wvhillbilly

Hi everyone,
I am very new to towing and hope you all will help. I have a 2014 lariat 5.0 4X4 Screw w tow package, 3.55 L9 trans, 145 wheel base,18 owl tires,7350 gvwr package, equipment group 501A
towing supplement says my truck can tow 7,700. then I go to the hitch receiver and options package page.
With a wdh it says max trailer capacity 11,300 with a tongue weight at 1,130 lbs.
does a wdh really make all that much difference? Seems like an awfully wide spread.
Trailer I was considering is 29ft 6475 dry with a 655 tongue wt. wdh would be an Andersen or an equalizer.
is this combination possible. Thanks in advance for any info.

Ricktwuhk

Without a WDH, your max tongue weight is 500 lbs. Read the label on the hitch. When you add the WDH, you can go over 1,000 lbs. All printed on the label.

wvhillbilly

Thanks.... I went out last night and crawled under to look. Only label I hadn't bothered with.
1020 hitch tongue weight so all is good.

Ricktwuhk

That's WITH a WDH, right?

wvhillbilly

Hitch tag on class IV reads 1020 tongue. But yes would be using WDH. You see, confusing ...

wvhillbilly

okay I see where I made my mistake when figuring it out. Fully loaded trailer will come in at 8000. I'm going to exceed my max loaded trailer rating by 300 lbs. Don't think a wdh will overcome that. I need a smaller trailer or a bigger truck.smaller trailer it is cause I really like my truck.

brulaz

Not sure where that 7700# number is coming from, but in general, I would consider the truck's payload first as that's usually more limiting than tow capacity (with the WDH).

Next would be the rear GAWR.

As for the Anderson hitch, I think it's been found to not really move much weight around above 500# tongue weight. Your loaded trailer might be 7500# which with a ~12% TW would give about 900# on the tongue. I would go with the Equal-I-Zer, maybe with 1200# bars.

And would that 900# TW be a problem with your truck's payload?

Ricktwuhk

Right.

Go back and re-read the sticker. It tells you TWO sets of numbers. The first is with a WDH, the second without. The second will be 5,000 pounds and 500 pounds of tongue weight, while the first should be 10,200 pounds and 1,020 tongue weight.

That means to tow your trailer you MUST have a WDH.

If the trailer is 8,000 pounds, tongue weight will be in the 800 - 1,200 pound range. Clearly 1,200 is more than 1,020. However, what the WDH hit does is SHIFT the weight around to take it off the tongue.

Now you need to focus on PAYLOAD as brulaz notes. There is a sticker on your truck on the door jamb that tells your payload. That is the load your truck can take after you fill the truck with gas and get in to drive it (assuming you weigh 150 pounds). Subtract a bed cover, subtract anything else loaded in the truck including your family, your luggage, etc. Oh, and the WDH also. Probably end up in the 1,300 range or so if you're lucky after doing the math, maybe less. So 900 pounds would be fine. Do the math.

wvhillbilly

Payload is 1474 but all that would be in the cab is me my wife and 2 beagles so figure 365 for us and which puts us at 1109 and then the hitch at 95 for the equalizer so 1014 less 900 leaves us 114.
Rear GAWR is 3850 front 3750.

Ricktwuhk

You don't count, except over 150. Anything in the bed counts too, plus anything you've added like a tonneau cover. But you're on the right track, and the next step would be to get the proper WDH, and BEFORE buying the truck hit the scales to verify everything is as you expect. There are multiple threads where KR Kodi and others take you through the steps of weighing the truck, weighing the trailer, hooking the hitch up and adjusting the load, etc.