Towing with our truck- what too heavy

As someone else mentioned, look at the ford towing guide and see what it says for your truck and go from there. Do not go over what your truck is rated for. A good number is to stay n a 75-80% margin of what the truck rating is. That's the trailer gross weight. Not its dry weight.

But let me give a little advice. You don't have to go to the maximum weight. Go as light and as small as you will be comfortable with. Storage space is prime. You can get two 20' tts and they weigh literally the same. One may look smaller inside because it has more storage space. The fact is, at you will have to store stuff. Where will you store it when you are set up and camping. Having a place for it all is so much better than tripping over it in a TT that doesn't have organized storage. All those cupboards and drawers will be a god send later on.

Here is a good read about figuring out what you can tow.

Here are some things to keep in mind, when you go looking at trailers:

1. Many trailer sales people will tell you, as long as dry (hitch, empty, shipping, unloaded) weight is within your tow capacity, you're good to go. DON'T LISTEN TO THEM, NOBODY TOWS EMPTY !!

2. Advertised dry weights are only accurate until the unit arrives at the dealer. The the dealer adds propane, battery, and various options.

3. Average camping load (dishes, bedding, camp chairs, BBQ, water, food, etc) is 800 to 1000 lbs.

4. Towing at max weight can be quite unpleasant.

mandmhunter wrote:


We just got a 2008 Ford F150 mostly for the purpose of towing a trailer, on the door sticker the GVWR is 7200 lbs- seems pretty straight forward, right???

A primer on some terms:

GVWR means Gross Vehicle Weight Rating or the maximum the vehicle can weigh. That would include the vehicle itself, fuel, passengers and cargo. That is not its towing capacity.

GCWR means the Gross Combined Weight Rating is the maximum the vehicle can weigh including any trailer it is towing.

Somewhere in your owner's manual you should find more information on the tow rating for your vehicle. If not, a little research on the manufacturer's website or even using Google will get you the tow rating.

After you find the tow rating, only consider trailers that have a GVWR equal to or less than your truck's tow rating. Never consider the dry weight of a trailer, which is a confusing and meaningless term.

Like stated above, the GVWR of the truck is what can be put on those 4 tires

This provided that the tires currently on the truck meet or exceed OEM standards.

Do you have the 5.4L V8 with 300 HP or a smaller engine?

Auto trans? 4 wheel drive? Towing package?

The towing package usually includes a larger transmission cooler, and if you want to tow above about 8,500 pounds GVWR for the trailer, then a larger transmission cooler would always be a good idea.

Like stated above, the GVWR of the truck is what can be put on those 4 tires, and try your best to not exceed the 7,200 pound rating. The tires, rims, axles, brakes, and other items like the transmission strength are all limiting factors that Ford used to decide the F-150 has a rating of 7,200 pounds.

Ford also takes a hand built 2008 truck and loads it up to 7,200 pounds and takes it all over the test tracks. They brake with it, do many full throttle tests, then full braking, and see what happens. Do the brakes overheat at 7,500 pounds? If something looks unstable, they will only allow a lower GVWR, to make sure the truck will last a full 100,000 miles without undue problems showing up. Such as overheating brakes when you are driving in city traffic and go to 35 MPH for 600 feet, then a complete stop for 20 seconds, and repeat for about a hour. If the brake pads had started to glow, then it would indicate something not "Ford Tough".

And while testing, they have all kinds of gauges on the trucks. Measure transmission temps, axle oil temps, test the brakes then measure the rotor temps, and on and on.

Basically the 1/2 ton can carry about 1,000 pounds and still have ability to carry a driver, full tank of gas, and other small items.

So basically start looking for a 6,000 pound trailer with about 600 - 750 pounds of hitch weight. You can go over a few hundred pounds, but towing might be slower up the hills, or not? Anyway in 2011, the 3.5L Ecoboost 365 HP engines came out with a 7,600 pound GVWR (give or take a few hundred pounds) and it can tow 10,500 pound trailers. They did not declare that you could actually carry 6 passengers while towing that 10,500 pound trailer, but you can carry about 500 pounds of passengers and still tow the trailer.

Fred.

The TERM half ton towable does NOT mean that all half ton trucks can tow it. It means that there are at least SOME half tons capable of towing the trailer. It is NEVER a blanket issue because half ton tow ratings run from 5,000 lb. to 11.300 lb. which is a VERY wide range. Check the specifications for your truck to determine what trailers it can tow and NEVER look only at the sales pitch issues like "half ton towable". You'd be as well off going by "tows easily" to make the decision.

Ford trucks in the year of yours have ratings that begin around 6,000 lb. and go as high as 10,500 lb. and it all depends on the specific equipment your truck has. This includes gear ratio, engine selection, GVWR (ranges from 6600 to 8,200 lb.) and wheel base.

Chances are there are LOTS of trailers you can tow with ease so I'd recommend you begin browsing the web sites for various brands in which you're interested and see what ones fit your own trucks ratings. You will NOT be happy if you buy more trailer than your truck SHOULD be towing.

HERE is one good place to begin looking at specifications and floor plans that interest you.

Good luck / Skip

simply saying you have a 2008 F-150 really doesn't provide enough info to answer your question.
what cab size, which model package(XL, XLT...), which engine, 4x4 or 4x2, what bed size, what rear end ratio, factory tow package or not.
those are the things that determine towing capacity and payload capacity.

you can look it up in your owner's manual or on Ford's 2008 Towing Guide.

and never believe marketing gimmicks, like "1/2 ton towable". those are simple tricks to get uninformed buyers in.

Your trucks GVWR has nothing directly to do with the GVWR of the trailer you get...

That #7200 on your truck means that's the most it can weigh when you load it up with people and stuff in the bed, PLUS the tongue weight of the trailer you hitch up.

Lets say your truck weighs #6200 with people and stuff.. That leaves you #1000 for tongue weight. There are some other weight ratings that figure into this too, but for now, lets just start there.. :)

That's a pretty good amount, so you have options in the trailer you can get.

Travel trailers, in general, have between 10% and 15% of their total weight as tongue weight, so it'll vary depending on the trailers layout and how it's loaded.

Probably does not answer your question, but others will chime in and help you figure it all out.. :)

Good luck!

Mitch