DelawareDead

Which would seem that I need to move up to a 3/4 ton F250, correct? Sorry, for all the questions.....first time truck owner.

kehyler

I'm happy to answer many questions, no need to apologize -- I think that you need to think through your use case for the vehicle. What is the heaviest towing that you'll intend to do? What is the most weight you intend to add to the cab during said towing?

After you have "real" answers to those two questions, we can help you.

smokeywren

With only 1,105 pounds of gross payload capacity, you probably cannot tow any normal travel trailer plus your family and stuff without being overloaded. But that doesn't automatically mean you need to trade for a tow vehicle with more payload capacity. Instead, you could trade for a lighter trailer, such as a pop-up tent trailer than has GVWR less than 3,850 pounds and less than 500 pounds tongue weight. (so you can get by without that heavy WD hitch.)

Way back in 1968 when my kids were small, I bought a Wheel Camper pop-up camping trailer. Nothin in it but an ice box, a bunk mattress on a box with lots of storage space inside the box, a dinette, a 12-volt light and the two large fold-out beds on the ends. No propane, so no hot water or stove or furnace. No restroom. No AC, just a glorified tent on a trailer. We added a Coleman 3-burner gasoline stove, a slop jar with a commode seat for a pottie, a Coleman gasoline camping lantern, and a plastic dishpan. That was our camper for all the years the kids were growing up. We towed that camper with a car or half-ton van all over the USA, from Maine to San Diego, and from Seattle to the Florida Keys, and every mountain range in between. In the summertime, because of no AC, we usually camped in mountains above 7,000 feet altitude. For most of those years we towed that camper with a 1971 AMC Hornet compact station wagon with the 304 V8 engine and air shocks added to the rear suspension. I needed the air shocks because I often hauled my Kawasaki 90CC Enduro dirt bike on the trailer tongue.

Compared to our Wheel Camper, the modern pop-up campers are luxury. Restroom with shower with hot and cold running water, 3-way (propane or 120-volt or 12-volt electric) refrigerator, propane stove and oven, All that with GVWR of less than 3850 pounds = 500 pounds tongue weight. With one of those loaded to the gills, you'd still have over 600 pounds of payload capacity available for a driver and small family without overloading your luxury F-150. For example, here's a nice one with UVW 3249 + CCC 547 = GVWR 3696 and properly-loaded tongue weight of less than 500 pounds:
http://www.forestriverinc.com/product-details.aspx?LineID=157&Image=5042&ModelID=796#Mai n

charest2394

Thanks Wicked Ace, to have answered the original question of this post, I also think that the max loaded trailer weigh is 10,700# due to the fact that I don't have 20 inch wheel.

Also thank to Ricktwunhk for your pertinent information added to this thread.

kehyler

A friendly regarding terminology. I'd stick with 10,700 as the GCWR. The "max loaded trailer weight" should be the maximum trailer weight that you can tow without overloading any rating of the truck.

smokeywren

Yeah, the editors of the towing guide didn't do a good job of wording that column heading. For a table like the towing chart it's difficult to come up with a column heading that is not misleading. That column should read something like:

"Maximum loaded trailer weight with an empty tow vehicle with no options not required to have that GCWR, and no weight in the tow vehicle but a driver that weighs not more than 150 pounds, and with loaded trailer hitch weight that does not result in exceeding the GVWR or GAWRs or hitch weight capacity of the tow vehicle"

But how do you squeeze all those words into a column heading? Maybe a footnote that nobody would read would be less misleading than the current wording?

Ricktwuhk

It's unfortunate that you posted in the other thread, because this is a great illustration of how things can go very wrong for people.

You have a payload of 1,105 pounds.
You have 750 pounds of people. 1,105 - 750 = 355 pounds. 355 / .13 = 2,731 pounds max loaded trailer.

You have a trailer that weighs 6,158 pounds empty. It can take 7,600 pounds fully loaded.

You are THOUSANDS OF POUNDS overloaded. I'd go so far as to say you should never tow that trailer again with your truck. Of course, should you remove most of that people weight from your truck, and have a 200 pound driver drive it, that frees up 550 pounds. 550/.13 = 4,231 pounds of payload.

So in the new math world, if you had a 200 pound driver, and you bought a weight distribution hitch:

1,105 - 200 - 100 = 805

805/.13 = 6,192

So you still cannot tow your trailer.

The good news is that you've driven it twice, not had an accident, and no one is killed or maimed. The great news is that you came here seeking answers, and got them.

This shows 3 other things:

1) Any tow guide published by Ford is not going to reveal this to anyone.

2) A Ford Platinum is not a tow vehicle.

3) The vast majority of people are towing dangerously, and we're all very lucky that more people aren't killed by irresponsible drivers. NOTE - irresponsible drivers don't take steps to ensure they tow safely, like you did. They don't check their tires and brakes, they don't check connections, they don't drive at safe speeds for towing.

My father in-law towed unsafely. Once had the welds on his hitch break, so he got them re-welded. He used tires that were years past expiration. He once had his trailer flip on its side "due to wind", and merely got it lifted back on its tires and resumed towing. He never killed anyone, but easily could have.

bikendan

1105lbs. of payload capacity!!!!!!
all i can say is WOW! and you're towing that trailer with family in the truck too?
you need to tell the wife that you made a big mistake buying a Platinum, for towing and need a different truck for safety.
a well spec'd F150 can easily tow your trailer BUT if you plan on going bigger in the future, get the 3/4 ton.
if you can, ALWAYS pick the trailer you want first, then pick the truck that's easily capable of towing it.
i have to say that most minivans i've seen, have more payload capacity than your truck.

DelawareDead

Good news,

I traded in the F150 for a 2011 F250 Lariat! I found an incredible deal on the 250 and it only has 55k miles on it and they gave me a very nice trade in value on the F150. Feeling a whole lot better about safely towing with my family. Thank you all for your help!!

kehyler

Whats your new payload and gcwr?