sjoerger

Hello to all,

Been lurking here for quite a while and learning, but apparently not enough. Like many who probably find there way here, I have a dilemma with my current truck and new camper. Sadly I learned too late that I bought an F150 with a some what limited payload capacity but at the time it was fine because our old camper weighed so little. With a recent camper upgrade we're now bumping up against the top of the payload and I am trying to determine what to do next. Hopefully the wisdom of the forum can guide me.

Truck specs: 2016 F150 Lariat screw ecoboost 4X2 145" with 3.55 gears. Payload capacity is 1612. GVWR is 6800lbs. Front axle is 3300 and rear is 3800. Tires are Michellin LTX M/S2 20".

Camper specs: 2018 Shamrock 233s, dry weight 4908, gvwr is 6302. I have not taken it to a scale yet.

I did measure the tongue weight when it was delivered at 650lbs (turns out I didn't know there was some water in the tanks at the rear which likely lightened the tongue weight some). We've camped in it once so far and upon returning home I measured the tongue again at 975lbs which included the whole wdh sitting on the tongue. Shifting some gear inside the camper to the rear helped get the tongue weight down a bit, but still about 900lbs.

To help me puzzle out all the numbers I put together a spreadsheet and the results tell me that at 13% tongue weight I have about 113lbs of free cargo capacity. At 15% tongue weight I'm overloaded. Certainly I'd rather not be overloaded at all, and I'm not happy about being so close to the max payload capacity at 13%.

One option that I am considering is upgrading to a F250 or similar. I'm not enthused about going diesel with the added costs/maintenance. This upgrade would be my daily driver. I also want "enough" truck in an upgrade that I can move up in camper size in a few years, possibly going to a smaller 5th wheel.

Some questions I have:
1. Are the available suspension "fixes" worthwhile in my case? By fixes I mean airbags, timbrens, extra springs, different tires?
2. Is an F250 (late model/new) going to get me enough payload capacity to last several (7-10) years?
3. Is there an option I'm not seeing?

Thanks for reading,
Steve

13.

I'm having trouble wrapping my head around a 26' hybrid maxing out your 150 when you see other folks pulling 5ths. Sucks that the payload is so low on your truck. You're not really going to increase the payload without changing a bunch of parts and even with that you may only gain 200lb. My advice is look at what you really NEED in the camper and take out what you don't. Lighten your load as much as you can. Should tow fine at 13% TW. If you plan on upgrading the camper soon make the jump to the 250.

sjoerger

I've been measuring the tongue weight with a Sherline tongue scale while trying to keep the camper level. Perhaps this scale is not particularly accurate?

https://www.etrailer.com/Tools/Sherline/5780.html

I honestly don't think we have that much stuff in the camper. I will note that most of the storage space is in front of the axles which doesn't help. Being that the camper is new to us we certainly have some rearranging to do.

SkiSmuggs

Nothing you do to your truck changes the door jamb stickers, but you can realistically add 500 lbs to your payload with Hellwig helper springs, SuperSprings, or Sumosprings or Timbrens. Max Tow would have added 500 lbs without any additional springs. Go figure.

sjoerger

I seem to have started 2 posts for the same topic somehow. Is there a way to merge them? Or close this one and prefer the other with more comments?

dtaylor

Why not get a gas 250? You can double your payload and tow up to 15K if you get the 430 gears and camper package. Also with the gas engine your payload goes up over 3K.

SkiSmuggs

After reading your original post more closely, there is just no way that trailer is going to exceed your truck's capacity unless you load everything on the tongue.

thrifty biil

Here is the key sentence to me: "I also want "enough" truck in an upgrade that I can move up in camper size in a few years, possibly going to a smaller 5th wheel." I think this is smart BTW. A lot of camper owners get upgrade-itis. I prefer having a truck that can handle my current trailer and at least one size larger.

A fifth wheel will give you more payload challenges. We loved our fifth wheel we had many years ago, but ended up with a one ton dually to tow it. This time I wanted to get something I could easily tow with my existing truck (2010 F150 Lariat).

I am a molded fiberglass trailer guy, so sure, molded fifth wheels like the Escape 5.0 or a Scamp 19 would work just fine with your F150, but I am guessing are you are thinking something else fifth wheel wise.

One challenge with pickups, as you get more options on your truck, they all come out of your payload capacity. So the payload number drops, while the tow capacity doesn't. The more options in your truck, the worse it gets.

1stTruckGuy

You've got plenty of truck for that trailer. I only have a 1350 pound payload on my 2010 max tow supercrew and I pull a 6200 gvwr 29ft (bumper to tongue) hard sided trailer with ease. And that's in the mountains mind you, with no turbos. I have firewood, generator, paddle boards, scooters, etc in the bed and my family of 5 in the truck. I added monroe load leveling coilover shocks in the rear to combat any sag from the tongue weight and i have no trouble with this setup. It's no race car with the load on it, and it does downshift in the hills but is very stable and that's how it should be. If you want to tow 90mph up hill with a trailer behind you, please consider the safety of the other drivers first. You shouldn't be towing above 70mph anyway due to the trailer tire construction and increased stopping distances.

If you are happy with your truck now, just use it and enjoy. Those 3.55 gears and the Turbo will pull a larger bumper pull trailer no problem but if you are talking 5th wheel (and losing your bed space), a 3/4 or 1 ton truck would be a better route.

srrmc

try this in sorting out if you need a new truck.....


http://www.ford.com/resources/ford/g...0_r2_oct23.pdf