eagle1par3

Great site you guys have here, have been reading up on towing and picking up a lot of information, certainly are many smart Ford Truck owners out there, thanks for that. I do have a question, and maybe I can get some ideas from you guys, I've recently retired and to stay busy bought a 2013 F-140 SuperCab 4x4 EcoBoost 3.5L 3.55, tow package with trailer sway control and trailer brake control, GCWR 15,400, GVWR 7,200. Also bought a 7x14 foot utility trailer and have been hauling small tractors, quads, mowers and golf carts. But have noticed a rather large demand for car hauling along the east coast. Anyone have a preference for a particular car trailer,I am leaning towards a tandem axle, 7k lbs aluminum, and was wondering has anyone retrofitted a car trailer to also carry motorcycles ? Any ideas and or tips towing and hauling tractors, cars and motorcycles would be appreciated.

Liveaboard74

What your going to run into is DOT weight regulations and first off if your making money with the truck, CDL's. Log books, tax numbers, other plates, insurance? Are you really ready to get into all that.
If your serous about towing, your going to have to go diesel. Bigger trucks, better fuel millage, just a whole different world and that gas motor won't last long, not to mentioned when you really stick the weight to it your fuel millage is going to be bad. Like really bad.
Hauled my Fountain one time with a gas truck. 6 mpg.
Diesel. 10 to 11.
Down the street to the boat ramp that might not make a difference but I drive pete 9 car trailer and at least 3000 miles in 5 days every week. When you spend for tank after tank of fuel that millage will be one of the biggest deciding factors.

Think your trying to get into hot shot rigging. Can't help you that much there.

If your dead set on buying a trailer Wally out of Tenn makes a whole lot of regular truck trailer like your talking about.
Their north of K town. Knoxville. Google them and i'm sure their web sight will be helpful.

eagle1par3

Thats good information, thanks....I had taken care of the EIN number and Insurance prior to retiring, been kind of testing the waters to see if it was something that could keep me busy until the wife retires in 3 years and we cash out and head South. Surprised myself what kind of interest a few well placed ads would drum up. Initially was just looking to haul tractors and mowers but the response I got for shuttling cars took me by surprise, so I thought Id invest in a decent car trailer, get myself out of the house and accumulate some much need write-offs.
Not sure what you mean by Hot Shot Rigging, not even sure what that means, lol.....just a retired guy looking to kill some time
Thanks again

boom50cal

Hot shotting is basically towing urgent loads that aren't large enough to justify throwing behind a tractor and trailer.

So basically what you are doing now, is hot shotting to a degree. Just on a smaller scale. Around here, where the oil business is pretty prominent, hot shotting is generally towing and delivery of down hole tools, pumps, storage tanks, frac sand, and jobsite equipment.

But forsure, if you are looking to get serious into it, a 1 ton diesel would be a very good investment. Trucks that are meant to be put to work.

eagle1par3

Boom, I'm certainly no Hot Shot then.....lol.....I'm 55 years old and too young to be spending my days rocking on the back porch, hauling tractors gets me out of the house and puts a little Range money in my pockets, Gives me something to do one or two days a week. I have been kicking the tires tires on a couple 2014 F-250 diesels here local, a couple Ford guys I know say that at the end of the day a well fitted F-150 3.5L EcoBoost is just as capable of towing as the F-250 one or two days a week, but me.......I'm always looking for a reason to pick up a new toy....so yea...I'm looking....thanks

1994Vmax

If you want to haul smaller loads for a side job some diesel truck is a huge waste of money you will never recoup the cost of over what you own now.... but I think you know that already lol. That said the only thing I and others will call you on us your limited payload capacity. Your hitch weight along with you and some gear will be easily tossing you over the line. It's not like your truck will collapse but being commercial if they stopped you and scaled you, you could be in trouble. Max tow is the only way unfortunately on an EcoBoost to get a 7700 lb gvw which if nothing else changed would get your payload up to the 1600 lb range. My XLT as an example has the 7700 lb gvw (no max tow and just 3.55's but it's a 6.2 and they all get 7700) and it's legal capacity is 1848 lbs. Your rear axle weight will be a concern as well. That particular truck isn't the best suited for doing this stuff... especially commercially licensed. If yours was like my XLT I wouldn't even hesitate to say go for it. If you are careful with a weight distribution hitch you can probably pull it off but having that extra couple hundred pounds would be nice.

xcntrk

I’ve had a couple car haulers, one open and now a fully enclosed. My recommendation would be at least 18’ for an open trailer and at least 20’ for enclosed. Aluminum would be top of the line and most ideal, but also is the most expensive. I would recommend a full deck, dropped tail, tandum with electric brakes. Personally I would say go for 10k GVWR instead of 7k. That way if you need to pull a truck or 4x4 you have the capacity (granted your tow vehicle might not, but trailer can carry the weight). Also I would install a WD hitch regardless of size and if enclosed add sway control.

Liveaboard74

https://www.f150forum.com/f82/law-en...weight-312434/
If your ever stopped never admit your hauling for money. Doing it for a friend. Got it. LOL
They have the legal right to shut you down on the side of the road, you can't move your truck till you get the right tags, and a lot of BS you really don't want to deal with and they are not going to tote you to the tag office. LMBO.

Its not that they take all this so serious its a whole bunch of money to them if your caught "FOR HIRE" with the wrong tags.
Just fuel for thought.
Good luck in your adventure.

smokeywren

I hate being the guy that pours ice water over enthusiastic folks, but maybe it will save you some grief down the road.


As others have noted, hauling other folks' stuff and charging them makes you a commercial trucker. All sorts of nasty rules about registration, insurance, license plates and weight restrictions when you are a commercial trucker. Be certain you are covered there before you load the first customer's stuff.


Next is your tow vehicle. Wonderful little half-ton pickup with a powerhouse for a drivetrain, but very weak suspension that can be overloaded by a trailer that grosses 7,000 pounds. Your payload capacity is only 1,247 pounds. My similar F-150 has payload capacity of 1,366 pounds and I'm overloaded with my small TT that weighs less than 5,000 pounds when on the road with 650 pounds of trailer tongue weight.


A properly-loaded 7,000 pound trailer is going to have tongue weight closer to 875 pounds, with another 50 to 100 pounds for the weight-distributing hitch. That leaves only 322 pounds or less for the camper shell and you and any stuff you haul in the F-150. IOW, you're probably going to be overloaded over the GVWR of your F-150. And the DOT LEOs are not nice to overloaded truckers.


A decent one-car hauler trailer with GVWR of 7,000 pounds is going to weigh around 1,500 to 2,000 pounds empty. That means the heaviest vehicle you could haul would have to weigh less than 5,500 pounds. So forget about hauling a big pickup. My F-150 4x2 weighs more than 5,500 pounds, and my F-250 4x2 weighed more than 6,500 pounds. Add 400 pounds for a 4x4.


So yeah, a car hauler trailer with GVWR of 10,000 pounds would allow you to haul most pickups, but your F-150 would be overloaded over the payload capacity of your F-150.


So if you want to keep your F-150, then stick with hauling lawn mowers, motorcycles, and small cars, after you have the proper driver's license, insurance, and truck registration to be a commercial trucker.


Note that most folks that haul cars do it with a one-ton dually diesel or bigger tractor. Then they can haul a 7,000-pound pickup on a 10,000 pound trailer, or a two- or three-car trailer, without being overloaded

eagle1par3

1994VMAX, XCNTRK, Liveaboard74, Smokeywren..... I want to thank you guys for a wealth of information on the subject of hauling cars for a hobby, though I really dig being on the road, I think I'm going to stick to hauling tractors and motorcycles, the occasional golf cart as my hobby. You guys must all process PHDs to comprehend GVWR, Tongue weight, XLT, Dual axle vs Single axle, Diesel vs gas, F-150 vs F-250, all I know is the Guy at Ford said my truck , with the 3.55 axle ratio....15,400 GCWR (lbs) is set up to tow 9,700 lbs, and the guy at the Trailer Super Store told me the Big Tex dual axle trailer is rated for 7,000 lbs minus the 1800 lbs for the trailer would leave me 5200 pounds of towing capacity for the trailer.
If I understand the consensus is my total weight of gear....including the truck cap......may put the tongue weight over ? Truth be told....I'm not married to that truck cap and getting rid of it may free up another 300 lbs. You guys really know your stuff....thanks again......and Smokeywren.....a bucket of reality now and again is a good thing....appreciate...