Hey all,

So we have a small pop up trailer (2200lbs) that me and the family have been using for a while, but well. We are finding it too tiny. So we went to an rv store for a look around.

I know how much the book says I can tow, but realistically we have hills, valleys, etc. Some hills are a few miles long at a 6% grade.

Im thinking of going around the 4500-6000 lbs range because that seems to be par for the trailers Im thinking of buying. We typically carry 2 adults, 1 teenager and 2 young fellers and the two beagles.. Probably around 1000lbs in the truck with gear and stuff.

My truck is a 2017 F150 Scab. 3.5L TiVCT with 3.73 gears, 2wd XL. The book says 7400. I don't wanna be anywhere near that for a trailer. I figure 5000lbs for the trailer. 200 for the hitch and stuff. Probably around 1000 pounds of people, dogs and luggage.

Trucks payload on the door is 1608lbs.

No worries about the truck, but my question for you good folks is, has anyone towed this much up big hills with the 3.5TiVCT before? I don't wanna strain her too much.

 

If you're looking at a 5000lb (loaded) TT, that's about 650lbs tongue weight. Not bad...add in your gear and passengers...1k....you're over your payload.

However....that's a lot of weight (and most especially, aerodynamic drag) on the 3.5 base motor. The aerodynamic drag is what is a killer the most other than weight...with ~250ft-lbs of torque that thing's going to be working pretty hard.

 

If the only available payload remaining for hitch weight is 400lb (according to your estimates) you are looking at a 3000lb trailer GVWR.

 

Your F-150 doesn't have enough payload capacity or drivetrain power to tow a normal travel trailer, or even a hybred, without being overloaded. So I would look for a bigger pop-up with GVWR less than 5,000 pounds.


Here's one I would consider:


http://www.forestriverinc.com/produc...delID=955#Main


16'x7' floor, 5,000 pounds max wet and loaded weight will have hitch weight of about 750 pounds including a good weight-distributing hitch such as a Blue Ox.


That's the biggest one I've seen. Back off to 14' long floor and the max wet and loaded weight decreases significantly to about 3,200 pounds with a hair over 500 pounds wet and loaded hitch weight .
http://www.forestriverinc.com/produc...delID=940#Main


We got by for all the years my kids were small with a pop-up tent camper that had only an 8' long box. Yes, that was small. Imagine running around inside in one that's twice that long!

 

Myself I am a big fan of molded fiberglass trailers ("eggs"). And they are very popular in Canada, much so than the US.

Most eggs have a GVWR of 5K or less. Our 19 foot Escape (made in Canada naturally) has a GVWR of 5,000 pounds, which while not the biggest size, is among the larger ones. One size smaller, the 17 foot model has a GVWR of 4,000 pounds. They used to make both a 13 foot and a 15 foot, but phased those out in the last couple of years. Molded trailers tend to cost quite a bit more than stick built trailers. So be prepared for a little sticker shock.

Another popular Canadian brand of egg trailer is Bigfoot. Those tend to be on the heavy side. Other more traditional egg trailers are 2,000 pounds or less, many of those will not have a bathroom. Smallest size you usually see is 13 foot, note, that is measured from hitch to rear bumper, so the fiberglass trailer itself is more like only 10 foot long. Our "19 foot" Escape has a 16 foot long fiberglass body.


Our 19 foot Escape has a queen bed in the rear, a 44 inch dinette in the front that can convert into a bed, bathroom and more. Put the teenager in a tent and you are OK. The 17 foot without a bath has very good sleeping arrangements (bathroom really eats up space).

Molded trailers are very durable and hold their value extremely well. Many from the 1970s and 1980s are still going strong and tend to sell for more now than what they sold for new.


http://escapetrailer.com/trailers/th...#trailer-tabs3

 

Guys.. Wow.. I thank you all for the information. This is really helpful. Honestly, a good eye opener for me.

Smokey, those really are somethin. Wow. Big time difference from what I'm used to. A toilet inside of the popup! Well this is indeed a game changer.

Really apriciated guys. Ill leave the thread open, maybe we can make this into a pop-up thread!

 

Those pop ups with a side slide out are awesome! You really end up with a lot of room inside the trailer. I had one like that before moving to a travel trailer. Ours didn't have a bathroom in it though. There's one for sale near me that's a tandem axle pop up. It's huge inside once it's expanded!

 

pop-up campers are just fantastic. Maybe a tad more work than a TT, but towing flexibility cannot be overstated.....way less aerodynamic drag for the tow rig to deal with...which is massively important on a v6-powered vehicle.

We towed our TT with our Honda pilot (same torque as your V6) and power-wise, it just hated it.

 

How does he not have enough payload? 1608lb - just move some weight into the trailer. If the wdh hitch is 100lb and his hitch weight is 13% of 5000lb is 650lb then he has plenty of payload?

 

Yeah, if he doesn't haul anything in the truck. My TT also has hitch weight of 650 pounds, and my F-150 is overloaded over the payload capacity when wet and loaded on the road. I guess I could leave DW at home? But nah, she'd probably veto that.