love2rvcamp wrote:
Looking to buy a new TV to replace 2001 F150 to tow our 2008 Rockwood 8313SS.
We are looking at a F150 (5.0 or the ecoboost) or a Tundra.
What should we look for specifically when looking at towing limits/ratings. GVWR, GCWR,
We just want to make sure we read the door sticker correctly and know what numbers we need to watch for.
First off, good for you on doing some homework trying to figure this out for yourself.
Since you already own the camper and have a truck, suggest doing this "first" so you are armed with real world weights. No guessing or him hawing and no one saying, sure it will pull all day long.
Load up your present day truck with what ever camping gear is going in the truck bed and the cab. That includes people too.
Also load the camper the way you go camping.
Now head to the truck scales. If you have a good idea you are already in weight issues, make 2 trips.
Truck only, Weigh the truck front and rear axles loads with gear/people in the truck. Then go back and weigh the empty truck. Do some math. Now "you" know exactly what what the truck has to handle from a cargo perspective.
On the second trip when you are empty, take the camper fully loaded the way you are going camping. Pull the camper and truck on the scales and unhook the WD bars but yet still hitched. You need a front & rear truck axle weight and the 2 TT axles on a separate scale. Take a weight. Then hitch up the WD bars, pull off, unhitch in the yard and go weigh the empty truck. Do some math and now you know the loaded weight of the camper and the loaded tongue weight. You need the WD bars off to do this as they shift weight to the camper axles.
This costs you, some time and about $14 to $20 dollars for the truck scales. Now "you" are armed with real weights, no fudging, no guessing before you pay good hard earned money on a new truck that might be OK or not.
The rear axle on the truck in a 1,500 series truck is the weak link. The rear axle and receiver WD rating generally follow what the rear axle can handle, but not always. You have to check From the scale weights you know the bed cargo weight on the rear axle and just figure the actual loaded tongue weight to be handled by the rear axle. Technically WD removed some of the rear axle weight to the camper however this will be a saftey cushion for you.
Pulling, since you know the actual loaded TT GVW, find the the actual empty GVW of the new truck you buying with all the options. Then add to the truck weight the truck cargo and people. Add all 3 weights and this creates a GCW. You are going to need some reserve towing capacity for loose of frontal area of the wide and tall camper. Everyone has a different comfort level of reserve capacity however more is better. 1,200# to 2,000# is good, more is great for your combo. Compare the GCW of your actual plus reserve to the new truck rated GCWR.
Once the rear axle/receiver fits and the GCW fits, you need to check the GVW of the truck agasint the GVWR of the truck. If your still good, then OK. If not, well you have to loose some weight/cargo or figure if you can **** to the camper
Here is another tip, LT tires. Ford use to offer a LT upgrade on the F150, While they are D load range, they are better than the standard P rated ones. The LT's will create a more stable towing experience.
Hope this helps and good luck
John
PS. Also think, Am I going to upgrade this camper is a few years or not? Now is the time to figure that out. A F250 and a F150 are not that different in price now if you are going to a much heavier loaded TW camper in the next few years. If your staying in the same weight range, then life is good.
howmuchcanitow
