Recently we have been looking at purchasing a travel trailer for camping. I currently have an 04 SCAB FX4 with the towing package and since I don't have a whole lot of towing experience I wanted to get an idea of the size and weight of TT that would be suggested for the F150. We live in the mountains in Colorado, and while we won't be going over the passes that often, we will be headed out into the hills for some weekends.

Any experience or thoughts would be appreciated.

 

I wouldn't recommend you exceed about 7000# fully loaded with a F-150. However, that's going to be painful in the mountains, you will probably be down to 20 mph trying to pull a steep grade. Hopefully, Colorado Osprey will see this and elaborate. The only real way to pull a decent sized TT out there is with a turbodiesel.

 

Pulling a TT on the highway is like pushing an 8'x8' wall - not fun for a truck. Then there is the weight for grades. And higher altitude takes power away, less oxygen to burn. Three strikes.

However, many people enjoy RVing in the mountains with half ton trucks. As long as you expect first gear at 20-40mph, you can too. If that is not something you are willing to accept, then you should try to find a single axle RV or upgrade the truck.

 

I'm not looking to win any land speed records, so that's a good thing. I know my wife would kill me if I tried to talk her into upgrading to a PSD, so I think we will try to stick with the 150 for awhile. Right now I have the 3.73 gearset, good, bad, ugly for towing?

The TT's we've looked at so far are between 20-25' and are ultralights. The dry weight of the last 25' was supposed to be 3600. Obviously when it is loaded it will be more around probably 5000? Not sure if the length makes that much difference, or mostly just the weight.

 

You are on track with the weights. 1000-1500 pounds over dry weight will be loaded weight for a long weekend with a family and their gear. Find a floorplan you think you like as light as possible. Length is not usually an issue under 30' for most half ton trucks.

Check out the Heartland Edge line as well as the Crossroads Slingshot line.

 

You should be okay with 5000# loaded weight and 3.73's, as long as you don't lift it and put big tires on it. 4.56's would help a lot, but you are talking about 1500 bucks and it would become a PITA if it's a daily driver at highway speeds. To see what the impact would be, take it up on the highway with OD locked out, that's how it would run with 4.56's in OD. A programmer with custom tunes will help considerably, and a Gotts mod to the intake tube wouldn't hurt.

 

I do have Cooper Discoverer STTs installed right now. Stock size though, well as close as possible. I forget the sizes off the top of my head.

The truck is a daily driver, but I usually am not on the highway. I could see how the 4.56's would be a pita though. Might be something to consider in the future.

Thank you both for you help!

 

Well my wife and I had a chance to take a look at TTs this past weekend. We have been looking at used trailers for awhile, and hit the dealers today and looked at the new models. The model my wife really liked was 28' and had a GVWR of 6500 pounds. We more than likely won't do anything until closer to the start of next season, but is this too much trailer for my F150?

 

It'll pull it, but it won't be much fun in the mountains.

 

you'll be just fine. no worries. you 'll pull that across the country. just dont add a few thousand pounds in the bed soon.

 

05, have you ever towed with a gas engine in the mountains?