Simnut

I think so and finally..so does my loving bride!

Just bought a 2017 Bullet 212RBS and can't wait to pick it up tomorrow! I have the factory tow package in our truck and just need an equalizer hitch installed..happening tomorrow. They threw the hitch/installation in, full propane tanks and two Trojan 6 volt deep cycle batteries. Ready to rock and roll!!! My favorite part about this trailer, aside from the trailer? MY outdoor kitchen!!!!!!!

Look out world, here we come! Just have to pay a couple hundred bucks everytime we leave the island! LOL

PerryB

Very cool ! It's nice to have new toys now and again.

Simnut

It is!!!

I will turn 60 in a few months and a realization came to mind. When do you start to enjoy what you've worked hard for you're entire career? My buddy, whom I bought the "new" truck through (I knew him through school, so he's not my buddy because he sells vehicles ) woke my bride and I up to this . Take a tape measure and point to 72"....that is around the average life of a North American male. Now, point to your age. See what you've done life wise? See what is the expected time left? For us, time to start having fun!

We've "invested" into our boys, their sports (big time payoff in character build), their start in the housing market and don't owe on anything we own. Time for ma and pa (us) to enjoy now...who knows how long "now" will last.

I must say one thing too. Those boys I mentioned? Last night we got a msg from both of them after they saw what we were getting. It said "It's about time!!" Sorry to get sappy on this but I'm in a very cool place in my life!

STYLEZ24

Congrats. Thats a beauty trailer.

Simnut

Thank you sir! Ever heard the old saying when building/selling a house? If the wife likes the kitchen, you will sell it. Well, with me "retired" and my wife still working...I'm that "wife". So , the large sink and outdoor kitchen sold this trailer!!!

I know...I checked in my man card

STYLEZ24

No way, I wanted an outdoor kitchen too! They didnt make them in 09 and my budget was too low

Enjoy. I've had one weekend out with my Jayco 23J and I'm in love.

smokeywren

Not to rain on your parade, but to keep you around for a long retirement.

That trailer with GVWR of 6800 is right at the max weight of a trailer you can tow with your F-150 without being overloaded (exceeding the GVWR of the tow vehicle). You'll have plenty of power and torque to PULL the wet and loaded trailer, but with the camper shell and family and other weight in the truck, the hitch weight of the wet and loaded trailer may exceed the payload capacity available for hitch weight.

So on the first camping trip, stop at a truck stop that has a certified automated truck scale, fill up with gas, and weigh the wet and loaded rig. Add the weights on the steer and drive axels and compare that total to the GVWR of the F-150. If you're not overloaded, you'll know how much payload capacity you have in reserve for adding weight.

Tricks to minimizing weight on the two truck axles:

Haul tools and jacks and other heavy stuff in the trailer, not in the truck. Only 13% of weight in the trailer adds to payload in the truck, but 100% of the weight in the truck is carried by the two axles.

Travel with empty black and grey water tanks, and haul only enough fresh water in the fresh water tank to flush the pottie while on the road.

Leave your cast-iron cookware at home and haul only light-weight aluminum cookware in the trailer.

Use plastic cups and dishes and forks instead of heavier stainless and glass and ceramic.


Wait until you get to the destination RV park with the trailer parked and disconnected from the F-150 before you stock up on canned food, drinks, campfire wood. Yeah, that will cost you more than buying at Wal-Mart, but it's a lot less expensive than trading for a heavier-duty tow vehicle.

If after all that minimizing, you're still overweight, then Darling Wife will have to make some tough decisions about reducing the weight inside the trailer and in the covered bed of pickup.

My similar 2012 Lariat F-150 is overloaded by a few pounds when towing my smaller TT that has GVWR of 5,600 pounds and actually scales at less than 5,000 pounds when on the road. So you must be leery of any weight you load in the truck or trailer if you don't want to be overloaded.



If it is a genuine Equal-I-Zer hitch, then that's a good one with good sway control. But if it's a cheap hitch, then you need to negotiate a better sway-control hitch. Not "sway bars" added to a cheap hitch, but built-in sway control such as an Equal-I-Zer or Blue Ox or Husky Centerline HD (not TS) or Reese Strait-Line. Sway is the major culprit in towing a "bumper pull" travel trailer, so you want to pay a bit more to prevent or control trailer sway.


You don't need any sway control under ideal conditions of dry pavement, no cross winds, no bumps or chug holes in the road, no sharp curves in the road, no junk in the road that would cause you to swerve to miss running over the junk, no two-lane highways where big trucks meet you or pass you at high speeds, and a perfectly adjusted weight-distributing hitch. But you will soon discover that other than ideal conditions that can cause trailer sway are common, and uncontrolled trailer sway can result in the greasy side up. So insist on a good weight-distributing hitch with good sway control.

Simnut

I'm with you on that. I went to the local highway scales here and weighed my fully fueled truck with my self in it. Came to 6217 lbs total weight. The trailer we just purchased has a shipping weight of 4427 lbs.

In my thinking, I can add at least 1700lbs total to the package and still be safe. Am I correct? I would travel with empty tanks in the trailer as you suggested and save around 900 lbs + on the GCVWR. Or am I looking at this wrong? The truck came with factory installed tow package (trailer brakes etc) with a max tongue weight rating of just over 700lbs. I would have about 620 lbs on the hitch. We have a toneau cover on the truck, no topper. The weight would be distributed so that each element would be within their GVW and not exceeding the GCVWR.

Slap me upside the head if I need to rethink this...please LOL

smokeywren

No.


If the truck weighed 6217 with just you in the truck, and Darling Wife weighs 125 pounds, that's 6,342 pounds. If your F-150 is a 4x4, then GVWR is 7,200 pounds. 7,200 minus 6,342 leaves 858 pounds you can add to the weight in the truck and on the hitch.


With nothing else in the truck but your DW, that's a max hitch weight - including a good WD hitch with good sway control - of a TT that weighs 5,830 pounds. Trying to get your TT down to a wet and loaded weight of only 5,830 will be a challenge.


Ignore GCVWR (or what Ford calls GCWR). That's not your limiter. GCWR tells you the max weight your F-150 can PULL but ignores the payload capacity of the F-150. Your limiter is probably GVWR, or the max weight on the two axles of the F-150. Your F-150 can pull a lot more weight than it can carry the hitch weight of that trailer.


Payload capacity available for hitch weight = GVWR minus the weight of the wet and loaded F-150.


Travel trailers average 13% tongue weight, plus another 100 pounds for a good WD hitch. So if you can keep the weight of the trailer down to 5,830 pounds, your tongue weight will probably be about 758 pounds, plus 100 = 858 total hitch weight.


Consider yourself slapped. You can do it with that truck and trailer, but it will require careful management of weights in the truck and trailer if you don't want to be overloaded.

Simnut

Next time, don't slap so hard

Please remember, I'm not arguing...I'm discussing.

Here is the trailer we bought...well, signing the papers today.

https://www.arbutusrv.ca/unit/uvxxxx.../a17n2914.html

This would be my math on it.

Truck (Full fuel, two people, hitch, tongue weight) 7010 lbs
Trailer (1000 lbs loaded) 5300 lbs

Gives me a total package weight of 12310 lbs. I'm rated for 13500 lbs. The truck would be 300 lbs under Max GVW, the trailer would be 2200 lbs under Max towing weight and the combined package would be 1200 lbs under max GCVW. That is too close you think?

Edit: My math is still wrong! LOL

Truck Math is correct : 7010 lbs (with full fuel, 2 people, small dog, hitch and tongue weight)
Trailer Math NEW weight: 5000 lbs (1000 lbs of cargo aboard)
Total 12000 lbs going down the highway.

The truck is 300 lbs under max GVW, the trailer is 2500 under max GVW. Should I duck? :O