Jsmith0788

I have a 01 f150 5.4 triton and recently bought a 32' trailer to take the kids camping. For the most part the trailer will be parked and stores at camp site but plan on taking to lake this summer. My question is it safe to haul it with my truck.
Heres the specs of trailer.

tsigwing

bought the trailer, and now checking to see if you can pull it?

acadianbob

that is a big trailer. You have 2 issues; trailer length and tongue weight. Check the payload capacity of your truck. It's on a yellow sticker on the driver door jam. My guess is that you will exceed that capacity; especially with the whole family in the truck and the wet loaded weight of the trailer.

mark waller

If you don't have a payload over 1750 lbs. on the yellow sticker you need a new truck.

smokeywren

Hi, JSmith, and WELCOME! to our campfire.



Depends on your definition of "safe". As a general rule, 28' to 30' (24' to 26' box length) is the longest trailer you want to tow with an F-150. And 6,000 to 7,000 pounds loaded weight is the most the trailer can weigh without exceeding the payload capacity of a properly-equipped-for-towing F-150. Your trailer is longer and heavier than that, so you'll probably not only be overloaded but you'll have the tail wagging the dog.

You can help with the tail wagging problem my using a good weight-distribution hitch. Not a cheap WD hitch you can buy for less than $400, but a good one, such as a Blue Ox or Equal-I-Zer or Reese Strait-Line or Husky CenterLine HD that will cost you over $500 from a discount online seller such as Amazon.com or eTrailer.com.

That trailer will probably gross around 8,000 pounds when lightly loaded for a kid's weekend in the woods, and that means over 1,000 pounds hitch weight. You should know the truck's payload capacity available for hitch weight, so you can make an informed decision whether you'll be too much overloaded to be "safe". So here's the drill:

1] Load the pickup with everybody and everything that will be in it when towing. Mom and kids, pets, toolbox full of tools, cooler?, campfire wood?, bed rug?, tonneau cover or camper shell?, jack(s) and jack stand(s), and the WD hitch. Bar-B-Que grill plus charcoal? Everything that is heavier than a handkerchief.

2] Drive the loaded pickup to a truck stop that has a CAT scale and fill up with gas. Then weigh the wet and loaded pickup.

3] Subtract the weight of the wet and loaded pickup from the GVWR of the pickup and the answer is the payload capacity available for hitch weight.

If the payload capacity available for hitch weight is less than about 1,000 pounds, then you'll be overloaded with that trailer.


If it's my family, then no amount of overloading is safe enough, so I'm going to buy either more truck or less trailer to use for camping.


Or if I'm too financially embarrassed to do that, then I'm going to unload the heavy stuff out of the trailer and put it and the family in another vehicle. Then just me in the pickup will tow that heavy trailer to the campground. That way wife and kiddos will safe in the family car while I risk my life towing the too-heavy trailer with the pickup.

raisin

My son uses my '99 F250 light duty 5.4, 3.73, Blue OX hitch to pull his 29' 7200 lbs. trailer. Tongue weight is 1000 lbs. I wasn't happy when he bought this large a trailer. It pulls it good but low on power, but steady because of stiff springs and E-range tires.

I wouldn't even hook up to that with the '99 or my '14 5.0 3.73. I'll bet that hitch weight is over 1000 lbs. 800 lbs. is too light for safe towing with that trailer weight.

acdii

Sure if you like white knuckling it! It's more the length than the weight. Search this forum, all the information you need to figure out if your truck can handle it is probably on the first page here. You need to weigh the truck, weigh the tongue, then do the math based on the trucks payload.

pilotpip

Way too much trailer for any 1/2 ton. There's no way I would do that, especially when traveling with my kids.

PerryB

Yes, too much trailer for that truck.

josheaton

Sorry to hijack the thread, but I have similar questions. The wife and I are looking at travel trailers right now as well. Everything we like is in the 4500 - 5200 pound dry weight, and between 23 and 28 feet. I filled the truck up with gas and went and had it weighed yesterday with both the wife and I inside. From reading the sticker, I think we have a max payload of 2124. Can anyone chime in on whether or not we can comfortably tow this weight? I know that we will be getting a weight distribution hitch as well, just haven't gotten there yet.