Hey,

I've got a 2006 F150 4.6L V-8. It's been a pain to try to find a horse trailer that is 'light' enough for my truck to pull it. Supposedly my truck can pull 6800#...well, all the horse trailers I've looked at are rated at 7000# (and that's with no horses).

Is there anything I can do to help 'beef up' my towing capacity?

Also, Do you think it's possibly for me to get by with pulling 7000#?

Thanks!

 

How many horses are you planning to carry? Bumper or 5th wheel/gooseneck?

 

I believe the 7000# is the GVW of the trailer. In other words, max weight of trailer with horses. Not weight of empty trailer.
Loaded to max you will be over your GCRW, but otherwise you would probably be okay.

 

I'm planning on hauling 2 horses. I'm looking for a 2-horse bumper pull actually.

These are some of the trailers I've been looking at.

http://www.cmtrailers.com/Categories...4-6023860e473d

http://www.cmtrailers.com/Categories...a-9c1f52e48894

http://www.cmtrailers.com/Categories...d-9b51e9f5148b

 

I used to be in the horse trailer industry - those are definitely the max weight, generally it's determined by the axles (2 x 3500#).

Ask CM for the empty weight - I'd guess they are around 3000# - your trailer dealer can probably tell you. Best is to borrow an empty from the dealer and go weigh it. The published weights and real weights may vary (greatly!). Aluminum trailer would obviously be lighter, but a lot more $. Then look at your horse weight, depending on the breed, could be a big spread. That's a typical quarterhorse trailer - around 1000# per quarterhorse is what we used to figure (if I recall correctly).

You should be fine, even with your tack on board you should have plenty of capacity left. It's the guy that buys a Ranger and wants to pull two horses that is begging for trouble.

Makes sure you have brakes on both axles and get a controller in your truck - the most important part of trailering is being able to stop.

 

Thanks Bryndon!! That makes me feel a lot better!

 

I towed a 3 horse slant bumper pull with my 4.6 f-150, loaded, and it was 6800 lbs across the scales (3220 empty). It's funny that it weighed the same with 3 horses, as it did with 3 motorcycles and a bunch of crap on another trip.



this one:http://www.mckinleyenterprises.com/pages/6.htm

 

Glad to shed some light! Have fun!