AirDoc

Have a new 2015 F150 Screw 4wd, 3.31 gears 3.5EB - and researching enclosed trailers..I'm looking to get a 20 foot that is steel frame (cost reasons).

Curious what each of you might have for input relative to the "box" height.

Options for me:

6'6" Interior Box Height or 7'2"....or 7'6"

I'm leaning towards the taller one basis a few I see for sale.

Also looking for actual experiences with V-Nose and Non V-Nose relative to trailer sway and control. I know the theory etc...but some of the used on the market do not have the V-Nose..and trying to determine if a tall (7'6") without V-Nose will be feasible for towing.

Thanks in advance.

Ohh yeah..overall combined weight of trailer and car/stuff in trailer is about 8000 to 9000lbs.

smokeywren

My 14'x7' CarMate enclosed cargo trailer has about 72" (6') interior height. I'm 68", so I can walk around inside the trailer without bumping my head.



But even at only 6' inside height, my trailer drags a lot of wind. I would not want to tow a taller trailer.


Look up the frontal area limitations for your F-150. It's probably 60 sq. ft., same as mine. If your cargo trailer is 8' wide, then the box could be up to 7.5' tall and still be within the 60 sq. ft. limit. If the box is 7' wide, then the height could be up to 8.5' tall.


Do not leave home without a high-end weight-distributing/sway control hitch. High end includes the


1. Reese Strait-Line Trunnion Bar with dual-cam sway control


2. Blue Ox SwayPro


or


3. Equal-I-Zer


My daughter ordered a new U-nose horse trailer and a Strait-Line WD hitch. The Strait-Line could not be mounted on her U-nose trailer.


So learn from her mistake and have the trailer dealer guarantee that one of the above high-end WD/sway control hitches can be mounted on any trailer you buy.


And do not allow them to install a cheap hitch. Reese and others make cheap hitches, so if you order a Reese be sure it is a Strait-Line and not a lesser Reese model.



You're going to be overloaded over the payload capacity of your F-150 with a wet and loaded 20' cargo trailer. My 14' CarMate has GVWR of 7,000 pounds, and it overloads my F-150 when loaded to around 5,000 pounds gross trailer weight.

ruff rider

I have an inTech trailer 26 feet total and it is 9'3" tall. Flat nose. The trailer weight is 5740 and with water tanks filled and UTV inside with generator it weighs just under 8000 pounds. My F150 ecoboost with 3.55 gears pull the trailer extremely well and I get right around 10 mpg.

Scarlet

I have a '13 Homesteader Challenger enclosed trailer. It's not near the length you're looking at though. It's a 7x14 V-Nose, tandem axle. Dry weight is 2,020lbs.. I had to have it custom built to haul my '12 Polaris Ranger HD. Loaded with the Ranger I'm at about 3,500lbs. or so. The Ranger has a full cab with rigid Dually spot lights mounted on top of the cab. I needed to add a foot in height to the rear ramp door (6' to 7') to get it in, which meant I needed to add a foot to the trailers overall height. So, Rear ramp door is 7' in height, interior height is 7'8", overall height is 9'10". But it's stable behind the truck. Tows very nice. No issues. But as you can imagine, once I release the throttle it almost feels like a parachute is tugging me back. When I'm towing out to my place in West Virginia I go thru some mountains. It's only on the steeper downgrades that I need to hit the brakes or drop down a gear. The drag does most of the slowing down for me. I have an '11 Lariat with the 6.2, Max Tow and 3.73's. I average 11 1/2 to 12 mpg at 60mph.

AirDoc

Hey...thanks for the input everyone....I forgot to mention the trailer I will get should be 8 to 8.5' wide....all the feedback definitely gives me food for thought....I'm not so concerned with MPG as I am with stability during a tow. I will definitely invest in a WDH with Anti-Sway...it makes total sense....I will update more as I keep shopping...

AirDoc

got 8k miles on the F150 now.....I really like this truck...I've towed 2 times with it..with about a 5500lb trailer load (unenclosed)....it does suck the gas ..12mpg in the NC/SC/GA Interstate towing.

Now i'm really in the Enclosed Trailer Hunt....I think 6'6" or 7'2" would be the max height, 8'6" width

Shopping for the trailers is now the task...trying to do it on the "cheap" if that makes sense.

Any brand suggestions for more cost conscious shopping:

Here's what I'm looking for

20 or 24ft
5200lb axles
escape door on driver side
with or without v-nose

That's about it......Thanks in advance!!!

brulaz

V-nose usually makes it harder to mount a WDH, as it can interfere with the weight distribution bar positioning. I would try to find one without the V-Nose.

smokeywren

You want your cake and eat it too. No can do. If you get a 20' enclosed cargo trailer with 6' or more inside height and 10k GVWR then you're going to be overloaded with a steel trailer. Aluminum trailer you may get by with if you don't load the trailer to more than about 7k gross weight.


Pace-American is good brand. Here's a 20' aluminum with 7k GVWR, which is the heaviest trailer you can tow without being overloaded:
http://www.paceamerican.com/trailers...-cargo-trailer


Interior width of 80" with outside width (including fenders) of 102", which is the max legal width. That's with the fender wells outside the trailer. Move the fender wells inside the trailer and you can get more interior width, but the wheel wells get in the way of loading the trailer. So that trailer is not available with wheel wells inside the trailer. You can get a heavier Pace-American steel trailer with wheel wells inside the trailer, but a 20-footer would be too heavy for your F-150.


So plan to get by with a 20' Aluminum trailer, or buy a shorter trailer, or upgrade your tow vehicle to one with more payload capacity for hitch weight.

atwowheelguy

Or get a Trailer Toad or similar auxiliary axle. If the OP doesn't have enough weight capacity in the truck axle to handle the weight he wants to tow, add another axle.

https://www.f150forum.com/f82/did-lo...-great-265264/

thrifty biil

Just watch out for the height of the door opening. I have a friend with an enclosed trailer. Its about 6-6 inside. But the door opening is more like 5-6. Every time I exit that trailer I slap my head into the beam above the door.