Ok guys/gals can you advise me. I have f150 4x4 screw short bed. Truck has max towing package. 3.5 ecoboost with 3.55. So travel trailer I am looking at has dry weight of 6600full weight of 8800 and tongue weight of 880. Trailer is 30ft. And rear kitchen if that matters. My truck set up has towing weight of 10500 I think. Maybe 10200. Cant remember now. I will add weight distribution with sway. Truck has sway control and brake controller is FX4. Should I tow this vehicle or is it to much trailer for this truck? Dealer says all good (expected) some people say no others yes. I still work so dont see it being used every week. I could really use some advise. Love the trailer but dont want to put myself in a mess. Thank you

 

you will be fine towing that. make sure the trailer has good brakes. you'd be surprised how well the ecoboost will handle it

 

What is the payload capacity list on the yellow sticker on the pillar behind the drivers door?

That is the number that is important. Dealer just wants to sell the trailer. Be he didn’t even look at that.

That number runs out before you Get anywhere close to towing numbers.

 

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding what you are saying but the yellow sticker displays a max payload rating and this number ties into GVWR (max weight of vehicle, passengers, fluids, plus that max payload rating number in the bed).
The max trailer weight rating will be much higher than the payload rating but ultimately ties into the GCWR (GCWR=GVWR [everything in the truck] + Trailer)
For instance, my F-150 yellow sticker lists max payload near 1,500lbs. The Ford brochure puts it at closer to 1,650lbs. However, the max trailer rating is 7,600lbs and the GCWR is around 12,500lbs. Based on all that math (if I'm performing it correctly), my truck must weigh around 4,800lbs.
Are you making a reference to the tongue weight factoring into the max payload number?

 

Ignore the brochure numbers. Those are too general for calculating your payload capacity. The yellow sticker in the door will be the correct number for YOUR truck...but you have to subtract any other equipment added after it was built in the factory. (dealer added equipment, stuff you've done to it, etc)
From that payload number, you have to subtract the weight of the weight distribution hitch (usually around 100 lbs), the tongue weight, all passengers, pets, and other items in the truck. MOST pull-type travel trailers, when loaded correctly, have a tongue weight around 12-13% of the total gross weight. If you have a 7600 lb trailer, your tongue weight will be a bit over 900 lbs. That gives you 600 lbs for all the other stuff I listed. Subtracting 100 lbs for the WDH, that gives you 500 lbs for passengers, pets, and...stuff.

 

Ok. So my last sentence about tongue weight (and the WDH, and pax and cargo) is what we're driving at here because all of those things quickly erode the max payload rating on the yellow sticker. For the most part it's going to be that highly variable 12-13% of gross trailer weight becoming tongue weight, and as trailer weight increases significantly, so does that tongue weight. So for instance, if I were to drop the published max 7,600lb. trailer onto my truck, 13% gives us 988lbs. tongue weight, another 100lbs. for the WDH, we're almost at 1,100lbs. already and I've got just 400lbs. left according to my yellow sticker which my family, cargo, generator will quickly exceed.

It's more clear to me now. I'm learning quickly. Thank you for that!

 

An 8800 lb trailer will have closer to 1150 lbs tongue weight than 880, figure 13%, not 10%. Then you have to factor in about 100 lbs for the WDH meaning that trailer will put about 1250 lbs on the trucks suspension. Payload varies considerably between Ford trucks depending on how they are equipped but they are typically somewhere around 1600-1800 lbs. Some are as low as 1100, others can go slightly over 2000, but both of those are rare.

If the OP's truck has 1800 lbs of payload you'd subtract tongue weight (1250) from 1800 and he'd have only 550 lbs left over for the driver, passenger and any cargo in the truck. I weigh 220, my wife 140. With us driving that truck we'd only have 190 lbs for any cargo or other passengers in the truck.

The engine/axle ratio in the OP's truck will PULL the weight with ease, but he may not have enough payload to handle the weight. Until he finds the payload rating and does the math there is no way to know. If there is 1800 lbs or more then it is doable, but will be close. He'll have to pack carefully and possibly leave some stuff at home. If the payload is closer to 1600 lbs then he needs to be looking at lighter trailers.

If you keep trailer weight in the 6000-7000 lb range most 1/2 tons do fine. At or above 8000 and it is time to think about a 3/4 ton truck. There are 1/2 tons that will do it, but at that weight it is easier, and often cheaper to just buy a 3/4 ton. And the farther you get above 8000 the more important a heavier truck is. At 8800 lbs I'd be pulling it with a 3/4 ton.

 

You really can't guess on tongue weight. You can't assume it will be 10% or 13% or 15%. My TT has a 6,600 pound GVWR. It has a published tongue weight of 430 which is complete bull. As set up, with dual golf cart batteries and dual 30 pound propane tanks, and nothing in the trailer, tongue weight is ~800 pounds. With minimal equipment in the storage bin, it's 860 pounds. This is before packing the trailer and all the storage is over the axles or forward of the axles so tongue weight only goes up. I typically roll down the road with 900 pounds tongue weight and an actual trailer weight of about 5,000 pounds. That's 18% tongue weight and I can't get it lighter without moving stuff rearward of the trailer axles. That's all fine with me. I only use this as an example that you can't pick a trailer from a brochure and assume you'll be able to get the tongue weight down to some specific %. It all depends on the trailer and how it's set up. You have to weigh it.

 

Thank you all for your input. I appreciate the info. I needed help. Looks like I need to make a decision. Bigger truck different trailer .Thank you

 

My 2 cents, your truck possibly can pull that trailer, but IMO, 30' is too much for any F150 short box, just not enough planted and that trailer if not dialed in perfectly will push you around like a ragdoll in the wind.