cheftjpeck

I just bought a 2014
Ford f150 super crew cab with 3.5 ecoboost.. It has trailer tow package and Trailer brake control etc .. According to what I have read at its current set up its towing capacity is 8600 lbs . I am looking to buy a 26 foot travel trailer with 5288 dry weight ..should I be ok.,

Norotso

You need to find out your payload capacity, on the door sticker. Take your trailer GVWR and use 85-90% of that to get a loaded weight. Of that loaded weight ~13% will be your tongue weight which you must subtract from your pyld # What weight is left is what the truck can handle, ie. you and any other ppl, gear etc... the truck must carry.

smokeywren

Maybe, but probably not if you don't want to be overloaded.

The tow rating is a myth. You cannot tow anywhere near the tow rating without exceeding the payload capacity of your pickup. And the trailer's dry weight is misleading. Nobody tows a dry travel trailer.

I'm overloaded with my F-150 that has a tow rating of 8,400 pounds when towing a TT with a dry weight of 3,775. How did that happen?

GVWR (used to determine net payload capacity) is your limiter.

My GVWR is 7,100 pounds, but with my TT hooked on my GVW is 7,200 pounds. Overloaded by 100 pounds.

My wet and loaded SuperCrew weighs 6,550 pounds when wet and loaded with Darling Wife, PuppyDog, options, toolbox full of tools, and a camper shell on my 6.5' bed. So I can have tongue weight up to 550 pounds without exceeding the 7,100 pounds GVWR of my F-150. But my actual wet and loaded tongue weight is 650 pounds, so I'm overloaded by 100 pounds.


If your F-150 is a 4x4, then you probably have 7,200 GVWR. But your 4x4 weighs more than my 4x2, so your payload capacity for hitch weight is probably less than mine.

Since you haven't bought the TT yet, and assuming you don't want to be overloaded when towing, then take these steps:

1] Load the truck with everyone and everything that will be in it when towing - including your weight-distributing hitch shank and head/ball mount. Tools, campfire wood, everything.

2] Drive to a truck stop that has a CAT scale and fill up with gas.

3] Weigh the wet and loaded F-150.

4] Subtract the weight of the wet and loaded F-150 from the GVWR of the F-150. The answer is the maximum hitch weight you can have without being overloaded.

5] Divide that max hitch weight by 0.15. The answer is the maximum GVWR of any TT you want to buy to tow with that wet and loaded F-150.

cheftjpeck

Thank you .. I don't get it then .. How are all these ford f150's towing these big travel trailers I am seeing on this forum and in person down the roads? Is there something different they are doing to compensate or accommodate the tow weights ? Some of these TT I am seeing and hearing they are in excess of 7,000lbs dry weight

Norotso

I would say that most average half ton drivers are ignorant of the facts of what their truck can safely tow, or they are fed half truths from RV dealers. If you check out the RV forums, you will hear of stories like that, and now the family is stuck with something that is too big for their truck to handle safely.

smurfs_of_war

It all depends on trim level, packages (max tow, hd payload) and the simple fact that likely 75% of the people you see towing are overloaded from moderate to severe.

cheftjpeck

Thanks again . I will continue to research .. When we do camp .. We don't go far ..( I know distance doesn't matter ) we live in Florida and most if not all of our camping trips will be 15 miles to local ft desoto park or 60 miles to ft wilderness At Disney .. The TT is 5288 Dry tongue is 698 ..my truck has Max tow package . 3.5 ecoboost ..trailer brake controller .. Supercrew 2 wheel drive 145 wheel base .. Husky brand weight distributing / anti sway trailer hitch

smokeywren

Most are simply overloaded, and too uninformed to know, or too selfish to care. With the EcoBoost engine, you can pull a lot more weight than you can haul the hitch weight of that trailer.

For the informed, Ford also makes F-150s with the Max Tow Pkg which has 500 pounds more payload capacity for hitch weight than trucks with the regular tow pkg. And Ford also makes the F-150 with the optional Heavy Duty Payload pkg, which has 1,000 pounds more payload capacity for hitch weight than trucks with the regular tow pkg.

So if you have the Max Tow pkg, you might be able to tow a 7,000 pounds wet and loaded TT if you manage the weight you haul in the truck carefully. And with the HD Payload pkg you can probably tow that 7,000 pounds dry trailer (9,000 pounds wet and loaded) without being overloaded. But as noted above, with my regular tow pkg, I'm overloaded with my TT that has a dry weight of 3,775 and that weighs only 4,870 pounds wet and loaded for a long trip.

zx12-iowa

Most you see are over payload with no consequences. Some have higher payload because they are base trucks with no or few options. And finally some are heavy duty payload. The latter is mostly marketing IMO, with very few differences in parts so ford could sell options.

Ricktwuhk

Most tow in an unsafe manner. Many drive vehicles that are unsafe, with bad tires, low pressure, rusted body panels, worn brakes,... Most are simply ignorant.