elptxjc

Have several concerns folks. But before that, my truck specs are listed in sig. Also attached window sticker, in case my GCWR is hidden in a code there . And yes, I read the manual where it lists figures for that, but it's useless. For instance, It says my truck has over 2K-lbs of payload, when the door label says 1,458. I want specific numbers listed somewhere on my BUILD SHEET (where can I get one?), or ONLINE WINDOW STICKER (attached below), not the stupid manual. Just wanted to get that out of the way. He he. Here is my list:

1. Where can I find a reliable figure for my GCWR? Manual says from 15,500 to 18,400, in 7 different ranges, but no freaking explanation which one applies to my truck. Frustrating. Anyway, I need that number to figure out the maximum cargo+trailer weight I can have, by substracting from it the weight of my truck, which should be 7,000 GVWR minus my 1,458 payload, or 5,542 lbs of curb weight. It should include a full tank of gas (over 200 lbs), but does it? Seems awfully high otherwise.

2. Manual says anytihng over 5K-lbs has to have a WDH (weight distributing hitch). Is that true? Or is there a real-life rule of thumb for that? By the way, just got a ball mount kit I ordered from Amazon, but ball has 6K-lb limit rather than 7,500 lbs, like the bar. How important is not to exceed that at all, when you don't know exactly how much your trailer weighs??? Is there a safety margin? Comments welcome.

3. Manual also says anything over my payload (1,458 lbs in my case) requires trailer brakes (either surge or electric), because the braking system of my truck is only capable of handling its GVWR. It makes sense to me, but again, is it a real-life concern? A utility trailer with a couple of quads is going to weigh more than that, and have never seen one of those trailers with brakes. Just want to be safe, hence my plea for help .

4. I'm going to haul a bike (yet to be purchased) of about 500 lbs in the bed, but have a concern about the tailgate. I'd need ramps to load the bike, but when installing my Bedrug yesterday, noticed that because of the built-in step, the tailgate seems very vulnerable right where the 'fingers' of the ramps would rest. Maybe those fingers would reach where the Bedrug ends, which is at the edge of the plastic and metal, but my guess is they'd be sitting strictly on the plastic part of the tailgate. Not confidence inspiring. Curious if actual owners of such tailgate can attest it'd withstand a 500-lb vehicle on top of it. And yes, I'd obviously strap them to the hitch to prevent an accident .

5. Should I increase the tire pressures when hauling the bike? Manual only says to inflate my stock Hankooks to 35. No other recommendations for extra weight, etc.

6. And finally, should I use premium fuel to haul the bike? Or good regular (Shell or Chevron is what I use) fuel is enough?

Thank you in advance for your help. And hope this helps other members basically new to trucks with similar concerns.

ChiefD

If this helps, I use a WDH to tow my 3900# TT. I never change the inflation of my tires. 36# according to the door.

kbroderick

Easy answer first: the plastic cover on the tailgate is a sacrificial part, IMO, if you use your truck like a truck. Mine is scuffed to hell and missing a couple of chunks of plastic from loading and unloading storm-damaged limbs. When I looked it up, though, the non-step version was relatively inexpensive (not sure what the step version would cost).

With that said, putting a ramp on the end of the tailgate is standard operating practice, one of the reasons to own a pickup truck, and (while I can't personally vouch with the step, as I don't have one), I'm sure was in the design specs Ford was working from. I can personally vouch for having loaded 5-600 pounds of motorcycle in and out of the bed on several occasions, including the day I bought the truck (rode to the dealer).

Re: GCWR, don't worry about it. With about 1500 pounds of payload on a Max Tow rig, you're payload-limited, not GCWR-limited. As long as you have a healthy hitch weight for a normal trailer (10-15% of trailer total curb weight on the tongue), you're going to run out of either payload or rear-axle GAWR first (especially if you have the bike in the back).

Remember that the WDH requirement is 5k pounds of trailer or 500 pounds of tongue weight, whichever comes first. If you look on Youtube, I'm sure you can find an example of a truck with its front wheels in the air because the trailer is levering them off the ground; that process starts as soon as you put weight on the hitch, and Ford has decreed that 500 pounds is the point at which the unweighting of the front end is a problem. There's presumably some engineering wiggle room there, but if you want to play it safe, yes, stick with those numbers.

Re: a single-axle trailer with two quads, you're right, you should've bought a truck with more payload if you wanted to tow a trailer like that by the book. I doubt you'd have trouble doing it if you were paying attention, but I can vouch for a two-sled trailer coming in around 1,500 pounds total being rather noticeable when the guy in front of me slowed down quicker than expected, even more so than a 2,700-pound (empty) enclosed cargo trailer (with brakes). With my *** in the driver's seat and a full fuel load, I've got about 1200 pounds of usable payload, FWIW, so I suppose that technically I was overloaded with that sled trailer. I never had trouble pulling or stopping it, though, it just required more space margin than the truck alone.

Ricktwuhk

It's quite easy, and cheap, to weigh your trailer and your truck.. https://catscale.com/cat-scale-locator/ Can weigh the tongue with a bathroom scale, just Google it.

500 pounds in the bed requires nothing.

Trailer brake requirements, by state: https://drivinglaws.aaa.com/tag/trailer-brakes/

Towing section of the forum has lots of info: https://www.f150forum.com/f82

rddakota

I have a very similar 2017 F-150 and the limitation for towing is my pay load which is 1515 lbs (yellow sticker by the drive side door). With all the options especially the pan roof it brings the pay load down.

rliles1

Forget GCWR, this is going to be your limiting factor. This is how to determine how heavy a trailer you can tow. And, yes, if the trailer weighs more than 5,000# fully loaded, or has more than 500# of tongue weight, you need a WD hitch. And yes, you need trailer brakes. Saying no one else has them doesn't make it safe.

1. add together the weights of the driver and all passengers who will be riding in the truck while towing
2. if you have a tonneau cover or topper, add in its weight
3. add in the weight of the WD hitch (a good estimate is 100#)
4. add in the weights of everything you will be carrying in the truck including, but not limited to, bikes, grills, generators, firewood, chairs, tables, etc
5. subtract whatever number you get from your payload rating, 1458#. That is the amount of the payload rating you have left for trailer tongue weight.
6. since the tongue weight should be about 12% to 15% of the trailer's weight, divide the number you got in step 5 by 13%. That gives you the approximate trailer weight you can tow.

MY truck's numbers:

1. 400#
2. 200#
3. 100#
4a. 150# (a portable boat we carry)
4b 150# (everything else)
5. 1000# subtracted from the 1895# of my payload rating leaves 895# for tongue weight
6. 895#/13%=6885# That is my approximate maximum trailer weight. I might, MIGHT, be willing to go as high as 7500#. I actually bought a trailer with a 6000# GVWR, giving me about a 13% cushion on capacity. I like not pushing the limit.

RX1Cobra

We tow an open 2 place sled trailer with either two sleds or a side by side on it all the time and it doesn't have brakes. In fact I don't think I've ever seen a 2 place with brakes. I've towed it with a 5.0 Explorer, my buddies 12 Silverado and my 15 F150. The brakes have been fine to stop it in all of them. Whenever you're towing anything you should always leave a big gap in case you need to stop quickly.

Eduskator

If you want to tow a heavy trailer, get a good tong. Also, don't stay regularly near max specs. That's the rule of thumb.

As for overweighting it, I wouldn't be worried at all. You'll know when you'll be close to max specs, don't stress with that. A 500lbs motorcycle in the bed is nothing... a 5000lbs trailer is also nothing for a F150.

ks54703

What is mind boggling is in days past the only tow rigs for a family was the good old family station wagon with a monster engine. Today a pickup with a cooler of refreshments in the bed is overloaded to pull anything.

dodgeman1

My personal observation of people towing things wrong is no trailer brakes and/or load not tied down correctly. Trailer brakes become important at some where around 2500 to 3000 lbs of trailer weight. I have more problems with the lights on my trailer than the brakes. The brakes aren't that hard to maintain.