Before I go out and buy a trailer
01-05-2012, 09:32 AM
#32
Grumpy Old Man
Ford's official tow ratings posted by my67falcon above are overstated - a lot. You need to subtract about 1,000 pounds from them to get a realistic tow rating.
Notice those tow ratings are the "max" weights with that combo of engine, cab, drivetrain, and gear ratio. But you cannot achieve the max trailer weight in those charts without exceeding either the GCWR or GVWR of the truck - because those tow ratings assume XL trim with no options on the truck and absolutely no weight in the truck except a skinny driver.
Since the minimum tow rating for a 2012 F-150 with a 5.0L engine is 7,500 pounds, you should have no problem staying within the GCWR and GVWR of the pickup if your gross trailer weight does not exceed about 6,500 pounds and you don't haul a lot of weight in the truck other than one passenger and a few tools. But to be certain, take these steps:
1. Load your pickup with the normal stuff you'll have in it when towing. Tools, sweetheart, rug rats, Rover, cooler full of cool, ball mount with ball, whatever. Go to a truckstop with a CAT scale, fill the pickup with gas, and weigh the rig with driver and passenger(s) in it.
2. Subtract the weight of the wet and loaded pickup from the GCWR of the pickup. The answer is the max weight of any trailer you can tow without being overloaded over the GCWR of the tow vehicle. (The GCWR of your truck is included in the chart posted above by my67falcon. It's also in the 2012 Ford RV and Trailer Towong Guide.)
3. Subtract the weight of the wet and loaded pickup from the GVWR of the pickup. The answer is the max hitch weight you can haul without exceeding the GVWR of the tow vehicle. (The GVWR of your truck is included on the "tire sticker" on the driver's doorpost).
If your truck doesn't have the HD payload pkg, then the hitch weight (instead of gross trailer weight) might be the limiter. You can estimate the hitch weight as 15 percent of the GVWR of your trailer. If your 20' enclosed trailer has a GVWR of 8,000 pounds, then your hitch weight could be as high as 1,200 pounds. Proper distribution of the weight in the trailer could lower that hitch weight to around 1,000 pounds. But it's still a bunch.
After you get the truck and trailer loaded for the road, then weigh it again on a CAT scale to be sure you're still within the GCWR and GVWR of your truck, and to determine how much wiggle room you have without being overloaded.
If you never exceed the GCWR of your truck, then you should have no problems of overheating anything under severe conditions. If you never exceed the GVWR of your truck, then your suspension will not be overloaded and the truck should handle the load fine without braking springs or shocks or blowing out tires or bending the frame.
Your trailer is probably going to exceed 5,000 pounds when loaded for the road. Ford says a weight-distributing hitch is required for any tag trailer over 5,000 pounds. There are cheaper weight-distributing hitches such as Equal-I-Zer and Reese. But I wouldn't want to tow any tag trailer that weighs over 5,000 pounds without a ProPride or Hennesy Arrow hitch.
http://hensleymfg.com/products/the-hensley-arrow/
http://www.propridehitch.com/product...ol-Hitch-.html
Jim Hensley designed both the Arrow and the ProPride. The Arrow is his older design and the ProPride is the latest. Either one eliminates sway, and the ordinary (cheaper) weight-distributing hitches with sway controls cannot make that claim. If you've ever had a trailer go into a sway condition, then you would be like me and insist on a no-sway hitch such as the Hensley Arrow or ProPride. Yeah, they cost more, but I'm worth it.
Notice those tow ratings are the "max" weights with that combo of engine, cab, drivetrain, and gear ratio. But you cannot achieve the max trailer weight in those charts without exceeding either the GCWR or GVWR of the truck - because those tow ratings assume XL trim with no options on the truck and absolutely no weight in the truck except a skinny driver.
Since the minimum tow rating for a 2012 F-150 with a 5.0L engine is 7,500 pounds, you should have no problem staying within the GCWR and GVWR of the pickup if your gross trailer weight does not exceed about 6,500 pounds and you don't haul a lot of weight in the truck other than one passenger and a few tools. But to be certain, take these steps:
1. Load your pickup with the normal stuff you'll have in it when towing. Tools, sweetheart, rug rats, Rover, cooler full of cool, ball mount with ball, whatever. Go to a truckstop with a CAT scale, fill the pickup with gas, and weigh the rig with driver and passenger(s) in it.
2. Subtract the weight of the wet and loaded pickup from the GCWR of the pickup. The answer is the max weight of any trailer you can tow without being overloaded over the GCWR of the tow vehicle. (The GCWR of your truck is included in the chart posted above by my67falcon. It's also in the 2012 Ford RV and Trailer Towong Guide.)
3. Subtract the weight of the wet and loaded pickup from the GVWR of the pickup. The answer is the max hitch weight you can haul without exceeding the GVWR of the tow vehicle. (The GVWR of your truck is included on the "tire sticker" on the driver's doorpost).
If your truck doesn't have the HD payload pkg, then the hitch weight (instead of gross trailer weight) might be the limiter. You can estimate the hitch weight as 15 percent of the GVWR of your trailer. If your 20' enclosed trailer has a GVWR of 8,000 pounds, then your hitch weight could be as high as 1,200 pounds. Proper distribution of the weight in the trailer could lower that hitch weight to around 1,000 pounds. But it's still a bunch.
After you get the truck and trailer loaded for the road, then weigh it again on a CAT scale to be sure you're still within the GCWR and GVWR of your truck, and to determine how much wiggle room you have without being overloaded.
If you never exceed the GCWR of your truck, then you should have no problems of overheating anything under severe conditions. If you never exceed the GVWR of your truck, then your suspension will not be overloaded and the truck should handle the load fine without braking springs or shocks or blowing out tires or bending the frame.
Your trailer is probably going to exceed 5,000 pounds when loaded for the road. Ford says a weight-distributing hitch is required for any tag trailer over 5,000 pounds. There are cheaper weight-distributing hitches such as Equal-I-Zer and Reese. But I wouldn't want to tow any tag trailer that weighs over 5,000 pounds without a ProPride or Hennesy Arrow hitch.
http://hensleymfg.com/products/the-hensley-arrow/
http://www.propridehitch.com/product...ol-Hitch-.html
Jim Hensley designed both the Arrow and the ProPride. The Arrow is his older design and the ProPride is the latest. Either one eliminates sway, and the ordinary (cheaper) weight-distributing hitches with sway controls cannot make that claim. If you've ever had a trailer go into a sway condition, then you would be like me and insist on a no-sway hitch such as the Hensley Arrow or ProPride. Yeah, they cost more, but I'm worth it.
Last edited by smokeywren; 01-05-2012 at 09:39 AM.
01-05-2012, 10:36 AM
#33
On more meds than ymeski
Ford's official tow ratings posted by my67falcon above are overstated - a lot. You need to subtract about 1,000 pounds from them to get a realistic tow rating.
Notice those tow ratings are the "max" weights with that combo of engine, cab, drivetrain, and gear ratio. But you cannot achieve the max trailer weight in those charts without exceeding either the GCWR or GVWR of the truck - because those tow ratings assume XL trim with no options on the truck and absolutely no weight in the truck except a skinny driver.
Since the minimum tow rating for a 2012 F-150 with a 5.0L engine is 7,500 pounds, you should have no problem staying within the GCWR and GVWR of the pickup if your gross trailer weight does not exceed about 6,500 pounds and you don't haul a lot of weight in the truck other than one passenger and a few tools. But to be certain, take these steps:
1. Load your pickup with the normal stuff you'll have in it when towing. Tools, sweetheart, rug rats, Rover, cooler full of cool, ball mount with ball, whatever. Go to a truckstop with a CAT scale, fill the pickup with gas, and weigh the rig with driver and passenger(s) in it.
2. Subtract the weight of the wet and loaded pickup from the GCWR of the pickup. The answer is the max weight of any trailer you can tow without being overloaded over the GCWR of the tow vehicle. (The GCWR of your truck is included in the chart posted above by my67falcon. It's also in the 2012 Ford RV and Trailer Towong Guide.)
3. Subtract the weight of the wet and loaded pickup from the GVWR of the pickup. The answer is the max hitch weight you can haul without exceeding the GVWR of the tow vehicle. (The GVWR of your truck is included on the "tire sticker" on the driver's doorpost).
If your truck doesn't have the HD payload pkg, then the hitch weight (instead of gross trailer weight) might be the limiter. You can estimate the hitch weight as 15 percent of the GVWR of your trailer. If your 20' enclosed trailer has a GVWR of 8,000 pounds, then your hitch weight could be as high as 1,200 pounds. Proper distribution of the weight in the trailer could lower that hitch weight to around 1,000 pounds. But it's still a bunch.
After you get the truck and trailer loaded for the road, then weigh it again on a CAT scale to be sure you're still within the GCWR and GVWR of your truck, and to determine how much wiggle room you have without being overloaded.
If you never exceed the GCWR of your truck, then you should have no problems of overheating anything under severe conditions. If you never exceed the GVWR of your truck, then your suspension will not be overloaded and the truck should handle the load fine without braking springs or shocks or blowing out tires or bending the frame.
Your trailer is probably going to exceed 5,000 pounds when loaded for the road. Ford says a weight-distributing hitch is required for any tag trailer over 5,000 pounds. There are cheaper weight-distributing hitches such as Equal-I-Zer and Reese. But I wouldn't want to tow any tag trailer that weighs over 5,000 pounds without a ProPride or Hennesy Arrow hitch.
http://hensleymfg.com/products/the-hensley-arrow/
http://www.propridehitch.com/product...ol-Hitch-.html
Jim Hensley designed both the Arrow and the ProPride. The Arrow is his older design and the ProPride is the latest. Either one eliminates sway, and the ordinary (cheaper) weight-distributing hitches with sway controls cannot make that claim. If you've ever had a trailer go into a sway condition, then you would be like me and insist on a no-sway hitch such as the Hensley Arrow or ProPride. Yeah, they cost more, but I'm worth it.
Notice those tow ratings are the "max" weights with that combo of engine, cab, drivetrain, and gear ratio. But you cannot achieve the max trailer weight in those charts without exceeding either the GCWR or GVWR of the truck - because those tow ratings assume XL trim with no options on the truck and absolutely no weight in the truck except a skinny driver.
Since the minimum tow rating for a 2012 F-150 with a 5.0L engine is 7,500 pounds, you should have no problem staying within the GCWR and GVWR of the pickup if your gross trailer weight does not exceed about 6,500 pounds and you don't haul a lot of weight in the truck other than one passenger and a few tools. But to be certain, take these steps:
1. Load your pickup with the normal stuff you'll have in it when towing. Tools, sweetheart, rug rats, Rover, cooler full of cool, ball mount with ball, whatever. Go to a truckstop with a CAT scale, fill the pickup with gas, and weigh the rig with driver and passenger(s) in it.
2. Subtract the weight of the wet and loaded pickup from the GCWR of the pickup. The answer is the max weight of any trailer you can tow without being overloaded over the GCWR of the tow vehicle. (The GCWR of your truck is included in the chart posted above by my67falcon. It's also in the 2012 Ford RV and Trailer Towong Guide.)
3. Subtract the weight of the wet and loaded pickup from the GVWR of the pickup. The answer is the max hitch weight you can haul without exceeding the GVWR of the tow vehicle. (The GVWR of your truck is included on the "tire sticker" on the driver's doorpost).
If your truck doesn't have the HD payload pkg, then the hitch weight (instead of gross trailer weight) might be the limiter. You can estimate the hitch weight as 15 percent of the GVWR of your trailer. If your 20' enclosed trailer has a GVWR of 8,000 pounds, then your hitch weight could be as high as 1,200 pounds. Proper distribution of the weight in the trailer could lower that hitch weight to around 1,000 pounds. But it's still a bunch.
After you get the truck and trailer loaded for the road, then weigh it again on a CAT scale to be sure you're still within the GCWR and GVWR of your truck, and to determine how much wiggle room you have without being overloaded.
If you never exceed the GCWR of your truck, then you should have no problems of overheating anything under severe conditions. If you never exceed the GVWR of your truck, then your suspension will not be overloaded and the truck should handle the load fine without braking springs or shocks or blowing out tires or bending the frame.
Your trailer is probably going to exceed 5,000 pounds when loaded for the road. Ford says a weight-distributing hitch is required for any tag trailer over 5,000 pounds. There are cheaper weight-distributing hitches such as Equal-I-Zer and Reese. But I wouldn't want to tow any tag trailer that weighs over 5,000 pounds without a ProPride or Hennesy Arrow hitch.
http://hensleymfg.com/products/the-hensley-arrow/
http://www.propridehitch.com/product...ol-Hitch-.html
Jim Hensley designed both the Arrow and the ProPride. The Arrow is his older design and the ProPride is the latest. Either one eliminates sway, and the ordinary (cheaper) weight-distributing hitches with sway controls cannot make that claim. If you've ever had a trailer go into a sway condition, then you would be like me and insist on a no-sway hitch such as the Hensley Arrow or ProPride. Yeah, they cost more, but I'm worth it.
01-05-2012, 04:47 PM
#34
Grumpy Old Man
Use the same chart as a starting point, but subtract about 1,000 pounds from Ford's number to get a more realistic tow rating. But even then the adjusted tow rating may still be overstated if you are hauling any weight in the truck, because the tow ratings do not consider hitch weight. So double check the weight on the truck axles to be sure you do not exceed the GVWR of the truck.
For example, Ford's tow rating for my truck is 8,400 pounds. Subtract a thousand pounds to get a more realistic tow rating and the adjusted tow rating is 7,400 pounds. With 12 percent hitch weight, and a 7,400 pounds tag trailer, that's 888 pounds of hitch weight
My truck has GVWR of 7,100 pounds and weighs 6,040 with nothing in the truck but a camper shell, Rhino bedliner, and me. That leaves only 1,060 pounds additional payload I can add for Darling Wife, cooler, tools, floor jack, two puppydogs and hitch weight. Wife and the other items are going to weight around 300 pounds, so that leaves only 760 pounds for max hitch weight without exceeding the GVWR of the truck. 760 pounds at 12% hitch weight is a max trailer weight of 6,333 pounds.
So the Ford tow rating is 8,400 max trailer weight, my quick and dirty number is 7,400 not considering the GVWR of the pickup, and my final tow rating is 6,333 pounds max trailer weight. My final tow rating would be higher if I didn't have the camper shell using up payload. But I do have the shell and plan to keep it on, so I'll just have to be resigned to a max trailer weight of 6,333 pounds.
Normally I load my trailer to not more than about 6,000 pounds gross trailer weight. So my pickup should be able to handle it with no problem, and without being overloaded over any of Ford's limits. But if I load the trailer to the full 7,000 pounds trailer GVWR, then my tow vehicle will probably be overloaded over the GVWR of the pickup.
Last edited by smokeywren; 01-05-2012 at 04:56 PM. Reason: typo
01-05-2012, 05:29 PM
#35
On more meds than ymeski
There is absolutely no reason to subtract 1,000 lbs from the chart. The chart never states that you can always pull the maximum loaded trailer weight. It is a chart that, coupled with the other bits of info, tells you what you can tow for each vehicle depending on your particular inputs. It shows the maximum allowed, then you deduct the weight of your vehicle (that would include things like coolers and hitches) and what is left is the allowable weight of your trailer. The chart has to have starting weights so it shows the max allowable. It is up to the owner/driver to do the math. The chart is simple and easy to use. No reason to make it more complicated.
01-05-2012, 07:33 PM
#36
Right on!
There is absolutely no reason to subtract 1,000 lbs from the chart. The chart never states that you can always pull the maximum loaded trailer weight. It is a chart that, coupled with the other bits of info, tells you what you can tow for each vehicle depending on your particular inputs. It shows the maximum allowed, then you deduct the weight of your vehicle (that would include things like coolers and hitches) and what is left is the allowable weight of your trailer. The chart has to have starting weights so it shows the max allowable. It is up to the owner/driver to do the math. The chart is simple and easy to use. No reason to make it more complicated.
But I agree with you. And I would add, a few pounds here or there is not a big deal. Evenly loaded with the vehicle and trailer in good condition, I guarantee there is some elasticity in all the ratings. I'm not advocating overloading, but the fact of the matter is on any F150 other than the EB Max Tow, the lower rating mostly relates to the trucks ability to get it moving, and to a lesser extent, cool itself. I know some will trot out the tired, "well you have to be able to stop it" phrase. Any trailer over in the range we are discussing has it's own brakes.
01-12-2012, 11:03 PM
#37
