First time towing

[asquared]

badlands brings up another good point. fueling when hitched. pay close attention to a gas station or a ywhere you pull into before you pull in. look at it to see if you will be ble to get back out. Gas rations with pumps parallel to the building are generally easier although we did recently find the diesel pump only on the end requiring a tight turn in and a bit of a u-turn Onto a small road to get back out. we were able to do it without backing up but it required both lanes and a little patience. lanes that are perpendicular are hard to pull out of as you tend to have to make a shap turn out of them. remember the tail will kick out in such a turn and could hit a pump. Also you tend to have to contend with cars blocking your way as they park to go inside. Look at the exit to these places as well as the entrance and pay attention to height so you don't hit your AC or something on the roof or a sign.

[asquared]

etcmss-the weights you list are dry or unloaded. Adding gear, propane, battery etc add weight and increase numbers. Ideally your loaded tongue weight should be approx 13-15% of the loaded TT weight. I would have at least 1200 lb bars on that TT. if they gave you lighter bars, I would take your scale weights to them and inform them they gave you bars that are too light. that is their fault and they should make it right with heavier bars.

with a dry TT weight of 6925 lbs ou are probably looking at a loaded weight of at least 8000 lbs. That means ideally a loaded tongue weight of 1040-1200 lbs given loaded weight of 8000 lbs. my guess based upon the numbers above is that you will be way over on payload and gcwr...... gcwr= actual (scaled not brochure) weight of TT + actual(scaled not brochure) weight of TV. you list curb weight of 7100 lbs and gcwr of 14000 lbs. 14000-7100= 6900 lbs towing capacity. this is before added options, passengers, and gear are added to TV. payload = gvwr- actual (scaled) vehicle weight. the tongue weight must be subtracted from your payload as well. I hate to sy it bu you are over weight with that TT and while dialing in the wdh will help, it won't resolve all of your problems. overweight will result in a white knuckle ride. been there done that, will never be there again.

[etcmss]

the F150 has a sticker on the door of GVWR of 7100# and a rating for each axle and then the Ford towing guide specs for this engine and wheelbase lists the towing maximum of 8500#. so i'm using that as my guide to truck capability.
How do I get hitch weight at the scale?
Is it bars on and then bars off the hitch or something else?

[Platokidd]

Originally Posted by etcmss

the F150 has a sticker on the door of GVWR of 7100# and a rating for each axle and then the Ford towing guide specs for this engine and wheelbase lists the towing maximum of 8500#. so i'm using that as my guide to truck capability.
How do I get hitch weight at the scale?
Is it bars on and then bars off the hitch or something else?

Forest River Forums - Downloads - How I weigh a Travel Trailer
down load this info from this forum and take it with you. Herk7769 did a great job writing this info. I think he posted this after helping me.

[Platokidd]

Originally Posted by etcmss

the F150 has a sticker on the door of GVWR of 7100# and a rating for each axle and then the Ford towing guide specs for this engine and wheelbase lists the towing maximum of 8500#. so i'm using that as my guide to truck capability.
How do I get hitch weight at the scale?
Is it bars on and then bars off the hitch or something else?

hitch lbs. = truck rear axle lbs no TT hooked up.one weigh in
next weigh in
truck rear axle lbs TT hooked up no bars. subtract the rear axle lbs when not hooked up from when hooked up.
Thats your hitch lbs.

[etcmss]

weighed my unit and got:
front axle-2920# Ford rating about 3400#
rear axle-3860# Ford rating 3820
trailer 6560#
total was 13340# and the GCWR for the F150 is 14000.

I had distributed some rear weight items and it did drive better but steering was light in the front. I did get to 70mph with little sway but did not feel comfortable to stay there. it was ok at 65mph.
didn't like the result of weight.
this left me with little margin for other people in truck, unit lightly loaded--so an upgrade to a F250 is happening. and hitch to be reset.

and many should read this weigh document---I wish I knew much of this before.......
Gary

[Platokidd]

Originally Posted by etcmss

weighed my unit and got:
front axle-2920# Ford rating about 3400#
rear axle-3860# Ford rating 3820
trailer 6560#
total was 13340# and the GCWR for the F150 is 14000.

I had distributed some rear weight items and it did drive better but steering was light in the front. I did get to 70mph with little sway but did not feel comfortable to stay there. it was ok at 65mph.
didn't like the result of weight.
this left me with little margin for other people in truck, unit lightly loaded--so an upgrade to a F250 is happening. and hitch to be reset.

and many should read this weigh document---I wish I knew much of this before.......
Gary

Good morning neighbor, as I see we live close to each other.
A f250 or 3/4 ton will do a better job no question there. But Im still a little concerned about the 10k-1k equilizer not being up to the task. As you stated earlier, I think your wrote the unit had over a 900 lbs hitch weight per fr..
Carl

[etcmss]

i'll get the RV dealer to address when adjusting to the new truck.
so where are you in Chicagoland? (you can see Mazon is just south of Joliet about 22ish miles)
Gary

[etcmss]

so is maybe there a better read this stuff pile for the newbie's after their introduction we point them there to get smarter? (had someone recommended this to me in any of my new items it may have exposed me to stuff to know before problems arise)
Gary

[Platokidd]

Originally Posted by etcmss

i'll get the RV dealer to address when adjusting to the new truck.
so where are you in Chicagoland? (you can see Mazon is just south of Joliet about 22ish miles)
Gary

just west of South Elgin and east of Burlington.