WickedFX2

Bad advice.

Only a tiny percentage of TTs have only 10 percent tongue weight when wet and loaded for the road. Most have 12% to 13% and mine has over 15%.

I used 12% when estimating my hitch weight, and as a result I'm 100 pounds over the GVWR of my F-150 when wet and loaded on the road because my TT has over 15% hitch weight.



About 50 pounds altogether. It's a handful for an old man trying to stab the shank into the receiver.[/QUOTE]


Thank you! So obviously I wouldn't know if the TT we end up getting has 10, 12, 14, 15, 16% because that all really depends on how much we load in it correct? Or are certain brands/models known for having the lower percentages?

Jaythor74

I have a 6,000 lb travel trailer and a Max tow eb. Even though its rated to tow 11,300 lbs its very easy to overload the trucks payload. A trick I use is put everything heavy I can fit in the back of the camper. This will add less to the campers tounge weight/payload. Another thing to do is where possible fill up your holding tank at the campground, this shaves off 250-350 lbs.

A7B2FX4

I realize this will be ridiculed by many but my personal view is a 24' TT is about max I would tow with the current F150 without the HD payload package but including the Max Tow. Why? The truck is too softly sprung and is a handful whereas a Superduty can take it in stride most of the time. You can put airbags etc on to correct but that just eats into your payload which is already iffy on the bigger TT's. As equipped; the Max Tow F150 EB has all the power I need but my 29' 11" trailer just is a handfull. I put the same trailer behind a 03 F250 with airbags and its a match made in heaven.
Just curious but in the past the heavy duty payload was called the 7700 lb package back in 2000 and 2001. Now it 8200. Was that all new safety stuff which raised the weight on the F150? So I'm still loving my F150 but wont consider any trailer over about 24' for it.

brulaz

Welcome to the crap shoot.

But, yes, some brands, like mine have higher tongue weights even before you load them up. Mine was about 16%. Like others have said, with careful loading, you can change that. I hung a bike rack off the end, and we load all the heavy stuff to the rear behind the trailer's axle and now it's down to 13-14%.

Have also heard of folks with the fresh water tanks behind the trailer's rear axle who load up on fresh water, just to lift weight off the truck like a teeter-totter. And I would think that rear kitchen models with lots of rear storage would help.

But some trailers have just the opposite problem: too low a hitch weight. Having at least 12% of your trailer weight on the tongue is good practice IMHO as it reduces the chance of trailer sway. I wouldn't want to go below that with a high-side trailer. Boat trailers and open car-haulers do go down to 10% without problems though.

All you can do is make an educated guess about tongue weight and hope it all works out.

How much you carry in the truck and trailer can be worked out a little more carefully. We carry about 2000# total, but that's going to Florida for 2 months and includes kayaks, bikes, loungers and just lots of junk. And there's only 2 of us.

Have fun.

brulaz

Agreed it's too softly sprung, but I upgraded the shocks (Ford HD), springs (RAS) and tires (20" P-rated to 17" LT-rated) without much of a payload hit. Well worth the investment if you don't need the GAWR of 7 lug axle/tires that come with the HD Payload. And you may not if you're using a WDH and your tongue weight is under, say, 1000# (just a guess).

A7B2FX4

Thanks for your input it is appreciated. I do plan on upgrading my shocks to the HD. My F150 has payload of 1869 on the door. My trailer has a dry weight of roughly 5400 and hitch is 680. Have the 18" LT's from the factory. There's just 2 of us onboard and always well within the Gawr and total Gvwr. Noticed you have a 24' TT. That's kinda my point. Get longer than that with the soft sprung truck and the side area and weight all work against you. Some people are comfortable with a 30 footer or longer but for me its something I'll pass on. To the newbies with a 7300# GVW thinking a BIG trailer is AOK try to do a test drive before signing the TT paperwork.

brulaz

Ah, but we're looking at BIGGER.

Actually, I am trying to keep it down to less than 28', primarily because anything larger would be too hard to turn into some of the tight sites we find at older campgrounds.

But with a longer trailer I would definitely want a WDH with first rate anti-sway control. Maybe even a pro-pride or hensley for something >30'. At least an Equal-i-zer 4pt or Reese Dual-cam properly set up. And I would make sure my loaded tongue weight was 12% or more.

With my current 4000#, 24' trailer I'm not even using a WDH, so no sway control. But it works fine with all the suspension upgrades and the tongue weight at 13% .

Jaythor74

Anyone having issues with their truck not handling the weight of their tt needs to adjust the the wd hitch for more tension. If the wd hitch is set up properly the front will settle same as the rear or close. My tounge weight on my tt is around 800-900 lbs and I cannot make the rear bounce much jumping up and down in it and I weigh 270 lbs. I carry 5 people, 6k tt and a few things in the bed and the truck tows like a dream.

brulaz

Where did you get that? Not from the Ford manual. Ford says to reduce the front end lift by only 50%. That's the front end lift you get when you drop the trailer on the ball.

Some people go as much as 100%, completely reducing the front end lift.

But I wouldn't go any more than that.

PistonPuller

I tow 30' 6500# dry weight TT without any problems. I was worried at first but this truck tows it and stops it without any issues. I have the 5.0 with 3.73