Cargo Trailer Setup
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 1
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Cargo Trailer Setup
Hello! Newbie here.
I have a 2018 F150, 5.0, 4x4, 3:73 gears. I am looking at purchasing a 16x8.5 (maybe longer) box trailer for my commercial lawn care business. I've always had 3/4 ton trucks and have never been concerned with weight. Now that I am getting older, (maybe wiser), I'm concerned with being as safe as possible.
So my question is, what should I do to make towing a larger trailer more safe / stable? I was thinking of adding Firestone airbags to the rear, but now I am seeing information about WDH and their advantages. Where should I start? TIA!
I have a 2018 F150, 5.0, 4x4, 3:73 gears. I am looking at purchasing a 16x8.5 (maybe longer) box trailer for my commercial lawn care business. I've always had 3/4 ton trucks and have never been concerned with weight. Now that I am getting older, (maybe wiser), I'm concerned with being as safe as possible.
So my question is, what should I do to make towing a larger trailer more safe / stable? I was thinking of adding Firestone airbags to the rear, but now I am seeing information about WDH and their advantages. Where should I start? TIA!
5 Year Member
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 1,290
Likes: 426
From: Bethel, Maine
A WDH is going to be important if the trailer has any significant tongue weight; airbags will help with a load over the rear axle, but they don't transfer weight back to the front axle as a WDH does. You may want to keep that in mind while trailer-shopping; some cargo trailers are a bit challenging to install some (maybe all?) WDH setups on, due to the short tongue design.
A good WDH with sway control will also make the handling of the combined rig much better if passing or being passed by large-draft vehicles (big rigs or RVs, in particular), or if operating in the wind. I was happy to have spent the money for a Blue Ox SwayPro when pulling a 16-foot trailer during a move earlier this year.
A good WDH with sway control will also make the handling of the combined rig much better if passing or being passed by large-draft vehicles (big rigs or RVs, in particular), or if operating in the wind. I was happy to have spent the money for a Blue Ox SwayPro when pulling a 16-foot trailer during a move earlier this year.
Grumpy Old Man
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 3,129
Likes: 887
From: Midland County Texas, just west of the star in my avatar
Hi, rjoepeterson, and welcome to our campfire.
The short answer is to get familiar with all the weight-limiting specs, and never tow when overloaded.
Always maintain truck and trailer weights within GVWR. GCWR, rGAWR and the weight limits of the receiver hitch.
Probably the most limiting weight limit you'll encounter is GVWR. Usually, if you don't exceed the GVWR of the tow vehicle, then you won't exceed any of the other weight limits.
Where to start? At a truck stop that has a truck scale. Fill up with gas, then weigh the rig and use the results to understand how much more weight (payload) to can add to truck and/or trailer without being overloaded. The scale ticket will tell you 4 weights:
Steer axle
Drive axle
trailer axles
gross weight of all axles.
Add the weights on the steer and drive axles to get gross vehicle weight (GVW). Compare GVW to GVWR.
Compare the weight on the drive axle to rGAWR.
Compare the weight on the trailer axles to the combined GAWR of the trailer axles
Compare the gross weight on all axles to the GCWR of the tow vehicle.
Later, after you have loaded truck and trailer, fill up with gas and weigh the rig again. Do the same comparisons of max weight to actual weights to determine if you're overloaded.
Overload air suspension bags (so-called air bags) are a patch for overloaded tow vehicles. If you don't overload your F-150, you probably won't need air bags. Air bags do not increase the payload capacity of a vehicle. They just mask the symptoms of overloading, such as headlights aiming at the stars.
A weight-distributing (WD) hitch is required for any trailer with tongue weight (TW) of more than 500 pounds. Air bags will not replace a WD hitch. So if the TW of your loaded trailer is more than 500 pounds, you need a WD hitch.
Your properly-loaded trailer will have TW of about 12% to 14% of gross trailer weight, averaging 13%. So any properly-loaded trailer that weighs more than about 3,850 pounds gross trailer weight will have more than 500 pounds TW.
I have a 2018 F150, 5.0, 4x4, 3:73 gears. I am looking at purchasing a 16x8.5 (maybe longer) box trailer for my commercial lawn care business. I've always had 3/4 ton trucks and have never been concerned with weight. Now that I am getting older, (maybe wiser), I'm concerned with being as safe as possible.
So my question is, what should I do to make towing a larger trailer more safe / stable?
So my question is, what should I do to make towing a larger trailer more safe / stable?
Always maintain truck and trailer weights within GVWR. GCWR, rGAWR and the weight limits of the receiver hitch.
Probably the most limiting weight limit you'll encounter is GVWR. Usually, if you don't exceed the GVWR of the tow vehicle, then you won't exceed any of the other weight limits.
I was thinking of adding Firestone airbags to the rear, but now I am seeing information about WDH and their advantages. Where should I start? TIA!
Steer axle
Drive axle
trailer axles
gross weight of all axles.
Add the weights on the steer and drive axles to get gross vehicle weight (GVW). Compare GVW to GVWR.
Compare the weight on the drive axle to rGAWR.
Compare the weight on the trailer axles to the combined GAWR of the trailer axles
Compare the gross weight on all axles to the GCWR of the tow vehicle.
Later, after you have loaded truck and trailer, fill up with gas and weigh the rig again. Do the same comparisons of max weight to actual weights to determine if you're overloaded.
Overload air suspension bags (so-called air bags) are a patch for overloaded tow vehicles. If you don't overload your F-150, you probably won't need air bags. Air bags do not increase the payload capacity of a vehicle. They just mask the symptoms of overloading, such as headlights aiming at the stars.
A weight-distributing (WD) hitch is required for any trailer with tongue weight (TW) of more than 500 pounds. Air bags will not replace a WD hitch. So if the TW of your loaded trailer is more than 500 pounds, you need a WD hitch.
Your properly-loaded trailer will have TW of about 12% to 14% of gross trailer weight, averaging 13%. So any properly-loaded trailer that weighs more than about 3,850 pounds gross trailer weight will have more than 500 pounds TW.