Terrified to do the wrong thing...

[Lmopaulin]

Our 2013 F150 Ecoboost has now had enough scary mechanical things go wrong that I don't trust it tow our FR Surveyor. My hubby and I are looking at a replacement and are considering a 2021 F150 XLT 3.5L 4X4 with the Trailer Tow Package. I've searched high and low and can't find one with the Max Tow Package in our area as it's hard to find a large variety of F150s right now as it is. I built a vehicle and came up with a few matches, of which the door tags for one are attached. My husband says that, fully loaded, our trailer is a bit less than 10K# so we're using that as our GVWR (think I'm using the right acronym here). I'm attaching the trailer's tag as well. So I'm hoping this is enough info for one of you wonderful folks to tell me if the truck can tow our trailer. I've read through many previous discussions on this subject in the forum but my head starts spinning fairly quickly. Anyway, I know I'm providing bare bones info so will dig up more if you need it. My husband is pretty good at figuring this stuff out but he's not as concerned as I am about overtaxing a tow vehicle by cutting the numbers too close. I did print out the 2021 towing guide and it looks like we might be overtaxing the truck. Your help is greatly appreciated!

[NJKris]

My 20' trailer is about 4k lbs loaded. I was thinking of getting one 5' longer down the road, and figured I would have to upgrade to an F250. I'm sure somebody will chime in, but those Surveyors are pretty large, I didn't even know an F150 could handle that. I like a good margin in towing capability, especially since those figure are for level ground. Maybe not as important if you live in Florida, but up there, there are big hills.

[Chascin]

If your husband is correct then you are already over weight by 2232# on your trailer.

[Herk7769]

Terms:

Truck:

GVWR - Gross Vehicle Weight Rating - This is the MOST the truck can weigh when fully loaded with people, hitch, stuff and the camper's pin (5th wheel) or tongue weight (travel Trailer).

GAWR - Gross Axle Weight Rating (Front and Rear) - This is the most weight that can be carried by that axle when fully loaded.

GCWR - Gross Combined Weight Rating - the maximum the truck and the camper together can weigh without overloading the truck's capacity to pull and stop.

The GCWR is based on the Engine, Rear End Gears, 4x4 or 4x2, and wheel base you are looking at.

Here is the Spec sheet for the 2021 F-150. https://media.ford.com/content/dam/f...ical-Specs.pdf

Camper:

GVWR - This is the most that the camper loaded for camping can weigh without overloading the camper's frame, axles, and/or tires. Your camper 7768 pounds.

GAWR - This is the maximum load on each axle. (Your camper 3500 pounds each axle) If you add the two axles together it will ALWAYS be less than the GVWR because some of the camper's weight will always be carried by the TRUCK.
IF the camper's axles are maxed out at 7,000 pounds, then your truck will need to be able to carry that 768 pounds on the tongue.

Tongue Weight - This is the portion of the camper's actual loaded weight that the truck is carrying. This can sometimes be affected by the camper floorplan, how you loaded it, water on board and where the tank is located. Think of a teeter-totter where the axles are the pivot. It is ALWAYS calculated with the weight distribution bars OFF. That way you get a true reading of your tongue load.

NEVER use the dry weight for anything. It is literally an estimate of what an empty camper might weigh after it is built. The actual empty weight is on the yellow (white) sticker on the built camper.

The MAXIMUM your Surveyor can weigh is 7,768 pounds. If you are maxed out, your tongue weight should fall between 10% (777 pounds) to 15% (1165 pounds) for a safe tow. The optimum load distribution is about 12% (932 pounds) for the best ride.

Once you have that, then you can install your load distribution bars to move SOME that weight from behind the rear wheels on the truck to the front axle and trailer wheels. You should again re-weigh to be sure you are not overloading the camper axles or your truck's steering axle.

If you have 930 pounds on the tongue and your truck's payload is 1878 pounds, there remains about 950 pounds for hitch, people, dogs, and truck bed cargo.

Obviously, weighing your camper should be your first priority.

Here is how:

Travel Trailer Weight Calculator


Herk

[Chascin]

^^^^^What he said^^^^^^

[AlaskaErik]

You're looking at the wrong truck. For that weight you should be looking at 3/4 ton trucks. Even with my max tow package truck a 10,000 lb trailer would exceed my hitch weight limit.

[phipps33]

If you’re trailer weights “just under” 10,000lbs, you are WAY over weight on your trailer.

[lesptr]

What Herk said.

[NJKris]

I'm curious what mechanical problems killed the F150. Like the autopsy on this poor donkey!

[mbike254life]

Originally Posted by Lmopaulin

Our 2013 F150 Ecoboost has now had enough scary mechanical things go wrong that I don't trust it tow our FR Surveyor. My hubby and I are looking at a replacement and are considering a 2021 F150 XLT 3.5L 4X4 with the Trailer Tow Package. I've searched high and low and can't find one with the Max Tow Package in our area as it's hard to find a large variety of F150s right now as it is. I built a vehicle and came up with a few matches, of which the door tags for one are attached. My husband says that, fully loaded, our trailer is a bit less than 10K# so we're using that as our GVWR (think I'm using the right acronym here). I'm attaching the trailer's tag as well. So I'm hoping this is enough info for one of you wonderful folks to tell me if the truck can tow our trailer. I've read through many previous discussions on this subject in the forum but my head starts spinning fairly quickly. Anyway, I know I'm providing bare bones info so will dig up more if you need it. My husband is pretty good at figuring this stuff out but he's not as concerned as I am about overtaxing a tow vehicle by cutting the numbers too close. I did print out the 2021 towing guide and it looks like we might be overtaxing the truck. Your help is greatly appreciated!Attachment 256331Attachment 256333Attachment 256334

Hello! I just bought a 2018 F150 3.5 Eco-boost, did a lot of research to find the max tow package etc, my truck specs are very similar to your door sticker. I am pulling a new 2021 Cherokee 26dbh, my max gvwr is 8,600 lbs roughly - I probably only load it to about 7,800.
I love my truck, the ecoboost engine has no issues pulling my rig, and I love the back up assist and all of the towing features. It’s a great truck. Your not going to have an issues with the towing capacity the issue is going to be payload. At just under 10k lbs, you only have about 800 lbs left to use on anything else your putting in the truck. I can tell you that for me personally I wish I had more truck just for stability and increased payload. I am new to towing, so I am still learning what is normal and comfortable but I feel like there is a lot of trailer away. I am using a Weight distributing hitch and just this weekend installed the road master active suspension kit (similar to air bags or timbers) to help with stability. It did help significantly, and I am much more comfortable now but out if the box I would not recommend the F-150 for towing that size rig. You may be able to get away with it but your not going to regret stepping up to the 3/4 ton. I know how hard it is though to find a truck right now. I bought mine a couple months ago and have heard it’s even worse now. Good luck! Feel free to ask me and specific questions.

[moose074]

Originally Posted by NJKris

My 20' trailer is about 4k lbs loaded. I was thinking of getting one 5' longer down the road, and figured I would have to upgrade to an F250. I'm sure somebody will chime in, but those Surveyors are pretty large, I didn't even know an F150 could handle that. I like a good margin in towing capability, especially since those figure are for level ground. Maybe not as important if you live in Florida, but up there, there are big hills.

You are slightly mistaken truck manufacturers have agreed to use SAE J 2807. Here is an excerpt from an article you will see that very few people will subject their vehicles to the required testing standards

[SailorSam20500]

I'll agree with several of the above posts. Your trailer sticker says GVWR of 7768 lbs.. If your actual weight is 10K you are way overloaded. Your axles are only designed for 7K.


With that said, I've towed my trailer that has an actual weight of 7k lbs with an F-150 short bed, stock, 3.5 EB, 4x4 for over 30k miles. Truck does a good job. I tow with a Propride hitch which I think does a great job of keeping the trailer under control. Many say these hitches aren't worth their price, I'm happy with my decision. I have a high trim level but don't carry much in the truck, so my 1600 lb payload rating with actual tongue weight of 900 lbs is more than adequate for our needs.

With current supply chain issues, you may be best off just ordering what you want. That way you get max control over the truck. (Moon roof and skid plates are a big hit on payload.)

[moose074]

For the op I had a TT that when loaded was under 10k but not by much it was 35’10” in length. I towed it with two 1/2 trucks, one of which was a 2014 F 150 Platinum 4x4 with the eco boost. The truck did great, but my expectations of what the truck could do were realistic. Can it be done yes if you already owned the truck I would say tow away. However I would suggest that you move up to a 3/4 ton since you are already looking to buy. You appear unhappy with the 3.5 already, so just move on from it now ( I like it) but think you would enjoy a fresh start.

[ARhappycamper]

Get an F350 SRW with 7.3 and be done.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Lmopaulin

I built a vehicle and came up with a few matches, of which the door tags for one are attached. My husband says that, fully loaded, our trailer is a bit less than 10K# so we're using that as our GVWR (think I'm using the right acronym here). I'm attaching the trailer's tag as well.

Either your husband is really wrong or, as others have said, you're WAY overloaded.
The MAX your trailer should weigh is 7768lbs, which is its GVWR as you see on the trailer sticker.

https://forestriverinc.com/rvs/trave...or/251RKS/1547

My 2014 F150 SCREW 3.5 Ecoboost with Max Tow package has a max payload of 1828lbs and I tow a 26ft 6500lb loaded TT.
So if you stay within the specs from the link webpage, the truck with the 1878lbs of payload, would probably work.

[paverdave]

Originally Posted by NJKris

I'm curious what mechanical problems killed the F150. Like the autopsy on this poor donkey!

Good one NFKris.....now that is funny....should be weight police logo....

[NJKris]

Originally Posted by moose074

You are slightly mistaken truck manufacturers have agreed to use SAE J 2807. Here is an excerpt from an article you will see that very few people will subject their vehicles to the required testing standards Attachment 256345Attachment 256346

good to know. I fully expected whatever 'rating' is listed was under best case scenarios.

[moose074]

Originally Posted by NJKris

good to know. I fully expected whatever 'rating' is listed was under best case scenarios.

Yes sir I truly enjoy the forum and I consider myself curious like to learn lots of different things. I don’t encourage overweight towing I want to know where I stand if pulled over or in a wreck what do the numbers really mean. Why are two of the virtually same F-150 XLT have a 400 pound difference when equipped the same. This was seen on a video shared on this forum. I have seen car haulers like the ones pictured below. That must go thru weigh stations, while these pictures are from the internet and I don’t know what the truck pulling the trailers are. I have seen an old Ram/ Dodge with the 5.9 pulling the same trailer with 4 Chevy 1500 on a 5 car trailer thru down town Odessa Tx . So I question what I see verses what I read. Always willing to learn .

[NJKris]

Why are two of the virtually same F-150 XLT have a 400 pound difference when equipped the same.

Because I am driving the heavier one, lol.

[RobRockz]

As some have already mentioned, your best bet is to move up to at least a 3/4 ton. I was in your same predicament and just recently purchased a 3/4 diesel and it’s the best decision I’ve made for traveling and pulling a camper. If anything, the safety factor was the biggest reason. Good luck on your search/decision!