Towing Question

[Shoalwater]

New to the forum and looks like lots of helpful info. I am looking at purchasing a new 2014 Sunset Trail Reserve 31SS, with a dry weight around 6800LBS and hitch weight of 860. I bought a Equalizer hitch in 1000/10000 and I have a 2011 F-150, SuperCrew, 4X4, Ecoboost, 3.55 gears, rated at 9700 towing capacity. Is anyone pulling this trailer with this same type setup. I am a little nervous that once loaded it might be a little to much for a 1/2 ton. I know I will be well under my max towing, it's just that I have never towed this kind of weight with a 1/2 ton. I have always had 3/4 ton diesels, but my company quit reimbursing on 3/4 ton trucks a couple of years ago, so I had to buy the F150. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[Lloyd]

I'm guessing you probably don't have -- max tow, max payload. If that is the case you probably don't have 10 ply tires either.When you get that rig loaded for camping you will more then likely be some over 8000#. If you have much in the truck, I would think you will either be at the max or over. Plus if your truck has 4 ply tires, you ain't going to like it out on the road.

[anaro]

You need to know more about your trucks capabilities than just my truck can tow x lbs. (I learned this the hard way).Most TV are limited by their payload. To find out your TVs true towing capacities then you need to go weigh it. Load the tv up with all occupants, pets, and cargo that will be in it when towing plus a full tank of fuel and then go weigh it at a local scale (www.catscale.com).Weigh each axle on a separate scale pad so it will give you a breakdown of front and rear axle weights individually and a total weight. Take the total weight and subtract it from your Trucks gvwr to get your available payload. Take the scaled Truck weight and subtract it from your Truck gcwr to get your adjusted towng capacity. If you can't get to a scale then you can look at the sticker inside the drivers door. It should say "occupants and cargo not to exceed x lbs". take the weight and subtract the weight of you, any passengers and pets plus any gear you plan to have in the truck when towing. The number left is a rough estimate of your available payload. You need a loaded tongue weight less than this number.

Now understand you will never tow an unloaded or dry trailer. Those numbers are somewhat irrelevant. You can either add the amount of weight of cargo you will tow to the dry weight (this is heavier than you think as most add 1000-1500 lb of gear) or simply use the tt gvwr to do your calculations. (for your purposes do all weight calculations using TT gvwr). Next understand that the tt loaded tongue weight needs to be subtracted from your available payload.The loaded tongue weight is typically 13-15% of the loaded tt weight. The dry tongue weight doesn't even include propane or battery. Also anything placed in the trailer in front of the axles will add to your tongue weight. For your purposes 13-15% of the TT gvwr will be an easier calculation to figure out.

An example here (totally made up numbers from fictional vehicle).... curb weight on scale loaded with passengers and gear: 8500 lbs. TV gvwr 10000 lbs. you have 1500 lbs available payload for a loaded tongue weight. On the fictional trailer, there is a dry weight of 5700 lbs and gvwr of 7700 lbs. Said trailer actually scales in at 7000 lbs loaded. 15% of the loaded (7000 lbs) weight is 1050 lbs.Fictional truck may also have a door sticker that says occupants not to exceed 1700 lbs but with pets, passengers and gear you are down to 1500 lbs available payload.

[sking]

10 ply tires should help a lot.

[Shoalwater]

Old Farmer, you are correct, I do not have the Max tow/Max Payload package. GVWR on my truck is 7,200, GCWR is 15,500, and the passenger do not exceed sticker says 1,140. That must be a joke on the little sticker right? 1140- Me(200)-wife(120)-two little boys(100)-cooler and gear(120) that only leaves 600 for payload. There are not many TT that are going to come in at that low of a loaded tongue weight. Is everyone pulling these bunk house TT's with half tons just well over their limits?

[anaro]

some HD half tons have higher payloads. Some bunkhouse TT are lightweight but yes many are over their limits and either don't know it or think/feel they are ok. if you get into an accident and are over on numbers and insurance finds out, they may not cover you.I was over on payload in my armada. Very bad and scary towing experience. I swore never again.Just like you though, I'm in disbelief over towing numbers because my 3/4 ton has a crappy payload too. it is more than enough for my current trailer though.

[Shoalwater]

Well I dropped the hammer on a 29SS yesterday rather than the 31SS, not a ton of difference in weight, but it is a little lighter. I will be very close to max GVWR with the tongue weight/passenger/cargo, but should be fine on overall loaded trailer weight. I have the Platinum F-150 4X4 which came with 20" rims, and unfortunately I can't find a tire with a load rating higher than XL in my size tire. The tires I currently have are at least the XL rather than the SL that Ford puts on them stock. What happened to the good ole days of B,C,D,E, and F load ratings, I actually understood what those meant? BFG and Nitto make a slightly larger size in the D range, just wasn't really wanting to drop $1,600 plus on another set of tires when mine are only about half worn now. Will I be ok with these tires or should I spend the money to get to a D or E rated tire?

[Lloyd]

What does it say on the side wall? I'm not familiar with the 20 in. tire how they are numbered or rated.

[hippy45]

I will add my 2cents worth here. I think you will be fine if you have a good hitch. They are low profile, so should have less sidewall flex.
I was worried about the factory Hankook's on my F150 during our 4500km trip to the East coast this summer, but the truck handled fantastic! They are tall and narrow P235/75/17 size.
I had zero sway, or handling issues. Our trailer weighs 6800lbs loaded. Our payload sticker is 1428lbs. We also have a Reese dual cam that once dialed in, works well.
Good luck!

[tomandlori]

You will be fine towing the new camper. You will really be surprised of the ecotec engine. It pulls pretty well,

[OhioMark]

First congrats on the purchase and welcome to the Crossroads family.

I have a 2013 300BH and a 2011 F150 SCREW with ECOBOOST. I drove roughly 5K this summer east to west with my trailer and have to tell you these posters are more than right. You have to account for passengers food dog, everything.

PAYLOAD AND HITCH WEIGHT ARE THE ACHILLES HEAL OF 1/2 TONS!

I also bought a tongue scale and was really shocked. I was at 1200 at the hitch, but with a little moving around of stuff and pulling out tools and such from front storage, we were under 850 real quick.

If you concerned, spend the 150 bucks on amazon and get a tongue scale. Safety first in my book.

Also, dump the factory tires and get yourself higher rated payload tires. You wont regret it

[tri5ford]

Shoal,
Just saw your posts and questions. I have a '12 30RK and pull it with a '12 150 Platinum ecoboost. No problems. I have TT, not max. It is a great TV.
Gary

[r2millers]

Originally Posted by Shoalwater

Old Farmer, you are correct, I do not have the Max tow/Max Payload package. GVWR on my truck is 7,200, GCWR is 15,500, and the passenger do not exceed sticker says 1,140. That must be a joke on the little sticker right? 1140- Me(200)-wife(120)-two little boys(100)-cooler and gear(120) that only leaves 600 for payload. There are not many TT that are going to come in at that low of a loaded tongue weight. Is everyone pulling these bunk house TT's with half tons just well over their limits?

If I am understanding your math correctly....

your gvwr is the total weight your truck can handle including your 1140 load. Now your gcwr is the max total when towing.

Thus, your max tow weight will be 15,500 minus your 7,200 or 8,300 lbs after your trailer is fully loaded.

Not sure what you are towing but many mid sized trailer will work here.

[OhioMark]

I installed 10 plys on my truck just after the holidays and they ride rough in the cold weather so I'm hoping it pays off in the summer when were towing. Did you have a noticeable difference between HD 10 plys and regular tires?

[Lloyd]

How much air pressure are you running? You don't need max when running empty.

But, yes, they will make the truck ride harsher.
That 10 ply sidewall is stiff, and cold weather makes it worse.

[Shoalwater]

Originally Posted by r2millers

If I am understanding your math correctly....

your gvwr is the total weight your truck can handle including your 1140 load. Now your gcwr is the max total when towing.

Thus, your max tow weight will be 15,500 minus your 7,200 or 8,300 lbs after your trailer is fully loaded.

Not sure what you are towing but many mid sized trailer will work here.

It's a non isssue now, I bought a new F-250 last month, nice not having to count every ounce to try and figure out if I am legal or not.

[johnboytoo]

Congrats - you are gonna love that 6.7 !
You MUST change your sig pic so we can see that bad boy


heck - I just realized, I don't have one on this website either --- where's that user cp ?~?

[mark5w]

My 10 ply tires are not harsh at all, even in our sub freezing temperatures.

[OhioMark]

Great question, I've been driving on them straight from Firestone, not really ever checked. I understand you can roll on these anywhere from 50-80 PSI>

[hippy45]

Might want to check what the wheels and valve stems are rated for. Hopefully they put high pressure valve stems in for you.