Short Bed Hitch?

[G2Gkevin]

Hello from a new member, Kevin,
I have a new F350 short bed. I am looking at a new 38' Mobile Suites and noticed the hitch is 18" farther back than my Montana fifth wheel. If I change out my hitch to a slider will it give me enough clearance to avoid getting into the cab when not paying attention or pulling into an out of the way park?
If so any suggestions on the hitch that will work best?

[wingnut60]

A Pullrite autoslider should work--but...you are going to overload the rear axle of the 350 with that trailer. Can your pickup stand 4200lbs of pin weight? Can the tires take that much weight?

[G2Gkevin]

Thank you Mr. Wingnut for your response. I am struggling to find the pin weight rating in my Ford technical specifications manuel, (not listed as such).
The tires will do that even on a bad day with a hangover.

[wingnut60]

Ford does not publish anything about pin weights. They have payload (amount of weight the truck can carry = gross vehicle weight rating less the weight of the truck).
You will need to take the truck to a scales and get an actual wieght as you would have it loaded for travel with the Suites--only then will you be able to know how much more weight you can place on it.
You should have a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of around either 11400 or 12000. That number is the most the truck should weigh when loaded and towing.
I doubt your tires have over a 36-3900lbs rating for each--total of maybe 7800 on the rear axle. If the trailer is going to add 4200 pin weight to the truck, that will leave 3600 that the axle can have on it when loaded and without the trailer.
You really need to get these weights known--many people tow over loaded, but I would never go over the max rear tire load ratings, even running close to rating is asking for tire failure.

[G2Gkevin]

Tire failure carrying that kind of load can be messy. I will have to weigh the truck tomorrow and start putting the pieces together before pulling the trigger on a new DRV. I may need to reconsider and look at some lighter weight coaches that are upper end in quality.

[wingnut60]

In all seriousness, DRV units are very heavy on the pins--my last '05 36TK3 grossed at 17500 and had a pin wt of 4200. My newer 38RSSA weighs 18080/3800 and I don't have anything in it.
They are nice fivers, but very heavy on the front ends.
Hope you can get everything figured out, because RVing/camping is a lot of fun with wife/kids/dogs...

[G2Gkevin]

The 38rsb3 is the model we are looking at. I spend 8-11 months a year in mine traveling for work so we wanted something a bit more durable. I can safely pull up to 20k with this new rig but never looked at pin weight before. Thank you for sharing some of your experience and expertise.

[wingnut60]

I don't worry too much about numbers until they get to the point of being a safety problem. It has become very hard to get DRV to own up to what they sell actually weighs BEFORE the customer gets his hand on it.
If you do get one, I would suggest that you get the vanity slide for sure, since you will spend a lot of time in it--little more space around the bed is a big help.
I have seen several DRVs being towed by SRW pickups--you might ask around if anyone has that setup--also, have you checked in on the SOITC forum--Suites Owners International Travel Club? Or the Thor DRV owners forum?
Also, there are some small options on tires that may help--check some tire companies for 18"/20" tires and load ratings that are higher than 3700. A set of 19.5" wheels/tires would help, but pricey.

[G2Gkevin]

Happy Monday to you, the SOITC forum is where I looked fit answers first. I could not find a thread with all the answers and then I followed a link to this forum. I just studied the Mobile Suites (glossy handouts) information and nary a word about weights or capacities. I have seen many DRV's towed with SWD trucks. I will start asking those owners questions as well. I Intend to add custom wheels and tires and your suggestion is a great idea.

[TwoTiredTeachers]

I have a couple of videos that might help. The first is Before You Get Hitched about matching tow vehicles with RVs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6aEsxSKrys

The other is about a specific hitch that has been a lifesaver for us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5fJvo3Ama8

[G2Gkevin]

Thank you for taking the time to make and post these videos. Very good information.

[Cashoe]

I have 2017 F350 diesel. I weighed the truck this past weekend with the wife and two dogs, full fuel, hitch and fire wood.
Front 4960
Rear. 3800
Total. 8760

Going by the rear gawr of 7230 I should be able to have a max pin weight of 3430. But that would put me over my gvwr for the truck of 11500. So I can only have a max pin weight loaded of 2740. So I will be looking for a camper with an empty pin weight of about 2000 to give me enough wiggle room.

[wingnut60]

IF I were going to be over on any numbers, the GVWR to me is less important than the RAWR and the rear tire capacity.
A fiver with only 2000 pin weight is going to be either small/short or both. 2000 PW equates to about a 10000lb GVWR....

[Stripit]

IF I were going to be over on any numbers, the GVWR to me is less important than the RAWR and the rear tire capacity.
A fiver with only 2000 pin weight is going to be either small/short or both. 2000 PW equates to about a 10000lb GVWR....

I agree using the tire and rear axle max load ratings is what I would watch for. Look on the rear tires and see what the tire max carrying capacity is, don't go over those ratings.

[Cashoe]

My tires are only rated at 7280# so only 50# more than the rear gawr.

[wingnut60]

The real problem is the tire capacity and running at or near that load--not good for tire life and avoiding blowouts...have never heard of anyone 'blowing out' a rear axle, but tires--it happens often. Makes sense to me, that the more over capacity on tires, the less likely to have a problem with one of them.