Found a TT, what tow vehicle do I need?

If your luck you could find a used f150hd. I think the eco or 5.0 would work well. Not sure of ypur budget but i have seen 11'+ for the low 20k's with avg mileage. They are tough to find though.

Ncm86 wrote:
I was looking at the wildwood x-lite 261BHXL. Dry hitch weight 434 and unloaded weight 4314lbs.

What ever truck and trailer you come up with, you need to keep in mind, part of the trucks payload will be used up by your fuel, family, cargo, weight distribution hitch, and any aftermarket thnigs that have been added to the truck. What is left over will be payload available to support your tongue weight.

Payload varies from one truck to another. Depending on cab configuration, drive train, power train, suspension, options and accessories, and towing packages. You could have two F150's sitting side by side, one with 750 lbs of payload, and one with 3150 lbs of payload.

A blanket statement that "an F150 is going to do the job", would be
incorrect. Some will, and some won't.

You should figue out what kind of weight, you need to carry (ie anticipated cargo weight in the truck, fuel weight, family weight, room to grow, and WD hitch weight), and shop for a truck that has the payload to carry that plus your loaded camper's tongue weight.

Example:

Say the truck has 1900 lbs payload.

Your family/cargo/fuel/hitch/room to grow(maybe 200 lbs)= 1100lbs

You would have 800 lbs available for tongue weight.

Average tongue weight is 12 - 13 percent

Divide 800 lbs (avaiable tongue weight) by .13 = 6154 lbs loaded trailer. 5K unloaded, would probably do it.


Only you know the kind of weight for your family, and what kind of stuff you will bring along. If it happens to be ATV's or dirt bikes, thats more payload gone, before you hitch up.

Sounds good I'll stick with the 1/2 ton

I would not get a 3/4 ton for a 2-3 trips per year.

You really need to look at the specs for the trailer. My trailer has a dry weight of 4,820 lbs. I know that doesn't include options including outside kitchen, awning, propane tanks and the slide out awning I added. Loaded with personal gear minus some clothing and food, my trailer weighed under 6,200 lbs. at the scales. As you can see by my signature, I tow with a 1/2 ton trailer, and the truck handles the trailer quite well. I hope to see how it does in the Rockies next year!

Now, before I turned in the Sunline, I felt the Tundra was a little overtaxed with the Sunline which weighed 1500 to 2000 lbs. more. With a good WD hitch and proper consideration when loading gear, I think a lot of 1/2 ton trucks can handle trailers up to 7,500 lbs. But, I'm no expert...so what it boils down to is that there isn't any way I feel I need a 3/4 ton truck for my Minnie. And, I did have a 1 ton Dodge dually gasser when I was towing the Sunline, so I know what it feels like to have a truck capable of handling higher weights.

I like the idea expressed by many that you only want to tow about 75 to 80% of the towable weight limit of the tow vehicle. And....you just can't go crazy and load up a bunch of stuff you don't need when camping or traveling with a travel trailer!!

I was looking at the wildwood x-lite 261BHXL. Dry hitch weight 434 and unloaded weight 4314lbs.

PUCampin wrote:

JordanH wrote:
I would check the dry weight on the trailer because the manufacture list my trailer as having a gvw of 7492 lbs, while its dry weight is only 4348 lbs. Thats a cargo capacity of 3144 lbs, I really cant see me having the cc this high. This may or may not be the case for you as well.

I agree. If OP can tell us what TT they have in mind, maybe we can help a little more. Having over 3000lbs of cargo capacity in the trailer is the exception, it does happen, usually for the shortest trailer on the next size up frame and axles. With a 450lbs dry tongue weight, it may actually be the case. More often than not the trailer has a low cargo capacity and just adding normal stuff and water puts it at its max which is why most of us default to that position without more details.

I still feel they would be best served with a 7700lbs or 8200lbs GVWR F-150 which will have enough capacity to keep loading and towing from being too stressful.

Ncm86 wrote:
I found a TT 26ft, 7600gvw and dry hitch 450lbs.not sure how big of a truck I need. i did find a 2011 f150 5.0 fx4 gcvw of 15,100lbs. GVW 7350 and payload 1560. With tow package. It is too small?

No, it's fine. I have a very similar trailer and truck and it does very well. A 2008 Ford F-150/300hp 5.4/3.73 . The trailer is 30ft tongue to bumper and weighs in just under 8k loaded.

My sons 2003 HD 2500/6.0 tows it no better and rides rougher and gets less gas milage.A trailer that size does not require a 3/4 ton truck when you have what you have.

That is about the same specs as our Salem 26tbud. TV is a 2013 F150 SCREW with eboboost and max tow/max trailer. Payload is close to 1900 lbs.

Welcome to the forum! First off, I would suggest that you read the first post in this thread about some real world weights and experience towing a very similar sized trailer with a 150. Probably a good match, but how you load the truck/trailer and where you camp also figures into the equation. New member Idaho33 did a nice job on his write up and is worth the read.

I know I get blinders depending on my current vehicle.

I have a Sorento and a Town Car and I see these cars all the time. I can't tell you how many GMC Acadias I see because I don't notice them.

While our Sorento was getting repaired we had a minivan rental. I never realized how many minivans there were before driving that walrus around for two weeks.

I see a TON of 1/2 tons towing campers everyday on my commute. I also see a ton of 8 luggers too

OP. F150 will do a fine job.