Pulling with 1/2 ton

[tls5150]

Looking for feedback on trying to pull a rockwood ultra lite 26’ with a 2014 z71 Ltd 4wd, with 3:42 rear end. Dry weight of the trailer is 6300lbs. Any advice?

[falconbrother]

My weight rating is #7200. I'm pulling 5800 dry weight. I wouldn't want to go any heavier. I don't tow with water in the tanks. The Suburban does fine. Heading to the beach day after tomorrow.

[badsix]

his use of the gvwr is a little misleading! my T/T has
7300gvwr then subtract the UVR 5274# + WATER, BATT, PROPANE 350# = 5624# SO
7300
-5624
=1676 actual supply carrying compacity. or CCC
loaded heavy i'm only about 700# of supply's so this
5674#
+ 700
=6374# ready to camp checked at the scales. that's a 1000# from the GVWR, quite a difference. most people are not going to load to the max GVWR.
Jay D.

[JIMNLIN]

You obviously missed the point of the video, or simply did not watch it. The person in the video has a ton of experience towing many different rigs. He’s simply saying you can tow heavier with a 1/2 ton, but he wouldn’t do it himself. BTW...I would NEVER tow a 10K trailer with a 1/2, thats insane.

Your mistakin'.
I watched the vid and he just like you missed my point of the using the right F150 or any 1/2 ton truck for a 10k trailer.
Nothing insane about using and staying within a trucks specs.
You and he make up my point about some folks not using the truck makers body service websites for the trucks actual mechanical and weight specs especially Fleet Ford and the F150.

[trailer_newbe]

JIMNLIN wrote:


One half ton truck have more different GVWR and RAWR than any truck on the road. So when someone jumps up and says a 1/2 ton truck should stick with a 6k trailer I say bull dust. Need to stop watching you tubes/reading magazine specs and read the truck makers body builders weight specs and tow ratings on their respective websites for actual numbers specific to their model trucks options and std equipment.

Or they bit into the 2800-3200 lb gvwr based payload debacle. Choose the right F150 gvwr/rawr packages for towing those 10k trailers.

You obviously missed the point of the video, or simply did not watch it. The person in the video has a ton of experience towing many different rigs. He’s simply saying you can tow heavier with a 1/2 ton, but he wouldn’t do it himself. BTW...I would NEVER tow a 10K trailer with a 1/2, thats insane.

[fdwt994]

Bobbo wrote:

trailer_newbe wrote:
Watch this—> Https://youtu.be/M75Sm7XaIdY

This video is very good for someone getting into towing a TT. I agree that someone who knows what he is doing can configure a 1/2 ton to go heavier, but for John Doe who just decides one day that he would like a TT, but has never even seen one, this would keep him out of trouble while he learns the ins and outs of it.

This video is not trying to convince a knowledgeable and experienced RVer that he is doing it wrong.

I agree. I think it's an excellent video for folks just getting into the RV life. He said multiple times "In my opinion." I've watched several of his videos, and my experience tells me that he knows what he's talking about.

[Bobbo]

trailer_newbe wrote:
Watch this—> Https://youtu.be/M75Sm7XaIdY

This video is very good for someone getting into towing a TT. I agree that someone who knows what he is doing can configure a 1/2 ton to go heavier, but for John Doe who just decides one day that he would like a TT, but has never even seen one, this would keep him out of trouble while he learns the ins and outs of it.

This video is not trying to convince a knowledgeable and experienced RVer that he is doing it wrong.

[librty02]

trailer_newbe wrote:
Watch this—> Https://youtu.be/M75Sm7XaIdY

I seen that video when it first came out and it is completely based on opinion and not facts whatsoever. I even commented in his video about it and he completely blew me off because he knows that it's the truth. There are soooo many different versions of a half ton truck today that his blanket statement is completely false.

[JIMNLIN]

Most you tubes, like the clicky, I've seen are from new folks to the trailering world or maybe owned a couple of RVs and tried towing it with a 10 years old and older std duty 1/2 ton truck like my wifes previous '06 1500 chevy 4l60e and a low power 5.3....or like I see in some folks sig with a F150 with a tow package... any engine with a 6800-7050 gvwr and tiny 3800 rawr. These trucks aren't the best selections for towing even their rated tow ratings.
These type folks in you tubes seem to lump all 1/2 ton trucks in the same mold because their trucks they chose didn't do well towing a certain size trailer.

One half ton truck have more different GVWR and RAWR than any truck on the road. So when someone jumps up and says a 1/2 ton truck should stick with a 6k trailer I say bull dust. Need to stop watching you tubes/reading magazine specs and read the truck makers body builders weight specs and tow ratings on their respective websites for actual numbers specific to their model trucks options and std equipment.

Over the years 1/2 ton trucks have had GVWRs up to 8600 lbs and 6000 rawr numbers. These truck sit mostly on 3/4 and one ton SRW frames. Lots of '00-'06 1500HD GM trucks 8600 gvwr and 6000 rawr 6.0 engines 4l80 trannies out here doing its rated job of pulling 10k TT or 5th wheel trailers. Now days its GMs NHT package with the 6.2 engine at 420hp/460 torque 7600 gvwr and 4300 rawr that get the bigger numbers.

Same with Fords F150 with GVWRs from 6200 lbs up to 8200 lbs smaller 4800 rawr on down to 3200 lb rawr. Nite and day differences.
Many F150 owners bit into the "max tow" option which has nothing to do with getting a F150 with the max payload or the maximum tow ratings.
Or they bit into the 2800-3200 lb gvwr based payload debacle. Choose the right F150 gvwr/rawr packages for towing those 10k trailers.

[trailer_newbe]

Watch this—> Https://youtu.be/M75Sm7XaIdY

[fdwt994]

Do you want opinion or fact? No offense, but too many come here seeking the validation they want when they know they probably aren't supposed to tow the camper they have (or want) with the truck they have. Educate yourself using a resource like this and you'll have the facts, not opinions and anecdotal evidence. These numbers are derived by Engineers who do this stuff for a living. Remember, it's not only about what you can pull. It's what you can control and stop also. Good luck

[Mickeyfan0805]

Desert Captain wrote:


I would bet that the tow capacity you have forgotten is far higher than any number you can actually tow without compromising max payload.

This isn't the universal truism that it once was, at least by the numbers. There are many F150 configurations with payloads well above 2,000 pounds. A 2,200 pound payload, with just a couple and some gear, would still leave room for 1,500+ pounds of tongue weight (the RAWR is a secondary question that's harder to estimate in generic terms). That's a lot of trailer.

[Desert_Captain]

am1958 wrote:

Desert Captain wrote:
So what is "odd"? :h

We both had rigs that towed well at or near our payload limits. What was your alleged towing capacity? I'm guessing Ford told you it was 9K# or more but we both know better.

:C

What is odd is that you say 6500lb "is all it could handle" which, to me, implies that anything more and the rig becomes unwieldy or unable to pull efficiently yet I'm pulling 1000lb more than that and find it all very manageable. Not saying you are wrong or anything just observing that our separate experiences are so disparate.

I can't even remember what the tow rating is but I know it was way more than I'd ever want or need.

What I said was my F150 was at its payload limits with a 5,600# TT. With about 750# of tongue weight and the hitch more than half of the payload (1,426#) was gone before I
loaded anything. Add the 225# for the Leer shell and I was almost out of payload.

I would bet that the tow capacity you have forgotten is far higher than any number you can actually tow without compromising max payload.

[LoudRam]

Thank you to those who pointed out that using the GVWR to buy a trailer isn't always necessary. You just have to know how to figure out all your weights. In my case my trailer has a dry weight of 6628lbs. We might have 500lbs to 600lbs of stuff bringing my total weight into the 7200 to 7300 pound range. Yet my CCC is 3012lbs. As stated earlier and often on this board, you'll run out of payload before hitting your max tow. That's the number to watch.

[TurnThePage]

time2roll wrote:
That is the method to my madness using GVWR instead of dry weight.

As already found by another poster, there are trailers out there that are fairly light weight, yet have a huge payload capacity. If a trailer suits your needs without going near that max, why rule it out?

We gotta be real too. I would have to exceed the tow vehicle payload by a fair amount to tow a 10000 lb travel trailer. 7500 - 8000 is a reasonable maximum weight range for the average half ton.

Argh! You edited while I was responding!! 😉