acdii

There is simply not an F150 made that will have the mass needed to counter a 37' long wind catcher, any one who thinks otherwise is a fool.

An HDPP is only 800 pounds heavier in GVWR, where a 3/4 to 1 ton has at least 2000 pounds mass over the F150. You need that mass to keep the trailer from controlling the truck, regardless of what hitch it has. I have seen a wind gust take out a 3/4 ton that was pulling a large trailer, the wind just suddenly kicked up along one stretch of road, no warning at all, and it caught the trailer just right to push the rear out and tip it off the curb wheels, and it was all over for the driver. Lucky for him the truck remained upright and didn't roll with the trailer, but had he been driving a 1/2 ton, it would have taken the truck with it.

One time when I was in Utah with my trailer, I was parked in a way side lookout area and it was calm, very little wind, then a gust blew up and lifted the trailer up a couple inches, enough that the back of my truck came up. After a few minutes it calmed down, and all I could think was, damn glad I wasn't driving!

clarkbre

Totally true.

Pulling the same trailer with an F150 and F250 is like night and day. My old F150 had a GVWR of 7200, 1529 payload and even when maxed out, still didn't feel very planted rolling down the road. The F250 has a GVWR of 10,000, 2766 payload and feels great pulling. The mass of the F250, even when it's empty, is more than the loaded F150. It's just plain a bigger truck to handle the same load and it excels at it.

Flamingtaco

The 250 has more mass, a more firmly sprung and damped suspension, and more (11") wheelbase. It's a trifecta of towing temperment.

gclunde

So I am curious...

I have a 33' toy hauler on order right now.

2016 Lariat FX4x4 3.5L EB with a tow package...yellow sticker says may payload of 1,664

Trailer UVW of 7,456 lbs, GVWR 11,396, and a hitch weight of 1,238 lbs. I don't ever intend to operate it at the GVWR but after reading a lot of posts...I am concerned I may need to re-think this...

mass-hole

That is a lot of trailer for any F150, but especially a lariat with that little payload.

acdii

You are going to need a bigger truck. Figure an average of carrying 1500 pounds of cargo in that trailer, and your traveling tongue weight with 13% on the ball plus the weight of the hitch itself and you are looking at 1264 pounds on the receiver.

Sorry but that is too much trailer for an average F150, or any half ton for that matter. You would need a bare bones XLT with Max Tow or an HDPP with Max Tow. Since you don't have Max Tow, the TW is beyond the receiver limits.

gclunde

Yeah, I decided to just bit the bullet and get an F-250. I'm amazed at the varying opinions I've gotten on the topic from talking with others and know what others are hauling with their F-150's. Figured peace of mind and not pushing the limits was well worth the extra cost of getting a bigger vehicle.

acdii

13XLTEco

I will have nothing less than F350 payload when I retire and get a full time traveling larger camper.

mhamershock

Holy crap that's way over. I wouldn't tow that with my HDPP rig. 3/4 ton for sure minimum.

Please don't do it.

Mike