Help calculating my max tow #
09-10-2014, 08:03 PM
#11
I think you need to be looking at a trailer with a max wet and loaded weight of 6350 lbs instead of a dry weight of that!!!!
If you have a payload capacity of 1207 lbs, like brulaz says, that's the max weight of people, gear, and any other weight (WDH and tongue weight) that you can load into the cab and bed of the truck.
The payload capacity published is for the empty truck as it came off the production line except it has a full tank of gas. If you have added anything such as a bed liner, tonneau, tool box, light bars, etc., etc., subtract from that 1207 to find out what your actual payload is.
For example, lets say you haven't added anything and have 1207 lbs available. Lets say you'll have 2 people when towing and absolutely nothing else in the cab or bed. For ease of calculating, lets say the 2 people weigh 347 lbs.
1207-347=860 That means you have 860 lbs remaining for your WDH and tongue weight.
Let's say your WDH weighs 90 lbs. Subtract that from 860 and you've got 770 lbs left for the tongue weight of your trailer.
Toy haulers have very heavy tongue weights when empty because when you load your ATV/motorcycle/etc. in the rear the tongue weight will be more reasonable - but you may find that you still have a quite heavy tongue weight.
Tongue weight of a trailer should commonly be 10% to 15% of the trailer's weight.
The example above leaves you 760 lbs for tongue weight before youre overloaded, and let's say your loaded trailer weighs 6400 lbs.
If you can load up to get a 12% tongue weight, 12% of a loaded trailer weight of 6400 lbs is 768 lbs.
There you are - max loaded trailer weight of 6400 lbs pretty much maxes you out, depending on how you can load it to maybe get a little lighter tongue weight down toward 11% or not less than 10%.
Actually, your WDH when properly dialed in should transfer around 15% to 20% of that tongue weight back to the trailer's axles. In the example above that might be around 150 lbs. So, you might actually be able to go to a max loaded trailer of 6500 lbs if you can load for a 12% tongue weight - which might be hard to do with a toy hauler.
And, if you'll have more people and gear in the truck, your allowable tongue weight will have to go down - which will mean a lighter max trailer weight.
Good luck finding a nice trailer. Do your math based on what you'll be carrying in the truck when you tow, and figure out the remaining weight you have for WDH and tongue weight - that will determine how much of a trailer you can tow.
.
If you have a payload capacity of 1207 lbs, like brulaz says, that's the max weight of people, gear, and any other weight (WDH and tongue weight) that you can load into the cab and bed of the truck.
The payload capacity published is for the empty truck as it came off the production line except it has a full tank of gas. If you have added anything such as a bed liner, tonneau, tool box, light bars, etc., etc., subtract from that 1207 to find out what your actual payload is.
For example, lets say you haven't added anything and have 1207 lbs available. Lets say you'll have 2 people when towing and absolutely nothing else in the cab or bed. For ease of calculating, lets say the 2 people weigh 347 lbs.
1207-347=860 That means you have 860 lbs remaining for your WDH and tongue weight.
Let's say your WDH weighs 90 lbs. Subtract that from 860 and you've got 770 lbs left for the tongue weight of your trailer.
Toy haulers have very heavy tongue weights when empty because when you load your ATV/motorcycle/etc. in the rear the tongue weight will be more reasonable - but you may find that you still have a quite heavy tongue weight.
Tongue weight of a trailer should commonly be 10% to 15% of the trailer's weight.
The example above leaves you 760 lbs for tongue weight before youre overloaded, and let's say your loaded trailer weighs 6400 lbs.
If you can load up to get a 12% tongue weight, 12% of a loaded trailer weight of 6400 lbs is 768 lbs.
There you are - max loaded trailer weight of 6400 lbs pretty much maxes you out, depending on how you can load it to maybe get a little lighter tongue weight down toward 11% or not less than 10%.
Actually, your WDH when properly dialed in should transfer around 15% to 20% of that tongue weight back to the trailer's axles. In the example above that might be around 150 lbs. So, you might actually be able to go to a max loaded trailer of 6500 lbs if you can load for a 12% tongue weight - which might be hard to do with a toy hauler.
And, if you'll have more people and gear in the truck, your allowable tongue weight will have to go down - which will mean a lighter max trailer weight.
Good luck finding a nice trailer. Do your math based on what you'll be carrying in the truck when you tow, and figure out the remaining weight you have for WDH and tongue weight - that will determine how much of a trailer you can tow.
.
09-11-2014, 07:59 AM
#12
Senior Member
Yes, that's the trailer we both liked the most. Love the queen bed or the option of the murphy. Our second choice is the Hyper lite 27HFS. It's listed around 5700, so it's lighter for sure.
Please let me know how you like the MXT. It took us a while looking at brochures to figure out the difference between the 303 and the 309 since they're the same length, floor plan, etc. Then we noticed the interior height. Good luck this weekend.
Please let me know how you like the MXT. It took us a while looking at brochures to figure out the difference between the 303 and the 309 since they're the same length, floor plan, etc. Then we noticed the interior height. Good luck this weekend.
Weekend will last 21 days as we motor out to Idaho from Ohio staying on 2 lane roads except around large towns/cities. I also have swapped out the OEM P-tires for Michelin LT 10 ply E-rated rubber.
09-14-2014, 12:20 PM
#13
Just bought a new truck and trying to figure my max tow rating prior to purchasing a trailer.
Truck is a 14 FX4 CC EB 145"
GVWR is 7,200
Combined truck/gear is 1207 lbs
3.55 Electronic lock rr axle
Tow package ( not max )
Trailer sway control
Looking at the Ford tow info I think it's 9,400 lbs. The trailers we are considering are 6,330 , 6,930, and possibly a 7,020. These are toy haulers and we will add a 900lb motorcycle plus gear. With these numbers we're looking at being close or just over 8K lbs. Is this too much ?
Passengers will be just me and the wife at a little over 300 lbs.
Thanks for any and all help. Especially if you've towed a similar weight and truck combo.
Truck is a 14 FX4 CC EB 145"
GVWR is 7,200
Combined truck/gear is 1207 lbs
3.55 Electronic lock rr axle
Tow package ( not max )
Trailer sway control
Looking at the Ford tow info I think it's 9,400 lbs. The trailers we are considering are 6,330 , 6,930, and possibly a 7,020. These are toy haulers and we will add a 900lb motorcycle plus gear. With these numbers we're looking at being close or just over 8K lbs. Is this too much ?
Passengers will be just me and the wife at a little over 300 lbs.
Thanks for any and all help. Especially if you've towed a similar weight and truck combo.
You have 1207 lbs of payload, you and your wife at 300 lbs and lets say camp gear at 100 lbs (small amount of fire wood, waste water blue tote, and tools). You have 807 lbs left for tongue weight. Lets give you a safety margin of 50 lbs. You then have 757 lbs left completely for tongue weight.
757 lbs / 80% = 946 lbs for tongue weight transfer to the truck axles. 946 lbs / 13% = 7278 lbs for a wet loaded trailer.
Most people load between 1300 to 1500 lbs and most makers add about 200 lbs to the brochure dry weight. So subtract about 1700 lbs from that 7278 lbs, and that gives you 5578 dry brochure weight. This is all averages so weights can be more or less, but with an average 5578 lbs dry brochure weight, you should not exceed your GVWR based on the numbers you gave.
You'll be hard pressed to find a toy hauler with those numbers. To bad you don't want a 3/4 or 1 ton truck as that's what you'll need for the trailer you want.
Good luck
Last edited by Mike Up; 09-14-2014 at 01:52 PM.
09-15-2014, 08:09 AM
#14
Went to the RV show yesterday to kick some tires. The did have one of our favorites ( Hyperlite 27 HFS ) It had a loaded/shipped weight of 6700 lbs, so it's almost a 1000 lbs over the listed dry weight. Think most of that is the generator and the rear electric bed. Since the gen is located in the front, that's not good for the tongue weight. Also the electric awning has to add additional weight. Time to do some more thinking. Wife doesn't want the type with a non dedicated garage, and I really don't either, but those are the ones that we can tow for sure. Wish there was an easy button here.
I already own a 14 ft enclosed trailer, so the answer may be going the motorhome route, but that increases the budget.
We certainly don't want to buy a trailer that's too heavy and have to trade trucks to a 3/4, then wish we would have purchased a bigger trailer since we now have a bigger truck. This reminds me of the computer when it going around in circles.
I already own a 14 ft enclosed trailer, so the answer may be going the motorhome route, but that increases the budget.
We certainly don't want to buy a trailer that's too heavy and have to trade trucks to a 3/4, then wish we would have purchased a bigger trailer since we now have a bigger truck. This reminds me of the computer when it going around in circles.