Truck to tow 10K lb to 11K lb. - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Dog-Father · RV-Dreams Community Member

Truck to tow 10K lb to 11K lb.

Fishspike · RV-Dreams Community Member

I am slowly getting into RV. Thinking of buying a 250 ford or CheveY 2500. Both gas and would love some input. I see some of you are in the 450's. Not there yet

dave

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

size of the truck factors with the size of the coach...........opinions dont count and buying a truck that someone else said buy or you decided it will pull it ok is gonna make for a bad day when it wont stop, or you notice the giant repair bills because the rear end or transmission keeps going out!!!

due diligence .............research hard on the answers because its the 50 thousand dollar question in the end and your the one footing the bill...

Second Chance · RV-Dreams Family Member

With today's automatic transmissions, that will be the least of your worries. Rather than looking at "towing" ratings, be concerned about the payload of the truck (after weighing with full fuel, occupants, hitch and junk) and the tongue/pin weight of your RV. Most trucks nowadays will pull a house off of its foundation - but you can't put the weight of the house on the rear axle. As Mike said, do your homework, crunch the numbers, and - above all - stay safe and legal.

Rob

Dog-Father · RV-Dreams Community Member

Auto transmissions do go out all the time. Particularly when towing loads. They're a high value added component, the auto industry has

forced (at least to some extent) on the public. Once the original goes out, rebuilt ones do not last that long. Maybe 30,000 to 40,000 miles.

They are of big concern when towing. They are better, in most cases than 20 yrs ago. But, they are still the weakest link in the powertrain.

Auto trans have not caught on in the med duty and heavy duty trucking industry. That's because they are not as good at towing a load, or

as fuel efficient.

Rickl · RV-Dreams Family Member

Dog-Father wrote:
Auto transmissions do go out all the time. Particularly when towing loads. They're a high value added component, the auto industry has
forced (at least to some extent) on the public. Once the original goes out, rebuilt ones do not last that long. Maybe 30,000 to 40,000 miles.
They are of big concern when towing. They are better, in most cases than 20 yrs ago. But, they are still the weakest link in the powertrain.
Auto trans have not caught on in the med duty and heavy duty trucking industry. That's because they are not as good at towing a load, or
as fuel efficient.

I have to respectfully disagree that automatics aren't catching on in the medium and heavy duty markets. They are slowly gaining in these sectors as most companies realize that they can achieve the same fuel economy, find and attract more drivers, and the maintenance of the clutch and transmission is eliminated.

I would agree that automatics do fail occasionally, but in the last 20 years most auto transmission shops have had to expand their offerings to keep the doors open. Also, with a manual you have a clutch to slip starting off that with a "house" behind you isn't going to be the easiest thing on it. It comes down to personnel preference and I for one wouldn't want anything but an automatic.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Pay absolutely NO ATTENTION to a truck manufacturer's "tow" rating. Those are worthless. Instead, look at the truck's GCVW (Gross Combined Vehicular Weight) and GAWR (Gross Axle Weight Rating) for the overall weight capacity and the rear axle's weight capacity.

As for my opinion of the emission/fuel mileage issue, I don't worry about that because our F450 is primarily for towing the coach, and at 18,500 lbs GVWR, I don't worry about fuel mileage.

Terry