Newbie Recommendations for Safe Towing

jrrichar wrote:
Brand new to travel trailers. Bought a piece of property in MT and need a trailer to act as an occasional base of operation. Once for a 2 week stay and the rest would be 2-3 day stays.

It would be nice to use the TT for a little bit more and be able to occasionally tow from place to place weekend style trips.

Tow vehicle: 2011 F150 4x2 supercab 5.0L V8 3.31 axle
Regular Tow package
145 inch wheelbase
Max Trailer Weight rating is 8100
Max Payload is 1824
Electronic brake installed
Replaced stock suspension with high-end off road struts, shocks, and tires

To be safe lets pretend I have to drive this from I-80 (norCal) to North of Missoula. I have made the trip before in a rented Class C MH and it was a trip from hell. Winds in northern ID and rolling hills definitely provided enough stress. Add to that blowing 3 tires in the trip and never want to repeat.

So rolling hills and 40 mph winds with control on the descents: what would be a comfortable GVWR/dry weight/hitch weight of a trailer without blowing my transmission on the ascents?

My guess is to stay under 6000 for the GVWR. As far as cargo in the truck there will not be a huge amount: 150 x 2 (2 adults); 135 (2 dogs); luggage cargo 400

Overall payload is 835 so remaining payload is 1000.

I will certainly invest in a good WDH and sway control. Would you also recommend an air lift kit over the rear?

Again control being the key, what would be your rough estimate for GVWR/dry?

Looking to buy used in MT so initial tow distance should be very short.

Luggage cargo goes IN the trailer so it doesn't really count as far as the vehicles cargo.

However with that said with 1000 lbs of cargo leftover the max GVWR of the trailer would be 6,667 lbs at 15% tongue weight.

Tongue weight of the trailer becomes "cargo" of the tow vehicle so if you know the max left over cargo of the vehicle you can easily figure out the absolute max trailer weight by dividing the cargo by the tongue weight.

In your case I divided 1000 lbs by 15%, bumper pull trailers should have at a min of 10% of the weight of the trailer up to 15%. The lower tongue weight the less stabil the rig will be, typically you want 13%-15% on the tongue for best towing experience.

In your case I would shoot for a trailer with a dry weight of 4,500, this allows for items which are not typically included in the advertised brochure weights like battery(s), propane tanks and propane and so on..

Brochure dry weights are notoriously low, one that is advertised as 4,500 lbs dry will most likely be closer to 5,000 lbs when you get it.