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In other news for tomorrow......... A bystander witnessed a brand new F150 hit a pothole sending the front end off the ground. The front tires being airborne could not turn the truck at the curve ahead and the F150 hit a tree. The resulting impact sent 800 gallons of water into the pickup cab thru the back window. On questioning by the authorities the driver stated his load was less than Ford's claimed towing capacity.
So in terms of the 5000 lb/ 500 lb weight rating on the hitch.. what are other guys doing when hauling heavier trailers? 5000 isn't much when it comes to boats. I have never used WDH, wondering what the other options are.. change out the hitch? The dealers don't have a clue.
Hmm interesting array of comments on here. A few responses-
1.) I am not dead (gasp!)
2.) the load towed just fine (total distance towing yesterday and today was about 25 miles (all flat, about 45-50mph)
3.) I was pretty clear in my initial post that I wasn't particularly thrilled with the load distribution. But sometimes life isn't the neat little box that everyone would like it to be (including me). I called every supplier in the area to try and get a WDH- there were literally 0 in town. It had to happen-so I took it slow and cautious.
4.) to the person who asked whether or not you should use a WDH for a flatbed-yes, whenever you are towing over 5k you should be trying to use a WDH (flatbed or otherwise).
I got 11 mpg over the last 15 miles of the trip. I have the 3.55 gears on my 5.0.
So in terms of the 5000 lb/ 500 lb weight rating on the hitch.. what are other guys doing when hauling heavier trailers? 5000 isn't much when it comes to boats. I have never used WDH, wondering what the other options are.. change out the hitch? The dealers don't have a clue.
The rated towing capacity will depend on your truck's configurations and type of hitch on your truck. The 5,000lb is max towing on bumper (not recommended)
The majority of the trucks I have seen are equipped with a class IV hitch that is rated at 12,000lb. Depending on your set up you probably will not need a weight distributing hitch. If this is the case MAKE SURE you get a decent ball mount rated at 12,000lb as well. (Many guys skip this step) .
In other news for tomorrow......... A bystander witnessed a brand new F150 hit a pothole sending the front end off the ground. The front tires being airborne could not turn the truck at the curve ahead and the F150 hit a tree. The resulting impact sent 800 gallons of water into the pickup cab thru the back window. On questioning by the authorities the driver stated his load was less than Ford's claimed towing capacity.
It's going to take more than that little box on the trooper's form to explain how the driver drowned inside his F150 on dry land. :P
Had my first opportunity to tow with the new truck this weekend-
Overall was pretty impressed. You can't really tell from the photo, but those are 3 pallets of water jugs-total weight appx 6500 lbs. Add in the weight of the trailer (another 2500 lbs or so) and I was right at 9000lbs, about the max tow capacity for my truck.
Power wise it was fine-never felt like I needed more. I am not one of those guys who says things like "didn't even feel like it's back there"-because you always feel 9000lbs. But it had more than enough guts to move the mass.
In terms of control it did well-although towing water is a somewhat unsettling experience in general (since it is all liquid it shifts all over the place).
The guy with the forklift didn't do a great job loading (clearly) and I don't have a WDH yet-so the load is a bit tongue heavy on the trailer.
I am going to reset the fuel Econ meter tomorrow before I take this load on the hwy again to try and see how it does that way.
Overall I am happy with the first experience-gives me a lot of confidence moving forward towing firewood and atvs.
Gerrard,
Glad to see the truck handled the load fine. Coming from someone with not a ton of experience with forklift loading onto a flatbed with raised wheel wells, sometimes it can be a bit of a pain. Anyway, knowing the terrain around Fairbanks, I am sure your 25 mile trip wasn't the death trap that people seem to believe it to be.
One thing I've learned to keep on hand with trailers is several pieces of 2x4s of various lengths. They work great for distributing the pressure from the tie-downs across the product that is being secured.
On another note, what are all the water jugs for? Most people just get a tank from Greer to transport their potable water. Sure is an expensive way to fill your holding tank.
The rated towing capacity will depend on your truck's configurations and type of hitch on your truck. The 5,000lb is max towing on bumper (not recommended)
The majority of the trucks I have seen are equipped with a class IV hitch that is rated at 12,000lb. Depending on your set up you probably will not need a weight distributing hitch. If this is the case MAKE SURE you get a decent ball mount rated at 12,000lb as well. (Many guys skip this step) .
You need to read up on the facts before you post things like this. Look at the sticker on the class IV hitch with the rating. It has nothing to do with the bumper.
You can only get the heavier rating when using a WDH.
04-27-2015, 08:55 PM
