Towing
07-24-2016, 08:29 PM
#1
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Towing
Hi everyone, I have a 2011 F150 with a 3.7L Flex fuel. I'm thinking about buying a 19ft Weekend worrier Superlite toy hauler, but no sure if my truck can handle it. I know its states that I can pull up to 5700lbs, but will I be pushing it at 5000lb. What do you guys think?
Thanks
Jerry
Thanks
Jerry
07-24-2016, 10:37 PM
#2
Grumpy Old Man
Hi, Jerry, and WELCOME! to our campfire. Pull up a log seat and make yourself comfortable.
The tow rating of 5,700 pounds is the most weight you can PULL without overheating anything in the drivetrain, and without being the slowpoke holding up traffic on steep grades. But even with your V6 drivetrain, it's probably not your limiter as to how much weight you can tow without being overloaded. The payload capacity of your pickup is probably your limiter, if not the receiver hitch.
If you have the Ford receiver hitch, then the limit is probably 500 pounds tongue weight without a weight-distributing hitch. 500 pounds tongue weight is a tandem-axle RV trailer that weighs less than 4,000 pounds. A 5,000-pound trailer will have tongue weight of about 650 pounds. So as a minimum you'd need a weight-distributing hitch.
Next limiter is the GVWR of the truck. Weigh the wet and loaded truck, with the WD hitch and a full tank of gas and everybody and everything that will be in he pickup when towing, but without the trailer. Subtract that wet and loaded vehicle weight from the GVWR of the pickup and the answer is the max tongue weight you can haul without exceeding the GVWR of your pickup. Divide that max tongue weight by 0.13 and the answer is the heaviest trailer with average tongue weight you can tow without exceeding he payload capacity of your truck.
Example. 650 pounds max tongue weight divided by 0.13 = 5,000 pounds. So if you have payload capacity of at least 650 pounds, then you can haul that trailer without being overloaded - assuming it will never gross more than 5,000 pounds.
But a toy hauler trailer with GVWR of only 5,000 pounds has to be a rare bird. Can you give more details on the name of that trailer?
The tow rating of 5,700 pounds is the most weight you can PULL without overheating anything in the drivetrain, and without being the slowpoke holding up traffic on steep grades. But even with your V6 drivetrain, it's probably not your limiter as to how much weight you can tow without being overloaded. The payload capacity of your pickup is probably your limiter, if not the receiver hitch.
If you have the Ford receiver hitch, then the limit is probably 500 pounds tongue weight without a weight-distributing hitch. 500 pounds tongue weight is a tandem-axle RV trailer that weighs less than 4,000 pounds. A 5,000-pound trailer will have tongue weight of about 650 pounds. So as a minimum you'd need a weight-distributing hitch.
Next limiter is the GVWR of the truck. Weigh the wet and loaded truck, with the WD hitch and a full tank of gas and everybody and everything that will be in he pickup when towing, but without the trailer. Subtract that wet and loaded vehicle weight from the GVWR of the pickup and the answer is the max tongue weight you can haul without exceeding the GVWR of your pickup. Divide that max tongue weight by 0.13 and the answer is the heaviest trailer with average tongue weight you can tow without exceeding he payload capacity of your truck.
Example. 650 pounds max tongue weight divided by 0.13 = 5,000 pounds. So if you have payload capacity of at least 650 pounds, then you can haul that trailer without being overloaded - assuming it will never gross more than 5,000 pounds.
But a toy hauler trailer with GVWR of only 5,000 pounds has to be a rare bird. Can you give more details on the name of that trailer?
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Fire708 (07-25-2016)
07-26-2016, 11:45 AM
#3
+1 Smokey