Weight total for trailer and hitch on F150

Ralph Cramden wrote:

Tyler0215 wrote:
The answer is, huh?

Exactly...probably ran away never to return lol. Funny I can sit here at a state park on a Friday and watch the rigs roll in and the vast majority are being pulled with 1/2 ton trucks. Not 16' trailers either but plenty of 30' or longer. Packages? It evidently works here in the central PA mountians but not at RVnet or other RV forums. Many years of coming here and have yet to see one piled up along the road going down or on the shoulder with a blown motor or tranny, or broken axle. Strange indeed.

Hey now, I grenaded a trans like I've never seen before on my 08-09 F150 work truck at about 50k miles. I mean trail of truck blood all the way off the freeway and parts actually hit the ground on the shoulder after I stopped!

Trouble was, I wasn't towing a thing and that truck probably saw less towing than any of the other 40+ trucks, company or personal rigs, I've ever had.

That truck literally towed my Jeep on a Uhaul a few hundred miles, 2 place sled trailer on short trips up the hill and maybe moved my boat in the driveway once or twice. Lol

That one was a lemon though. Injectors, door lock/handle, trans (in spectacular fashion), cat plugged and melted everything on the left side of the engine bay that wasn't steel or aluminum. All in the first 2 years and 70k miles. She was a beaut!

OP that truck will be good for a 8000lb TT giver take. More if you're brave and/or in the flat lands. Less if you're trying to run 65mph uphill at high altitude.

For F150, the axle fixing support is not as friendly as it seems. As I had one F150, a couple of years ago. The drive axle got bent, and the things were not going to fix at all after I had given my best. Then I took it to the nearest axle repair shop in my hometown San Jose, CA. Then only it was fixed in about 4 continuous hours and the mechanics really did their best to get it done sound and safe and also the long-lasting. So, I will suggest taking help from some specialist.

That would look about correct and not uncommon. Being a supercrew, plus the extra occupants is a big weight penalty as is having 4x4. About 1K lbs for the humans, pets, groceries, full tank of fuel + camping stuff would be in the ballpark and taking that off the payload capacity would be about 500 lbs, so your 630 lbs is about right.

A TW of 15% is on the high side of average. Average is more like 12-13%, but unfortunately you can't go by brochure TWs as a guide. Our TW is just under 15% and went from 514 lbs to over 900 fully loaded up. *If* you do have 630 lbs available and had 12% TW, you could get a TT with a GVWR of 5250 lbs which is in the 20' or so range and maybe somewhat small if you have family. But often, kids would rather sleep outside in a tent, if that'd help.

Towing capacity means little for a TT. Payload capacity is the important number and what you need to focus on. Others are correct is saying to go by the payload cap. Best thing to do is load the truck up with everyone and everything and go to a scale and subtract that from the GVWR and you'll have an accurate number.

What about looking at a pre-owned 3/4T? We bought our F250 as a corporate lease return with low miles at a great price compared to new. Has been an excellent TV for the 6 or so years we've owned it and have been all over heck and gone in it.

I wouldn't want to tow all the way to Alaska being loaded right up to payload capacity. Wouldn't be a good towing experience.

I am trying to figure out the same thing because we are thinking about upgrading our trailer, which would definitely mean an increase in weight. We have a 2013 F150 4x4 5.0L V8 Supercrew short bed. GVRW is listed at 7350 lbs. Front GAWR is 3750. Rear GAWR is 3850. Maximum occupant/cargo weight is 1551. I have not been able to weigh it yet, but googling that model of truck, it appears to have a curb weight of about 5600 lbs. altho subtracting cargo max. from GVRW would be closer to 5800. It has a 36 gal. tank, so a full tank would weigh 216 lbs. People and pets about 400. Gear packed in truck maybe 500. If I am doing the calculations right, the way people here have described, then the total truck and gear weight is 6720 - 6920 lbs. Using the lower number, subtract that from GVRW and you get 630 lbs., meaning tongue weight of trailer should not exceed 630 lbs. Using the 15% figure, the fully loaded trailer should not exceed 4200 lbs. Is this right?
This is very discouraging, because it pretty much means we can't upgrade. We don't want a big trailer, just a little more space and some 4-season protection for colder weather and probably dual axle. We're hoping to drive to Alaska next year. Getting a new truck not an option. Can't afford it. Towing capacity is supposed to be 7700 lbs. and we don't want to get close to that, but there is nothing on my consideration list that would be less than 4200 lbs.
I know people here have said to just ignore the towing capacity numbers, but this makes it so far off (like 50% almost) that I wonder if I am doing the math wrong. Any suggestions?

Welcome to the forum Rod...

What is the trucks ;
GVWR
FAWR
RAWR
These can be found on the trucks certification placard on the drivers side door post.

Fords F15o has 19 different GVWRs from 6000 on up to 8200 lbs
F150 has 5 different RAWR from 3300 up to 4800 lbs so it makes a difference which numbers you have.
Without them we can't even guess.

Ralph Cramden wrote:

Tyler0215 wrote:
The answer is, huh?

Exactly...probably ran away never to return lol. Funny I can sit here at a state park on a Friday and watch the rigs roll in and the vast majority are being pulled with 1/2 ton trucks. Not 16' trailers either but plenty of 30' or longer. Packages? It evidently works here in the central PA mountians but not at RVnet or other RV forums. Many years of coming here and have yet to see one piled up along the road going down or on the shoulder with a blown motor or tranny, or broken axle. Strange indeed.

Trying to get realistic and unbias information about what truck and trailer weight I could tow from this group was a lost cause.

These guys are smart and have tons of useful knowledge about RVing, etc, but this is the last place I would turn to about what size and weight trailer I could handle.

I found out the properly spec'ed 1/2 ton can handle a lot more than these guys give it credit for.

To the OP you've already gotten some decent info especially on weighing your current F150 fully loaded and then subtracting that number from the GVWR of your F150 as shown on the driver's door pillar. Then if you take that number and divide it by .15 your will get a "ball park" on what GVWR sized trailer you should start looking at with the caveat that you might be limited to the capacities of your current TV receiver and maybe your GAWR depending.

Larry

What Ralph said.......who cares. considering, if you don't comprehend what you just typed in this post, then maybe I wouldn't be looking to get a trailer that maxes out those ratings.

I follow a simple rule, GVWR of trailer times 13% TW. So a 7600# trailer is 988 TW. If I have payload for it, then thats the trailer to look for. While chances of loading the trailer to 7600 pounds is low, it gives a margin of error for towing capacity.

Too many people focus on dry weights, and GCWR, or my truck is rated at XX,xxx pounds trailer, when what really matters is payload.

There are a lot of trailers in the 7600 GVWR range, some are very light, and have a large cargo capacity and there are some that are heavy with little cargo capacity, usually slideout trailers.

So one other factor to look at is payload of the trailer, if the 7600 pound trailer has 1500 pounds cargo, then assume it will be near GVWR when loaded for the road, factor that in when looking, and if the trucks payload is less than 1600 pounds, consider traveling with a second car because that truck will be at or near capacity when loaded.

A 1/2 ton with 1800+ Payload will have no issues towing up to an 8000# GVWR trailer when properly set up.

Tyler0215 wrote:
The answer is, huh?

Exactly...probably ran away never to return lol. Funny I can sit here at a state park on a Friday and watch the rigs roll in and the vast majority are being pulled with 1/2 ton trucks. Not 16' trailers either but plenty of 30' or longer. Packages? It evidently works here in the central PA mountians but not at RVnet or other RV forums. Many years of coming here and have yet to see one piled up along the road going down or on the shoulder with a blown motor or tranny, or broken axle. Strange indeed.