I have an o1' f-250 with a 5.4 and have been looking around at local dealerships for toy haulers. One guy says this trailer is to heavy next one says its not and Im getting confused. I have never had a travel trailer ofr 5th wheel trailer before and the info is getting overwhelming. I drive truck for a living so not worried about my ability to tow it. I havent decided 5th wheel or tt yet and I dont anything huge it just me and the girlfriend for the most part but. What are good brands, what options are the must haves, is there any thing specific I need to watch out for on used toy haulers? Thanks

 

I've owned a 5.4 before and I wouldn't try pulling a 5th wheel with it. In fact, I wouldn't try to pull much more than 5 or 6 thousand pounds with your truck. You know more about towing than I do...I'm not a pro driver...but I have hauled a 28ft trailer a lot of miles. I wouldn't want to try to pull that one without a diesel.

I'm not saying your truck won't pull it...it will just shorten the life span of the motor and transmission to pull a camper.

 

I went through the same thing just over 2 years ago
Found out there are allot of manufactures out there I would start a folder as you see a brand you like or do not like get their info make notes like dislike
Be paitent it will pay off
Do not be pressured
It does help if you know what you are going to pull toy hauler with
What will be in toy hauler
Have a Budget
Myself
I started with truck looked at and drove all 3 wanted Diesel for sure
Ended up getting 2005 Duramax/Allison 4x4 crew cab
Found toy hauler Desert Fox 28-P
For me I am happy
I can load my 1963 ford station wagon (Fairlane) in and go to car shows and camp with friends
I can load easly 6 quads and 1- 3 wheeler
Put 2 more 3 wheelers in truck bed
Fire wood and 5 people go to dunes
Trailer loaded #12,000 lb
Equalizer hitch
get 8-9 mpg but get there and home safe
Stay safe
Ray

 

I am running a 5.4 gas with a 6 speed manual and 370 rear axle in a 2007 F-350. It is a good little engine. I believe it is 330 cu in. I love Ford truck engines and the way they breathe. That being said any trailer over 5000 lbs or any trailer that catches alot of wind is too much for it at highway speeds. I have pulled a 21 ft. bumper pull camper trailer which weighs 5500 lbs about 5000 miles the past couple of months. I ran about 60 percent of the time in 5th gear at 2400 to 3000 RPM. On my truck 2900 RPM in 5th gear is about 70 MPH and it sounds like it is wound pretty tight. If the road is level and there is no head wind it will hold 70 to 72 MPH in 6th gear (overdrive) with about one third throttle. That is 2100 RPM. After you come off of driving a diesel engine, the extra RPMs the gas engine requires will drive you nuts the first couple of weeks. I averaged 10.2 miles per gallon for the trip. The 6.0 Ford Diesel with automatic transmission I had before this would get 13 miles per gallon pulling the same trailer and it did not strain it to maintain highway speeds. I like this truck with the gas engine and it was a lot less expensive than a diesel but when I trade for the next one I am probably going back to a Ford diesel. It depends on how their new engine shakes out.

I also pulled the same trailer about 6000 miles last year with a 2006 Chevrolet K1500 with a 5.7 gas engine and a 4 speed automatic transmission. The Chevrolet engine appeared to have plenty of power but it was not useable because the transmission would downshift and overspeed the engine when you applied power. There was no way to keep the transmission from downshifting. If I tried to throttle it more than about one fourth throttle it would downshift to third gear. It would maintain pretty decent highway speeds in third gear but if I tried running the cruise control and came to a little bit of a pull the thing would downshift to second gear and sound like it was going to blow up with over 4000 RPMs. I took it in and had it checked twice while it was under warranty. They said the shift point settings for the transmission were correct. Chevrolet's specifications claim this setup is good to pull an 8500 pound trailer. That is a bunch of B S and they know it. It did get 11 miles per gallon.

 

The first thing I would tell you is don't believe what any truck or RV dealer tells you about what your rig will handle. Know it's gross combined weight rating, gross vehicle rating, and what it scales at. RV trailers also typically weigh more than what the weight sticker would have you belive.

Also, a 5th wheel will put about 20% of it's weight onto the hitch. Add the weight of the hitch, and people and gear in the truck, and you will likely be over the rear axle and/or gross vehicle weight rating before the gross combined.

The other thing I'd say is go to an RV show and take your digital camera. Start photos of each rig you are interested in with a photo of the sign that says what it is. Otherwise with all the rigs you look at they will run together, and you won't remember what brand had what feature you liked.

I'd also suggest going used for the first one. They depreciate pretty quickly, and almost everyone who buys their first RV ends up realizing in a year or two what features or whatever they should have gotten... Refrigerators are expensive to repair or replace, and damage from water leaks are the two most expensive problems you would be likely to run into.

When I first started looking, it appeared that there were a bunch of units of similar specs at vastly different prices. If you look at the cabinetry, they start with pressboard and particle board doors, go up to solid wood doors and faces with photolaminate particle board body, then the nicer ones have more plywood.

Also, if you are taller, make sure you can stand up in the shower. The floor of many shower stalls is several inches above the bathroom floor. Some rigs have a cheesy little 14"x14" dome above the shower, like a taller guy would like to stand with his head up in a plastic bubble...

My current Patio Hauler has features I really like: Pipes including dump valves are enclosed in the insulated underbelly, seperate garage with big tip-up windows and velcro up screens. It also has some things I don't like: I want a bigger unit with a sofa, it's 8' wide meaning 2 big utilities have to be turned sideways to get them to fit in the garage (which is getting old)...

A buddy did a 30' tow trailer with a monsterhauler quad rack in the back of the pickup. I was always a bit leery of racks, but that one was built very well and is strong, stable and easy to use. He ditched the bunk model trailer, though, and is looking for another but with a walk in corner shower (instead of the mini tub shower you can't turn around in), with double slides and a couple recliners.