Newby towing

Dogrich1 · 02-21-2020, 10:45 AM

I am new at towing and know nothing about it. I am looking to tow a 2017 COUGAR X-LITE 28SGS Fifth Wheel. We have a 2009 F150 With towing pkg. All the stuff I read is confusing...can someone explain this to me...in plain english! lol

jsb5717 · 02-21-2020, 11:03 AM

First, welcome aboard. You'll find a lot of experience and knowledgeable help here.

There are a lot of threads here discussing towing weights, etc. The place to start is the yellow sticker in the door jamb of your truck. That will tell you the payload capacity of your truck. Basic tow ratings are irrelevant. It's mostly about how much weight you can put ON your truck, not how much weight your truck can pull

You will also need to know the GVWR of your trailer. It appears that yours is 10,000 lbs (empty weights mean nothing, use loaded weights only). 20% of your GVWR is 2000 lbs. That's approximately how much pin weight you will load onto the back of your truck. Add in total people, pets, gear, hitch...anything else you are loading into the truck. 2000 lbs plus everything else is the approximate weight you will be carrying. Does your truck give you that much payload weight allowance?

Typically your trailer will need a minimum of a 3/4 ton truck to pull safely and comfortably. You don't want to experience the white knuckle driving that many here have experienced.

Northofu1 · 02-21-2020, 11:45 AM

What Jeff said.
I have just purchased a Cougar Xlite as well, the 29 RET, it too has a GVWR of 10,000 lbs.
I wouldn't have considered it in my GMC 1500. I think the 2500 will tow it nicely.

Dogrich1 · 02-21-2020, 01:06 PM

GCWR is 15500 on my truck. GVWR for truck is 7200 How do I get the Load capacity? Curb weight is 3291 would Load Capacity be the dif between curb and GVWR?

**sourdough** · 02-21-2020, 01:23 PM

You need to look at the sticker inside the driver door. It will give you payload and gross axle weight ratings. Post those. You need to recheck that curb weight; don't know I've ever seen an F150 that only weighed 3291....maybe a Ford Ranger?? My last 1/2 ton was 5300 lbs. +/-

Eastham · 02-21-2020, 01:27 PM

Carrying capacity is on the driver's door jam on a yellow sticker.

Dogrich1 · 02-21-2020, 01:33 PM

Yep...I messed up on that...curb weight is 5670......payload...1530...

**JRTJH** · 02-21-2020, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dogrich1

I got it I think...I found this .... "The payload capacity is total amount of stuff your truck can carry. Payload capacity can be simply calculated by subtracting curb weight from GVWR. For example, your truck’s GVWR is 7200 lbs and your truck’s curb weight is 3291 lbs. Its load capacity would be 3909 lbs. This is the weight your truck can safely carry."

Your truck weighs SIGNIFICANTLY more than 3291 pounds empty (my DW's Edge weigh over 4200 pounds). It's closer to 5291 pounds. Typical payload (found in the yellow box on the decal located on the driver's door post) is around 1400-1700 pounds.

As a "heads up" I have a 2014 Cougar XLite 27RKS, about 1000 pounds lighter than the 28SGS and my trailer pin weight is around 1800 pounds, add 150 for the hitch, 150 for my DW, 50 for the generator and 50 for the tonneau cover and I'm working with a payload of roughly 2200 pounds BEFORE I put my butt in my seat....

Your 2009 F150 won't have the payload to carry that trailer even if the "numbers" say it has the capacity to tow it.

**sourdough** · 02-21-2020, 01:57 PM

OP you were headed in the right track on calculating, just had the wrong numbers. A 1/2 ton is pressed with a larger bumper pull and most (except for a tiny few) 5th wheels are beyond their capacity. It can be disappointing but you might look at bumper pulls that would fit. I pulled one that had me about 200 over on my payload with my last 1/2 ton and it was not fun....but it was about 37' long. Make sure the tv/trailer combo matches and you will have a much safer, enjoyable adventure. If you have other questions about the weights don't hesitate to ask. Good luck.

Dogrich1 · 02-21-2020, 02:49 PM

sourdough, We have a 30ft TT now and have only used it fairly close to home. Needed more room. We will just have to look at a bigger truck. Thank you for your info and patience with me on this. Will see about trading up on the truck first.

**sourdough** · 02-21-2020, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dogrich1

sourdough, We have a 30ft TT now and have only used it fairly close to home. Needed more room. We will just have to look at a bigger truck. Thank you for your info and patience with me on this. Will see about trading up on the truck first.

No patience required on my part and you are welcome. I just want you and others to avoid the pitfalls I and others have encountered and overcome at great expense. Just made another upgrade on trucks a couple of months ago to accommodate a new trailer I didn't know I wanted (DW informed me

).

If you have the capability to upgrade trucks find the trailer that fits you, look at the numbers on it and then look at the numbers on a truck that will work. We are here to assist in that effort. Good luck.

Logan X · 02-21-2020, 06:03 PM

Welcome to the forum and all of the advice you have received here is good advice given by experienced people. Good luck in your quest!

travelin texans · 02-21-2020, 06:40 PM

Don't take offense by comments from us "weight freaks" or feel "pounced on" with our suggestions, but all the info mentioned equals only one thing TOO MUCH RV or NOT ENOUGH TRUCK.

theasphaltrv'er · 02-23-2020, 06:12 AM

Dogrich your getting some great advise. Please let me give you my thoughts..
We drive a '13 F150 XLT Ecoboost HD with a payload capacity of 2172 lbs. When we was looking to up grade or downgrade, we we're towing a 31 ft. TT. When looking, researching & calculating what 5th wheel our truck could handle, a sales lady really, I mean really tried to get us into a 28sgs. She gave the ole your truck will have no problem pulling it, bah, bah, bah. Right it would have "no problem pulling it" but it would have a problem with the pin weight of it. I knew it was to much for our truck. Pin weight was bout 300 lbs more than the one we got. We finally decided on a '14 26sab. We are within our trucks limits and 6 years and over 10,000 miles of towing it, it was the best decision we could have made.

skids · 02-29-2020, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelin texans

Don't take offense by comments from us "weight freaks" or feel "pounced on" with our suggestions, but all the info mentioned equals only one thing TOO MUCH RV or NOT ENOUGH TRUCK.

And, he says that with EMPHASIS! Yuk yuk.

Hamlej · 03-05-2020, 11:39 AM

Here is some advise after taking several HUGE hits to the wallet. If you can, go buy that 1 ton dually long bed pickup. Then go shopping for the trailer of your choice. No matter what you say or think now eventually you will decided to upgrade that fifth wheel to bigger, better and heavier.

JimJan · 03-05-2020, 02:32 PM

We had a 3/4 ton chevy and were unsure we wanted to get back into camping so we bought an older small 5th wheel to see. After a season we decided to get a better - bigger 5th wheel. Found a nice used 38 footer. Went on a few short weekends and noticed the sag in the truck. Air bags helped but the suspension was over loaded.
Got on line here and learned what you are hearing now, that the truck did not have the capacity. We ended up getting the 1 ton dually long bed which is a little over-kill but it sure handles nice.
Moral of the story is get more truck than you need for the camper the you want now because a bigger - better one is most likely in your future.

**JRTJH** · 03-05-2020, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimJan

...
Moral of the story is get more truck than you need for the camper the you want now because a bigger - better one is most likely in your future.

And then we read the new thread: Hi, I'm new to travel trailers and just bought a 37' Hideout travel trailer for my DW, our teacup poodle and me. When we towed it home from the dealership, we realized we're going to need one of those "weight hitch transfer systems" and the truck seemed to run a little hotter than usual, but it towed just fine. Do you think our 2005 Ranger will have any trouble towing it? We don't have any plans to tow any further than about 200 miles from home and only short trips of 2 or 3 days. Our Ranger is a 4x4, FX4, so it's "fully equipped with a towing package"....

ctbruce · 03-05-2020, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRTJH

And then we read the new thread: Hi, I'm new to travel trailers and just bought a 37' Hideout travel trailer for my DW, our teacup poodle and me. When we towed it home from the dealership, we realized we're going to need one of those "weight hitch transfer systems" and the truck seemed to run a little hotter than usual, but it towed just fine. Do you think our 2005 Ranger will have any trouble towing it? We don't have any plans to tow any further than about 200 miles from home and only short trips of 2 or 3 days. Our Ranger is a 4x4, FX4, so it's "fully equipped with a towing package"....

Yep, this here is a "full spectrum" RV Forum.

**flybouy** · 03-05-2020, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRTJH

And then we read the new thread: Hi, I'm new to travel trailers and just bought a 37' Hideout travel trailer for my DW, our teacup poodle and me. When we towed it home from the dealership, we realized we're going to need one of those "weight hitch transfer systems" and the truck seemed to run a little hotter than usual, but it towed just fine. Do you think our 2005 Ranger will have any trouble towing it? We don't have any plans to tow any further than about 200 miles from home and only short trips of 2 or 3 days. Our Ranger is a 4x4, FX4, so it's "fully equipped with a towing package"....

And he doesn't even know it's back there. Oh yeah, almost forgot, he gets 35 m.p.g. towing.

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