Reading all these posts about payload limits and pin weight, I'm wondering how my proposed setup will handle. I'm new to towing and I'm trying to get the right truck-and-5'er combo.
I just bought a 2012 F-250 supercab long bed 4x4, 6.7L diesel with exhaust brakes. I've ordered a Sundance 3000MK, don’t have it yet.
Tow rating: 5'er loaded for a trip will weigh (we estimate) about 70%-75% of the truck's tow rating. Excellent.
GCWR: Combined weight, loaded for a trip, will be about 87%-95% of the truck's GCWR. Not great, but OK.
Truck GVWR/payload limit: It's the truck payload that's the issue. The door jamb sticker says the payload limit is 2438 lbs. With me and the wife, the weight of the hitch itself, and the pin weight of the 3000MK (which is spec’d at 1925 lbs, about 17% of the weight of the 5'er loaded for a trip) and ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ELSE in the truck, the payload will be about 2485 lbs. (I’ve weighed the truck at a scale, so I’m sure of most of these numbers, just have to rely on Heartland for the actual pin weight.)
That’s just 2% over the door sticker. Not terrible, but not very good either. When we get the 5'er and load it, the pin weight may go up. (In fact, it probably should go up, in order to get to the 20% or 25% of 5'er weight that I see people recommend for better truck handling.)
Is this gonna be a safety issue? I read that stopping and cross-winds are the issues when you’re right at the rated limits of the truck. I’ve got exhaust brakes and a sway bar, and I can add spring helpers, but I’m wondering if those are just band-aids: they don’t change the payload limit.
I just bought a 2012 F-250 supercab long bed 4x4, 6.7L diesel with exhaust brakes. I've ordered a Sundance 3000MK, don’t have it yet.
Tow rating: 5'er loaded for a trip will weigh (we estimate) about 70%-75% of the truck's tow rating. Excellent.
GCWR: Combined weight, loaded for a trip, will be about 87%-95% of the truck's GCWR. Not great, but OK.
Truck GVWR/payload limit: It's the truck payload that's the issue. The door jamb sticker says the payload limit is 2438 lbs. With me and the wife, the weight of the hitch itself, and the pin weight of the 3000MK (which is spec’d at 1925 lbs, about 17% of the weight of the 5'er loaded for a trip) and ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ELSE in the truck, the payload will be about 2485 lbs. (I’ve weighed the truck at a scale, so I’m sure of most of these numbers, just have to rely on Heartland for the actual pin weight.)
That’s just 2% over the door sticker. Not terrible, but not very good either. When we get the 5'er and load it, the pin weight may go up. (In fact, it probably should go up, in order to get to the 20% or 25% of 5'er weight that I see people recommend for better truck handling.)
Is this gonna be a safety issue? I read that stopping and cross-winds are the issues when you’re right at the rated limits of the truck. I’ve got exhaust brakes and a sway bar, and I can add spring helpers, but I’m wondering if those are just band-aids: they don’t change the payload limit.