Buck183

As the title states, I have a 2013 Screw, Eco, with Max Tow. They rate this truck for a gross trailer weight of 11,200 lbs. That's great and all, but doesn't do any good when the hitch isn't rated to handle that much. I have checked every hitch manufacturer and no one is making a high capacity replacement hitch for these trucks is they already have an existing factory hitch. (I realize why after seeing how the OE unit is mounted).

Ford's OE hitch is only rated at 5,000 lbs WC. That does me absolutely no good for the 8-9,000lb trailers I am towing.

Seems counter productive to me.

Buck

mbopp

That's 5,000# without a weight distribution hitch.
You are running a WD hitch, aren't you?

Buck183

I'll add a little more information. Trailers in question have surge brakes. No bueno with WD set ups.

Someone needs to come up with some sort of WC option for these trucks. We can't just assume a WD set up is going to meet everyone's needs. There are plenty of hitches available for other trucks that have 10,000 lb WC ratings.

Ford rated these trucks to tow this much. They need to give us a hitch option that will meet the ratings of the trucks.


Buck

brulaz

Ford really,really wants you to use a WDH for anything over 5000# or 500# tongue weight. For good reasons.

Equal-i-zer WDH claims it is compatible with surge-break trailers.
http://www.etrailer.com/Weight-Distr...0-00-1401.html
Think there are others too.

packplantpath

1000 lbs on the bumper of these trucks without wd is going to sag like crazy. The rear of a stock truck simply can't take it even if you can find a replacement hitch.

Buck183

I've seen those. Unfortunately still isn't compatible with the trailer/s I'm using.

Buck183

Sag isn't an issue. Trailer is balanced beautifully.

Fortunately I own and operate a truck accessory store for a living so accessing products like air bags, super springs, and Timbrens is easy and solves any sag issues if they arise.

Buck

brulaz

It's not the rear end sag that's so much of a problem but the lifting of weight off the truck's front end. I'm sure that's why Ford limits the Weight Carrying tongue weight to 500#. The hitch itself is pretty solid and could probably handle a lot more weight carrying.

At 500# handling is still OK, even though I'm lifting 200# off the front axle and putting it on the rear. At 1000# I imagine handling would become a real issue. And all the weight moved from the front to the rear axle (in addition to the 1000# tongue weight) would overload the rear axle.

Bags and Timbrens do help with the sag and rear bounce but won't help shift any weight back to the front axle.

Buck183

Not gonna argue any of that. All of it has crossed my mind multiple times.

My current boat and trailer come in around 8,000 lbs gross. Not so much worried about this situation. I haven't lost a wink of sleep over towing it. It's the boat I'm currently doing a deal on that has me a little concerned. I guess I'll find out when the time comes.

Buck

brulaz

Just out of curiosity, I did a Google search on "wdh surge brakes"
Lots of interesting ideas out there on the fishing forums.

One was an electric-to-hydraulic actuator that gets rid of your surge controller. You use the in-truck electric brake controller instead, tied to the actuator. Not sure how well they work with Ford's built-in brake controller or if they're only for disk brakes. And they're not cheap!