Towing question... I want to make sure I'm reading this correct. My truck is a 2001 Supercrew 5.4L 4x2. The chart below shows the tow ratings posted by CanadianSCrew and the bottom chart is off of the travel trailer I want to tow. Am I reading correctly that my truck will handle this trailer safely (with proper hitch setup ofcours)??? Thanks...


For the 2001 Supercrew I have the following info.

Series..Engine..Gvwr....Max Trailer Wieght
4x2.......4.6.......6350.......6600
4x2.......5.4.......6600.......8000
4x4.......4.6.......6500.......6300
4x4.......5.4.......6750.......7700



Model 26TBSS
Hitch Weight 805 lbs.
Axle Weight 5,075 lbs.
Dry Ship Weight 5,880 lbs.
GVWR 7,805 lbs.
CCC - Cargo Capacity 1,925 lbs.
Ext Length 28 ft. 9 in.
Ext Height 10 ft. 7 in.
Int Height 80 in.
Fresh Water Cap 42 Gal.
Black Water Cap 35 Gal.
Gray Water Cap 35 Gal.
Tire Size 15 in.
Awning Size 16 ft.

 

I pull a 21 foot attitude full of water two quad's and one little pw 50. I think you will be fine with that trailer. You won't be going 75mph anyplace. But maybe think about a 21 foot? Pulling mine is a little harder on my truck then I would like. I should have got a 19 foot..... Oh yah!! Plus the 2000lbs of crap my wife takes with us!!

Width - 101"
GVWR - 10,390 lbs
UVW - 4,390 lbs
Hitch Weight - 610 lbs
LP Gas Capacity - 15 gal
Fresh Water Capacity - 106 gal
Grey Water Capacity - 50 gal
Black Water Capacity - 50 gal
Tire Size - 15"

 

That's going to be pushing the GCWR and GVWR of your truck. That dry weight of 5800 pounds will be more like 6500-6800 pounds when you bring it home, without all the camping gear/food/gas/water. You'll be much closer to the GVWR of the trailer when ready to roll. For any F-150, I recommend sticking to a trailer weight of <6000 pounds ready to leave home. That means closer to 4500 dry weight rating or UVW.

 

My neighbor has almost that exact trailer you want....but he didn't like how his Super Duty F350 with a V-10 pulls it. He thought his truck was under powered.

He pulled it with my SuperDuty Diesel and promply sold his truck and bought a diesel.

My point is that sure, you can probably pull it...but there are better options for pulling it with....even if it is within Ford's guidelines for capacity.

EDIT: Most people will agree that the happy limit for the F150 is about 5K.

 

Thanks for the replies... do you all think I will gain anything if I swap the 3:55 gears to 4:10's?

 

You will gain quite a bit by swapping out the gears. By far the 2nd best mod I've done on my truck. (2nd to the XCAL2 of course ).

 

^^ what kinda RPMS are you runnin on the highway with those tires?

 

Too much trailer for your rig, in my opinion.

Like others here, I am sure you can pull the trailer but you won't like going up any inclines.

I tow a 6,000 GVWR travel trailer and I don't have any problems. I can't imagine towing almost 2,000 more pounds.

 

I tow a 7000 pound travel trailer about 4000 miles a year. I don't have ANY problems, BUT I wouldn't want to tow much more for very far. My TT has a GVWR of 7650.

 

Indeed, some members on here are of the 'if you can hook it, you can pull it' mindset, but as was mentioned, the happy limit is around 5k. Any more than that and it'll do it, but it's not gonna like it.

Also, going from a 3.55 to a 4.10 may make it perform better while towing, but it's not going to increase your rated capacity any.

-Joe

 

Well actually if you do a gear swap, you can obtain a new vehicle rating tag from DOT if needed. Well I may be wrong it's either a new door tag for your truck or a full time vehicle permit. Most people dont worry about it because DOT ussually dont mess with personal vehicles often. I belive 3.55 to 4.10 is good for about an additional 1300 lbs from USDOT.

 

BTW, I just bought an older 36' 5th wheel, I am installing the 5th wheel and brake control tomorrow night. Either Wednesday after work or if not then will have to wait till the weekend to go get it and bring it home. I will let you know then how it works out.

Talking to other RVers, and been tent camping at camp site s for several years so have looked around at what others are doing and talked to many. Everyone I have talked to says I should not have a problem getting it home. I have no Idea what the weight is, I know it's not going to be light.

After that, I am going to use the 150 for atleast the first part of this year but likely all of this season to pull it. Granted I am only going about 35-40 miles each time and will only do that once a month or so. I've got to buy my wife a ride then I will likely get an F350 diesel. (Dodge is in consideration too though) flame suit is on....

I have thought about getting an older 80's model 1 ton of any make just to use for this year. There is ALOT of big hills on the way home, if it gives me more than anticipated troubles, then that will be my plan, just an old cheap beater to get me through this year.

 

WOW! You guys make it seem like we need a Kenworth with a 425 CAT just to pull our travel trailers!

Let's step back into reality and put this into perspective!

My truck has 57,000 miles on it. 12,000 of those are towing my 7000 pound travel trailer. That's only 21% of my total miles. Now, of those 12,000 miles, less than 1/3 of those would be HARD miles (uphill or bad headwind). That's only 7% of the total miles when the truck has a harder time towing. Otherwise, it does a great job and has plenty of power.

AGAIN, I will state that you will not set any land speed records, but it does the job just fine. So I have to disagree with suggesting that you should only use 60% of your available towing capacity as a "rule of thumb" for the occasional/seasonal towing of a travel trailer.

Now, with that said, I do believe that if you are going to be pulling it quite a bit more than that (full-timing), then maybe you should get a bigger truck or a smaller trailer.

 

What kind of camper? How Long? Thanks...

 

Hey, it's my opinion, and I'm entitled to it. I was taking into consideration two things: First, the dry weight, as we all well-know, is significantly less than the loaded weight as-towed. Second, 5000 lbs behind a vehicle with a 7300lb capacity is closer to 70% of the rated max trailer weight (68.5%). Now, subtract the actual truck weight (which we know will be more than the published curb weight) from the GCWR, minus the driver's weight, minus the weight of the cooler tossed into the bed, minus the weight of a week's worth of firewood, and the 7300lb max capacity has just dropped to 6000 lbs. Load that 5000 lb trailer up with a thousand pounds of gear, water, propane, etc. and you're very near the GCWR for the truck and trailer, even with a weight-distributing setup. Can it do it? Yes. Is it going to be a pleasant experience operating it at 100% ? Nope.

I don't think I'm being unrealistic with my numbers, am I?