again wrote:

Hey Ron, is your truck still in the hospital?

We all know that's impossible so don't be letting the cat out of the bag.

Yes it's still there and since Covid is so bad I can't even visit it.

Headgasket?

[Cummins12V98]

FishOnOne wrote:

Me Again wrote:

Hey Ron, is your truck still in the hospital?

We all know that's impossible so don't be letting the cat out of the bag.

Yes it's still there and since Covid is so bad I can't even visit it.

[Gener8s1]

For my money I would go long box DRW. I know the long truck ca be a pain at the grocery store but the better ride is well worth it. I don’t think with the 350 you will need spring helpers. These trucks are made to haul. I pull a 45’ Toy hauler with my 3500hd GMC DRW. just rests on the helpers and rides like a dream.

[speediq99]

It looks like this may be a good thread to ask about gear ratio given how many here run duallies.

I have 3.55 or 4.10 option for the F350 Dually. Towing 16k.

I like running around at 65-70mph.
Read somewhere that 4.10 mpg really suffers after 65mph. No trying to save on fuel as much as trying to preserve range. I also enjoy a quite ride.
A 10 speed will allow me downshift with a 3.55 to get the rpms higher for the right torque.

Should I go with 3.55?
Would a 3.55 climb a 6% hill just as fast as a 4.10?

I ordered the truck with 4.10s but I may end up using it 30-40% of the time to travel empty. Thinking about changing to 3.55or.

Any suggestions?

MC

[FishOnOne]

Me Again wrote:

Hey Ron, is your truck still in the hospital?

We all know that's impossible so don't be letting the cat out of the bag.

[alexleblanc]

you did the right thing, my truck would most likely have a similar payload to what yours would of had and with out new GD Reflection 311BHS i'm running down the road around 14500lbs and around 2800lbs on the Pin - it is extremely comfortable and a very stable setup but i also know that this is about as much as i would feel comfortable with a SRW.

[Cummins12V98]

Technical difficulties.

[ford_truck_guy]

Cummins12V98 wrote:

ford truck guy wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:

ACZL wrote:
Good move OP ! Walaby said it best as we were in same boat few years back as we too thought we had 'nuff truck..........nope. Went from a '15 F350 SRW to a '17 F350 DRW. Stinks in snow, but tows great !

You should never be in snow!

HA HA.. SOME of us don't/can't winter in the WARM south.... :B

We are delayed getting out of here and it SUCKS!!!!

Wait, what ??

I thought you left back in October.. You sent me a note back in the end of October saying you were trying to leave the next day, everything ok?

[Cummins12V98]

ford truck guy wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:

ACZL wrote:
Good move OP ! Walaby said it best as we were in same boat few years back as we too thought we had 'nuff truck..........nope. Went from a '15 F350 SRW to a '17 F350 DRW. Stinks in snow, but tows great !

You should never be in snow!

HA HA.. SOME of us don't/can't winter in the WARM south.... :B

We are delayed getting out of here and it SUCKS!!!!

[PA12DRVR]

"I have ordered the same King Ranch with a dually from the same dealer. Price is just about the same plus or minus $1000. I get a 48g tank, an 8 ft bed, no need for helper springs, room to carry a bit more w/o worry, room for a cargo box, an extra pair of tires in case of a tire issue and peace of mind.

Worse case, we keep it for a season. Best case, we love both the truck and 5th wheel as much as dually owners here seem to like theirs..."

FWIW, which is about $0.02, I believe you made the right choice. I no longer RV, but for a few years, we pulled a 38' 5th wheel with an F350 crew-cab, long bed dually in KR (years ago). We had to carefully pick camping spots sometimes (i.e. older state parks don't like 60' or so of combined setup), but we really enjoyed the room of the big truck and trailer....and we always made a point of using the truck to see the local sights: it didn't take long before we were both relatively comfortable driving the truck, although it didn't replace the Prius as our commuter vehicle.

[Grit_dog]

Cummins12V98 wrote:

ACZL wrote:
Good move OP ! Walaby said it best as we were in same boat few years back as we too thought we had 'nuff truck..........nope. Went from a '15 F350 SRW to a '17 F350 DRW. Stinks in snow, but tows great !

You should never be in snow!

Come 9am at the Sno park I wish everyone else had that attitude when I can’t get a parking spot because I didn’t get up with the chickens!
The rest of the time I spend dreaming of a powder day!

[ford_truck_guy]

Cummins12V98 wrote:

ACZL wrote:
Good move OP ! Walaby said it best as we were in same boat few years back as we too thought we had 'nuff truck..........nope. Went from a '15 F350 SRW to a '17 F350 DRW. Stinks in snow, but tows great !

You should never be in snow!

HA HA.. SOME of us don't/can't winter in the WARM south.... :B