Towing Advice

First, you need to stop using brochure dry weights. They are not accurate and can vary greatly. Your 7800lbs will easily be 9k+ even lightly loaded. An 1100lbs difference in dry weights is hardly minor, it’s 10% of your tow capacity. That will push or exceed the limits of most 1/2 ton trucks. That kind of weight should have a minimum 1200lbs of tongue weight to be stable. That probably exceeds the truck’s receiver rating and certainly won’t be helped using an Andersen hitch.

I think you’ve met another case of too much trailer, not enough truck. Add ons trying to improve it will only be bandaids.

As stated, power is not the issue.
It will come down to any and ALL of the issues mentioned.
Ie too little hitch wieght, incorrect wieght balance side to side, V'd axels, ie, not aligned, front of trailer nose high vs level to slightly down. Not enough air in tires, will swag rear axel vs front or trailer tires. May need to tighten up bars a chain length or equal. Also possible too tight, putting too much wieght back to front axle. I did that on a 1 ton single wheel rig I had.

I would play with what you have personally.

Marty

I've got an F150 with #1920 payload and a un-realistic "tow rating" of #11,300.... Ha, ha...

I'm towing a #7000 GVWR TT that's only 26' long and it's all I want to tow with it...

Don't get me wrong, it tows my Rockwood GREAT.. I just don't want to tow much more getting to the max limits of the truck.. (I pack HEAVY, so I know I'm at the TT's GVWR easy...)

I'm using a basic EAZ-Lift #1000 WD bar and chain hitch setup. No friction 'sway bar'.. Just have it setup right and been using this same hitch for over 17 years..

Anyway, good luck with it. Mitch

As mentioned - many possible things to look at. Some can be addressed easily, others can't. One other to look at is the rating of the hitch. EQ hitches are based on tongue weight. Your tongue weight likely increased by a good 150lbs. EQ hitch bars shift every 200 pounds. Thus, if you have 1k bars on your hitch, but are now hauling around a 1,200 pound tongue, your WD will not perform as well as it could.

I expect you want 1200 or 1400 pound bars for the new TT. Spend a couple hours adjusting the WDH @ a CAT scale.

I do expect the weights to show rear axle and GVW over ratings even with 100% front axle weight restored. Still, it should tow pretty stable unless your bed has another 500+ pounds of camping gear.

Marc wrote:
I have a 2017 3.5L Ecoboost. Per the door sticker, its payload is 1670 pounds. I have always used a Equalizer hitch

This doesn't tell us anything about your F150 trucks GVWR or its FAWR/RAWR. Especially the truck RAWR as its carrying all the hitch load.
You had much the same questions last fall in another thread and some recommendations.

Trucks payload sticker now days is a gvwr based payload and in many cases if its all used on the trucks rear axle that gvwr based payload can and has overloaded its RAWR numbers.

Looking at your 2017 F150 truck specs on Fleetford.com shows most 3.5 EB engine with a 1670 lb pay;load can be a 3800 RAWR. This is a very soft tear suspension F150.
Other RAWR is the 4050...4550...4800 rawr numbers for a stronger/stiffer rear suspension.

Check your trucks drivers side door post GVWR and RAWR. If its the 3800 I would think in terms of some type of aftermarket rear suspension help/LT C or LT D load tires. Some folks have their rear spring pack re-arched or add another leaf to stiffen the suspension.

Also some tires such as a all terrain/mud terrain with larger lugs and voids can have tread squirm especially carrying a load and a trailer push the truck around in sidewinds or a passing semi truck. Highway tread tires works better....after their broke in if new.

What size trunnion bars?
Undersized can create instability.

Another issue is going to be payload with that size trailer.
Tounge weight will consume a big chunk of it and you have to consider all passengers and cargo in the truck as well.

You want my honest opinion for a better towing experience and for piece of mind.....go with a GVWR trailer that your truck can comfortably tow and consider 12 - 15% of this weight as tounge weight and see where you stand regarding payload.

That Sporttrek is a nice trailer but a lofty 35 ft long and will most likely weigh 8500 or so which will give it a roughly a 1200# tounge.

If your in love with the trailer then it's time for F250/2500 series truck and don't look back.

Thanks for all of the advice. I think my best course of action is to go proper scales and try some adjustments there. If no improvement then it looks like I'm going to need to invest in a bigger truck.