tcp2

Do you have the basic tow package on your truck? Do you have a receiver hitch on the back with the 4 and 7 pin connectors? External transmission cooler built in in front of the radiator?

Honestly, you shouldn't have any problems with that trailer if you have the basic tow package (max tow not required). That trailer is not terribly heavy and the speed limits through the mountains are often 55-60mph and you will have no trouble keeping it rolling at those speeds.
If your truck doesn't have the tow package, you may want to consider adding the external cooler and you'll need to wire everything up anyway.

canadianguy

Are you a radio host in Calgary?

And if you are looking to get rid of those tires, let me know, I'd be interested.

mrash

LOL... hasn't upset me too much yet. Had I known we were going to get a TT I would have probably gone the Ecoboost route as I was deciding between the truck I bought and the Ecoboost with Max Tow as that was the only other truck available at the time.

Yes, the truck did come with the hitch, 4 and 7 pin connectors and the smaller transmission cooler.

I checked those out but my wife will be spending a fair amount of time in the trailer while I'm away mountain biking. One of the reasons we were looking at the Apex 235BHS was because it is relatively spacious. The other reason we like the Apex line is because they are available in 7.5ft wide rather then most which are 8ft. At 7.5 feet we are able to park it much easier at our house.

mrash

Nope, I'm in engineering design.

I'll keep you in the loop on the tires.

uzikaduzi

I didn't realize it was only 7.5 ft wide... that's kind of cool. the only number you're really gonna be close on is your payload if you max out the cargo capacity of the camper (which is pretty high @ 2223pds) if you fill those tanks (which is pretty unlikely you'd be full on all the tanks) that's 750 pds you still have 1503 pds. if it's just you and your wife, that is a lot to play with to get to the full 6500 pds. I don't travel with much if anything in the tanks so if you were like me and the camper loaded up is about 1k pds over dry wieght, you're @ 5277 pds and if you max out your tongue weight @ 15% (i like to be more like 12-13%) that's only 792 pds leaving you with 588 (or almost 700 pds if you're at 13%) to play with in the truck. I think with those numbers, you are looking really good. I'm pulling a 7500 pd camper all loaded up with the 4 speed 5.4l 3.55's with 33.5in tires and i don't like it but it works. you'd be pulling a 5300 pd loaded camper with a 6 speed (which will help with your 3.55's) I'd do it!

I love mountain biking but my wife likes to take bike rides so it stead of getting to hit the dirt, i'm normally hitting the paved trails with my wife and pulling the baby in the bike trailer :-(

Ole Man Dan

Drop down to something along the line of stock type 'LT' tires and you will improve your gear ratio,
towing will be easier too. It may be like going from 3.55 gears to 3.73 gears.
Less RPM going up steep stuff will make your day.
I said LT rated tires, cause the stiffer sidewalls improve towing 100%.

mrash

Yeah, I'm thinking about going to LT285/55/20 which are 32.3" compared to the 32" stock tires.

tcp2

If you have the hitch and connectors, you have the basic tow package. It has the same radiator and transmission cooler as the max tow package. The max tow gets the 3.73 gears, tow mirrors and integrated brake controller(you will need one installed. I use a tekonsha prodigy). You won't have any problem keeping it at the speed limit with your trailer in the mountains...you could even slow down and enjoy the view, allowing the ecos and giant diesels room to pass, of course. Some info:

http://www.ford.ca/resources/ford/ge...Towing_Ev6.pdf

While our trailer is only 4000lbs loaded it has a heavy tongue weight at around 700lbs. I use a Reese WDH and firestone airbags and it keeps things nicely level. I have bilstein 5100s installed, front and back, but only at stock height. Works fine for me. I used to tow the same trailer all over the rockies (calgary to the okanagon every year, north and south routes) with our Sienna and it could keep up, up rogers pass and the passes on hwy3 from Osoyoos to Calgary. The truck makes it effortless.

uzikaduzi

700pds is 17.5% tongue wieght... that does seem pretty heavy and 've heard 10-15% is where you want to be. looking at the pic, the axles do seem further back in relation to the trailer size than most TT's. I know low tongue weight can cause sway but never had experience with high tongue weight... do you think that high percentage of tongue weight effects handling in a positive or negative way?

brulaz

I would say the higher the tongue weight the better, unless you start over-loading the truck. My trailers have both been a bit over 15%.