Shootermurray

So I guess if I do it I will be really pushing it?

daveak

Not if you're doing it right.

daveak

I pull a 31' Jayco JayFeather, just under 6000# dry. 5.0, 3.73, 1490# cargo capacity. I use a WD hitch and the truck does fine. I am close on the payload of the truck (averaging about 90%) so I have to be careful. I am pretty close to bone stock - only k&n on the air input and premium gas. Know your limits and enjoy your camping trips.

As a rule, please avoid pushing your trailer. Most of us pull them as much as we can - the ride is much better that way.

smokeywren

Yeah, that 9,300 is a reasonable limit to the weight of a trailer you can pull without overheating anything in the drivetrain and without being the slowpoke holding up traffic on hills and mountain passes. But that number ignores the weight you can haul in the truck at the same time.

GCWR = 15,100. So in order to be able to pull 9,300 pounds without being overloaded, your wet and loaded pickup cannot weigh more than the GCWR minus the tow rating, or 15,100 minus 9,300 = 5,800 pounds. But the CAT scale will prove that your wet and loaded pickup will weigh a lot more than 5,800 pounds, so you must ignore that 9,300 tow rating.

Your limiter for trailer weight will be the F-150's GVWR of 7,350 pounds. You don't want to exceed any of Ford's weight limits, and the GVWR is probably the most restrictive weight limit your pickup has. Your wet and loaded pickup with the wet and loaded trailer tied on should not gross more than 7,350 pounds on the two truck axles. So hitch weight (tongue weight of a TT) plus the weight of people and other stuff in the pickup is your actual limiter. Your pickup can pull a lot more weight than it can haul the hitch weight without being overloaded.

Trying to use the payload capacity per the yellow sticker on the door can get you into the ballpark, but most people underestimate their actual cargo weight.

Nothing beats a CAT scale. Go to a truckstop that has a CAT scale, fill up with gas, and weigh the wet and loaded pickup with everything and everybody that will be in it when towing - including the WD hitch. Subtract that weight from the GVWR and the answer is the remaining available payload you have for hitch weight. If it's less than about 800 pounds then you're probably going to be overloaded with a TT that grosses 6,500 pounds.


The 2014 Jayco Jay Flight Swift 267BHS has GVWR of 7,500 pounds. But your pickup will probably be overloaded when you load the trailer to only around 6,500 pounds. So tell DW that she cannot haul everything she wants in the camper, because you have too much trailer for your tow vehicle if you load the camper to the gills.

Shootermurray

ok so sorry guys all the math and numbers mixes me up. But so your saying not to exceed the gvwr of 7350. so like u said 6500 loaded trailer and few other excessories would be close. So would a weight differential hitch help this a lot I believe they were saint something about a 1000pnd wd hitch.
So why does the manual and dealerships say I can haul 9300pnds of trailer even though I shouldn't go over 7350 for pulling. Sorry if this sounds stupid just trying to understand this the best I can.

smurfs_of_war

The 7350lbs GVWR being referenced is for your truck- the tow vehicle- loaded with passengers, fuel, fluids, equipment, and the weight the hitch will apply to it when connected. So, if your truck- by itself- weighs 6550lbs full of fuel, passengers, junk, then the maximum hitch weight you should be shooting for is 800lbs. These are fictional numbers just for reference. So, looking for trailers, look at the GVWR listed for the *trailer* then multiply that number by .15. That will give you the possible max tongue weight that will be applied onto your truck when fully loaded properly, or take the remaining available payload you have from your truck and divide that number by .15 and that will give you a ballpark of the weights you should be looking at for the trailer fully loaded. So, in the above example I gave (again- fictional, you need to look at your weights) the maximum trailer GVWR you should look at is 5333lbs (800lbs / .15)

The weight distribution hitch will help a little, but not much. It will only move a little weight from the rear axle of your truck back to the trailer axles and to the front axle. Basically- with my setup- I have found the weight moved off the truck back to the trailer is not much more than the weight of the hitch itself, so it's kind of a wash for me. They are extremely important for handling and stability though, and a legal requirement in most places over a certain weight (3000lbs in my province). Make sure you get a good quality one with built in sway control. I am partial to BlueOx equipment, some guys (smokeywren for example) really likes the Reese Straightline. With these, you get what you pay for.

The manual says 9300lbs for a stripped out base model in your trim level, and they give that 9300lbs rating ignoring the carrying capacity of the truck itself. So if your trailer had wheels on all 4 corners so there was virtually no tongue weight, you could pull 9300lbs safely without cooking your driveline. It is a completely fictional number used to sell trucks. Ignore that number. Dealers LOVE that number. It sells trucks.

The GCWR (combination weight of both truck and trailer) is a rating for your driveline strength. Completely different rating.

Hope this helps

smokeywren

Because the 9,300 "tow rating" limit is based on the GCWR of the truck, and the 7,350 is the GVWR of the truck. Different weight ratings. You're mixing apples and oranges. As noted in my previous post you probably shouldn't try to tow a TT that weighs more than about 6,000 pounds if you don't want to be overloaded.

Your truck has several weight ratings: GVWR, GCWR, front and rear GAWR, the weight ratings of your tires and wheels, receiver hitch, truck's frame, axles (which is different than GAWR) and other components such as springs and shocks.

Ford says you should NEVER exceed ANY of the weight ratings.

Ford also includes some info that are not actual weight ratings, but fuzzy math numbers of tow rating and payload rating. The fuzzy math is to use unrealistic weights to derive those numbers. The tow rating of 9,300 pounds is the GCWR of the truck minus the shipping weight of that truck with no options and absolutely nothing in the truck but a skinny driver. But that number is misleading because nobody drives a truck with no options and nothing in the truck. Thus, that 9,300 number quickly shrinks to around 6,000 pounds when you load the truck with normal options, people and other cargo.

The gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the truck is the maximum weight your truck is designed to carry on the truck tires, including people, pets, tools, jack(s), trailer hitch weight, full tank of fuel, and any other cargo such as campfire wood, animal or pet feed, cooler, water jugs, whatever.

GVWR is the most likely limiter of how much trailer you can tow without being overloaded (exceeding the GVWR of the tow vehicle). Your GVWR is 7,350, so your wet and loaded truck, including trailer hitch weight, should never weigh more than 7,350 pounds on the two truck axles. The only connection between the truck's GVWR and the weight of any trailer you can tow is the hitch weight of that trailer.

The gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of your truck is the maximum combined weight of your truck and trailer, and it tells you the maximum weight your truck can pull without overheating anything in the drivetrain, and without being the slowpoke holding up traffic on hills and mountain passes. But the GCWR ignores the effect of the cargo in the truck and the hitch weight of that trailer on the load-carrying capacity of your truck. Most normally-loaded trucks can pull a lot heavier trailer than they can haul the hitch weight of that trailer without being overloaded.

For example, my F-150 can pull a trailer that grosses my tow rating of 8,400 pounds over interstate mountain passes in the Rockies with no sweat. But it's overloaded over the GVWR of my F-150 with my TT that grosses only 4,780 pounds. So your Ford tow rating of 9,300 shrinks to a real-world tow rating around 6,000 pounds, and my Ford tow rating of 8,400 pounds shrinks to a real-world tow rating around 4,700 pounds.

MightyMouse75

Dont buy into fords nonsense payloads. If you have the maxtow you have a 7700# gvwr, but the inly difference is a 3.73 geat, 4 extra rows in the radiator, and a bigget hitch and mount. All this accounts for the 3000# extra tow, but its the frame and axles that make for the payload capacities and max tow and non max tow share the same frames and axles. So, if your sticker says you have a 7300# gvwr you can rest assured your truck can safely handle 7700#. Just remember, you still dont want to exceed you gcwr. Also, if you 20" rims, those are unsprung lbs and are 7x their actual weight. So they account for 300lbs roughly.
I put 18's on my truck and tow my camper with ease. Its 8000# with a 965# tongue weight. of course I only tow it 20 miles normally, but I feel confident it can handle a x-country trip..

MightyMouse75

If your window sticker says you have a 7300# gvwr and your payload is 1300lbs your looking at a 6000# curb weight with a 150# driver and a full tank of gas. Subtract that from the 15,500# gcwr and you can tow upto 9500# because your quickly approaching max payload you should put all items, except peiple, in the camper. Place it as close to the axles as possible, or in front of the axles. Remember, increading total camper weiht increases the tongue weight normally. You do not want to add too much weight to the rear.
So, in short, you should be able to tow an 8000lbs camper and 1500# worth of people and stuff.

MightyMouse75

Maybe i am misunderstanding something. If you have an 8000# trailer with an 800# tongue weightnyou arent carrying 8800# its still 8000# just 800# of it is on you payload capacity. So you can still tow that 8000# camper and have plenty of extra capacity. Am I wrong in this logic?