2016 F150 Questions about Towing and Travel Trailer

[josheaton]

Hello from Louisiana

My wife and I are looking to get a travel trailer in the very near future. We have been shopping and before we purchase anything, I wanted to make sure I'm getting something that our truck can easily tow. I've read ad nauseam online, and I figured why not go straight to the source.

We are looking at travel trailers that are mostly about 5000 pounds dry. Everything we've found is in the 4500 - 5500 pound range. These trailers are generally between 22 and 28 feet. I do not plan on towing anything more than that at this point, but am interested in finding what I can comfortably tow, from a reliable source, not an RV salesman.

I've read about people pulling really large trailers with similar trucks, all the way up to 8000+ pounds which is WAY more than we need.

We have a 2WD F150, with 3.31 gears, and 5.0 V8 (not interested in regearing right now). From the door it looks like payload is 2124. I took the truck to the weigh station yesterday loaded full of fuel as well, and including our weight. I'm attaching those pictures below.

Can anyone with experience weigh in here? Thanks in advance.

[AlmostAnOldGuy]

josheaton - Mike Up mentioned the cooling upgrade may be more than just the tranny cooler and may be the capacity of the radiator itself. Your Ford dealer should be able to let you know exactly what the difference is and set you up.

Given the trailer you selected is max weight of 5536 you might easily be within 5k but additional cooling capacity is a good thing.

Good luck to you,
Stu

[Mike_Up]

AlmostAnOldGuy wrote:

Mike Up wrote:

...Besides, that 21DS camper loaded will be to heavy as you'll go over your 5000 lbs tow rating if you load it normal...

Mike Up,

If I am not mistaken you are stating the truck is limited to 5000 lbs because it was not ordered with the factory tow option. Although he does not have the 3.73 differential that should not be a big deal with the six speed. He can add a brake controller (preferably the Ford integrated brake controller) and a transmission cooler. His truck has 1780 of payload and 1620 available on his rear axle which looks good. If I recall correctly you are towing your 6.5k very comfortably with a similar outfit except you have 3.73 gears.

The GVWR of the FlagStaff 21DS is 5536 so he would not be exceeding that number and would likely be under that based on how heavy he loads it. By the numbers he should be good.

Make sense?

Stu

Yes, his truck is limited to 5000 lbs because it's radiator oil cooler is smaller, radiator glycol cooling is smaller, and it has no transmission oil cooler. No worry about power steering fluid cooler as it doesn't need one with the electric power steering.

He'll have to add more than just a transmission oil cooler and all these additions will void any drivetrain warranty he has.

His truck was not built to do any heavy towing, so he must account for that with as little trailer as possible.

[SpeakEasy]

We like our Flagstaff MicroLite 23LB very much. Your floorplan is quite a bit different from ours, but overall construction quality and materials should be pretty similar. Nice choice!

-Speak

[AlmostAnOldGuy]

Mike Up wrote:

...Besides, that 21DS camper loaded will be to heavy as you'll go over your 5000 lbs tow rating if you load it normal...

Mike Up,

If I am not mistaken you are stating the truck is limited to 5000 lbs because it was not ordered with the factory tow option. Although he does not have the 3.73 differential that should not be a big deal with the six speed. He can add a brake controller (preferably the Ford integrated brake controller) and a transmission cooler. His truck has 1780 of payload and 1620 available on his rear axle which looks good. If I recall correctly you are towing your 6.5k very comfortably with a similar outfit except you have 3.73 gears.

The GVWR of the FlagStaff 21DS is 5536 so he would not be exceeding that number and would likely be under that based on how heavy he loads it. By the numbers he should be good.

Make sense?

Stu

[Mike_Up]

josheaton wrote:
I think we have decided on this

Flagstaff 21DS

Anyone have any opinions on Flagstaff

I wouldn't buy a Forest River flagstaff or Rockwood. I had one, and what a piece of garbage mine was. Just me though. Others like them, and they provide campers in your weight range.

Besides, that 21DS camper loaded will be to heavy as you'll go over your 5000 lbs tow rating if you load it normal. There's a saying, never exceed 80 percent of tow rating to account for hills, winds, high temps, large frontal surface area, and even high elevations.

Your water alone is over 300 lbs. So if you want to use this camper, I suggest don't carry water, and carry camping gear and such in your truck bed, not the storage areas of the camper to reduce weight.

You could find similar seating/sleeping area in a much smaller and lighter camper. PICs

[josheaton]

Thanks, the counter space has had to become a trade off. The bed seems to be only 2 inches shorter than a regular queen, right?

SoundGuy wrote:

josheaton wrote:
I think we have decided on this

Flagstaff 21DS

Anyone have any opinions on Flagstaff

Not on Flagstaff but 2 issues with this particular model that would concern me - no galley counter space and a short queen bed. 😞

The current version of my own Coachmen Freedom Express 192RBS solves both these issues but if you're looking for something a bit bigger take a look at the Coachmen Freedom Express 231RBDS. Plenty of room for 2 adults, a large dog, generous galley counter space, full length queen bed, and the dinette can be converted to a second bed for occasional guests. :B

[SoundGuy]

josheaton wrote:
I think we have decided on this

Flagstaff 21DS

Anyone have any opinions on Flagstaff

Not on Flagstaff but 2 issues with this particular model that would concern me - no galley counter space and a short queen bed. 😞

The current version of my own Coachmen Freedom Express 192RBS solves both these issues but if you're looking for something a bit bigger take a look at the Coachmen Freedom Express 231RBDS. Plenty of room for 2 adults, a large dog, generous galley counter space, full length queen bed, and the dinette can be converted to a second bed for occasional guests. :B

[josheaton]

I think we have decided on this

Flagstaff 21DS

Anyone have any opinions on Flagstaff

[Mike_Up]

josheaton wrote:
We have the standard tow OEM package. It was installed as part of the deal when we bought the truck

If the dealer needed to add a hitch and the wiring as an after thought, your truck is limited to only 5000 lbs rating or a 5000 lbs loaded trailer. Most trailers loaded can range from an additional 1000 lbs to 1500 lbs more than that dry brochure weight. That's camper options, water, food, clothes, camp gear, battery, propane and the such.

So you may be looking at a trailer that has a dry 'brochure' between 3500 lbs and 4000 lbs. I'd stick closer to 3500 lbs dry weight.

There's lots of smaller campers that can sleep 4 in this weight group.

Just be mindful of your cargo so you don't exceed your trucks GVWR/Payload, use a weight distribution hitch, and you should be fine.

While that 3.31 gearing does suck a lot of life out of the 5.0L, the better gearing of the 6 speed transmission should down play it a bit along with the 5.0L great power.

Good luck.

[rbpru]

Both the truck dealer and the TT dealer are working strictly by the published numbers. Unfortunately the Max Cargo capacity cannot be published because it is vehicle dependent.

One thinks of the 4x4 as being a rough tough tow vehicle and it can be. However, as stated, then you add the 4x4 option to the standard pick up you drop the max cargo capacity. In my case it also dropped the towing capacity by 500 lbs.

Since neither the TV dealer nor the TT dealer knows your vehicle's max cargo and they certainly do not know how much camping "stuff" you need. They assume the buyer knows what they are buying.

Both the TV and TT dealer do know that they sell and see a lot of half tons pulling a lot of TTs and a lot of 3/4 tons pulling a lot of 5vers.

When I was shopping for my TT I had two dealers at and RV show tell me there was no way to "enhance" my half ton so I could pull a 5ver. They said I would need a 3/4 ton or bigger. Later when I was shopping for my TT, the dealer asked what my TV was, he said the DW's mini-van we arrived in would not work.

The dealer can help you from making and obvious blunder but they have no idea how well suited your TV is to your TT camping style. Unfortunately, many new TT buyer do not know either.

[wannavolunteerF]

I have an older F150 that has similar weight ratings.. I pull a Jayflight TT, that has 24 ft box, but a total length of 28ft. It has a gross max weight of 7000 and a dry weight of 5200.. I can tell the trailer is there and revs go up a bit on long or very steep hills, but not dangerously so. I do have a couple of suggestions as you look.

Be sure you look at the actual stickers on any trailers you like. I found sometimes there is a BIG difference between the published dry weight in sales brochure and what the trailer actually weighs delivered to dealer. That published dry weight often doesn't include any accessories or options.

The other thing is my truck has the P series tires mentioned previously and they do feel a little soft and squishy when towing. After much research, I learned to add about 5-10 pounds to rear tires when towing. (this is above the door sticker recommended rate - but below max on tire). This helped so much, that when I bought new tires, I chose to go back with the same tire. I use my truck as a daily driver and so for the many more days I make that commute to work, I prefer the softer ride. This decision was made after discussion with several tire companies and truck service companies.

[Desert_Captain]

rbpru wrote:
Wow, I am impressed, the Max cargo on my 2011 E-boost F-150 4x4 is 1411 lbs.

I tow a 25 ft. Dutchmen with slide, 5004 lbs. dry weight, 6400 lbs. across the scales when loaded for the road. That puts 750 lbs. on the tongue. With two adults, a large dog, and some camping gear it puts me near my max cargo limit.

Yes there are others that exceed their truck capacity but all you are doing is increasing the wear and tear. If you tow a few hundred miles a year it does not make much difference. If you tow several thousand miles a year it will.

Good Luck

Some of the biggest consumers of payload are 4 X 4, crew cab and the shell. Add in the WD hitch and 13 per cent of your trailer weight on the tongue and available payload quickly disappears. Most folks run out of payload thousands of pounds prior to reaching the so called "Towing Capacity" but that never stops the salespeople from quoting it like the gospel.

:C

[rbpru]

Wow, I am impressed, the Max cargo on my 2011 E-boost F-150 4x4 is 1411 lbs.

I tow a 25 ft. Dutchmen with slide, 5004 lbs. dry weight, 6400 lbs. across the scales when loaded for the road. That puts 750 lbs. on the tongue. With two adults, a large dog, and some camping gear it puts me near my max cargo limit.

Yes there are others that exceed their truck capacity but all you are doing is increasing the wear and tear. If you tow a few hundred miles a year it does not make much difference. If you tow several thousand miles a year it will.

Good Luck

[APT]

7k dry should be no problem for you with a quality WDH that is well adjusted. Lock out 6th gear. Use tow haul mode.