Brad_bb

2014 F150 Lariat supercab with tow package, 2WD, GVWR 7100, Payload 1486.

I want to haul: 3 horse, horse trailer (assume the horses weigh 5000 lbs total) and another trailer that can haul my 55 Ford tractor and Bushhog (4200 lbs).

I presume that gooseneck is the best way to go, would it not?

How much tongue weight can my truck handle, how heave a trailer can it pull? Is that tongue weight calculated on the gooseneck hitch in the bed or on the ball of ball hitch under the rear bumper? I would get a trailer with brakes.

I don't know anything about things like airbags, but would that be needed or help?

I don't want to change trucks to a 250. I'll probably only tow a trailer once or twice a month at most. Horses in summer, and fetching a few logs at a time in winter to mill. I like the F150 and most of the time it will be driven around town, everyday stuff. It's not my daily driver actually. I only use it when I need to carry something. Otherwise I'll drive my Honda just to commute.
Thank you for any productive feedback.

Velosprout

It looks like you have a 5 1/2 foot bed. Gooseneck trailers are best used with 6.5 foot or 8 foot beds. The hitch system for the gooseneck trailer adds additional weight as well, which would reduce your payload. Here is an example of how to calculate what you can tow:


Starting Payload 1489


Subtract: (use your own figures)
Tonneau Cover: 50 pounds
Driver and Passenger: 360 pounds
Tools, first aid kit, jumper cables, etc., under the back seat 50 pounds
Weight Distributing Hitch: 80 pounds
2 bales of hay in the back of the truck: 80 pounds


Remaining payload: 869 pounds


Maximum trailer weight: including all trailer cargo and horses: 6684 pounds (869 pounds divided by 13%).


Airbags and extra springs are just Band-Aid fixes for the symptoms of an already overloaded truck. If you can't tow it without mods, it is too much trailer for the truck.

5.0GN tow

The smaller 3H GN like mine have tapered noses and will work with the 5.5 beds. I see them at several shows doing it with no problem related to bed length. I have No issues towing my GN but I have 300 pounds of payload more than you. The pin weight is measured at the pin on the truck. Depending on how your trailer is set up, you may be ok it really comes down to the trailer. The other question I have is what kind of horses, 5k for three horses is quite a bit for QH or similar size animals.

smokeywren

Velosprout pretty much nailed it. You'll probably be overloaded with either trailer, but especially with a gooseneck.


Payload capacity is your limiter. You'll run out of payload capacity before any other weight limiter.



You need unused payload capacity for the hitch weight of a trailer that grosses about about 7,000 to 8,000 pounds. For a conventional trailer, that's about 900 to 1,050 pounds. If you haul anything in the truck besides a skinny driver, you'll probably be overloaded.


For your F-150? No. Properly loaded gooseneck trailer will have about 20% hitch weight compared to 13% tongue weight for a conventional trailer. That will require an additional 490 to 560 pounds of unused payload capacity if you haul that load on a gooseneck trailer.

Depends on what other weight is in the truck. There is no magic number you can pull out of the air. You have to know the weight of your wet and loaded truck ready to tow. So load the truck with you and everything else that will be in it when towing, including tools and the hitch, then go to a truck scale, fill up with gas, then weigh he wet and loaded truck.. Subtract the weight of the wet and loaded F-150 from the GVWR of the F-150 and the answer is your unused payload capacity available for hitch weight.


A lot more than it can haul the hitch weight of that trailer without being overloaded. Divide the unused payload capacity available for hitch weight by 13% (0.13) to see the max weight of a tongue trailer you can tow without being overloaded.

Divide the unused payload capacity available for hitch weight by 20% (0.2) to see the max weight of a gooseneck trailer you can tow without being overloaded.


The answer is probably less than 5,000 pounds

For a tongue trailer, it's the weight of the tongue on the ball at the back of the truck. For a gooseneck trailer, it's the weight of the gooseneck hitch on the ball in the bed. For a fifth wheel trailer, it's the weight of the kingpin on the 5er hitch, also called "pin" weight.



Air bags hide the sag in the rear end caused by overloading the F-150. They don't increase your payload capacity, but they hide the obvious effects of exceeding the payload capacity.


If you overload the tow vehicle, then the headlights will probably aim at the stars instead of down the road. So you need airbags to hide the main symptom of being overloaded.


Then if you don't want to be overloaded, you'll have to concentrate on limiting the hitch weight of any trailer you tow, and haul absolutely nothing in the truck but a skinny driver.


Limiting the hitch weight means limiting the gross weight of the trailer, because hitch weight of a properly loaded trailer is a fixed percentage of gross trailer weight. So you probably cannot haul 3 horses at one time without exceeding the payload capacity of your F-150. One thing you can do to lower the trailer weight is to buy an aluminum trailer instead of a steel trailer. Quality aluminum horse trailers are available, but they cost more than similar steel trailers.



How often you tow has nothing to do with matching tow vehicle to weight of the trailer. Whether once a year or once a day, the results of an accident while towing is just as severe.



I like mine too, but I understand the limits it has. I traded down from an F-250 I needed to tow my small 5er, but my F-150 is right up against the payload capacity, or overloaded by a few pounds, with my travel trailer that grosses only 4,870 when wet and loaded on the road. No way could I tow a 7,000 pound horse trailer without being overloaded.

Feathermerchant

Why they make the F250...

smokeywren

And if that's not enough, Ford also makes the F-350 SRW, the F-350 DRW, F-450. F-550. F-650 and F-750. And if the F-750 is not enough, other companies make PeterBilts, Freightliners and International Class 8 trucks for cruising the interstates with 80,000 pound rigs.

Brad_bb

Ok, I'm bummed. I love the looks and ride of F150 and will use it 95% of time not pulling a trailer. Upsizing to the F250 for something I do 5% of the time and sacrificing the ride and everything else 95% of the time....at alot more cost.... that's the bummer. That is what how often I use it has something to do with it.

Velosprout

Check out the '17 aluminum body F250. Great looks, and likely somewhat better mileage than the current version. Same interior as F150's. Should be hitting dealers lots in July as dealers orders are being accepted now. The 2017 Super Duty order guides have now been posted on other forums.

TooManyVehicles

Is there pricing data out now?

mass-hole

I dont think they saved that much weight on the new ones. From what I remember reading, they lightened the body, but beefed up the frame and axles so they come out about the same weight.