Shopping for an F-250 and an RV Together

Begin With the Travel You Want

Picture the trip that makes you want to go. It might be a camping stay at Wyalusing State Park’s Wisconsin Ridge or Homestead campground, or a few nights at Nelson Dewey State Park near Cassville. Those are real southwest Wisconsin destinations to explore while you decide what you want from an RV.

You might also picture leaving the camper at your reserved site and taking the truck out for hiking or a picnic at Wyalusing, or enjoying the Mississippi River overlooks at Nelson Dewey. Let the trips you look forward to help narrow the RV layout. Check the particular campsite’s dimensions and current reservation details before booking.

You can explore campers through Brown’s RV & Marine. Once a model interests you, its dimensions, hitch arrangement and weight information give the truck search a useful direction.

Compare Two Shortlists Together

Keep a small RV shortlist alongside the F-250s you like. Some camper preferences may influence the pickup box or hitch you seek; some truck preferences may influence which RV arrangement you choose.

A fifth wheel needs the truck, box and hitch considered together. Our trailer-information guide helps organize the loaded-weight and fit details for the models you like.

Understand Hitch Prep and the Hitch You Still Need

For example, the optional 2020 F-250 fifth-wheel/gooseneck prep package provides bed attachment points, an under-bed frame crossmember and a bed-side seven-pin connector. The attachment points give compatible hitch equipment a place to mount; the crossmember is the mounting structure beneath the bed, and the connector provides the trailer’s electrical connection at the bed.

These illustrations explain the hardware’s different roles. They are not installation drawings; appearance and fitment depend on the actual truck and hitch.

For the Ford prep-based setup, the prep hardware and the actual hitch work together. A fifth-wheel camper needs a compatible fifth-wheel hitch assembly that connects to its kingpin. A gooseneck trailer uses a compatible ball and safety-chain attachment hardware. A listing that says “prep package” does not by itself establish that either hitch is included with the used truck.

Here are two Ford accessory examples: Ford’s fifth-wheel hitch kit for an eight-foot bed requires the production prep package or the separately sold Ford accessory prep package. Ford’s gooseneck hitch kit includes a removable ball and safety-chain loops and also requires compatible prep hardware. These are different hitch choices; you do not need both types just to pull one trailer.

If the truck already has factory prep, check which compatible hitch or ball is actually present rather than assuming you need a second prep package. If it has no prep, Ford offers accessory prep hardware, subject to vehicle fitment. Confirm the exact year, VIN, bed, hitch and trailer before buying parts. The examples above have their own bed and bedliner restrictions; the work-and-towing equipment guide helps separate package names from the hardware on a listing.

Choose the Combination You Want to Travel In

After the towing setup is checked, give the truck cab and RV living space their own attention. You will spend time in both, and your preferences deserve a place in the purchase.

If you’re comparing truck and camper options from Lancaster or Bloomington, Wisconsin, send the camper model along with the F-250 listings you like. Our Internet Manager can help with the truck’s equipment while you decide which RV feels right for your travel plans.

Questions Worth Asking