You probably cannot find out what you need to know online to tow a travel trailer without being overloaded. The "tow rating" or maximum trailer weight charts are drastically overstated. Plus the tow rating tells you only the weight your drivetrain can pull, and ignores the weight the chassis can carry without being overloaded.

Your limiter as to how heavy a trailer you can tow is probably the GVWR of your F-150. The GVWR is on the Federal Certification sticker on the driver's door frame. But just knowing the GVWR is useless. You must know the payload capacity available for hitch weight. The payload capacity available for hitch weight is GVWR of the F-150 minus the wet and loaded weight of the F-150. So that means you must load the F-150 with everything and everybody that will be in it when towing, drive to a truck stop that has a truck scale, fill up with gas, then weigh the wet and loaded F-150.

After you know the payload capacity available for hitch weight, then you have to do a little math. Subtract 100 pounds from the payload capacity available for hitch weight to get payload capacity available for tongue weight. (That 100 pounds is the weight of a good weight-distributing hitch that is required for any trailer weight more than about 3,850 pounds.)

Divide the payload capacity available for tongue weight by 13% (0.13) and the answer is the max weight of any travel trailer (TT) with average tongue weight you can tow without being overloaded. If you're smart, you'll use the GVWR of the trailer as the max weight of the trailer. For example, if you have 900 pounds of payload capacity available for tongue weight, the max GVWR of any TT you should consider is 6,923 pounds, which is a nice normal TT. But if your payload capacity available for tongue weight is only 700 pounds, then the max weight of any TT you want to consider is 5,385 pounds.

Most trailer specs do not include GVWR of the trailer, so you have to add the GAWRs of the trailer to get combined GAWR, then add 15% of the combined GAWR to the combined GAWR to get an "about" GVWR of the trailer.

But if you're like me and haul more weight in the F-150 for tools, camper shell, bed rug, etc., then your payload capacity available for tongue weight will be a lot less than 900 pounds, or even 700 pounds. Mine is only 550 pounds, which is a max trailer weight of only 4,231 pounds. Not many TTs available with GVWR of only 4231 pounds.

If you are an outstanding estimator, you might be able to compute close to the payload capacity available for tongue weight without needing to load it up and fill it up and weigh it. Also on the door frame is a yellow sticker that tells you the payload capacity of the empty F-150 as it was shipped from the assembly line. Calculate the weight of all the people, pets and other weight that will be in the F-150 when towing. Subtract that weight from the payload capacity per the yellow sticker to get estimated payload capacity available for hitch weight. Then follow the instructions above. But note that most people will underestimate the weight of people, pets and stuff they haul in the truck when towing, so I recommend that you go to the trouble to actually load everything in the truck, fill up with gas, when weigh it.

 

A really good understandable expIanation.

I thought for a moment you were going to make the classic mistake of saying TGVWR = TGAWR but you avoided it. I often have guys get a case of the big eyes when I tell them I have a trailer with 40,000 GAWR and 70,000 GVWR. Think I should start a "Can I pull it with my F150?" Thread?

​​​​​

 

 

the 3.31 ratio and standard tow package are going to be the biggest limitations, unless it has a low payload capacity too.

 

Some of trailer manufacturers that include GVWR in the specs use GVWR = combined GAWR to determine GVWR of their trailer. I suppose they are being extremely conservative because GVWR should = combined GAWR plus a reasonable tongue weight.

But again, one pass over a CAT scale with a wet and loaded RV rig will not give you either the gross weight or tongue weight of the trailer. So trailer GVWR is pretty much a useless spec.

 

Disregard

 

Just curious why ppl say the 3.31 rear is a large factor in tow capacity. Im within my limits on my 16 with the 5.0 and 3.31 rear end. I have no issues towing and tend to see better fuel milage than most from what ive heard. Other than dropping down a gear more than most on hills , my truck tows like a champ. Maybe im missing something as im by ni means an engineer or a licenced mechanic?

 

It can drop down a gear to make it easier on the engine, but it's still harder on the transmission and it will run warmer. A 3.73 differential will be easiest on engine AND transmission.

 

I don't know if this towing event has happened yet but I'd front-load the empty trailer with whatever you normally carry in the truck, if anything. That may improve handling when empty.

Secure it in the trailer so it doesn't slide to the back.