Ford F550 Truck
Our fifth wheel tow vehicle is a 2004 Ford F550 diesel crew cab with dually rear tires and lots of goodies.
Safe Towing
Why such a heavy duty truck? Because our trailer is heavy. We used to have a GMC 3500, but that truck with our trailer exceeded the GMC 3500's gross combined weight rating (GCWR) by quite a bit when the trailer was "empty".
The 2004 Ford F550 outfitted with diesel and heavy duty towing package has a GCWR of 30,000 lbs. Note that this GCWR is for a new truck in perfect condition. As brakes, tires, and other parts on the truck wear, the GCWR goes down by an unknowable amount. We wanted some excess capacity to cover us as the truck wears, and as we climb and descent long steep mountains that put extra strain on the truck.
Our trailer's gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) is 17,500 lbs; like most folks, we carry pretty much the limit. The truck fully loaded with fuel, tools, supplies, driver, passenger, etc., weighs around 10,000 lbs. So our gross combined weight fully loaded and ready to roll is about 27,500 lbs. That's 2,500 lbs under the GCWR of the truck, which is a fairly comfortable safety margin. A lighter duty truck, such as the Ford 350 or a GMC 3500 would just not be safe with such a heavy trailer, especially coming down long steep mountains.
So the main reason for using such a heavy duty truck: safety. A side benefit is that the truck-trailer combination is actually legal. While RV rigs rarely, if ever, get weighed by the authorities, it is nice to know that if it ever happened we would almost certainly pass.
Commercial Drivers License (CDL) Required?
The F550 is a Class 5 truck, which is considered a commercial truck by many/most state departments of motor vehicles and by most insurance agencies. Being a commercial truck, it raises the question of whether a CDL is needed to drive it legally.
Requirements for CDL's vary from state to state. In Oregon a CDL is NOT required so long as the vehicle is used for pleasure, such as for RV'ing. If you use an F550 for business in the state of Oregon, then a CDL is required.
Check with your DMV for your state's licensing requirements.
Insurance
Insurance issues we ran into are describe on page "RV Mobile Office for Fulltiming: Insurance".