I just bought a 27 foot toy hauler. It weights 8,600 lbs. The weight of the truck and cargo and the trailer loaded without my atv is 13,600 lbs; Way below the 18,000 lbs GCWR Ford advertises my truck will tow.

I feel my truck does not perform like they say it should. Much of the time I pull, I am at 3,500 rpms. If I am going up a steep grade, I get up to 4,500 rpms. I am not sure if this is good for the truck or not. I would't think so.

I would like hear anybody else's opinion and if you are having the same issue.

Now for the suspension. It sucks for lack of a better word. The truck without the distribution sags 3 1/2 inches. I have a distribution hitch which is adjusted as high as it can be according to the mechanic and our local RV shop. Even with the distribution hitch, it does not take care of the swaying. Even the "Stability Control" does not take care of it. It feels like there is too much weight on the back. When I pass a semi or they pass me the trailer jerks like crazy. I have had other trailers, including a different toy hauler which weighed probably a little more than this one, but I was pulling it with a F250 and I didn't experience the sway that I do with this truck. I know I scare the crap out of the truck drivers with I pass them, lol.

I tried to get Ford to do a "Buy-Back" with my truck since it does not do what Ford advertises it would do without me spending lots of money to make it tow what the say it will. They do not say that it will tow 12,900 lbs if I do some adjustments or add any equipment. They said they would not do it. I believe it is false advertisement. I thought about getting an attorney.

I would like to get other's opinions or thoughts of resolutions for the issues.

I have a 2018 F150 4x4, Super Crew, 5.5" bed, 3.5l ECO Boost, 3.55 axle ratio, with "Max Trailer Tow" package.

 

My guess on what is gonna happen.

You are gonna have someone point to that yellow payload sticker. And your if trucked loaded with trailer and all the stuff plus people is above that payload sticker you wont even get to a lawyer.


I don't know what to tell you because you need to post weight tickets from the scales so people can help you out. I am guessing you are overlooking something and a second set of eyes might help you out. Or you are just missing something you don't know about because, you don't know, what you don't know, this has happened quite a bit to me on many things and a second set of eyes from someone that is experienced can help you out.

 

Than Drix for you reply. I just looked at the label in the door jam. I states 7000 lbs for gvwr. That is only for the truck, correct?

 

Well, yeah, good luck with that. Hate to say it but you may have more trailer than what that truck is capable of.

First thing, there is a capacities tag that lists tire sizes, and more important, Payload. That is the amount of weight that can be added to the truck before it reaches critical mass, er, GVWR.

Second there is the WDH being used. A good one, setup correctly, will prevent sway, to an extent, which leads to the next point.

Weight distribution of the trailer itself. Toy haulers when empty tend to be nose heavy, so as to offset the weight in the tail when a toy is loaded, this makes it very nose heavy when unloaded. If you were towing empty, you should not have had sway, unless you are very light up front and moved a lot of stuff past the axles.

Fourth, to properly set up WDH you must take it to a scale, first, the truck with the intended passengers and cargo, without the trailer. Take that scale weight and subtract it from the GVWR you posted above. This will tell you what you have left over for tongue weight for the trailer. This is critical if you want to stay within the truck ratings. Take that balance and divide it by .13. So lets say you weight the truck and find you have 977 pounds of available payload. 977/.13 = 7515 and change. This is the maximum trailer weight your truck can tow and stay within ratings while maintaining a good tongue to weight ratio of 13%. Anything less than 13% can lead to sway.

So if you are encountering sway, then the setup is wrong in some fashion, either wrong hitch, poor weight distribution on the trailer, or the trailer is just too much for the truck.

No F150, regardless of what trim or option package it is can tow a travel trailer of more than 9400 pounds and remain at 13% or more on the ball. Anything below that is asking from trouble. Not the HDPP, not the Max Tow, neither one can do it. Now a flatbed car hauler balanced with 10% can reach up to 12,200 pounds when the WDH is factored into the tongue weight on these trucks, but anything like a cargo trailer or travel trailer which is tall and axles placed midway on the frame, do not tow well at 10% TW. A horse trailer is about the only one that can be towed at 10% without handling issues due to the mass being directly over the axles and not putting a lot of weight on the ball, and be upwards of the max trailer weight, but not travel trailers.

My suggestion, take the entire package, people and all to a scale and get three readings, truck alone with everyone in it, truck and trailer with the bars detached and in front of the tailgate and truck and trailer fully hitched up.

Do this and we can go over it and find out if it can be set up properly or if it is too much trailer.

 

The ticket with 13,160 lbs is for both truck and trailer combined.


s combined weight. The GCWR according to Ford is 18,400 lbs

 

You are too light on the front axle for starters. You want to move that 220 pounds forward, and that will help a lot towards stability. Also what WDH are you using?

 

Thank you acdii. I posted the weight tickets above. I did not get one without the hitch though. I guess I need to go and get that one. It is 45 minutes to the scale. So what we are looking for is how much the distribution hitch weighs and add that number to the weight of the cargo in my truck? The tickets indicates that the weight on the axles is 6,400. The GVWR for the trailer is 9,500lbs. I am not where close to that weight. That is why it is a little concerning to me. I put more aggressive tires (and 10ply) on the truck. Still 20" though.

 

I am using an Anderson WDH rated at 12,000 lbs.

 

Your weights are very good, and not the concern here. What your issues is, is in not enough weight being redistributed up front, provided that second ticket is with the trailer fully hitched with the bars attached. Grab a tape measure and put the truck on level ground, empty, unhitched, and measure the front fender wheel at the middle to the ground. When you hitch up the trailer, you want to return the front fenders to that setting. When you rescale at that setting chances are you will be at or very near your first scale FAW. This will help tremendously with sway.

One other thing to point out, the bars for the WDH, make sure they are not over rated for the tongue weight. If you have 1200 pound bars and only have 900 pounds of tongue weight, then they may have too much spring and not enough sway control. Been there, Done that, was not a comfortable tow. So do a google search for bathroom scale tongue weight and make up a tongue weight scale to find out how much it actually weighs, and make sure your bars are sized to it. It is also possible the bars are not strong enough, and can't return enough weight forward.

Hope this helps you get it figured out. Looks like you have plenty of wiggle room with that truck, it's just a matter of getting it configured correctly.

 

This is what the truck looked like before we raised the WDH as high as possible.