sbv32

My Truck is a F150 super crew ecoboost with a 3.55 gear in it.


From what I am reading my towing specs are as follows:
GCWR Max 15,500
GAWR Front 3,750 Rear 4,050


Now looking at a pull behind with the following:
Shipping weight 4,893
carrying capacity 2,307
hitch 590
length 28'10


This is where I get stuck. Am I legal and within my specs to pull this? I know that many pull over the limit and that's fine for them however I want to be able to pull long distance with my family of 5 without having to worry about being over specs.


Thanks for any help that you guys can provide.

smokeywren

GCWR of 15,500 fits a 2013 F-150 SuperCrew 4x4 with 3.55 axle. Tow rating with 6.5' bed is is 9,500.



Ignore shipping weight and dry hitch weight. Your trailer's GVWR is 7,200. When loaded to 7,000 pounds your tongue weight will be about 13% of 7,000 = 910 pounds. A good WD hitch will bring your total hitch weight to about 1,000 pounds.



Not enough info to tell for sure. It depends on your truck's payload capacity and how heavy you load the truck and trailer.


To know for sure, you must weigh the wet and loaded F-150, with everybody and everything in it that will be in it when towing. Including pet(s), toolbox, jack(s), campfire wood, everything that weighs more than a handkerchief. Drive to a truck stop that has a CAT scale and fill up with gas, then weigh the truck (without the trailer). Subtract the weight of the wet and loaded truck from the GVWR of the truck and the answer is the max hitch weight you can have without being overloaded. If the answer is 1,000 pounds or more, then you can tow that trailer with no worries about being overloaded.


The above ignores the tow rating, and no problem. Your EcoBoost drivetrain can tow that 7,000 pound trailer with no indications of an overheated drivetrain or being the pokealong holding up traffic on steep grades. So your only concern is the weight of the truck and trailer. You don't want to exceed the payload capacity of your truck. Actual payload capacity = GVWR of the truck minus the actual weight of the wet and loaded truck.


So if at first weighing, you don't have 1,000 pound of unused payload capacity required for the hitch weight of that trailer, then get some weight out of the truck. Leave all the tools behind that are not required to change a flat trailer tire. No firewood - get that after you reach your destination. Reduce weight in the trailer which will reduce tongue weight. Or get a lighter trailer.

acdii

Depends on the payload. If over 1600# you should be fine. If under 1500, most likely not. If you are referring to a travel trailer, depending on where the fresh water tank is located, you might fall into a TW of around 700-800# loaded.

Lots of if's involved. You need to weigh your truck like Smokey said and go from there. My Coleman is about the length you mentioned, and it has a GVWR of 7600#, and a loaded TW of 740# with a full FWT. My trucks payload is 1470# which means with my topper on, I can have me and my 2 kids, the generator, 5 gallons of gas and my tools with the trailer hooked up and no other passengers.

altarocks

Depending on how much you load your TV you should be ok. I have a platinum and a TT ~ 7,000 lbs. My payload is only 1498. Hooked and fully loaded rough calcs show me, my wife and two young girls right at payload capacity. Next time loaded I'm going to hit a CAT scale. Towing capacity is really misleading especially with higher trim levels. As acdii and smokeywren pointed out payload is usually the limiting factor.

BeerCan

The CAT scale is your friend here. I don't think enough people realize how cheap and easy they are to use. It is the number 1 tool most camper/rvers ignore but it gives the best info to make solid decisions.

acdii

Absolutely it is.

Once you got your base weight of the truck and have a trailer in mind, go weigh the tongue.

Go to Walmart and pickup a cheap bathroom scale, one of the non digital ones, you know, old school with a dial. Get 2 2x4x7 and 2 2' pieces of pipe, Can be 1/2" copper pipe, or any kind of pipe. Screw the 2x4's together, put marks at every foot. You will also need a patio stone that is the same thickness of the scale, which most of them are. Place the stone 1 foot to the side of the trailers jack stand, the 2x4 at the first foot mark on a pipe on the stone, then place the scale at the 5 foot mark on the 2x4 and place the 2x4 on the pipe on the scale. Now put the jackstand of the trailer at the 2 foot mark. Multiply the scale reading by 4 and that is the trailers tongue weight. Don't forget to zero the scale after putting the 2x4 on it before putting the trailer on it for an exact reading.

Now that you have the true empty TW, add that to your scale measurement for total weight, and to the rear axle reading for axle weight. That will give you a good baseline. If the empty TW brings your GVWR near its limits, the trailer may be too heavy once loaded with goods and water.

kmlacroix

Most vehicle are heavier than people realize. That is why we now have a truck instaed of a Grand Cherokee.