Tow weight

[Ejraste]

Im new to the rv trailer world. I am currently in the market for my 1st travel trailer. The idea is to eventually find a full time/seasonal campground that has full amenities. I have small children and thought it would be a good time to start the process. I currently drive a 2018 f150 xlt supercrew 4x4. The max towing capacity is 7400 lbs and max payload is 1990 lbs. I do want a nice size trailer that we won’t put outgrow anytime soon, so my question it’s what is my max trailer weight? Would it be the 7400 lbs? So ideally, I would want my dry weight to be around 5000 to 6000 lbs? Thanks

[Sjm9911]

I have an idea for you , rent one to tow, then see how it is before you buy it. A bit more money spent but you will have satisfaction knowing that what you buy will tow similar. Yes i would update the truck. But i like easy, and confterble.

[Ejraste]

Put everything you can in the trailer, it only adds 12% to the tongue weight. 100 pounds put in the trailer instead of the truck only adds 12 lbs to the tongue weight, you save 88 lbs of payload.

Yeah I know. It seems that my issue isn’t necessarily the payload cause I would keep that low, but with my 3.3 liter V6 not having enough power to pull the loaded trailer or any trailer of the size that we want.

My next question would be what trucks/engines does everyone recommend? A few I was looking at were the 5.3L in the Silverado or the 5.7 in the RAMS or the 3.0 ecodiesel in the RAM. I’m assuming they would all be sufficient enough for my application?

[nickthehunter]

Ejraste wrote:

Jebby14 wrote:
keep in mind fully loaded that trailer can be as much as 7900 lbs. (it has a decent amount of carrying capacity at 2865)

giving you a tongue weight almost 1200 lbs.....

depending how you load it (and the rest of your stuff) you can likely do it but i would expect a less than enjoyable towing experience. i would suggest buying the best hitch and sway control you can afford. another thing not mentioned here is to make sure your brakes are up to snuff as that 3.3 is going to struggle to hold the weight back with compression coming down hill.

Very true and i would not max out the trailer with cargo. I would take a separate vehicle to help with cargo as we only want it for a seasonal type campground to go to each year. So I would def keep the numbers low.

Put everything you can in the trailer, it only adds 12% to the tongue weight. 100 pounds put in the trailer instead of the truck only adds 12 lbs to the tongue weight, you save 88 lbs of payload.

[Boomerweps]

A lot of “it could”.
Just look at the trailer’s GVWR. If not listed, just add the dry weight and cargo capacity. Use that for your towing weight. Figure 12-15% of that for your tongue weight.
The tow rating is determined by subtracting the vehicle curb weight (delivery weight with full tank) from the GCWR. That is why you should not buy a trailer that is near the full tow rating. Unless you are traveling with an empty truck. IOW, every pound you add to the truck gets taken away from your tow capacity.

[Ejraste]

Jebby14 wrote:
keep in mind fully loaded that trailer can be as much as 7900 lbs. (it has a decent amount of carrying capacity at 2865)

giving you a tongue weight almost 1200 lbs.....

depending how you load it (and the rest of your stuff) you can likely do it but i would expect a less than enjoyable towing experience. i would suggest buying the best hitch and sway control you can afford. another thing not mentioned here is to make sure your brakes are up to snuff as that 3.3 is going to struggle to hold the weight back with compression coming down hill.

Very true and i would not max out the trailer with cargo. I would take a separate vehicle to help with cargo as we only want it for a seasonal type campground to go to each year. So I would def keep the numbers low.

[Jebby14]

keep in mind fully loaded that trailer can be as much as 7900 lbs. (it has a decent amount of carrying capacity at 2865)

giving you a tongue weight almost 1200 lbs.....

depending how you load it (and the rest of your stuff) you can likely do it but i would expect a less than enjoyable towing experience. i would suggest buying the best hitch and sway control you can afford. another thing not mentioned here is to make sure your brakes are up to snuff as that 3.3 is going to struggle to hold the weight back with compression coming down hill.

[Ejraste]

You can pull right up to the max of your trucks ratings as long as you don't exceed any ratings. Your limiting factor, the rating you will probably get to firs is the payload rating, or possibly the rear axle rating. To understand all the ratings better, read this clicky

Ok, so say I wanted to buy an trailer first before purchasing a new truck. Let’s use something like this for example, which has a weight under 5100 lbs. Clicky

Based on numbers, I would think this would be possible as long as my tongue weight doesn’t overload my payload.

[kellem]

Ejraste wrote:
So I’m glad I came to this site. What it seems like is I just need a new truck if the wifey wants a trailer. A win win!! Haha

It happens quite often. Believe me.

We're likely worse case scenario.....4 trucks and 4 trailers in past 12 years.

I believe we've found holy grail with 2500 truck and 30ft trailer.....I believe.

[Grit_dog]

27-31’ trailers are not what I’d want to be pulling with a base model 6 banger truck.
There are many factors that will determine what is safe and why, and from a safety issue, there is no Inherent problem with what you’re proposing.
The super low rawr is sort of perplexing as I “think” all the 2015 and up F 150s have a super 8.8 rear end as the standard and the 9.75 as the heavy axle.
Does it have 10 or 12 bolts on the rear diff cover? If 12 bolts, it’s good for 4klbs plus all day.
If 10 bolt, I’d try to stay under 3500 for a constAnt long term load. That said, I’ve driven the snot out of many base model 8.8 F 150s with heavy loads many miles and no issues.

Bottom line, if you want a big trailer, and only plan on occasional towing, the chassis is up to it with good trailer brakes. 265 ft lbs though will s uck balls on every grade though.
You got the grocery getter model truck not the towing truck.

[wing_zealot]

Ejraste wrote:

Jebby14 wrote:
possible yes, comfortable likely no. another option to consider is daytripping or tent camping to find your prefered location then buying a park model there. will give you way more bang for your buck. Bettter yet you can grab an older pop up for exploring quite cheap and usually get most of your money back selling them unlike travel trailers.

Ok thanks. Yeah I’m just confused by the Numbers and ratings, that’s all. I’m good at Math, so I’m just curious if my truck says it can tow 7400 lbs comfortably, why I would have an issue with a trailer that weighed say 5200 dry or 6500 loaded? This is considering that my payload of my truck was still under the max allowed. The ratings on trucks usually have a safety factor, meaning they are tested and can prob do more but they place a number where anything over that amount is not suitable. For example, why put 7500 but they really mean you should only pull 5000.

You can pull right up to the max of your trucks ratings as long as you don't exceed any ratings. Your limiting factor, the rating you will probably get to firs is the payload rating, or possibly the rear axle rating. To understand all the ratings better, read this clicky

[Ejraste]

jdc1 wrote:
A 27RKS is a nice floor plan. But, you'll need an ulta-lite model.

Yeah. I’m worried now cause of what someone said about my RAWR being low. Like I said, the truck is rated to tow 7400 lbs as long as payload is under max but if my rear axle can’t support it then not sure if it’s doable. I’m just curious as why a truck would have a tow package rated for a weight but then not be usable to anything even close?

[jdc1]

A 27RKS is a nice floor plan. But, you'll need an ulta-lite model.

[Jebby14]

look for the 3/4 ton in the flavor of your choosing and you should good to go. Dont need anything crazy to be happy around 30 ft.

[Ejraste]

Sjm9911 wrote:
See , just tell her its needed. All good. And get the camra system, and whatever else you "need" lol. You can tow with your truck, it just will not be something as big as you want.

Haha yep. Yeah, we don’t need anything crazy large but we do want to have some space to move around. That is why I was looking at around 27 to 31 footers. The lowest dry weight I seen in that size was around 5200 lbs. I was hoping my truck would be good for that but sounds like it’s not. Thanks

[Sjm9911]

See , just tell her its needed. All good. And get the camra system, and whatever else you "need" lol. You can tow with your truck, it just will not be something as big as you want.