brihawki

I'm sorry but I haven't read through all of the posts yet but I get the weight calculations. Will need to do that. I'm looking at a 31' trailer (tongue to tail) that weighs 6500# unloaded. At most 7500# loaded w/o water. I don't carry water until I get where I am going. Is the length too much for my 2010 F150 supercrew with a 6.5 bed and a 5.0l?

clarkbre

Good question. Out of 10 future responses, you will have 11 different opinions!

There's theories out there in the internet world comparing TV wheelbase to trailer length; however, nothing scientific. Here's a good read on it: Wheel base-to-length-ratio

Based on the equation the first 110" of TV WB gets you 20' of trailer. Any additional 4" of WB affords you an additional 1' of trailer. In your case, a 156.5" WB "allows" a 31' 8" trailer.

My 145" WB "allows" for a 28' 9" trailer. I'm blowing that out of the water by towing a 29' 7" traier.

I think the bigger concern overall is that generally when you're looking at a longer trailer to be bumper pulled by any lighter weight truck, you're looking at a relatively light weight trailer. This is fine except for the fact that there is a lot of wall to catch side winds and blow the truck and trailer around. This can also be amplified by the lack of weight to be planted on the road.

Another consideration is where you'll be camping and if the trailer is just plain too long for the area.

The last thing is just general towability. When we were looking for a trailer, my wife wanted a 28' model that ended up being 32' long. I was pretty hard set on a 24' model to keep it short. In the end, we went with a bit heavier trailer with 2 slides but still stayed short. My reasoning was that it was much easier to navigate a smaller trailer in parking lots, gas stations and backing into camp sites.

Just my $0.02. Interested to see what others have to say.

BCMIF150

My trailer is 32' overall, but weights are all within limits. I don't have any issues towing it, though I do know it's there if the wind picks up.

uzikaduzi

as far as length and wheel base, there is a lot of debate to be had there... on the weights, its' very likely 7500 pds is under your max tow rating, but payload could be another thing. you'll have between 750 and 1125 pds of tongue weight staying in the recommended 10-15% rule... a lot of poor (and dangerous) handling is the result of lack of tongue weight so most people opt for a minimum of 12-13% which would be 900-975. if you shoot for 12% add 100 pds for a wdhyou have 1k pds being taken up from your available payload... higher packages like King ranch, limited, and platinum occasionally have payloads as low as 1100 pds. if you weigh much more than 150 pds, you may be over the payload of your truck towing this camper with nothing in the truck but you sitting in it.

there is a huge range of payloads specific to the configuration and optional equiptment added to your truck, but most seem to be in the 1600-1700, in that case you have 5-600 pds that you could put in your truck which honestly runs out quick with a wife, kids, a dog, firewood, bikes,... honestly we've likely past that point before we got to firewood.

look at the yellow sticker on your door jam to get your available payload

smokeywren

Hi, brihawki, and WELCOME to our campfire.

The 31' length means you're hauling around a huge sail that can be a handful in strong crosswinds. So not because of the length but because if the sq ft of the sides of the trailer, that may be too much trailer for your F-150 to handle in stiff crosswinds.

I'd worry more about exceeding the payload capacity of your F-150, and be certain you have a good weight-distributing hitch that can compensate for some of the side forces trying to cause your trailer to sway. A 7,500 pound TT is going to have about 1,075 pounds of hitch weight (including a good weight-distributing hitch). Does your wet and loaded F-150 have enough payload capacity to haul 1,075 pounds of hitch weight plus the weight of your family and stuff without exceeding the GVWR of your F-150? I doubt it. My F-150 is overloaded with my small TT that has only 650 pounds hitch weight.

No such thing as a 2010 F-150 with the 5.0L engine. Do did you mean the 5.4L engine, or later than 2010 model year? Assuming you meant the 5.4L engine with at least 3.31 axle ratio, you have enough GCWR (and tow rating) to PULL a 7,500 pound travel trailer with mild winds and gentle grades. But your GVWR and payload capacity may be a problem.

To check, load the F-150 with everybody and everything that will be in it when towing. Drive to a truck stop that has a CAT scale and fill up with gas, then weigh the wet and loaded F-150. Subtract the weight of the wet and loaded F-150 from the GVWR of the F-150 and the answer is the payload capacity available for hitch weight.

If the wet and loaded payload capacity available for hitch weight is less than about 1,075 pounds, then you'll probably be overloaded with that trailer - but because of hitch weight, not trailer length.