Need Help Calculating Tow weights!!!

[Mgmfallon1019]

Hello All,I am New to the Towing World and need some Help calculating the weight numbers for my Tow Vehicle! I know this question has been asked a million and one times but I cannot grasp the concept. I am planning to purchase a bullet 298bhs trailer in the coming months. Having said that I am not sure if my truck can tow it. I will list the specs below. Can someone smarter than me please help me figure this out!!??

TV- 2001 Ford F150 King Ranch 4x2 5.4 L triton
GVWR 6600 class E
GCVWR 13000
RAWR 3800
Rear 3.55
Tow Capacity 8300
Payload 1875

TT is bullet 298bhs
dry weight 6716
hitch 640
carry capacity 1924

I think I am within my limits but want to make sure so I am not towing in an unsafe manner. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[therink]

Hi
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but that tt will weigh about 9000 lbs once loaded with tongue weight around 1000 lbs. Once you add passengers gear in bed and the toungue you will exceed the payload rating (gvwr) of the truck. Not to mention that the 5.4 and 3:55 axle will not accomadte hills. Your transmission will likely suffer premature failure from heat.
I highly recommend a properly equipped 3/4 ton truck or TT in the 6000 lb gvwr range.
Steve

[smiller]

Yes, that trailer is beyond the tow rating of the truck. It will probably pull it but it won't be fun or particularly safe, and will be very stressful on the truck. You really need to be looking at a 3/4-ton truck.

[Mgmfallon1019]

Thanks for the replies!! I am confused!!! what is the formula to come to that Conclusion! all of the maunfacturers state that these "ultralite" trailers can be towed with a 1/2 ton truck?? but every forum seems to say that they are not capable?

[Mgmfallon1019]

oops trailer dry weight is 5716 not 6716. not sure it makes a difference

[LiteFoot]

Originally Posted by Mgmfallon1019

oops trailer dry weight is 5716 not 6716. not sure it makes a difference

Does make a difference. Your tongue will end up at ~850 lbs which will be within spec with a weight distribution hitch. Total weight of your camper after battery, propane, and all your goodies will be around 7,000lbs. I think you will be within spec on all your ratings, that 5.4L will not appreciate that much weight though. Seems like an '01 was 260hp. It will pull it, but expect it to work hard and rev high. Make sure you have a transmission cooler.


Ryan

[Festus2]

Mgmfallon1019 -

Manufacturers are in the business of selling RV's and in this process, apply the "Half-Ton Towable" sticker on many of their ultra-lites and not so lite RV's. In turn, the dealership's salesman, tells his customers that, "Not to worry, you won't have any problem towing this baby. You'll be fine."

So far, you've had two responses both of which indicate that your 1/2T isn't a good match for that RV. Perhaps someone will come on here and "work" the figures for you and show you why it will or won't be a good and safe match.

[Mgmfallon1019]

Thanks for all the great info!! it would be awesome if someone who knows how to work the numbers could help me out bc i am clueless

[warsw]

I have pulled a trailer with a 1/2-ton Tundra that weighed closer to 8K going down the road. The truck did a great job handling the load and had more than enough power to do the job.

Your truck will handle the trailer you are looking at easily. The thing that will kill it is the 5.4 motor, which is a little anemic compared to today’s motors, and the 3.55 gears. The Tundra has way more power and with the tow package it had 4.30 gears.

My thoughts are that your truck will pull the trailer but it will be working so hard to do it and be so little fun to drive towing that trailer you will find yourself leaving the trailer home. If keeping your present truck is a must then I would be looking for a lighter trailer.

One other thought that would help your truck a lot would be to change the rear end gears. A lot cheaper than a new truck and may be enough to do the trick.

[fla-gypsy]

Your TT will gross out at about 8k to 8500 lbs. That is the top end of your ratings and tonguw eight could still reach 1k. The truck can tow anything below the listed ratings safely but that doesn't mean it will be fun. Performance is very subjective and different people have different expectations. Please equip the truck with a top quality integrated WD/sway control hitch (like the Reese Dual Cam or Equalizer) and you will need a brake controller installed. Keep track of the limits and you can successfully do it but I suspect your next truck will be a 3/4 ton truck.

[B&T]

by my calculator:

dry wt5716+cc1924=7640

[x96mnn]

I will do my best on breaking down the math.

First number to worry about is the total trailer weight.
Dry is 5716pds plus the max that can be added to it for gear and extras is 1924 so the max weight loaded up is 7640pds
Your truck based on what you listed can haul 8200pds which puts you under your max limit by 560pds which makes you legal.

Next you need to look at what your truck payload can handle which you list as 1875pds. You are going to take the 7640pd camer and put 13% of its weight on your hitch which is 993pds. You now take your total payload of 1875 pds and minus your hitch weight from the trailer which leaves you 882pds so again legal.

Next you need to look at your trucks weight. 6600pds loaded up minus the 1875pd payload gives you 4725pds.

Now we need the total your truck and trailer together is and make sure you are under your GCVWR 13000pds. Minus the truck weight of 4725pds and the potential trailer weight of 7640pds gives you 12365pds which leaves you under the GCVWR by 635pds. Again legal to this point.

The 635pds is what you have left to work with to put in your truck. The combined weight of everyone driving in the truck, anything you put in the back of your truck as well as any aftermarket items you added to your truck cannot exceed 635pds or your not legal. Will you load your trailer to the max? Most likely not but even then you could only improve to adding 882pds to the truck instead of the 635pds. This is based on your truck not being able to weigh more loaded up then 6600 pds.

The type of driving you will be doing also needs to be considered, is it short trips or long trips. If I was towing a couple hundred miles a year or a couple thousand would weigh in on my options.

My opinion making the assumption that you are buying the camper and plan to use it a lot and not park it some where, this is not a great combination. Your very close based on the math even in the best case to maxing out the capability of that truck when it was brand new. Truck is a 2001 and most likely in great shape, but still a 2001. You are going to put its motor, tranny, brakes and most every part on her under stress to pull that camper. I do not think you will enjoy the ride towing that camper unless you spend money in a specialty sway control system which is going to eat a 100pds of your available 635pds. Setting it up smart and watching what you carry most likely would make this setup legal by the law book, just not enjoyable.

Hope this helps and good luck with your choice.

[Mgmfallon1019]

X96mnn thank you for the break down. I dont plan to load to capacity and also dont plan to trvael with tanks full. I did some calculations based on what weight I expect to load the TT to and it seems I will be about 1500 lbs under. Do you think that will be good or am i still too close??

[Festus2]

mgmfallon -

One thing of importance to note is the payload of your truck. This amount can be determined by taking your GVWR and subtracting from it the following:

1) the curb weight of the truck with a full tank of gas PLUS the weight of the passengers you usually carry, all cargo in the box, the weight of the hitch hardware, the pin/tongue weight.

2) the resulting figure is your payload - a very IMPORTANT number to know and one that you should not exceed.

If you are close to a weigh scale, I would suggest that you load up your truck and trailer as if you were going camping and head for the scales. Get it weighed and those numbers will give you a more accurate picture rather than guessing how much this weighs, how much that weighs, etc. It will give you the weights on the axles as well. It doesn't cost much and it is money well spent.

[JRTJH]

mgmfallon1019,

I'd urge you to doublecheck the figures on your truck. I'm not going to say they are "inaccurate" but a GVW of 6600 lbs on an F150 is very light. Then to have a payload of 1875 lbs is significantly higher than the recent year F150's.

Addiitionally, one of the added weights that x96mnn didn't mention is the weight of the hitch itself. That's an added 100 lbs (roughly) that you'll need to add to the "bumper weight" that is in addition to the "tongue weight" of the actual RV.

The biggest issue you will have, I think, is towing with a 4 speed transmission, 3.55 gearing and a 5.4 (old generation) V8. I've got nearly 80 HP and 40 FT LB of torque more than your truck, 2 extra trans gears and a tow/haul function, 3.73 rearend, and a lighter trailer. I manage, but it's nothing like the diesels I've had in the past.

And, just a comment on what you stated about these "new trailers being half ton towable" That's not exactly true.... What it "actually states" is: Half ton towable with a properly equipped truck..... Not just "any old half ton" will work..... As for your truck, even if you're under the max, it will be "just barely" and you'll be asking a 12 year old vehicle to work at/near its limits. I'd predict that within a year, you'll be replacing the transmission, engine or the truck. I think you're asking it to do too much.

[GaryWT]

I have a f150 5.4 2011 with tow cap of 8600 and payload or 1700. For 2 years I towed a 6000/7200 lb trailer and it towed like a dream. I drove New England, ny and penn. I just upgraded to a trailer weighing 6400/8000 which puts us real close but so far so good. I do not expect any issues although we will watch what we carry. It will be the wife and I for the most part. We use a equelizer E2 hitch and a draw tite controller. I am sure many would not do this but it works for us.

[Mgmfallon1019]

Thanks for all the great answers!! I have come to the realization that this camper is above the capabilities of my truck! Since I can't afford a new truck and a new camper, does anyone have any suggestions on which TT my truck can handle? I would like something with bunks? Any ideas??

[Festus2]

Have you gone to Keystone's website and looked at the models there? (www.keystonerv.com)

I am assuming that you will be having children with you when you camp thus your need for something with bunks. There are several "bunkhouse" models in various sizes and models in the Keystone line but I am sure that there are other makes and models other than Keystone that might be suitable for you. It might be worth giving those a look-see.

[x96mnn]

I think you are making a wise choice and I would be looking for a camper below 4500pds dry. This would be practising some of the items suggested with keeping your load down, a WD set-up and maybe some sway control. One Camper that jumps out for me is the Passport 2300BH which is part of their grand touring line up. Comes in around 4400pds dry and a length of 26.5 feet.

There is another option you should consider as MOST RVers at one point including myself made a purchase on what we could afford and not what we wanted. This usually ends up bad where in a lot of cases more money is spent in the long run upgrading. You have a 2001 truck and I would be confident you could find a similar year or a little newer 2500 series truck at a good price. If you factor in what you can get for your truck, what a 2500 series truck would cost you around that year then try and beat the dealer up on the price of the RV to make up the variance to get the 2500 truck. Not sure if it would work but is what I would try first.

[KanTC]

Mgmfallon,

Is your truck a V-8 'SuperCrew' (or a SuperCab)?? And, where did you find the (8300 lb) towing capacity??

The CAB size also factors into the configuration, and therefore the maximum towing capacity. I couldn't find the 8300 lbs listed 'anywhere' ... but did find numbers ranging from 6000-8000 lbs.

Terri, the Chevy co-pilot