What trailer wt could I tow safely?

[Snomas]

I have a 2018 F150 2WD w/ the 5.0 L V8. Dealer said it can tow 12200 lbs. What Maximun Trailer wt should I consider to tow safely and comfortably?

[Terryallan]

Snomas wrote:
I have a 2018 F150 2WD w/ the 5.0 L V8. Dealer said it can tow 12200 lbs. What Maximun Trailer wt should I consider to tow safely and comfortably?

Before you can know anything. You need more information. You need to know the Rear gear ratio. A 3.73, can tow a whole lot more than a 3.15, or 3.31. Your manual will tell you the difference.


You also need to know the GVWR of the truck, to find avaliable payload. The higher the beter. Some will have a 6500lb GVWR while others will have 7350lb or higher. Once you find that you can weigh it, and see what type of payload you have. That you have a 2wd is a plus in that 2wds have a higher tow capacity than 4wd.

[myredracer]

Ignore "towing capacity" or GCWR figures. Payload capacity is the important number for towing TTs. Truck manufacturers and dealers love to promote what their trucks can "tow" instead of highlighting payload capacity.

Remember the episode of Gold Rush when Parker towed a humongous wash plant across a river with a Ford pickup? That's towing capacity!
Hahahaha.....

I suggest taking your truck to a scale to determine the actual available payload capacity to handle the tongue weight of a TT. While you *could* use the truck manufacturer's published payload capacity, the better way is to load it up as you would for camping including pets & passengers, plus a full tank of fuel and subtract that total weight from the GVWR on the door pillar sticker. What's left is the actual payload capacity you have left for a TT.

Then... The tongue wt. of a TT is typically in the 12-13% range of the actual wt. of a TT (not UVW). Since you can't take a TT to a scale until you own it, to ensure your truck can handle a particular TT, take your available payload capacity and divide that by 13% and compare that to the published GVWR of a TT. Note that some TTs can have tongue weights up to 15% of the GVW (actual weight).

[Lwiddis]

Think more about what can your truck carry. What is it’s payload?

[SidecarFlip]

Dealers are mostly FOS. But you should know that anyway. Most drummers will repeat anything they hear but really don't know.

[bob213]

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