Arickhill8

I have a 2014 F150 super crew 4x4 with the 5.0 and 3.55 axle. My family really wants a travel trailer but in afraid I don't have enough truck. The travel trailer we are looking at is a Kodiak single slide 26ft with a dry weight of 4,750(supposedly). My door jam says that my truck has a GVWR of 7350. What do you guys think? Enough truck or no? i do have the select shift if that makes a difference. I live in Northern Washington and plan to go back to the east coast eventually(couple years) and I just want to be sure I have enough truck. I don't plan to go too far with it until I go back east which would be a one time trip. I plan to use it here locally(within 150 miles) until then. Any thoughts are very welcome! Thanks!!

Trailbreak74

I have the same truck as you. I tow a 21 foot single slide Salem with mine. It does fine. It's under payload. The 5.0 does rev going up some grades but no problems at all. Got almost 2000 miles towing this year.

To know what your truck can legally tow, you need to know the tongue weight of the trailer when wet and loaded.

Jason_Larsen

Go weigh your truck with what ever stuff you normally would carry. that will give you an idea of how much tongue weight you can take on. You can ask all the people in the world but scales is what holds the real answer.

Here are my numbers with a 2015 f150 towing a cougar half ton 26bhswe listed at 5800# dry

just the truck F 3100 R 2200 total of 5300

towing F 3000 R 3050 total of 6050 leaving me with only 450 left of my 6500 GVWR

the trailer weighed in at 6000 at the axles and 6900 total ( 40 gallons of water and supplies) when i measured the rear with the load carring hitch undone ( 3330 rear axle )

Of course the guys at the RV lot said I could tow a bigger trailer.......

My point is if you want to know the truth you have to hit the scales.

mike243

My 2011 has same running gears and I pull a 28' at about 5000lbs dry weight,with full water tank im close to 7000-7200 , no problems it handles it well. A weight distribution hitch will be needed along with anti sway bars unless you buy a hitch that dosent need them.

11screw50

Tongue weight is key. When I went to the RV dealer to pick up my new hitch I looked around and found a TT that I liked better than the one we have. Same length but lighter, then I looked at the dry tongue weight and it was higher than my wet and loaded tongue weight on the unit we have now.

You will also need to look at the available payload on the door sticker and subtract the weight of you and your family.

And finally, run the numbers yourself. The salesman at the dealership will sell you far more trailer than your truck can handle. They will look at it and tell you that it weighs less than your truck is rated to tow and while that will probably be true, the payload is what will get you.

And if you do pull the trigger, get a good weight distributing hitch. I have a Husky Centerline TS and put almost 2000 miles on it this summer and it was a huge improvement over the round bar setup I had before. Others here have the Equalizer 4 point and swear by them.

irishtom29

it should be noted that a capable weight distribution hitch will shift 15-20% of the load, as indicated by tongue weight, rearward to the trailer axles. Thus a tongue weight of 1000 pounds would actually be putting only 800-850 pounds of load on the truck. However the tongue weight seen by the receiver stays the same; seems kind'a paradoxical at first but there you are.

I use a Sherline tongue weight scale so I know what I'm dealing with, note it's a finicky device and must be used carefully to get a reliable reading.

Biggles

Payload is the key. It really depends how much payload will the truck be carrying. The kids , dogs , toys , kitchen sink etc.

smokeywren

By carefully managing weights, you can probably get by when camping locally. But on the big move back east, you'll have to limit the weight you haul in the truck and camper. So use the CAT scales often to see where you stand during the next two years. If you get several scale tickets before the big move, then you'll know how much leeway you have for hauling stuff instead of shipping it as part of your household goods.


On the scale ticket, the weight on the front axle plus the weight on the rear axle is compared to the GVWR of the tow vehicle.


Your limiter? Payload capacity. Ignore tow ratings and try very hard not to exceed the payload capacity of your tow vehicle.


Don't go cheap on the hitch. Pay a bit extra for a Reese Strait-Line or Equa-I-Zer, or consider investing in a ProPride so you won't have to worry about trailer sway. I tow my cargo trailer with a Strait-Line and my TT with a ProPride.

And two years from now you may decide to invest in a new tow vehicle. If you do, be sure to get one with enough payload capacity to haul all the weight you might want to haul in the rig when moving back east.