greengoose

Im moving from Ft Irwin, CA to Vegas. I am trying to find the largest enclosed trailer to use on my 2012 3.5 Ecoboost 4x4 3.73 SCREW.

Craigs list had a few 24' ones. No idea empty weight.

Concerned about the steep grade from Baker to Vegas in the middle of July.

Do I need to be more conservative due to grade and outside temps?

Ill be alone in vehicle. Minor stuff in cab. Want max towing capacity.

What might be the max sized enclosed trailer I should tow? Should I have a problem with the one in the craigslist below?

https://inlandempire.craigslist.org/for/5537049055.html

Ricktwuhk

Find your Payload sticker on the door jamb. For a trailer over 500 lbs tongue weight you will need a WDH.

Take Payload, subtract your weight and everything you added to the truck after delivery, then subtract 100 lbs for the wdh and divide by 0.13. That is max weight of trailer and cargo in it if you properly load it.

mark waller

If worried about high temps in July leave early in the morning. I don't think that grade is more than 90 miles from your starting point. I would call the renter of those trailers and ask about weight of the trailer, brakes, set up etc.

smokeywren

Similar to my 2012 EcoBoost Lariat 4x2 with 6.5' bed.


Don't fret about pulling power. Just be sure to have a tank full of premium gas before you get close to any steep grades, and you won't have any worries about climbing the grade in the summertime. However, you must keep a close watch on the tranny temp when climbing.


If you have a digital tranny temp gauge in your "gauges" display, then 225° is the red line. Don't allow more than 225°.


If you must rely on the tranny temp gauge on the dash, then realize it's weird and is NOT an analog gauge. It's an idiot gauge that jumps from one temp range to the next. White range means you're good to go, but watch that gauge like a hawk. Yellow range means you're too hot, so stop ASAP and idle the engine at 1,200 RPM until the gauge drops back down into the white zone. Red zone means your tranny is probably already toast.


So your EcoBoost drivetrain can pull the weight if you don't overheat the tranny. But that's not your limiter. Your limiter is payload capacity for hauling the hitch weight of that trailer.


I have a 7x14 cargo trailer with GVWR of 7,000 pounds. When properly loaded close to 7,000 pounds gross trailer weight, my tongue weight is about 900 pounds. My F-150 has 1566 pounds max payload capacity, so if I have 900 pounds tongue weight plus another 100 pounds for my WD hitch, that leaves only 566 pounds for all other cargo, including driver, bed rug, topper or tonneau cover, tools, passengers, pets, head of the WD hitch, whatever. Your 4x4 is heavier than my 4x2, so you probably have less than 1566 pounds pf max payload capacity. So if your trailer has GVWR of 7,000 pounds you have to work hard to get the weight out of the F-150 so you're not overloaded.

Ignore empty weight and go by the trailer's GVWR. Your max trailer GVWR is about 7,000 pounds. A Pace American Prusuit cargo trailer with a 20' box (23'10" overall length) has a GVWR of 7,000 pounds.
http://www.paceamerican.com/trailers...t-race-trailer
So stick with a max of 20" box. With a 24' box you'll be overloaded.


So-called 20' max, which is almost 24' overall including the tongue.


The GAWR should be 3,500 pounds per axle, so 7,000 pounds max combined GAWR.


When weighing the rig on a CAT scale, your trailer axles can gross up to 7,000 pounds, and with another 1,000 pounds of hitch weight that's about 8,000 pounds max trailer weight. (Yeah, trailer GVWR is meaningless, so use combined GAWR as your limiter.) But the truck scale will not tell you GVW of the trailer, only combined GAW. So as long as your trailer axle weight doesn't exceed 7,000 pounds, then your trailer is not overloaded.


For the truck, the CAT scale will give you front and rear axle weights. Add those together and compare to your 7,200 GVWR. If you load the trailer to almost 7,000 pounds axle weight and haul almost nothing in the truck, then you should not be overloaded.

greengoose

I have 1256 available for weight.

-200 for me
-200 for camper shell

850 left, SO approx 8500 lb trailer should be fine.

Kids will ride with mom in the car.

Thanks.

smokeywren

Nope. You're dreaming or rationalizing. Properly loaded 8,500 pounds trailer is going to have about 1100 pounds tongue weight. Add 100 pounds for a good WD hitch and that's about 1,200 pounds total hitch weight. If you have only 850 pounds available for hitch weight, you're going to be overloaded by 350 pounds. I don't call being overloaded by 350 pounds as being "fine".

schmenke

Smart idea

smokeywren

Typo alert. You intended to say I-15, not I-95.


I-95 is nowhere near SoCal or Las Vegas. It's on the east coast and runs from southern Florida to northern Maine. I-15 goes from SoCal to Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and on across Montana to the Canadian border