Can I Tow it?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
H

harleymckechnie

Member
Joined
May 23, 2018
Posts
5
Can I tow this travel trailer with my half ton?  Here are the stats on both:

TRUCK
2015 Ford F150 XLT 5.0L with 3.31 gears....rated to pull 9,100 lbs, gvwr of 7,050 lbs, gcwr 14,300 lbs.  Curb weight is 5,300 lbs, which puts payload at 1700 lbs.

TRAILER
2005 Fleetwood Terry 220rbs.  Dry weight 4820, GVWR 6500, tongue weight 650lbs..  Trailer will be moderately loaded as will truck

Not looking to max out and want to keep the rig healthy.  Thoughts?
 
I'd be worried about the 3.31 gearing. I have the 5L with 3.73 and I have to tow with a lead foot. It cruises along the highway at 2000 rpm but when you wan't to accelerate and climb you need to hit the gas since the Coyote pus out maximum torque at around 4000 RPM. With the 3.31 you will be cruising at high RPM (low gear). fwiw: there is a current thread on the F150 forum complaining about your truck for this reason (he was towing a heavier TT though). I believe you can upgrade to 3.73 so you may want to consider this.

I don't think the payload will be an issue. But your real world tongue weight will be closer to 800lb. fwiw: I tow a 7000lb TT and think that is the max for this TV.

I am assuming you have the tow package (TBC, etc.).
 
I would also assume a heavier tongue weight.  Provided your remaining payload of passengers,  gear, etc, doesn't exceed 7-800 more pounds (leaving some comfort room), you should be OK.  It's just a question of how well it pulls, and that's hard to answer depending on the terrain you plan to tow.  I would assume performance will be near max, and expect poor performance on hills and mountains.  AFAIC the only thing that matters is that you can keep the truck in that sweet spot without reving the crap out of it.  If that means you're doing 30 mph (or whatever) then so be it.  Forget everyone else on the road. Travel at the TV's ability.

The only other matter is the trailer length.  1/2 ton trucks are potentially less capable of handling long trailers in adverse conditions.  The more they are loaded to max and more they struggle to pull the trailer the better chance physics is going to catch up.  Again that is where speed becomes important.  That applies to all TV's not just 1/2 ton.
 
 
I would be under capacity by 1000 lbs ish when fully loaded(loaded truck and trailer would be 12600 pounds, gcwr for both is 13700.....and the trailer is 24 feet long.  I believe you?re right in what you said about sweet spot....and I definitely wouldn?t be trying to pass anyone lol.  Can you also give me some advice on downhill as well?  Do I use my engine as a brake to rely less on brakes? Also, what is a good transmission temp when towing.  Iappreciate everyone?s help. Thank you.
 
Welcome to the Forum!

Thanks for all the numbers, but what does the yellow placard on the driver door latch pillar say is your max payload?  That is the one that counts.

Your payload  must be enough to carry the TT tongue wt (750 - 800#), a WD hitch (80#), plus all passengers and cargo in the truck.  If it really is 1700# payload, and it should be close, you should be fine.
 
It looks like that sticker says 2004#.  Any advice on towing downhill and using your engine as a ?brake??  Thank you all for your sound advice.
 
You should be fine with your payload.  And your trailer size should be a good match for your truck.


I presume your Ford has a tow/haul switch that should down shift when you begin to brake on a decent.  Personally I don't like it.
My 2012 F-250 over reacts IMO, and down shifts too rapidly.  I prefer to use the manual shift function (which disengages the tow mode) and creep down the hill as needed.  I went down the steepest grades of the Bighorns along rte 16 in 2nd gear and only rarely touched the brakes in switch backs.

  My truck has a heavier braking capacity and my trailer weighs in about 1,000# less then you trailer, so I ended up lowering my brake controller setting (less braking) because I was creeping pretty slow to avoid over braking my trailer brakes.  YMMV
 
LOTS OF PAYLOAD!

As Country said, yes, engine braking is a GOOD thing!!  It can keep things slower and under control and save your brakes.
 
If the TV has a towing package, it is designed to handle its advertised towing load.

Across the CAT scales my 5000 # dry weight  TT weighs 6200 #. It puts 750 # on the F-150 through the WD hitch.

With all my camp stuff  we are near my max cargo limit but we have had no issues towing across country for the last four years.

The CAT scales do not lie.

Good luck

 
I am a total newbie and trying to get a better understanding of smart towing.  RGP....you mentioned as long as a vehicle has a towing package you can tow whatever weight it states?  I am about to purchase a 2008 Nissan Pathfinder V8.  It states the towing capacity is 7000#.  So I have several questions but I can only think of one right now....
  does this 7000# include the weight of the vehicle and whats inside or just what you are towing (and what's inside of what you are towing)?

I don't have a trailer yet.  I am in the heavy research phase as I have never owned one.  We do a lot of tent camping but are planning a cross country adventure in the future.
 
That's the weight of the trailer and what's inside it, but a couple of other things--You need the weight your specific vehicle can tow. You also have to make certain your specific vehicle can handle the weight that the hitch will put on it plus anything that you carry IN the vehicle ("the combined weight of occupants and cargo should never exceed:______lbs.")  That information, the carrying capacity, can be found on a sticker (yellow and white) on the post of the driver's side door.
Bob
 
Thank you!  So the gross combined weight rating is 12,570# and the max trailer weight is 7000# for the v8 pathfinder.  We are currently looking at some of these ultra light trailers that weigh in 3500-4500#

I read that one person actually loaded up there rig and TV and went to a weigh station to weigh it all.  Pretty smart to do that before heading out on the road I think.  But I'm also thinking that you don't really want to push it and see how close you can get to the max.  Sounds like you are asking for problems? 
 
Lots of folks go visit the scales!  The Tow capacity is a poor gauge on what you can tow, unless you work in the advertising dept.  More important is the Payload, or Cargo Carrying Capacity for the truck.  This must be sufficient to handle "the weight of all passengers and cargo" including the TT tongue wt and the WD hitch.  It is easy to max towing capacity and exceed the TV  GVWR.
 
I posted this in the towing section but it may help you, its all those crazy numbers like Gvwr and payload explained but in a way thats understandable not complex

https://youtu.be/qwFLOBrADBs

Cheers
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 1,197 (members: 28, guests: 1,169)

Forum statistics

Threads
131,931
Posts
1,387,721
Members
137,682
Latest member
duckyw7528
Back
Top Bottom