michael burrows

Hey everyone, it's been a while! My wife and I picked up a 26' TT this summer and will be using it to move from Fairbanks, AK, to some unknown location as of now (hoping for Virginia). Needless to say, we are going to be doing a lot of driving, through mountains, etc., and I am looking at upgrading the truck to facilitate in the long haul. I have a 2017 F150 with the 2.7 EB. The truck is basically stock minus myself adding a trailer brake controller, tow mirrors, and a WDH for the trailer. This past hunting season, I towed the trailer full and loaded down with equipment up a 14 degree (according to the off-road menu on the truck) hill for 3/4 mile. It was a slow go, but that was to be expected, so I know the truck can handle the trip we're about to undergo.

I am looking for some upgrades that I can do to help the MPG and take a load off the drive-train. I will be upgrading the fuel tank from 23 gallons to a 36-gallon tank before the trip. Talking to my RV store, they recommend adding airbags to the truck to help with the awful permafrost roads, but I'm not sure I need them as I don't have any sway. My wife says the truck going down the highway kind of feels like a boat swaying on the water, she gets car sick easily, and the motion makes her nauseous. There is some trailer bounce but when set up on a level road, the truck is at pre-load height and the trailer is level. I have been looking at a Livernois tuner as my first upgrade, but I'm not sure if it would truly help without other upgrades.

TLDR - Stock truck with WDH, pulling TT across North America, need upgrades to help with towing. The wife says the truck feels like a swaying boat. Tuner, airbags, etc...........???

SpencerPJ

The swaying boat feeling? Starters I would run at max rear tire pressure per the sidewall. Do you have any idea what your trailer weighs? What your actual payload is per the yellow sticker in your drivers door? And taking all your belongings across country what it will weigh? Very important questions before you start throwing aftermarket bandaids at it. That is a huge adventure and should be taken seriously. I'm not saying your 2,7 isn't up to the task, I'm saying that without better info it is hard to give you safe recommendations that will end favorably for you and the mrs.

michael burrows

I believe she's talking about how the suspension feels when towing and going over bumps. I have not yet towed with my new tires. This winter I upgraded from a summer tire to an all-terrain 10 ply tire so I hope that helps. My trailer's dry weight is 4650 and gross weight is 6500 according to the sticker. I have not taken it to the scales but I will once this state unthaws. My payload sticker says 1426. The only belongings outside of our normal camping gear that we are taking are our 2 dogs (combined weight of 130), a small chest freezer full of meat (roughly 200 lbs), and 15 gallons of fuel. I'm not worried about towing as I've already towed more than I'm planning roughly 1000 miles this summer with no issues, but thank you for your concern as it is a huge adventure.

Ricktwuhk

While you might not be worried, it's important to run the math exercise before applying bandaids, as was stated. 1,426 minus heavier tires minus you and your wife minus 130 pounds of dogs minus 100 pound WDH minus ____ = remaining payload.

Remaining payload / 0.13 = max loaded trailer.

Working that in reverse, your 6,500 trailer has a tongue weight of 845 pounds, so you need to have a remaining payload of 845 pounds. With say 40 pounds extra tire weight, a 300 pound couple, 130 pounds of dogs, and 100 wdh you're down to 856. That's right at your limit.

Airing up the tires (assuming they are 80lbs on the sidewall) will help with the feeling.

michael burrows

Thank you for your reply! I am not trying to sound ungrateful for yalls concern and I apologize if I come off that way. My trailer sticker says that my hitch weight is 570 lbs. I'm not sure if I came up with everything correctly but by using your formula it seems that my max trailer weight is 3350 lbs? I guess let me run this by you...

1426 - 450 (Wife, Myself, Baby, car seat) - 130 for dogs - 200 freezer - 90 for fuel - 120 for generator = 436. 436/0.13 = 3353 max trailer.

If that is the case then I will need to remove the freezer altogether to increase my trailer weight to 4892 which is still lighter than what my trailer will actually be.

This summer was my only time pulling a TT. I was worried that what we bought was too heavy but the 3 RV shops around here all said that loaded down the way I described plus the trailer, I'm perfectly fine and would have no issues whatsoever.

sholxgt

Not sure if it's feasible, but moving whatever weight possible to the trailer would help in this scenario.

michael burrows

I guess I wont truly know what my TT weighs until I take it to the scales. If I was guessing, with how it's currently loaded and the fresh tank (48 gal) full, I'm looking at 5500 lbs and that is on the high side. Based off of Ricktwuhk's post I need a remaining payload of 715 lbs. That gives me 711 pounds in the truck. After passengers, dogs, and WDH I am left with roughly 31 lbs. So I have to lighten the gear in the trailer and haul it dry. The added fuel tank increases the weight by approx 85 lbs. I need to get my TT down to 4800 lbs in order to be within my payload rating.

bad packet

I personally added a standard duty RAS cranked up to almost 2mm, with the 4x4 block removed to achieve a stock ride height. That increased the rear spring rate, so I added a set of bilstein 5100 rear shocks to help dampen the added spring. Def helps with payload handling characteristics... eliminated that rear surging feeling when going over humps straight, and stopped that step out feeling when going around corners and hitting a sharp bump like a bridge transition.

Ricktwuhk

Your trailer's tongue weight sticker is dry, no batteries, water, propane tanks. A useless number.

Tongue weight should be around 13% of loaded trailer weight.

Your math is correct. Putting a freezer and generator in the truck is hurting you. Many empty the fresh water tank to the minimum they need on the road,

michael burrows

So basically I need to find a new truck with a payload package or max tow package. Our plan is to live in this camper for a few months and we will need items such as clothes, baby stuff, dog beds/crates/toys/food. I need the TT to be liveable throughout the journey.

The way I see it is 1 of 2 options needs to happen. Sell the TT for a lighter version or buy a new truck. Am I wrong in assuming this?