Max Towing Capacity on '14 5.0
10-11-2014, 11:03 AM
#4
Hmmmm.....we need more info about your truck, but I doubt you're able to tow anywhere close to 9300 lbs!!
Take your question over to the "Tow Haul" section of the forum to get the pros to answer. The answer is a lot more complex than just reading the sales brochure max tow number.
When you go over there, post up some important numbers for YOUR truck. Look on the two stickers on your driver's side door - one will have your truck's GVWR, and the other will have the payload capacity:
A 9300 lb trailer, with 12% of that on the tongue, would have a tongue weight of more than 1100 lbs, and a WDH (Weight Distributing Hitch) weighs up toward 100 lbs. So...that would take up 1200 lbs of your payload capacity.
The published payload capacity is for a completely empty truck, as it came off the assembly line, with nothing in it, except for a full tank of gas.
The bottom sticker in the picture above shows the payload capacity for my heavily optioned King Ranch. That weight, "The combined weight of occupants and cargo should never exceed 1115 lbs" for my truck, is further reduced because I added a tonneau cover and bed liner. I weighed my truck, and with those aftermarket items added my payload capacity is down to 1020 lbs!!!
The sales brochure says a truck like mine can pull 9600 lbs, but my real tow capability is nowhere close to that!!!
If you have Max Tow and Heavy Duty options, you might have a generous payload capacity of 1800 lbs.
I suspect your payload capacity is more likely in the 1400-1500 lb range. Even if you have a 1500 lb payload capacity, 1200 lbs of tongue weight would leave you with 300 lbs remaining for additional weight in the cab and bed - that's about enough for 2 lightweight people and nothing else!
Another limit that will come into play is the GCWR, which is the "combined" weight of your rig - truck+trailer.
I think the GVWR of your truck may be 7350, and the GCWR may be 15100.
If you want to pull a 9300 lb trailer, subtract that weight from the GCWR rating for your truck to see how much your truck can weigh before you hook up the trailer: 15100-9300=5800 lbs.
Hmmm.....I bet your truck weighs more than 5800 lbs empty!!
So....determining the weight you can pull is much more complex than just reading a number that's published in the "sales brochure".
.
Take your question over to the "Tow Haul" section of the forum to get the pros to answer. The answer is a lot more complex than just reading the sales brochure max tow number.
When you go over there, post up some important numbers for YOUR truck. Look on the two stickers on your driver's side door - one will have your truck's GVWR, and the other will have the payload capacity:
A 9300 lb trailer, with 12% of that on the tongue, would have a tongue weight of more than 1100 lbs, and a WDH (Weight Distributing Hitch) weighs up toward 100 lbs. So...that would take up 1200 lbs of your payload capacity.
The published payload capacity is for a completely empty truck, as it came off the assembly line, with nothing in it, except for a full tank of gas.
The bottom sticker in the picture above shows the payload capacity for my heavily optioned King Ranch. That weight, "The combined weight of occupants and cargo should never exceed 1115 lbs" for my truck, is further reduced because I added a tonneau cover and bed liner. I weighed my truck, and with those aftermarket items added my payload capacity is down to 1020 lbs!!!
The sales brochure says a truck like mine can pull 9600 lbs, but my real tow capability is nowhere close to that!!!
If you have Max Tow and Heavy Duty options, you might have a generous payload capacity of 1800 lbs.
I suspect your payload capacity is more likely in the 1400-1500 lb range. Even if you have a 1500 lb payload capacity, 1200 lbs of tongue weight would leave you with 300 lbs remaining for additional weight in the cab and bed - that's about enough for 2 lightweight people and nothing else!
Another limit that will come into play is the GCWR, which is the "combined" weight of your rig - truck+trailer.
I think the GVWR of your truck may be 7350, and the GCWR may be 15100.
If you want to pull a 9300 lb trailer, subtract that weight from the GCWR rating for your truck to see how much your truck can weigh before you hook up the trailer: 15100-9300=5800 lbs.
Hmmm.....I bet your truck weighs more than 5800 lbs empty!!
So....determining the weight you can pull is much more complex than just reading a number that's published in the "sales brochure".
.
Last edited by KR Kodi; 10-11-2014 at 11:15 AM.
10-11-2014, 01:55 PM
#6
Senior Member
Be ready for the sky is falling responses.
10-11-2014, 05:14 PM
#7
KR Kodi pretty much nailed it and then some. You are asking about 3:73s but your signature says you have 3:55s? If so, you're towing capacity is rated at 7700# like mine.
Being that you have an XLT, your payload is probably in the 1500#-1700# range. I have a 2012 XLT screw 4x4 5.0 7350 GVWR, my payload is 1625#, towing capacity is 7700#, and I use every bit of both. Check your door sticker, your payload is always the killer in a half-ton truck.
Being that you have an XLT, your payload is probably in the 1500#-1700# range. I have a 2012 XLT screw 4x4 5.0 7350 GVWR, my payload is 1625#, towing capacity is 7700#, and I use every bit of both. Check your door sticker, your payload is always the killer in a half-ton truck.
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10-11-2014, 06:47 PM
#8
BTW, as I mentioned in my previous post, my King Ranch is very payload challenged! After I added a drop-in bed liner and a BakFlip FiberMax tonneau I'm down to 1020 lb payload capacity!!!
My car hauler trailer is about 6500 lbs loaded up with the car, tools, spare tires and parts, etc., and has a 700 lb tongue weight (common towing wisdom is that the tongue weight of a trailer should be 10% to 15% of the weight of the trailer - so I'm on the light side).
With a 700 lb tongue weight and a WDH that weighs 100 lbs, subtract that 800 lbs from my 1020 lb payload capacity and I've got 220 lbs remaining. Good news!!! I'm 6'2" and 220 lbs, so if I drive naked I'm right at limits!!
Of course I can't wear clothes or carry my wife and all her luggage without being overweight - what can I do to tow my car to track events??
Well....after looking at airbags, helper springs, etc. (none of which raise the payload capacity published on the sticker on your door), I came across the TrailerToad.
I got a used TrailerToad and it works GREAT!!!
Mine is an older one I got used, and it will carry about 2000 lbs of tongue weight. The new ones can carry up to more than 4000 lbs of tongue weight.
The TrailerToad carries ALL the tongue weight - so the only weight restrictions I have are to not exceed the GVWR of the truck, and not to exceed the GCWR of the combined rig.
With the TrailerToad carrying all the tongue weight of the trailer, that means I have the entire payload capacity available for passengers and cargo in the cab and bed of the truck. Even with me and the wife, all her luggage and snack/drink cooler in the cab, and a couple hundred lbs of track support junk in the bed, I'm still several hundred lbs below the GVWR of the truck.
The GCWR for my truck is 15,500 lbs. There's absolutely no tongue weight being carried by the truck, so I f I load my truck up to 7000 lbs, subtract that from the GCWR and I can pull a load of 8500 lbs. My TrailerToad weighs about 300 lbs, so I could pull a trailer that weighs 8200 lbs.
If I hooked up an 8200 lb trailer directly to the truck, with 12% tongue weight and a WDH I'd be overweight with a totally empty truck!
With the TrailerToad carrying all the tongue weight, I tow my 6500 lb car hauler very comfortably. I've towed it 2800 miles this year (1300 miles from Florida up to Virginia and back in June/July, and 1500 miles up and back to Bowling Green, KY a couple weeks ago).
Below you can see the Toad between the truck and trailer:
Here's a closer look at the Toad:
Below you can see that the tongue jack is fully retracted, and the TrailerToad is not yet connected to the truck - but the entire tongue weight is being supported by the TrailerToad:
Bottom line - my truck is VERY payload challenged. It can "pull" a heavy load, but it just can't carry the tongue weight of a trailer of any significant weight.
However, the TrailerToad has allowed me to tow a nice size trailer by carrying all the tongue weight.
.
My car hauler trailer is about 6500 lbs loaded up with the car, tools, spare tires and parts, etc., and has a 700 lb tongue weight (common towing wisdom is that the tongue weight of a trailer should be 10% to 15% of the weight of the trailer - so I'm on the light side).
With a 700 lb tongue weight and a WDH that weighs 100 lbs, subtract that 800 lbs from my 1020 lb payload capacity and I've got 220 lbs remaining. Good news!!! I'm 6'2" and 220 lbs, so if I drive naked I'm right at limits!!
Of course I can't wear clothes or carry my wife and all her luggage without being overweight - what can I do to tow my car to track events??
Well....after looking at airbags, helper springs, etc. (none of which raise the payload capacity published on the sticker on your door), I came across the TrailerToad.
I got a used TrailerToad and it works GREAT!!!
Mine is an older one I got used, and it will carry about 2000 lbs of tongue weight. The new ones can carry up to more than 4000 lbs of tongue weight.
The TrailerToad carries ALL the tongue weight - so the only weight restrictions I have are to not exceed the GVWR of the truck, and not to exceed the GCWR of the combined rig.
With the TrailerToad carrying all the tongue weight of the trailer, that means I have the entire payload capacity available for passengers and cargo in the cab and bed of the truck. Even with me and the wife, all her luggage and snack/drink cooler in the cab, and a couple hundred lbs of track support junk in the bed, I'm still several hundred lbs below the GVWR of the truck.
The GCWR for my truck is 15,500 lbs. There's absolutely no tongue weight being carried by the truck, so I f I load my truck up to 7000 lbs, subtract that from the GCWR and I can pull a load of 8500 lbs. My TrailerToad weighs about 300 lbs, so I could pull a trailer that weighs 8200 lbs.
If I hooked up an 8200 lb trailer directly to the truck, with 12% tongue weight and a WDH I'd be overweight with a totally empty truck!
With the TrailerToad carrying all the tongue weight, I tow my 6500 lb car hauler very comfortably. I've towed it 2800 miles this year (1300 miles from Florida up to Virginia and back in June/July, and 1500 miles up and back to Bowling Green, KY a couple weeks ago).
Below you can see the Toad between the truck and trailer:
Here's a closer look at the Toad:
Below you can see that the tongue jack is fully retracted, and the TrailerToad is not yet connected to the truck - but the entire tongue weight is being supported by the TrailerToad:
Bottom line - my truck is VERY payload challenged. It can "pull" a heavy load, but it just can't carry the tongue weight of a trailer of any significant weight.
However, the TrailerToad has allowed me to tow a nice size trailer by carrying all the tongue weight.
.
Last edited by KR Kodi; 10-11-2014 at 10:45 PM.
10-11-2014, 11:10 PM
#10
The Toad has a hinge across the front of it to allow it to go up and down independent of the truck - you can see the shank hanging down in the picture where it's not hooked up to the truck.
It also has a vertical pivot that allows it to turn without scrubbing the tires.
Before backing up you have to get out, go back to the Toad, and drop a couple pins down that lock the vertical pivoting/turning of the unit so it doesn't jackknife between the truck and trailer. When it's locked you back up just like a normal trailer, but I find that I can't turn very tight at all, so I just make sure that I don't need to back up very often.
At home, when moving it around the driveway to load/unload the car, I just remove the TrailerToad and hook the trailer up directly to the truck so I can back it up easily and can position it much more easily.
.
It also has a vertical pivot that allows it to turn without scrubbing the tires.
Before backing up you have to get out, go back to the Toad, and drop a couple pins down that lock the vertical pivoting/turning of the unit so it doesn't jackknife between the truck and trailer. When it's locked you back up just like a normal trailer, but I find that I can't turn very tight at all, so I just make sure that I don't need to back up very often.
At home, when moving it around the driveway to load/unload the car, I just remove the TrailerToad and hook the trailer up directly to the truck so I can back it up easily and can position it much more easily.
.