TIO HD

Thats what I got.... SuperCab, 8' bed, HD Duty Pack and Trailer and don't forget that once you start going over 5k pounds of towing you will need the weight distrubution kit. On the hitch it states the tongue weight of 500lbs and max tow of 5k pounds. It'll do 1150 pounds on tongue weight and 11,5k pounds with weight distrubution kit.

I got the Eco Boost...very happy I did I use it for my buisness of specializing in Motorcycle towing and hauling... You guys can see pics of my Eco Boost towing a Smart Car in the bed of the truck.

You can check it out at www.motorcycleresqueteam.com or www.facebook.com/MotorcycleResQueTeam

RubberDuckie

Alright I'm more than admittedly a n00b when it comes to the trucks, so whats this "weight distribution kit? ford option? aftermarket? and some ppl seem to think my setup will be fine, and one other disagrees, the Guys at Ford know exactly what you know about me needing to be able to tow a 3 horse bumper pull that's going to come close to 10,000lbs in weight. so should I be trusting them that they're setting me up correctly?

sean453

It is my opinion that towing 8500 lbs or more with a 1/2 is retarded. i tow 7500 on the praires with a WDH and Airbags and the wind blows the trailer everywhere. sure it's got the power to pull it, it just doesn't drive very well. move up to the 3/4 ton.

I have the 5.4 SCAB 2010 model with max trailer tow and I wouldn't want to tow anywhere near the max

Like i said IMO no need to get angry.

RubberDuckie

Definitely not getting angry, like I said, I'm new to this whole thing, and I'm appreciating all the opinions and good advice. Keep it coming! Thanks!

magblue10

IMO you have the rt setup. You've got the max tow and it covers your weight. Some say you need the HD as well. I personally think you are fine your probably looking at a payload on your truck of 1750 or so and a tongue of 1000. So you have 750 left over. Weight distribution is an aftermarket product you add to help distribute the weight per axle and the trailer. Some people put airbags on as well and love them. I have contemplated them myself. They do not add payload however. Again IMO your looking good.

Franny K

Horse or livestock trailers often have the rear wheels set pretty far back. I am not sure an f-150 will allow the tongue weight. The sales staff were pretty useless in this regard apparently you are supposed to read some towing manual they produce. There is a few pages in the owners manual pertaining to this the sales staff either are unfamiliar with or something else.The hitch itself the truck comes with has limits which will basically limit you to about 1000 pounds tongue weight with a weight distribution hitch and that hitch weighs 100 pounds of the 1000 allowable.

Fran

Kenferg1

Maybe ask them to do a demo with weight and weigh the trailer and hitch weight. It shouldn't be a guessing game. It would be a shame to get a 150 only to find a 250 would be a better choice.

smokeywren

The Ford pickups with the towing pkg include the receiver hitch. There are two kinds of aftermarket trailer hitches you can slide into the receiver, weight carrying and weight distribution. The receiver has the weight capacity on the receiver frame. Mine says 500/5000 weight carrying, and 1,050/10,500 weight distributing. That means with a weight carrying hitch, I can tow a trailer with up to 500 pounds hitch weight and 5,000 trailer weight. But with a weight-distributing hitch I can tow a trailer with up to 1,050 pounds hitch weight and 10,500 trailer weight.

All the towing experts say you should never tow a travel trailer that weighs more than 5,000 pounds without a weight distributing hitch with sway control. I would lower that to max trailer weight of 3,500 pounds.

The weight carrying hitch is simply a ball mount which some folks call a drawbar, and ball. Here's a ball mount without the ball:


The weight distributing hitch is much more complicated. It includes bars that connect the ball mount to the trailer tongue.




When properly adjusted, the weight distribution hitch will move about one forth of the hitch weight back to the trailer tires, one fourth up to the front tires of the tow vehicle, and leave about half the hitch weight on the rear axle of the truck.

Simple weight distribution hitches cost about $400 to $600, including the adjustable shank (drawbar), and most include sway control of some sort.

But if you want absolute sway control so you will never experience uncontrollable trailer sway, then you want a much more expensive weight-distributing hitch called a ProPride. The ProPride is over $2,000 new, but you can often find used ones for sale.

rancherlee

I'd personally go f250 for a 10,000# live load. 3-1000# horses moving around really adds "excitement" to towing. I remember having to go rescue my Parents when thier F250 HD diesel ate a wheel bearing towing a 3 horse slant (7000# loaded) My 88' F150 with the heavy 1/2 option towing that trailer back was NOT fun, I could feel every movement any of the horses made and ended up driving only 50mph to feel comfortable behind the wheel. Went back with the car trailer to get the F250 and had no issues pulling nearly 9000# @ 65mph, the difference, the load doesn't shift around. Even though the horses seem to be wedged in the trailer they can still move around a bit. Even with the F250HD you could feel them a bit with the bumper pull. My parents had since upgraded to a 5th wheel 3 horse slant and towing is SO smooth with that.

bajaman

One has to ask, why would you not just go to a heavier-duty truck, like an F-250? It has been my experience, in my 35+ years of driving and towing everything from boats to travel trailers to car trailers, that the 3/4 or 1 ton pickups are just FAR more suited to tow loads like you describe, for as often as you are going to be towing.
Not too many F-150s at the rodeo parking lot, from what I've seen...