Pandamonkey

That's a pretty impressive picture! It looks like the shop truck is only squatted a little bit.

The petrol likely won't go bad, I fill up every 4~ months or so.

brulaz

Ford says the Hitch Receiver's limit is 500# when not using a WDH. If you go over that, the front end starts getting squirrely. But if you go under that, your trailer will start swaying around (depending upon trailer weight).

You need hitch weight to keep the trailer under control, even a car hauler will sway around back there. Aim for 10%, say 500-600# hitch weight. Good news is that with a car hauler you can move the car around and fine tune that number.

When I was towing without a WDH and without a tongue weight scale, I had about 500# of people sit on the rear and measured the height of the ball from the ground, giving me a rough idea of where 500# would be. Another guy used water barrels.

Be sure to check your trailer brakes, and Good Luck.

Blackpony

Position and strap the van correctly on the trailer and don't sweat it. I have pulled my c10 on an 18ft car hauler many times no issue. You do not need a weight distribution hitch for this either. I purchased a wdh hitch and personally i don't like how it rides. Maybe its better with 9k+ lbs but with something around 6-7k lbs it made the ride very rough and harsh. And yes it was installed and setup exactly as per the instructions.



This is 3 yards of gravel, which if what i was told is correct, should weight in the 9k lbs range (3k lbs per yard) plus the 2200 lb trailer. Pulled like it wasn't even there. No wdh hitch.

smokeywren

I have bad feelings of a disaster waiting to happen when people recommend you break the rules.


Here are some of those rules:


♦ NEVER exceed the tongue weight rating of your receiver.


♦ NEVER have less than 10% tongue weight with the wet and loaded vehicle on the trailer.


♦ Any trailer with more than 500 pounds hitch weight requires a weight-distributing (WD) hitch or a fifth wheel/gooseneck hitch.


Granted, you don't want to invest $600 in a good weight-distributing hitch such as the Reese Strait-Line hitch with dual-cam sway control for a one-time use. But you own the trailer and will probably use it in the future. So for your safety and the safety of others on the road with you, install that Strait-Line hitch.


Without a WD hitch, then take your time and position the van on the trailer to have as close as possible to at least 10% tongue weight. If you don't have a tongue-weight scale, then cross the scales at least two times, once with the wet and loaded rig including the trailer, and again without the trailer.


Add the weight on both axles of the tow vehicle from both scale tickets. Then subtract the weight from ticket with the lightest weight from the weight from the ticke with the heaviest weight. That will give you tongue weight.


Subtract the weight of the tow vehicle without the trailer from the weight with the trailer. That will give you gross trailer weight. (Trailer axle weight is NOT the gross weight of the trailer because it doesn't include hitch weight.)


Without a WD hitch, even with exactly 10% tongue weight, your receiver will be overloaded. So be extremely careful about hitting bumps and chug holes that will bounce the trailer. Probably no problem on smooth pavement, but bumpy roads and chug holes put a lot more weight on the hitch. And an overloaded receiver is exactly that "disaster waiting to happen" mentioned earlier.


Here's my tongue-weight scale:
http://www.etrailer.com/Tools/Sherline/5780.html

xcntrk

My recommendation to use a WD hitch wasn't so much to be "compliant" with factory numbers, it was to address the rear-end sag incurred with tongue weight above 500lbs. The F150 has a softest suspension of the entire Ford truck fleet sold in the US and it doesn't take much weight for it to squat. When the rear end squats, the front end suspension and steering becomes less responsive. It's like a pendulum, the weight on the hitch makes the rear squat which then transfers additional weight from the front of the rig to the back. Moving the load on the trailer is an option to a point. I definitely wouldn't go below 10% tongue weight or you'll encounter trailer sway. Granted a WD hitch has it's places. Personally I wouldn't use one below 500lbs tongue weight if the suspension isn't sagging.

This is a 7k lb load. See any rear end sag?

zx12-iowa

Since you have the 3.73, you won't down too much, the 5.0 likes to rev a bit to make power. Not an issue, nukes it bugs you. But since you have good gearing, it should pull ok. I wouldn't worry about a wdh. I pull an 8k lb boat ball over and have never used one....ever. Never an issue and truck manages it very well.

meaz93

I like the WDH for the simple fact that it helps keep the trailer from wondering all over the place......helps, does not eliminate. Short distances might be ok without, but hopefully you have the weight in the trailer equally distributed.

fcancer

Just curious,what bad things will happen?

xcntrk

You can definitely load backwards. The only reason it's discouraged is because it changes the tongue weight and you have to readjust where the (backwards) vehicle is sitting on the trailer to adjust the tongue weight accordingly. Where a forward loaded vehicle may sit a few inches forward of the trailer axles, a rearward loaded vehicle may have to site a couple feet forward of the axles to get the same weight distribution. There are also some aerodynamic concerns with a VAN loaded that way too of course.

REGCABMAN

Seen several units rolled over due to loading backwards. If your trailer isnt long enough and the majority of the weight (Engine/Transmission) is after the trailer axles it will create excessive trailer sway.

Also the rear glass isn't designed to take rocks. It will beak instead of chip. When new cars are transported and the leading one is facing backwards it will always have a protective film over the glass.