Half-Ton Trailer Camping at Yosemite
Hi, y'all! I'm kind of going nuts trying to plan our trip to Yosemite. We are pulling a Sonic VRK231 which is a pretty light trailer overall but we only have an F-150. We're trying to decide on a ...
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Thanks! I know I was a little short on info. It's actually not the mountain driving I'm concerned about, it's whether the truck is up for the grades. It is a 2020 F-150 with the 2.7L Ecoboost and towing package which tops out at about 9,000 lbs capacity. I haven't weighed the trailer but your guess matches mine, probably about 6,000 lbs fully loaded. We went up an 8% grade recently and it felt like that would be its limit. The transmission temp was 210 (I'm not sure how much that matters but it's the hottest it's been since I've been watching). That was a relatively short grade, maybe 3-5 miles. I don't know how it would handle a long uphill slog because this is only our second season and haven't encountered anything like Yosemite.
I've been trying to find someone who's actually been up these roads because the guidance on the website is ambiguous. For example, on the CA-140 (Big Arch entrance) it mentions a 45' vehicle length restriction but offers a 60' combined vehicle restriction (max 35' trailer). The CA-120 entrance mentions the 45' limit but not the combined vehicle. I'm not sure if that's a fact or a website oversight. Also, I've read to take the CA-140 entrance because it's flatter and < 3000' elevation but once you're in the valley if you need to go to a campground at 7,600' then I'm not sure if it makes much difference taking CA-140.
My bad. I thought it was driving apprehension not equipment concerns.
I’ll check but I’m almost certain those 10 speeds run around 200deg normal operating temp. My last 2 Chevy 10 speeds did (same trans). I’ll check the F150 I’m driving now.
Keep the gears low, rpm’s up especially if the trans is building heat. And good trailer brakes. Wouldn’t bother me to pull that trailer with that truck up a mountain.
If I showed you pics of 10klbs on a 4klb trailer behind a half ton Silverado with the factory weenie rear tires pumped up to 65 psi over Chinook, Cayuse, White, Snoqualmie, Blewett, or Stevens passes or pulling the grade out of Vantage either direction from the Columbia. Sometimes on hot summer days, you would have no worries about your trailer in Yosemite.
Let er buck!Haha! Great, that makes me feel better about it. I kick myself for not getting a bigger truck but it is what it is. Since I have the towing package I've got a few positives in my corner. In towing mode it does keep the gear low automatically going up, downshifts automatically going down, and has a way to tweak the trailer braking.
Eh, I mean unless you got a 3/4 or 1 ton you’re not missing out on much.
As you know, the size and suspension on the F150 is solid for a trailer your size.
And it’s got enough gears to make that little Ecoboost put out. Especially if you have deeper final drive ratio.
You’ve got the torque comparable to an average of the “big” gas motors offered in current half tons.
And the bonus is you make all the torque by 2500rpms ish and it’s relatively flat.
What kinda combined city/highway driving mpgs you get?Im pretty blown away by the ole 5.0 in my work truck. Getting a combined 18mpg commuting. Either stop n go or driving it like a rental!
Quiet day, so I got a bit wordy:
GVWR of the trailer is 6000lb...If the truck has a 9000lb tow rating, you are well within the motor's capability.
- transmission should have no problem. It's mated to more powerful engines.
- The engine can put out the power, just watch the engine temps. On flat ground, you are likely running little if any turbo boost. If you keep the hammer down on a long grade, you are likely running a lot of boost the entire time and burning a lot of fuel. That creates a lot of heat in a small engine block. Probably won't be a problem as you aren't pushing the truck to it's limits. If you can feather the throttle or run in a lower gear, so it isn't running a lot of boost, that's good. Worst case if it starts getting hot, find a place to pull off and let her idle for a few minutes until temps come back down. Don't worry too much about speed, these are routes geared toward tourists watching the scenery.
A good way to check grades is download google earth (different from google maps) onto your laptop. Enter your route and then right click on the route. It will give you the option to show elevation profile. We've found it pretty accurate for determining how long and how steep the grades are.
For fun, I pulled up the routes to look:
- Hodgodon Meadows: Out of Coulterville, you have a 3 mile 7% grade. Then a bunch of short up and downs. Then two separate 3 mile 6.0-6.5% grades. (ending elevation ~5000ft)
- Mariposa to Bridal Veil: Starts with a 3 mile 6% grade, followed by a downhill 3 miles at about 7%. Probably the worst of it as it's on a twisty section but nothing crazy. Then a long modest grade mostly around 1% ending with a 9 mile climb ranging from 4-6%. (ending elevation ~4000ft)
Use the tow/haul and/or force it into a lower gear starting downhills. Start the downhills a bit slower than you would be comfortable with. If the speed starts getting a bit high for comfort, firm braking until you are slowed down and then release the brakes. Don't ride the brakes as this can cause them to overheat. By releasing them, the brakes have a chance to cool down.
All that said, you should be fine in terms of grades (I didn't check any length restrictions and it's been a few years since we were there).
Awesome, that's great info, thanks! I will check out the Google Earth, that sounds like a handy resource. I'm more optimistic knowing the grades aren't quite 8%.
My other concern is about how one road (CA-140) is restricted to 45' but allows for a combined vehicle/trailer up to 60' and the other road (CA-120) doesn't mention the combined vehicle/trailer allowance. I'll keep digging and hoping that it's just a website oversight and not differences in restrictions. Thanks for your help!
