FC 28RB twin & F150 need advice

[Pappy3393]

2144 is your payload. The tongue weight of your airstream plus the weight of your weight distribution hitch counts against your payload number as well. Depending on which AS you have that could easily exceed 1000 pounds of tongue weight.

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by Pappy3393

2144 is your payload. The tongue weight of your airstream plus the weight of your weight distribution hitch counts against your payload number as well. Depending on which AS you have that could easily exceed 1000 pounds of tongue weight.

yep...my tongue weight is 1100lbs on my 28'FC; the WDH is 95lbs. I carry 350lbs in my bed (Honda 2200, Webber Q, Firepit, propane bottle, camp gear, toolbox), and wife and I in cab are at 380lbs. 1925lbs. Add kayaks (when we carried them) were 70lbs additional. So 1995lbs fully loaded with kayaks. Leaves me about 150lbs payload...maybe I should get a big dog!

[Collyn]

As an ex (UK) General Motors research engineer specialising in truck suspension, I am wary of attempting to increase the payload by any but a small amount. This is particularly so with the dynamic downloads imposed by a heavy travel trailer.

The main issue is not so much in normal driving but the vehicle's behavior in emergency swerves etc - and particularly when towing at speeds over about 60 mph.

It is far safer to buy a tow vehicle that when fully laden weighs much the same as the laden travel trailer. Ideally more.

Collyn

[chuckwhanson]

If you're concerned with the F250 as your daily driver, check out the Ram 2500. It's the only heavy duty truck with coil springs in the rear - comfy ride similar to a 1/2 ton truck. The gas version will give you about 2,900 # payload, but the diesel closer to 2,000 because the diesel engine weighs a lot more than the gas engine.

[Mikemdd]

Originally Posted by chuckwhanson

If you're concerned with the F250 as your daily driver, check out the Ram 2500. It's the only heavy duty truck with coil springs in the rear - comfy ride similar to a 1/2 ton truck. The gas version will give you about 2,900 # payload, but the diesel closer to 2,000 because the diesel engine weighs a lot more than the gas engine.

Just as clarification, the 6.7 diesel in the F250 adds about 850 lbs vs. gas. My 2022 F250 Platinum (FULLY loaded) has a payload of 2900 lbs. I also have an F150 with the 3.5 ecoboost and max towing package. 1500 lbs cargo capacity.
My experience towing my 6500 lb boat was not good. While it "could" handle the boat, it was on boost ALL the time, and the braking capabilities were very poor. The life of the F150 with the gasser will be pretty short if you tow in hilly/mountain conditions. The F250 diesel will far outlive the F150. If you are towing where it is always flat and don't expect to put many miles on the truck, the F150 "might" work. Until you have compared it with the F250, as others have said, it is really hard to explain the huge comfort and safety differences when pulling a 25 foot+ trailer with an F250. What you "could" do and what you "should" do are two different things IMHO.

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by chuckwhanson

If you're concerned with the F250 as your daily driver, check out the Ram 2500. It's the only heavy duty truck with coil springs in the rear - comfy ride similar to a 1/2 ton truck. The gas version will give you about 2,900 # payload, but the diesel closer to 2,000 because the diesel engine weighs a lot more than the gas engine.

Thanks, but the "daily driver" comment, is not due to the ride...actually, the newer F250/350's ride very well; it is the maneuverability due to length that is an issue when parking...love the diesel however, and would highly recommend if your doing a lot of towing with a larger 25'+ AS...

[dandiego]

Originally Posted by gypsydad

Thanks, but the "daily driver" comment, is not due to the ride...actually, the newer F250/350's ride very well; it is the maneuverability due to length that is an issue when parking...love the diesel however, and would highly recommend if your doing a lot of towing with a larger 25'+ AS...

“Daily driving” an F250 is pretty miserable. I had no problem with my SuperCrew F150 but the additional length of the 250 is just enough to where I just use my wife’s car 90% of the time, when possible.

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by dandiego

“Daily driving” an F250 is pretty miserable. I had no problem with my SuperCrew F150 but the additional length of the 250 is just enough to where I just use my wife’s car 90% of the time, when possible.

I also drove a Platinum F150 EB 4x4; for my 25's AS's for 5 years; it towed fine. I got the F250 6.67L to tow my nee 2017 28'. Primary use is towing the AS!. I compared 2017 F250 to 2016 unit at the time; the new suspension was night and day better ride over precious models.. We are on the road towing all year towing 15-20k a year. Just turned 125k on the F250. F150 is nice; just too small for towing beyond a 25'.

[Pappy3393]

I guess my 2 cents are worth as much as anyone else. I bought the same 28FC but with a queen bed. I agonized over the same limitations as you and payload was the biggest constraint. I looked at all the 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton options. I concluded that the 1/2 ton options were too close for comfort from a safety and operational perspective. A weight distribution hitch will not “move” much weight to the AS, it will mostly redistribute the weight to the front axle of the tow vehicle, thus not changing the payload amount much. Plus you have to add the weight of the weight distribution hitch to the payload number, which is going to be 100-200 lbs. When you add the weight of the passengers in the tow vehicle you quickly hit the max payload capacity of a 1/2 ton vehicle. Could a 1/2 ton work? Sure under near ideal circumstances but I wanted to be more than marginally safe in the event of an emergency stop or emergency swerve manuever. I went with a 2021 Dodge Ram 2500, which has all the bells and whistles plus the towing and payload capacities to keep me safe and it fits in my garage. I too went in looking at just the overall towing capacities and was convinced that for a 28FC, the 3/4 capacity truck was the right thing to do. I concluded that anything less than a 25 Ft AS could get by with a 1/2 ton truck but that was the limit.

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by Pappy3393

I guess my 2 cents are worth as much as anyone else. I bought the same 28FC but with a queen bed. I agonized over the same limitations as you and payload was the biggest constraint. I looked at all the 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton options. I concluded that the 1/2 ton options were too close for comfort from a safety and operational perspective. A weight distribution hitch will not “move” much weight to the AS, it will mostly redistribute the weight to the front axle of the tow vehicle, thus not changing the payload amount much. Plus you have to add the weight of the weight distribution hitch to the payload number, which is going to be 100-200 lbs. When you add the weight of the passengers in the tow vehicle you quickly hit the max payload capacity of a 1/2 ton vehicle. Could a 1/2 ton work? Sure under near ideal circumstances but I wanted to be more than marginally safe in the event of an emergency stop or emergency swerve manuever. I went with a 2021 Dodge Ram 2500, which has all the bells and whistles plus the towing and payload capacities to keep me safe and it fits in my garage. I too went in looking at just the overall towing capacities and was convinced that for a 28FC, the 3/4 capacity truck was the right thing to do. I concluded that anything less than a 25 Ft AS could get by with a 1/2 ton truck but that was the limit.

Same conclusions; you must also eat at El Arroyo on occasion?

[JJTX]

Originally Posted by Kungaloosh

Greetings all.
We just spent two months and 4800 miles pulling our 28 RB twin without a single problem! Prairie winds, mountain passes, a few crowded freeways and our F150 pulled like a champ.

We are very happy with all of the decisions we made during our purchase. We are also very satisfied with the quality of our Airsteam. We had a little chip in the corner of one cabinet and the closet door clasp pulled out, but those were the only two things that required attention!

See you back out there soon!

Caroline

This is an older thread but glad you ended up with good results. The 3.5 EB is a good motor. I have a 2015 with same, but a 2000LB payload. I have a 19CB and saw my truck temp indicator rise on a long ascent in Wyoming one time. Only did it once. I think I screwed up the approach and was going to slow to start and it had to work harder than it should have. My fault. But that said it never did that again, and the rise in temp was brief.

I think what you have will work fine if you are mindful of your loading and dont over pack and bring things you don't need. 8000+ is pushing the limits of the 3.5 in the rockies I believe, but it will handle it if you dont overload yourself.

Now the problem you have is the sheer cost of trucks if you decide to get a bigger truck. Yikes!

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by JJTX

This is an older thread but glad you ended up with good results. The 3.5 EB is a good motor. I have a 2015 with same, but a 2000LB payload. I have a 19CB and saw my truck temp indicator rise on a long ascent in Wyoming one time. Only did it once. I think I screwed up the approach and was going to slow to start and it had to work harder than it should have. My fault. But that said it never did that again, and the rise in temp was brief.

I think what you have will work fine if you are mindful of your loading and dont over pack and bring things you don't need. 8000+ is pushing the limits of the 3.5 in the rockies I believe, but it will handle it if you dont overload yourself.

Now the problem you have is the sheer cost of trucks if you decide to get a bigger truck. Yikes!

I put 140K on my 2014 Platinum EB before moving up to larger 28' and the F250 in 2017. I had a couple of concerns with the temp going up between Riverside and Vegas towing my 25'FC back then...I had to slow down to get the temps down. This happened to me 2-3 times as I remember, and the solution was getting into the trucker lane around 45-50mph. Temps outside were 100+ at the time. Never had a temp issue in the Rockies which is where we towed during summer months.

Second concern was brakes going down steep grade into Borrego Springs one time with the 25'. Heated up pretty good...had to really slow down and use my manual trailer brake control to complete the decent.

Only other concern was very small payload...but the Platinum 4x4 was sure nice to drive!

[chuckwhanson]

Originally Posted by dandiego

“Daily driving” an F250 is pretty miserable. I had no problem with my SuperCrew F150 but the additional length of the 250 is just enough to where I just use my wife’s car 90% of the time, when possible.

It seems if you have another vehicle available you would use that instead of the truck just based on gas mileage alone.

[chuckwhanson]

Originally Posted by Collyn

As an ex (UK) General Motors research engineer specialising in truck suspension, I am wary of attempting to increase the payload by any but a small amount. This is particularly so with the dynamic downloads imposed by a heavy travel trailer.

The main issue is not so much in normal driving but the vehicle's behavior in emergency swerves etc - and particularly when towing at speeds over about 60 mph.

It is far safer to buy a tow vehicle that when fully laden weighs much the same as the laden travel trailer. Ideally more.

Collyn

I'm curious about your opinion of the importance of wheelbase of the TV relative to the length of the trailer. JD Gallant of the RV Consumer Group says it's one of the most important factors in safe towing. And his recommendations are based on studying hundreds of RV accidents over many years.

For example, his minimum wheelbase (of the TV) to tow a 24' trailer is 126". And for every additional foot of trailer, you need another 4" of TV wheelbase. So for a 28 foot trailer you need a TV with at least a 142" wheelbase. For a 30 foot trailer 150", etc.

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by chuckwhanson

I'm curious about your opinion of the importance of wheelbase of the TV relative to the length of the trailer. JD Gallant of the RV Consumer Group says it's one of the most important factors in safe towing. And his recommendations are based on studying hundreds of RV accidents over many years.

For example, his minimum wheelbase (of the TV) to tow a 24' trailer is 126". And for every additional foot of trailer, you need another 4" of TV wheelbase. So for a 28 foot trailer you need a TV with at least a 142" wheelbase. For a 30 foot trailer 150", etc.

You will get all kinds of input with this question for sure. IMHO, I found my f250 which is 1' longer than my F150, to feel much more stable and in control when towing our 28'. Many folks here who have moved from the 1/2T to the 3/4-1T TV's have commented same experience.

As we all know here, you can tow with just about any vehicle, and many disregard exceeding the TV's max specs, without any concerns. Terrible if something should happen, but some folks would rather argue about it rather than admitting staying within a vehicle mfg. specs makes sense for safer towing.