adammjarvis

Interesting about our friends across the pond. But yes - they do love their smaller cars LOL I could see trailers fitting the same bill.

Speaking of speed - doing 65 would probably be a bit much for me. I have no problem doing 55 or 60. I wouldn't be that guy trying to push 70-80 while towing. Vacation time is relaxing time. And typically where I'll be camping - it's 55 mph speed limit anyways & traveling through the mountains will be slow regardless to get to the coast line and once you get to the coast line you're 45-55mph in between coastal cities anyways.

mass-hole

Our friends across the pond are also far more lenient on vehicle capabilities it seems. Great example: my jeep liberty is rated for 500/5000 lbs here in the US. In Europe, its rated for 3500 kg(7700+ lbs). Its a damn Jeep liberty with a 104" wheel base . . . . .

adammjarvis

That's America for you!

That's why I chuckle a little bit at people getting so butt hurt over weight ratings. Sure - I'd like to follow em just like the next guy. But we all know very well that if a warning label says "max 1,220 lbs" and you come in at 1,224 lbs - bolts won't be stripping. I'm willing to bet the REAL limit is at least 80% more than the warning label suggests.

acdii

Ouch!!

Story when I was driving for a living back in 88. Knucklehead in charge of requisitions for the tractors decided it would be a GREAT idea to purchase city trucks for the local deliveries.

City trucks are 3 axle tractors like any other typical tractor, however they have just the cab and a short frame, to get in and out of side streets and alleys. What Knuckle head totally failed to do was contemplate the fact that in order to pull the trailers that this company uses, which are flat beds as we hauled lumber and steel, the tractors needed headache racks installed(Bulkheads) because all the trailers were open front.

Well, guess what happens when you add 18" of bulkhead to a short WB tractor! Yep, move the 5th wheel all the way back. There was no way at all to adjust payloads on those trucks, you could not move the 5th wheel, which also made the front end extremely light. You had to bump steer them through the yard or you would just go in a straight line. It also made the Bridge Law a PITA to get right, and I did get nailed once for overweight, even though I was well under gross. 300 Freaking pounds on my drives that I could not shift due to that stupid BH.

That was MY introduction into the wrong TV world! Thankfully I didn't get stuck with one of those very long and actually got a nicer long truck, an International with a CAT. My last truck there was a beaut, 1985 MACK Superliner! Loved that truck.

Gladehound

Heck, how many people routinely put 1000+ pounds of WC tongue weight on 3/4 tons back in the 90’s? Many did and those receivers were rated for 500 WC tongue weight. Nothings going to break if you go over by a little.

RubyRed Canadian

If you move the batteries inside, just remember to vent them. They off gas when charging and that is pretty corrosive. You might already know that, but it doesn't hurt to say it.

adammjarvis

I'm probably going to get an AGM battery or two for the trailer.

Gladehound

Good point! Thanks for adding. I sealed mine in a box under the foot of the bed (front bed) with a 2" PCV pipe that goes under the bed and through the front storage area to the original vended battery box that was inside the front of the trailer.

smokeywren

The dry hitch weight is 13.67% of dry trailer weight. As you increase weight in the trailer, the percentage of hitch weight should remain at about 13% to 14% of gross trailer weight.

At least, yes. Assuming you load the trailer to have a balanced load.

Trying to move weight around in the trailer to reduce hitch weight is not a good idea. Instead, you should attempt to balance the load in the trailer to maintain 13% to 14% hitch weight.

That 12,200 pounds tow rating is severely overstated, so ignore that. The 1,220 max hitch weight with a WD hitch is the show stopper.

If you load the trailer to a reasonable gross weight of 9,780 and maintain a hitch weight of 13.67%, that's 1,337 pounds hitch weight. Or overloaded by 127 pounds. An overloaded receiver tearing loose from the frame of the tow vehicle is not a pretty sight.

If you shift a bit more weight to the rear to result in 13% hitch weight, that's 1,271 pounds hitch weight. Still 51 pounds overloaded on the receiver.

If you maintain 13% hitch weight and 1,220 pounds max hitch weight to not overload the hitch, that's a wet and loaded trailer weight of 9,384 pounds. So DW will not be a happy camper having to leave a lot of her good stuff at home.

I doubt that. When you load the F-150 with everybody and everything that will be in it when towing, fill up with gas, then weigh the wet and loaded F-150, then subtract that weight from the GVWR of the F-150, how much payload capacity is remaining for hitch weight? More than 1,397 pounds?

Trailer tongue weight should be about 13% to 14% of gross trailer weight. Remember that the factory built it with 13.67% hitch weight.

You should also be worried about not exceeding the payload capacity of your F-150. You're wanting to tow a heavier trailer than your F-150 was designed to tow. Your receiver is a limiter that you probably cannot overcome. And the GVWR (and payload capacity which is based on GVWR) is the most common limiter as to the max weight an F-150 can tow without being overloaded.

adammjarvis

Well we've established the limiting factor is of course the hitch itself rolling in at a max of 1,220 lbs WD.

Okay so -All the other numbers are OK. The limiting factor of course is the 1,220 lb max hitch weight.

The trailer needs to stay around 9,400 lbs loaded. That's do-able. That's about 600 lbs cargo in the trailer.

I'll need to run the numbers somehow in a calculator and figure out best way to load my gear in that trailer.