flixden

Chicken, no, you are not reducing the actual tongue weight. The rating of the hitch and truck is the real tongue weight as measured on the trailer, and that rating requires weight distribution.

jml79

Weigh it all!!! I have a 20' (on the floor) 24' Overall steel stock trailer that has a registered empty weight of 4000 Lb and was supposed to have a tongue weight of 500 Lb. After weighing it the trailer is 4800 Lb empty and the tongue weight is 750 Lb. I also weighed it with the WD kit on and loaded with the WD kit on. I used a proper truck scale and it was able to give me the weights for each axle. Hitched and loaded with the WD kit the front axle is 100 lb's lighter than it is when the truck is weighed alone. Total loaded weight is 7600 Lb.

I tow this setup without any issues or sway. I have a reese SC WD kit that has sway control built in. My rig is likely a lot top heavier than a TT. It is all steel and has a thick frame/roll cage and horses are a bit on the top heavy side.

I know everyone is trying to stay legal and safe but we are the exception. I see tons of half ton trucks hooked up to horse trailers weighing between 5-8000 lb without any WD or Sway Control. Horse trailers also tend to be very tongue heavy because the axles are positioned much further back than a normal trailer. This is with a live load that tends to dance and jump around when they get annoyed. I am the only person I know with any WD on their horse trailer. Our trucks can easily handle what the manufacturer rates them for and more. A lot more. I have seen half ton's towing 4 horse goose neck trailers that easily exceed the GAWR and likely the max tow weight and other crazy things.

I am not trying to urge people to do unsafe things, what I am saying is you can go right to the published limits without any worry. Ford has more than accounted for and built in the needed safety factors. They aren't stupid and know very well that many people will far exceed the published limits.

tomb1269

If you do not mind me tossing in my 2 cents. An easy way to determine a good trailer fit is to look at your cpacit7y numbers as you have. The ones I realy on are the Actual vehicle weight and the GCWR. The nice thing about trucks is the GCWR minus max Trailer Weight usually equals the trucks curb weight including 150lb driver. So with the numbers you provided GCWR = 15100, Max Trailer 9300 leaves the truck weight at about 5800 lbs. So to determine your best trailer weight fit add about 1000 to 1200 lbs minimum to the trucks weight (will vary with hitch weight, passengers, etc) and subtract from the GCWR which would leave you 8100 lbs. I would look for a trailer with a GVWR (not dry weight) of 8100 lbs or less. In most cases this would put the trailers dry weight down just under 7000lbs (6500 - 7100) as most travel trailers are designed / planned to handle 1000 lbs over GVWR, for water, food , clothes, etc to be stowed on board during transit. The exception is Toy Haulers, they tend to have 2000 to 3000 lb load capacity over dry weight for ATVs and the like.

flixden

Tomb, that approach only looks at one of the limits, and would most likely put you over on payload and rear axle ratings.
Looking at your example: you are assuming 1,000 - 1,200 lbs of load in the truck (gear & passengers). Then, you are suggesting a 8,100 lbs Travel trailer. Assuming a 13% tongue weight, you'd be looking at a load of 1,900 - 2,200 lbs on the truck, somewhere in that range.

opinyawn

Don't want to get blasted here, and I'm not disagreeing with anyone's statements, but I suspect this discussion would scare the hell out of a newbie starting at ground zero in knowledge! I suspect most will survive safely if they make sure the hitching system they are using is not exceeded by the tongue weight of their trailer in loaded use. With agricultural/commercial uses it all get complicated and requires more knowledge. If you have a travel trailer with a clear tongue weight, make sure that your hitching equipment can handle "at very least" that tongue and overall weight. My experience is that factory receivers may not handle a trailer of 30' and you maybe smart to replace the factory receiver with a stouter one! My GM Diesel failed with a 30' travel trailer.

Safety 1st!

willieboy

That is kind of the point. People think towing is a matter of how much the trailer weighs, and not exceeding the load rating of the hitch. The don't realize there is a lot more too it. I think understanding all the aspects of towing SAFELY is the best place to start, instead of figuring it out after you have torn something up.

opinyawn

Of course you are right, I was just trying to keep in mind the newbie and how to start with the basics without scaring them off with brain overload! I suppose with commercial towing it's different. I'm relating to the people I see towing travel trailers that don't even get the basics! If stuck my nose into situations where people were going to the interstate with the front of their travel trailer way up in the air thinks they were being kind to there pickup truck! Their rig was swaying form one side of the highway to the other and they had no clue why!

Off topic example: I was touring Europe and met a very nice guy that bought a money belt for safety! He was complaining that the belt wasn't long enough! He was wearing it on the outside of all of his clothes! I wondered whether to mind my own business, but finally worried about him and told him that he was asking to be robbed, and he might consider wearing it under his clothes! His mouth fell open as the message sunk in! He didn't get embarrassed and thanked me many times for telling him!

What is obvious to some... is not obvious to others.... and he was a very bright guy! Just no street smarts!

German Auto Speciali

thats an awesome looking trailer on a quick side note

http://www.german-auto-specialists.com

baldy500

Just to give you an idea, this is my setup. 2010 FX4 towing a Rockwood 8306SS with a Equal-i-zer 1000/10000 WDH. I carry bikes and kayaks in the box. Tows very well, I do increase my rear tire pressure to 42 psi. The trailer is 6677 lbs off the assembly line.

Masterblaster1

Great thread thanks for all the info gents.