I need some advice, I am looking to rent a large house trailer (32FT and 9000 lbs dry weight not sure of the tounge weight) I have never towed anything that long before. I tow a trailer nearly everyday for work (4x8 utility or 6x10 5 tonne dump trailer) so I am comfortable towing. The gentleman that I may rent it from said I would be Ok towing it with my 2017 F150 4x4 Supercrew 5.0 6.5Ft bed (I have air bags in the rear to help with squatting) as long as I dont go over 110km due to it fishtailing. My question is what am I to expect while towing, will the trailer be all over the road if its windy? I have never used a weight distribution hitch and not sure how it works or if I need one. Please chime in on some advice smart ***** answers are not needed. Thanks is advanced

 

9K is a lot of weight and I would bet you'll be over payload.

As far as fishtailing, if the weight distribution hitch is done right and, especially, has sway you should be ok on that front. I just can't see it being under weight.

 

Agreed. Even If a 1/2 ton is legally capable of doing it, I wouldn't image myself being confident. Grandfather's dually diesel doesn't care about their 31ft 9,000lbs travel trailer.

 

9k dry means at least 10k lightly loaded. 10k gross trailer weight = average of 1,400 pounds hitch weight (13% tongue weight plus 100 pounds for a good WD hitch)

Crawl under the back of your F-150 and look up at the frame of the receiver hitch. There should be a sticker on the frame of the hitch with the weight limits of your receiver. Probably less than 600 pounds max tongue weight without a WD hitch. About double that with a WD hitch.

https://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-...on-systems.htm

You definitely need one. Ford requires a WD hitch for any tongue weight over 500 pounds, and your tongue weight will be a lot more than 500 pounds. Even with a WD hitch, you'll probably exceed the weight limits of your receiver.

And the 10k weight of the trailer means you'll probably exceed the 14,500 GCWR of your F-150. And the 1,400 pounds hitch weight will probably exceed the payload capacity available for hitch weight.

So in a nutshell, you'll be overloaded over more than one weight limit.

That's too much trailer for your F-150. Rent a much lighter trailer. But if you absolutely must tow that trailer with your F-150 then

1] Haul absolutely nothing in the F-150 but your skinny hiney. Anyone and anything else must ride in a different vehicle.
2] Install one of these weight distribution/sway control hitches (don't consider a cheaper WD hitch)
… Equal-I-Zer
… Reese Strait-Line trunnion bar with shank
… Blue Ox SwayPro
… Husky Centerline HD 31390
Those WD hitches list for about $800 to $1,000, but are available online for about $500 to $700

3] Nothing in the trailer that doesn't have to be in it, No water, dishes, flatware, cookware, tools, charcoal, coolers, nothing.

4. Realize you're trying to tow too much trailer with too little a tow vehicle, so drive accordingly. Leave adequate space between your vehicle and any others in front of you, Be certain your trailer brake controller works flawlessly.

And good luck.

 

Would a 25ft trailer weighting in at 4700lbs with a hitch weight of 578lbs make more sense

​​​​​​Thanks for the replies

 

Oh yeah. Even if water and gear add 800lbs, takes 4700 to 5500 and 10% tonge weight puts 550 on the hitch. I would still consider a WDH for control in high winds, considering you're in prairie lands of Canada?

 

Yes, but you still need a WDH properly setup.

 

Definitely, but realize those are dry weights. The trailer will gross a lot more than 4700 pounds when wet and loaded for a family camping trip. When lightly loaded for family camping, guestimate 5,500 pounds as Geahead54 did. But then hitch weight of a normal TT will be 12% to 14%, averaging 13% - not the 10% Gearhad guesstimated. 13% of 5,500 pounds is 715 pounds, plus 100 pounds for a good WD hitch = 815 pounds total hitch weight. Or guestimate 6,000 when loaded normal for a family camping trip, and hitch weight goes up to 880 pounds.

IOW, you're still going to have to restrict the weight you haul in the F-150 if you don't want to be overloaded. But at least you'll have a prayer with that trailer.

 

That is 3/4 or 1 ton truck area, not 1/2 ton towable. When loaded with water, food, clothes, gear, except at least add an additional 1500 lbs to the weight. That tongue weight will exceed your F150 hitch rating. Then the tongue weight along with loaded truck weight, will exceed your GVWR and possibly Rear axle weight rating especially when combined with gear, family and truck bed accessories.

You definitely need sway control on a trailer that long and good sway control. At that weight, I'm thinking it's really not 32' long either but has a model number with the 32 in it where it's true bumper to tongue length is probably around 36' long.

If it were me, I wouldn't even try towing it.

 

Yes, but the truck could still be overloaded depending how much weight you added to your truck and how much weight and how it's loaded in the travel trailer. You still need a good sway control system.