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I towed a car trailer yesterday with my 17 3.5L eco in the early morning. couple cars flashed me, then I noticed the low beam was pointing way too high because the car was in squat position. is there a way to manage or control the light beam?
I think that Ford just put too light, too cheap, rear springs and shocks on the F150. I have a 2016, and pull a small (18') aluminum boat with about 200 pounds of tongue weight. the dealer said, don't worry, that truck won't even budge with that little boat. The reality is that I get flashed all the time even with that little amount of tongue weight.
If your headlights are pointed upward when the trailer is hitched, then the trailer's tongue weight has removed enough weight from the front axle that your steering and front braking capabilities have been reduced, which is dangerous. Since you're not dealing with a travel trailer or an enclosed trailer with high sides, a system with sway control probably isn't completely necessary, loading the car onto the trailer in such a way that the tongue weight is 10-15 percent of the fully loaded trailer weight and ensuring that the trailer is towed level will go a long way to keeping sway to a minimum.
A weight distribution system is definitely called for in this situation. You mentioned about 720 lbs of tongue weight, but you'll also need to add in the weight of anything carried behind the rear axle of the tow vehicle into that tongue weight figure.
If you use the link provided below, you can see more information on how weight distribution works, as well as a few methods of determining the actual tongue weight of the trailer. I've also linked to the available systems.
Also, one should double-check their truck's unladen headlight adjustment to determine a baseline... it has been widely documented in headlight threads here on the F150forum that proper headlight adjustment from the factory is hit-or-miss. Please check yours, and you may use the procedure outlined in your truck's Owners Manual.
When I checked mine, they were aimed at the stars. It's amazing how well the OE tungsten/halogen lights work when they're adjusted correctly.
I agree with above. Sounds like you might have too much weight on the tongue.
This can cause issues with towing & added wear/n/tear on your front tires.
WDH = weight distribution hitch
You should watch on youtube how to properly load a trailer (pick a video with a trailer like yours) and see the best way to load it. Pretty much you want your heavy weight in the center/over axles on the trailer. Lighter stuff in the front, lighter stuff in the back.
If there is too much weight in the front of the trailer this causes your vehicle to pivot causing your front end to lift up as the rear sags. Opposite happens when a trailer is loaded too heavy in the rear. It's all about balance.
I get the impression the headlights are adjusted right to the edge of acceptable at the factory. I have air bags and used a WDH towing the trailer this summer. Only ended up driving one night of the trip, but got flashed over and over again. Measuring the front wheelwells, I was only up about 1/4" in the front compared to unloaded and about 1/2" down in the back. this is on a 157"wheelbase max tow 2016. The headlights shouldn't have blinded anyone with this little change, but it obviously made a huge difference that night. I haven't towed since, but have been meaning to adjust the headlights down a bit anyway. Now that it gets darker earlier, I might just remember to do that.
09-27-2017, 12:01 PM
