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**Yoda** · 07-28-2021, 04:57 PM

Originally posted by howson View Post

Did I get it backwards??? Yep, I think I did. So the mileage will be better. Shouldn't affect towing performance one bit--engine is a beast.

dgerfan

Its actually the towing mileage that may suffer a bit with the 3:31 - not much. Empty should be great. In the 2017 Ford has the auto 6 speed which is a little less forgiving in the higher gears than the new 10 speed. In the new 10 speed 1st is lower and 10th higher if I remember correctly.

As Rob said as long as you can stay within the truck payload your good to go. You may need a slider hitch for the 5th wheel. I say may, as ford short beds are a bit longer than the other brands.

**ncitro** · 07-28-2021, 05:26 PM

dgerfan Now that he mentions it the Super Cab doors (suicide doors we used to call them) opening the other way were the deal breaker for the car seat. Just way to hard to get him up and down with the small opening going the other way. If your kid(s) are not in car seats that will not be an issue but you still have the issue of tight parking lots and opening the doors as well as legroom.

**acoleman43** · 07-28-2021, 09:50 PM

2017 TorqShift 6 speed ratios:

1st: 3.97:1
2nd: 2.31:1
3rd: 1.51:1
4th: 1.14:1
5th: 0.85:1
6th: 0.67:1
Reverse: 3.12:1

2020 TorqShift 10 speed ratios:

1st: 4.615:1
2nd: 2.919:1
3rd: 2.132:1
4th: 1.773:1
5th: 1.519:1
6th: 1.277:1
7th: 1.01:1
8th: 0.851:1
9th: 0.687:1
10th:0.632:1
Reverse: 4.695:1

I have the 10 speed with 3.31 rear. I think it's an excellent match. I have best of all worlds....low 1st gear for moving heavy loads from a stop, and high final gear for better MPG. At 70 mph in 10th the tach is at 1520 rpm.

**vctr_free** · 07-29-2021, 08:43 AM

Originally posted by dgerfan View Post

All I need your help! We made a mistake a couple years ago and purchased a gas truck to tow our 8k travel trailer. The truck was more than capable for the no slide travel trailer but we quickly moved to a 36ft 5th wheel that weighs close to 12k. And once we headed West we had difficulty stopping when going down steep grades and struggled in 1st or 2nd gear to make it up these grades. Truck brakes heated up and caused the truck to convulse even after adding disc brakes to the 5ver and putting the gain up to 9. Its time for a diesel truck! Please note we always managed to stay within our Truck and Trailer GVWR, Towing capacity, etc.

I'm looking at a 2017 Ford F-350 which is at a Chevy dealer and the salesperson can't insure what the towing capacity is. He called a Ford store and asked a salesperson to lookup by VIN the towing capacity of the truck. Per the salesperson it can tow 17,000lbs. Well 17,000lbs towing capacity isn't event listed on the 2017 Ford RV & Trailer Towing Guide and I'm not aware of anyway to lookup a Ford Truck's towing capacity by VIN. Here are the specs for the truck in question:

2017 F350 SRW 4x4 Supercab 148" WB
11,500 GVWR
3.31 Axle Ratio
Payload: 3557 lbs (Salesperson send me a picture of the Tire and Loading Information sticker)
Front GAWR: 5200lbs
Rear GAWR: 7230lbs
Tires: LT275/70R18E 125/122R

On the 2017 Ford RV & Trailer Towing Guide when I look in the F-350 SRW Super Duty Pickups 5th-Wheel/Gooseneck Towing section then go to the 3.31 Axle Ratio section and then going to the 4x4 148" WB 6-3/4' Box column. There is only two GCWRs that have a towing number however I don't know the GCWR for this truck and most of them have a annotation (3) = Optional 10,000-lb GVWR Package (68D) however this truck has a 11,500 GVWR.

Why can't Ford be as easy as Chevy/GMC and RAM are. GM puts the sticker on the door and RAM has a lookup by VIN.

Any help is much appreciated. Also I realize that whatever is discussed here isn't gospel and I and I only are responsible for making sure that I'm within compliance.

I can tell you with certainty we towed over 30000 lbs with our 2017 F350. Now we would not do it daily but it is capable of that much. Usually we would cap what we towed at 20000.

**dgerfan** · 07-31-2021, 10:12 AM

Sorry for the late response, I was working feverishly with a dealer on a 2018 F-350 in MA. that had only 25k miles and was listed for 52k. The dealer purchased the truck from an auction and are sending it back. It turns out that the previous owner made a number of modifications to it to include the emissions systems.

ncitro Thanks for the information on the hassles of living daily with a Super Cab. My child is 6 soon to be 7 and I think my wife would prefer that he is in a seat or booster for the next couple more years. Plus he prefers his seat for long trips because its got a cup holder and place for him to rest his arms.

acoleman43 thanks for the information

howson I was hoping to meet you at the rally. Maybe another time

Now I'm off to look at trucks again.

**dgerfan** · 07-31-2021, 10:15 AM

Cate&Rob Happy truck shopping!

**acoleman43** · 07-31-2021, 03:04 PM

My 2 cents on truck shopping: I am a fan of diesels for towing RV's.....anything 10K# or over. Gas can handle it, but not like a diesel. When we went truck shopping last year (we regularly have 3 kids in tow, sometimes 4) I had my wife come with me to make sure she was happy with the interior.

of the 3 main brands out there, here's what we found (2020 year model and above):

RAM (Dodge):

Pros: Cummins engine (look at HO option with 1 ton), very nice, modern interior, options galore (even optional air suspension), Cummins engine much easier to fix if broken (don't have to lift cab to get to engine)

Cons: interior space in back row (crew/mega cab) - this was the killer for my wife, 6 speed transmission (tranny with non-HO engine has known issues), can be super expensive with some of the options, standard diesel has lowest power output of the big 3

Chevrolet/GMC:

Pros: Cheapest (especially during truck month where you can save up to $9000), 10 speed tranny (Allison/GM collaboration), decent interior space, decent interior, Banks Power has a bunch of accessories for Duramax engine, more power than standard Cummins

Cons: Less power than Cummins HO and ford, small touch screen, interior space not as good as Ford, V8 engine difficult to fix (requires lifting cab to do anything major...$$$)

Ford:

Pros: Powerstroke power output, 10 speed tranny, interior space (especially back row in crew cab), Tremor package, aluminum body/bed (lighter weight which increases payload), if you like gas engines the 7.3 is a great option

Cons: Can be expensive, V8 engine difficult to fix (requires lifting cab to do anything major...$$$), aluminum body/bed (more difficult to fix)

I would look at all brands as they all have something good to offer. Overall you can't really go wrong with any of them. Just make sure your wife is happy

**ncitro** · 07-31-2021, 04:21 PM

Originally posted by dgerfan View Post

Sorry for the late response, I was working feverishly with a dealer on a 2018 F-350 in MA. that had only 25k miles and was listed for 52k. The dealer purchased the truck from an auction and are sending it back. It turns out that the previous owner made a number of modifications to it to include the emissions systems.

ncitro Thanks for the information on the hassles of living daily with a Super Cab. My child is 6 soon to be 7 and I think my wife would prefer that he is in a seat or booster for the next couple more years. Plus he prefers his seat for long trips because its got a cup holder and place for him to rest his arms.

acoleman43 thanks for the information

howson I was hoping to meet you at the rally. Maybe another time

Now I'm off to look at trucks again.

No problem glad I could help. We're really happy with the space of the crew cab, only downside is a little less payload and the thing is three blocks long in the long bed configuration, but it tows strict as an arrow on the interstate, even in a cross wind. There's no replacement for wheel base.

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Determining GCWR for Ford F-350

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