Help with the towing math

Payload is 1,486 lbs. Subtract your weight over 150# (50#) and your wife's weight 130#. You are down to 1,306#.

Your truck cargo is 1486 lbs, take 180 lbs off for you and passenger (driver weight of 150 lbs is assumed already in the cargo rating).

Unless Ford is different than other manufacturers, this is incorrect. You need to subtract the full weight of the driver from payload. The tow rating accounts 150lbs for the driver, payload does not.

I verified on a scale that my payload (1877#) ALLOWS FOR a full tank (36g) of fuel.

You need 4.10 gears and that will help a lot, 3.55 will lug the motor in the hills..

I wasn't aware that the wheels on Heartland trailers were closer to the hitch than on most trailers. That does make sense why the tongue weight advertised would be lower though. Interestingly, earlier today I was reading about manufacturers towing limits. It seems there isn't any real standard that's adhered to. The SAE J2807 truck towing standard is meant to be able to compare apples to apples with different trucks towing and cargo limits but Gm, Ford and Dodge don't adhere to the standard so it's more of a PR thing to "one-up" the competitor. They all say they will be adhering to the standard but as of now they don't. The numbers they list aren't really accurate. They could very well be inflated. So if trailer specs aren't accurate and tow vehicle specs aren't accurate, how does anyone use formulas to know if their tow vehicle is within the limits? Just because a truck has the power to tow something, doesn't mean it's safe to do so. I think there's a whole lot more that has to be known. For instance, you could have heavy duty shocks and springs, plenty of engine, really sturdy frame and brakes and rotors that aren't big enough to handle the weight they have to stop. That would make the tow vehicle unsafe. I can see where there are thousands of people with all kinds of trailers that think their tow vehicle is safe and it really isn't. Scary thought!

For whatever reason, Heartland puts the wheels closer to the hitch than most trailers thus making the tongue weight lighter, not sure why unless it allows for more storage weight up front. It was the same when I owned one.

To me the numbers are close to limit but should work, very similar to my numbers although you have a better rear axle than I.

RobWNY wrote:
Thanks for the information everyone. When I bought the truck, I never gave a thought to pulling anything really heavy. Although we have gone camping, we've never been campers before or owned one. We kicked around the idea last fall and went to look at a few dealerships. We were going "looking". We had no intention whatsoever to buy one but when we got to our 3rd dealer, my wife really liked the trail runner and it turned out that the dealer/owner and I had a couple of acquaintances in common (and I live 60 miles away from the dealership). By the time we were done shooting the breeze about the people we both knew, had some laughs etc., he just came out with an offer. He took 9 grand off the sticker, he threw in a WDH, threw in the anti-sway, threw in an electric jack and I couldn't say no. The deal was WAY better than the other two dealerships offered (like 4 grand better). So there I was with a brand new trailer that I knew nothing about and a 1/2 ton F150 to tow it with. Then I came to this site and read all the threads about "will my vehicle tow it" and started getting really nervous. New trucks that would better suit my needs are in the 45K range and I'd rather not take on that additional expense if I can avoid it! When I towed it home, it was a windy rainy 45 degree day. I stayed off of the Interstate and took 2 lane State roads home. I kept my speed at 50mph or less and other than an occasional nudging feeling when the wind gusts came, the truck towed really well and stopped easily. Then again, I wasn't going 65mph on an Interstate either and was careful not to get too close to vehicles in front of me. I have towed utility trailers with a fairly big tractor on it so I wasn't clueless and knew what not to do but I have to admit I was nervous. I kept thinking to myself....My truck weighs less than the trailer. If the trailer gets out of control, my wife and I are going to get whipped around like rag dolls. Scary thought! So unless I can find a New truck that isn't going to suck all my money away from me I'll just keep gear weight down to as little as I can and still have what I want and need and pack it all in the trailer and leave the truck empty other than me and my wife.

Many people have been bitten by the dealer and end up with a much heavier and larger trailer than expected..

While I do think your combo might be OK empty, it won't take much at all to go over your trucks cargo weight..

Water weighs about 8.8 lbs per gallon so if you fill your freshwater tank it will most likely put you overweight.

Your best bet is to get it weighed.

There are lots of places that can do this..

"CAT" scales can be found near any major trucking route, some Lawn and Garden landscape supply places have scales and if you have any place that deals with limestone/rock quarries they tend to have scales.

Additionally I am really concerned with the tongue weight specified, it must be incorrect and you really do need to find out what it is. You need an accurate weight there in order to figure out how to properly load your trailer.

You can buy a tongue scale, a company called Sherline is one you can find for about $100 and will allow to quickly check the TW anytime you are loading.

If you don't want to buy a tongue scale you can also DIY your own with a simple bathroom scale using the info HERE

Thanks for the information everyone. When I bought the truck, I never gave a thought to pulling anything really heavy. Although we have gone camping, we've never been campers before or owned one. We kicked around the idea last fall and went to look at a few dealerships. We were going "looking". We had no intention whatsoever to buy one but when we got to our 3rd dealer, my wife really liked the trail runner and it turned out that the dealer/owner and I had a couple of acquaintances in common (and I live 60 miles away from the dealership). By the time we were done shooting the breeze about the people we both knew, had some laughs etc., he just came out with an offer. He took 9 grand off the sticker, he threw in a WDH, threw in the anti-sway, threw in an electric jack and I couldn't say no. The deal was WAY better than the other two dealerships offered (like 4 grand better). So there I was with a brand new trailer that I knew nothing about and a 1/2 ton F150 to tow it with. Then I came to this site and read all the threads about "will my vehicle tow it" and started getting really nervous. New trucks that would better suit my needs are in the 45K range and I'd rather not take on that additional expense if I can avoid it! When I towed it home, it was a windy rainy 45 degree day. I stayed off of the Interstate and took 2 lane State roads home. I kept my speed at 50mph or less and other than an occasional nudging feeling when the wind gusts came, the truck towed really well and stopped easily. Then again, I wasn't going 65mph on an Interstate either and was careful not to get too close to vehicles in front of me. I have towed utility trailers with a fairly big tractor on it so I wasn't clueless and knew what not to do but I have to admit I was nervous. I kept thinking to myself....My truck weighs less than the trailer. If the trailer gets out of control, my wife and I are going to get whipped around like rag dolls. Scary thought! So unless I can find a New truck that isn't going to suck all my money away from me I'll just keep gear weight down to as little as I can and still have what I want and need and pack it all in the trailer and leave the truck empty other than me and my wife.

RobWNY writes

"I weigh 200 LBS and my wife weighs 130 Lbs.

Travel Trailer Specs

Dry Weight 6,442
Hitch Weight 500
Width 8'0"
Height 11'2"
Length 33'5"
Axles (2) 3500
Tires ST205/75R15-C
Fresh Tank 47 Gal.
Gray Tank 70 Gal.
Black Tank 35 Gal.
Propane (2) 30 Lb Tanks
Awning Length 17'


Cargo Carrying Capacity 1698 Lbs
Calculated with the Fresh Water Tanks Full Cold 240 Lbs Hot 50 Lbs
Waste Water when tanks are Full 872 Lbs

GVWR 9000 Lbs

Truck Specs

The combined weight of occupants and cargo should never exceed 1486 Lbs
GVWR 7200 Lbs
Front GAWR 3750 Lbs
Rear GAWR 3850

GCWR 15400
Max Loaded Trailer 9700"

:h

There is something really not right with ANY of the trailer specifications...

First is the "dry weight" versus the tongue weight.. The tongue weight is WAY TO LOW, PERIOD. :S

If the dry weight is 6,442 then the tongue should have a ABSOLUTE MINIMUM of 644 lbs which is 10% TW, not 500 lbs!

15% of 6,442 is 966 lbs :E

Next is the dry weight versus the GVWR versus cargo weight, something just does not add up here..

If you subtract cargo from the GVWR you get 7,303 lbs which should be the dry weight...

This puts the tongue weight ratio even worse.. 10% of 7,303 should be 730 lbs.. 15% of 7,303 should be 1096 lbs :E

Honestly, while there are a lot of zealous folks who are adamantly against the following, it is the BETTER way to figure out just how much you can tow..

USE THE GVWR of the trailer.. DO NOT FOOL AROUND WITH DRY WEIGHTS AS THEY TEND TO BE INACCURATE. Not to mention NO ONE HAULS A TRAILER EMPTY...

If the trailer TRUELY is 9000 lbs GVWR then fully loaded your tongue MUST weigh 900 lbs (10%) to 1,350 lbs (15%).

Your truck cargo is 1486 lbs, take 180 lbs off for you and passenger (driver weight of 150 lbs is assumed already in the cargo rating).

That gives you cargo of 1306 lbs, but..

The cargo rating DOES NOT INCLUDE FULL TANK OF FUEL..

Not sure on the capacity but assuming 30 gallons of gas at about 8 lbs per gallon.. that is 240 lbs that needs removed from cargo rating..

This gives you 1066 lbs of cargo capacity left..

Basically your trailer is NEAR or close to being OVER the cargo weight of your vehicle BEFORE you load your gear...

These are GUESSES USING BAD DATA so I would recommend you get the truck and trailer weighed and even the tongue weight as all that manufacturer info is suspect...

On edit.. Forgot to mention you also need to account for the WD hitch weight as it also takes away CARGO weight so figure a minimum of 100 lbs for WD which also will subtract from you allowable cargo of the truck..

Payload is 1,486 lbs. Subtract your weight over 150# (50#) and your wife's weight 130#. You are down to 1,306#. Subtract tongue weight of about 900# and weight of hitch and bars (75#). Your down to about 331#. With only you and your wife in the truck and hitched ready to go you have 331# of GVWR left on your truck for everything else you want to carry. It sounds like it will work fine if you can pack the truck light (most stuff in trailer). Good luck and I hope you enjoy.

You will be MAX'd out (more than likely overweight).......towing will be a bit of a struggle.

There are 3 CAT Scales within 40 miles of Jamestown....well worth the trip to get actual weight numbers so you know your real weights.

CAT Scales...Jamestown

And the Pilot Travel Center in Jamestown may have scales......LINK

When towing is no fun....you don't go as often....therefore you don't have as much fun