timberframe

OK when I posted I see the vin was highlighted. When I clicked on it, it gave me stats on my truck. If I am reading the info right, I can pull a travel trailer with a weight distribution hitch of a max tongue weight of 770# and max trailer weight of 7700#. I realize the max towing weight is for a loaded trailer. So probably a empty dry trailer weight of 6500#?

jcb206

Simnut

What is your payload and your rear axle GWR? Those are the two that will limit what you tow. I have a payload of 1100 lbs.....which pretty well limits me to the trailer I have which is just over 5000 lbs wet.

old_programmer

There is not one answer of maximum towing weight. It varies from truck to truck and owner to owner as it is all based on truck weight ratings, passengers and cargo. If any one of the numerous calculations exceeds the truck sticker ratings then the trailer is too heavy. This is all in your owners manual by the way.

The first thing to do is get the maximum payload value from the sticker on the drivers side door column. Payload is the most common thing to be exceeded. This is the maximum weight your truck as equipped at the factory with a full tank of gas can carry. It includes the weight of all passengers, cargo, WDH hitch head and anything else that will go in the truck such as after market bed liners or bed covers. Take that weight and subtract the weight of all passengers, cargo , 75- 100 for hitch and everything else. The remainder is what you have available to carry the trailer tongue weight. If this number plus the weight of the hitch head exceeds the WDH tongue weight rating on the hitch receiver sticker the trailer is too heavy.

Trailer tongue weights generally run 10% - 15% of the loaded trailer weight. The more typical range is 12% - 15%. Many of us here use 13% as a rule of thumb. So take the available payload and divide by .13 (13%). This will give you the maximum trailer weight your truck could tow with the available payload. If the tongue weight is 15% you would be able to tow even less weight.

You will also need to be concerned about the GCWR. This is the combined weight of the truck and trailer. The only fool proof way to determine this is using scales to weigh the truck and trailer. What I do is use the GVWR of the truck and subtract this from the GCWR to get a maximum loaded trailer weight. This can result in less weight for the trailer if you have a lightly loaded truck but I prefer to have a buffer than run things close to their limit.

Trailer dry weights are not good for sizing a trailer. For quick comparisons the gross trailer weight is a better value. From my own experience I add 1000 lbs to the trailer dry weight and use that or the trailer GVWR whichever is less for comparisons. This accounts for not only our personal cargo but things like the battery and second LP tank my trailer's dry weight does not include. We also have a 15K A/C that weighs a bit more than the standard 13.5K which is not reflected in the dry weight. In my case our current 3700 lb dry weight trailer depending upon the type of trip runs a couple hundred pounds under 5K to about 5K lbs. The GVWR of our current trailer is 7K lbs but we know we won't be near that as I limit what we carry. We traveled lighter with our previous trailer which came in around 3100 lbs. It had a dry weight of 2650 lbs and GVWR of 3560. We rarely dry camp but if you do don't forget the weight of the water in the fresh water tank and the waste holding tanks if you are driving any distance (I don't count the trip from the site to the campground dump station as any distance).

To sum up it is best if you run your own numbers and not rely upon what other people tell you as to your truck's towing capacity. Most RV dealers don't care as all they want to do is sell a trailer. Car dealers aren't really towing experts so will tend to go by the charts as they aren't aware of the towing instructions contained in the vehicles owners manual. So do the math if you want to include it here I'm sure many of us would be happy to review it and voice their opinion on the results.

Gladehound

I will just add that tongue weight on travel trailers can increase rapidly as you add batteries, propane tanks, cargo. The tongue + hitch weigh + cargo and people in the truck will limit your trailer size. Don't trust trailer manufacturers to give you a realistic tongue weight. Mine was listed at 460, with just batteries, propane and a spare tire (nothing else in the trailer) I weighed the tongue at 800 pounds. With cargo and hitch I'm near 1,000 (on a 6,600 GVW trailer). Now add my family (550 pounds), bikes (120 pounds), other cargo in the truck (200 pounds) and I'm using 1870. Oh, but I forgot about my cap and bed mats. Now I'm using 2130 pounds of payload!

If I were tight on payload, I could move all cargo out of the truck and into the trailer but I'd still need 1,800 in payload capacity. So It adds up fast. The size trailer you listed could easily go over 1,000 pounds of tongue weight and depending on your hitch weight ratings, your payload, your rear GAWR, cargo and passenger weight, it's very likely, that the trailer you're looking at wont work with your truck.

Open your drivers door, find the two stickers, one that shows GVWR & GAWR, the other that shows max weight of occupants and cargo, take pictures of them and post them here. Share the weight of occupants and cargo here. Do that and we may be able to give you more specific advice. So check your stickers. Many F150s have payloads under 1,500 pounds, especially pre-2015 models.

timberframe

Gladehound

Timberframe - those stickers show the GVWR and GAWRs. There is another sticker that should have some yellow on it that reads "The combined weight of occupants and cargo should never exceed..." The difference between the number on that sticker and the actual weight of occupants and cargo that you have in your vehicle is what's left for your hitch and tongue weight. But to be sure go to the scales. GVWR - scale weight is your max for cargo and occupants.

Given that you have a steel bodied 157WB crew cab, a 7350 GVWR and a 3850 rear GAWR, you aren't going to have a lot of payload to work with and will have to be very weight conscious when picking a trailer. What do all the people and all the stuff that will be in the truck when towing weigh? This is critical.

timberframe

OK The info on the other stickers reads, "Occupants and cargo should not exceed 1394 lbs". I hope that helps.

HangDiver

The 1394lbs is your payload capacity that others have been discussing above. Subtract from that number the weight of your passenger(s), pets, and the weight of the cargo that you will put in the truck. Whats left is what you have available for the tongue weight of your next TT. As others have mentioned above, generally your tongue weight will be ~ 13% of the loaded trailer weight.

Hope this helps....

Gladehound

Example 1: 1394 minus 600 (4 people) minus 100 (25 pound travel bag for each person minus 120 (4 x30 pound bikes in the bed) leaves 594 for hitch weight minus 80 for a WDH leaves 514 for tongue weight. If this is your scenario, at 13% tongue weight, trailers <4,000 pounds are your reality. Depending on the trailer, you might be able to come out less than 13% tongue weight at the expense of more sway.

Example 2: 1394 minus 150 (you if you're skinny), minus a 16oz. coffee and a bag of chips and your credit card = 1241 pounds for hitch weight. Minus 100 pounds hitch weight (better hitch for bigger trailer) leaves 1141 for tongue weight. At 13% tongue weight you could tow 8,700 without being over on GVWR but may run into GCWR issues or just too much trailer for the truck to handle well. However, you do have a 6,000 pound 157WB truck so it should handle travel trailers better than most F150s from a stability perspective. Also in this scenario, you could go over rear GAWR before GVWR because so much of the weight is behind the rear axle. So something to watch. With proper WDH set up it shouldn't be an issue.

Since you haven't shared your travel scenario, only you can answer the trailer weight question. Hopefully the examples above give you an idea of how to go about it.