Truck Towing Options
#1
Truck Towing Options
First time posting. So here goes.
I am looking at a trailer with the following Specs:
GVWR 7400 lbs
Dry Weight 5380 lbs
Hitch Weight 660 lbs
I am also looking for a new to me 2013 F150 with a 5.0 L. (I would like to stay with the 5.0 for my own reasons) Now the question is how do I find out if the truck has the options that I need to tow this trailer. (Max Payload/Max Tow) other that the seller telling me the truck has these options?
I am looking at a trailer with the following Specs:
GVWR 7400 lbs
Dry Weight 5380 lbs
Hitch Weight 660 lbs
I am also looking for a new to me 2013 F150 with a 5.0 L. (I would like to stay with the 5.0 for my own reasons) Now the question is how do I find out if the truck has the options that I need to tow this trailer. (Max Payload/Max Tow) other that the seller telling me the truck has these options?
#5
Opinionated Blowhard
Truck Towing Options
Look for 7 lug rear axle.
#7
Senior Member
iTrader: (1)
First of all, you'll need to look at the two stickers on the driver's side door. One (the Truck Safety Certification Label) will have the trucks GVWR, GAWRs, and at the bottom will have a code that will tell you what rear axle ratio it has.
Take a look at the 2013 brochure here - scroll down to page 33 to see the GVWR ratings for all the combinations of cab/wb/4x2/4x4 and std, Max Tow, or Heavy Duty:
http://www.ford.com/services/assets/...stalCode=65613
Take a look at the Towing Guide to see what the axle code on the door sticker means - scroll down to page 3 to see the "Rear Axle Ratio Codes":
http://www.ford.com/resources/ford/g...rv&tt_f150.pdf
When you know what the cab/wb configuration is, look at page 33 in the brochure and you can see what the GCWR for that truck is.
HOWEVER - don't pay a damn bit of attention to the "max trailer weight" or "max payload" listed for the truck. Any truck with normal comfort/convenience options will have a payload much less than that published, and also be limited to a trailer much less than that in the brochure. Those numbers are for a truck with ZERO options!!
The MAIN thing that will determine the weight of a trailer you can pull will be the PAYLOAD CAPACITY of the individual truck you're looking at.
In addition to the label with the GVWR, etc. on it, there's another sticker on the door or pillar that has yellow on it - that's the tire sticker, but also has the payload capacity of that particular truck as it came off the assembly line (nothing in it, but it does include a full tank of gas).
Bottom line - the payload capacity and rear GAWR are undoubtedly going to be the limiting factors that will determine the max trailer you can tow. Also, your hitch will have some limits on it as well - the standard tow package is limited to a tongue weight of 1050 lbs with a WDH, and the max tow pkg 1150 lbs with a WDH.
The tongue weight of a trailer should be 10% to 15% of the total wet&loaded trailer weight - normal tongue weight is in the middle of that range. The trailer you're looking at will probably gross out at least 7000 lbs when loaded for towing - That's around 850 lbs of tongue weight, and your WDH head will weigh around 50 lbs or more.
So....you'd have around 900 lbs of payload capacity being used up by that. If the truck you're looking at has, say, a 1400 lb payload capacity, then you'd have 500 lbs remaining for people and stuff in the cab and bed before hooking up to the trailer.
Whenever you're looking at a truck, take a picture of the two stickers on the driver's door so you can do your simple math.
Also, lie down under the rear bumper and look up to see the sticker that shows the hitch rating limits.
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241 (06-25-2015)