smokeywren

Per the 2017 Ford RV and Trailer Towing Guide, 8,900 is your "tow rating". But you cannot tow that heavy a trailer without being overloaded.

GCWR is 14,300, so you can tow a trailer that weighs 8,900 only when your wet and loaded F-150 weighs less than 5,400 pounds, and provided you don't exceed the GVWR of your F-150. Any decent scale will show that your wet and loaded F-150 will weigh more than 5,400, so the tow rating is a myth.

GCWR (and the resulting tow rating) are rarely the determinant for how heavy a trailer you can tow without being overloaded.

GVWR (and the resulting payload capacity rating) is almost always the limiter.

Here's how you estimate the max trailer weight you can have without being overloaded:

1] Load the F-150 with all the people and stuff that will be in it when towing. People, pets, cooler, toolbox, jacks and jack stands, bar-b-q grill and charcoal, campfire wood, generator and gas for the generator, everything that will be in the cab or bed and weighs more than a handkerchef.

2] Drive to a truck stop that has a certified automated truck scale, fill up with gas, and weigh the wet and loaded F-150 with you and the people still inside it.

3] Subtract the weight of the wet and loaded F-150 from the GVWR of the F-150 and the answer is the payload capacity available for hitch weight.

4] Divide the payload capacity available for hitch weight by 0.13 and the answer is the heaviest tandem-axle travel trailer (TT) you can tow without being overloaded. Guaranteed it will be a lot less than 8,900 pounds. Hopefully it will be around 6,000 pounds and maybe as high as 7,000 pounds.

acdii

Unless you are towing a 4 on the ground with a drawbar, you will exceed payload and/or hitch rating long before you reach GCWR.

Based on your payload, you have plenty for most trailers that the F150 will tow. If you hooked an 8900# trailer to the truck, with 13% tongue weight, you will exceed the hitch rating unless you have max tow. Check the rating sticker on the hitch, it will be either 1100 or 1200 with WDH for tongue weight. If you have max tow, then you can tow 8900#, 13% is 1157# for that weight. Thats a pretty hefty trailer too, one that would most likely have sliders on it. Just watch the length, long trailers don't play nice with light trucks. Keep it 30' and under and you will be happy.

this is assuming you are looking to tow a travel trailer, any other trailer is a different story. Smokey has pretty good information on this, follow his instructions and you can't go wrong.

Kramnation

Thanks for the information everyone. Think I'll get a trailer that weights around 6000 Dry weight and under 30'.


Dang salesman telling me different. Good thing I hadn't had the survey from Ford yet.

mass-hole

Not necessarily. The GVWR is 7000 lbs and his payload sticker says 1929 lbs, so his truck should be just over 5000 lbs. He should at least be able to himself and one other person plus maybe a little gear in the truck before GCWR becomes an issue.

mass-hole

You really gotta look into it yourself because:

1. There are so many different combinations and packages that its very hard to keep track of

2. The car salesmen generally dont know anything.

SixShooter14

yes and no.

Smoky specified wet and loaded. The payload rating is for dry and empty.

Everyday I carry myself (just under 200#), tools/toolbox(300#). Then when towing I also carry a WDH (50-100#) a cooler (50#) assorted gadgets, snacks, etc. (100#)

So there could be 500+ pounds of stuff added to the Dry weight (GVWR minus Payload rating)

11screw50

The payload is based on WET and empty.

I almost posted what mass-hole did but then I went back and saw the payload and there's just no way. 1929 payload means 5071 for the truck with a full fuel tank. 100# WDH, 100# misc crap leaves 129lb for the driver.