Lowell said:
I'm in the minority on this forum in that I have a 1/2 ton pick-up pulling a 28 foot Cherokee lite.? I am very pleased with my 1/2 tons ability to pull my trailer.? I have pulled my trailer through the mountains in Colorado, Arizona and some of California.? In Colorado I have been through passes as high as 11,500 ft. If you want a 1/2 ton pick-up, just make sure you select a TT that when loaded still leaves you margin.? In our case my truck is rated to pull 8800 lbs but my loaded TT weight is 6120 lbs. The trailer dry weight is 5300 lbs.? With 2000 lbs of margin, the rig handles very well, keeps up with traffic, and get pretty good towing milage in the range of 10-11.5 mpg.
If you look down at my signature block you will see that I am in the F150 minority too.? ?You have done what I did, got a really light weight trailer.? ?You have allowed a 30% (!) safety factor in respect to your truck's tow rating.? ?
Look, folks come in here announcing that they are after a trailer of a certain
length with little thought to weight.? Now in one respect they are right in specifying length, length is the feature that gives you generous floor plans and floorplans are important.? ?They are the real basis for chosing one trailer over another ---
if you are choosing in a vacuum.? ?But if you specify a certain truck, you are no longer in a vacuum.? ?You have to chose a trailer, irrespective of length, that the truck can pull in the region that you want to pull it in and that is determined by trailer loaded weight vs. truck tow rating.? ?Length means nothing there.
Terms like ultra-light mean essentially nothing, they are merely advertizing puffery.? What counts is the actual gross vehicle weight rating GVWR, a DOT rating number. or the actually scaled weight of the trailer
ready to travel .? ?
Dry weight is of no use unless summed up with
carrying capacity to give GVWR.? ?
Now given that, and Mstos's enthusiasm for a 30 footer and the bloody dealer giving the usual assurances about the bigger the better, could you iin good conscience not recommend a more capable vehicle than a F-150, say a F250?? Given that we are talking basic safety here, I cannot.