I see it this way KJN70, can you pull it? Yes. Will you wish you had a bigger truck...yes. Should you get a smaller trailer......

 

For my bet, I'd make sure the bet was equal or better than that of a new clutch and a rebuilt tranny.

 

Better pad in a set of new tires too - your HanKOOKs will blow up.

 

18" wheels drops tow rating and GCWV by 500 pounds, so 14,500.

UVWR is misleading for every RV. That is without any options/accessories and without any fuel tanks/fuel/water. If you were buying it new, at least 10% higher driving away from the dealer. Then, add your family's camping stuff, water, fuel, etc. Oh, then you need firewood, kids toys, whatever else in the back of your truck that will probabyl be over GVWR.

1/2 ton towable should keep GVWR of the RV under 7k pounds and happy towing about 6k pounds loaded. Any more makes a 3/4 ton more comfortable/safe.
Looks like 04 trailer was a little lighter than the data I found for another year. Regardless, still too much for a 1/2 ton anything and you will want more power than any 1/2 ton

 

Too much trailer for these trucks.

 

Yes you could tow it but it would be unsafe. I am looking for a new trailer and I am going to get one that has a UVW of around 4300 lbs. I feel that i can load the trailer and still be comfortable towing it up grades and being able to stop it on the other side ok. My current trailer is an 05 that is supposed to weighs 3000 lbs dry. I had it on the scales and it came in at around 5000l bs loaded. no water. I pull this trailer all over the west coast and it tows just fine. But I would never go as big as the one you are talking about.
There ar a lot of great ultra light and just plain light trailers on the market today. The brand you are looking at is a well made trailer but a heavy trailer.
Good luck and remember to get all the proper equipment for your truck before you take it on the road.

 

(I've posted this on another thread.)

I have a f-150, 2005, 5.4L Scab, 3:73 rearend. listed gross is 15,000 lbs. in the manual. With my trailer loaded (27' toy hauler) it came in at 14,560 Lbs. I've taken 9 trips so far, averaging around 300-600 round trip. Not any mountanous trips, just some hills. The truck pulls it fine.. (nice WD set up too)I keep full synthetic oil, and change the tranny fluids once a year, about 25,000 miles. I keep it at 65 on the highway, and when a hill comes up, i let it get down to 55 before i put more gas to it to let it shift and tach to over 3000 rpm. I get about 8-9 mpg pulling this.

I really wish i had a F-250 to pull it with, just for peace of mind. But once i get on the highway, it pulls fine and i don't worry as much.

 

Podge, have you checked the weights of just the truck, specifically, each axle weights all loaded up?

 

no, i've not checked just the truck. but i do remember that the tounge weight was high, so i adjusted the WD hitch. Why do you ask ?

Went to my truck, and checked the weigh slip i got awhile back

front truck axle: 3,100 lbs... rear truck axle: 4260 lbs, and trailer axles: 7160 for 14,520 total. These measurements were taken before i re-adjusted the WD.

 

Now compare those to the GAWR (front and rear) numbers on your door jamb sticker. Also make sure your GVWR is at least 7360.

 

I can tell you right now that he is over on the rear. Year GAWR is just under 4k. Adjusting the the WD hitch will help that. He is well under front GAWR which is slightly less than rear.

 

As you said, those numbers put you over GVWR of 7200 pounds (assuming 4WD). But you made adjustments to the WDH to get them all with specs.

It is very difficult to get all the numbers under ratings over 7k pounds.

 

You may have particularly hard time controlling your truck on descents and on turns with an automatic transmission. Aside from moving your selecter from D to 1 or 3 (maybe 3 on some trucks) you can do little to select a low enough gear. Even then you are at the mercy of the transmission shifting itself down-- no double clutching to get into a safe gear.

I can attest to you that I have had a couple incidents in one my dairy farm's tractor-trailers where I misjudged a slope or turn and was not a in a low enough gear. In both instances I was pullling a 48' Tempte dual hopper grain trailer fully loaded. In fact, I exceeded my legal GCVW of 80,000#. On the aforementioned turn, the trailer pushed me right around the corner. I was lucky that I was able to keep the turn tight enough to avoid clipping a car. On the decent into a valley en route to Western New York Energy in Oleans county, I was again lucky to correct my mistake and get down from 8th to 7th before I picked up too much speed. Silly me, I thought the engine brake on four cylinders would be enough to hold back that load.

Finally, I have seen pickups in line at DOT weigh stations. I do not know anything about the specific laws regarding the weigh in requirements for pickups, but I can tell you that being over on my gross or axle weights in my tractor-trailer will lead to a hefty fine.