I have 2011 f150 supercrew 5.0 3:73 rears with the 7200# GVWR. I am buying a 27' travel trailer with a GVWR of 7700 lb and 5500 lb empty. Is this too much trailer/camper for this set up? I traded my 05 f250 in on the 150, I hope I don't regret it.

 

Paylood is the problem with travel trailers and half ton trucks. That's why I highly recommend the max tow package which gives an extra 400 pounds of payload.

Check your driver's door sticker for how much payload you actually have. Looks like this:


You should expect a TT of that weight to have about 800-850 pounds of tongue weight, which goes against the payload you have. Then take off an estimated weight of your family in the cab. Then take off an estimate of how much weight you expect to put in the bed.

My guess is 1400-850-500 leaves little capacity for anything in the bed.

 

You should be just fine with this setup. As APT mentioned, payload will have to be watched closely but it's not prohibitive.

 

With that said, I estimate I am running 200-500 pounds over my own truck's GVWR (no, never weighed) with a similar weight trailer. I knew it before I bought the TT, and am prepared to upgrade trucks if needed. You may not be since you just got the truck. You have way more power than I have, but similar payload I suspect.

I just got back from my first camping trip of this year. There are many overloaded tow vehicles on the roads and in the campground. They all live!

 

Your trailer will likely weigh around 6500 lbs with a 800 lb tongue or so. A WD hitch will put about 150 lbs of that weight back on the trailer axles, so you will have about 650 lbs on the truck. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

Thanks for the info. I bought it today and pulled it home, did not strain at all. I will be getting the WD hitch and sway bar though, I could not bare to see it squat in the rear. But it did not go down like i figured and I was impressed with the power in the new truck.

 

WD hitch doesn't put weight back onto trailer wheels. It transfers some of the weight from the hitch to the front wheels. So whatever tongue weight is there still applies to GVWR.

With that being said, I tow approximately the same weight with my 30' Sportsmen. Have never been to scales to figure out exactly what weight I have where and how much I have but plan to in the near future.

When I hook up, rear of my screw 4x4 ecoboost with the 9800# tow rating drops 1.5" and the front drops 3/4".

 

The front should not drop. In fact for late model F-150's, Ford says to cut the difference in half between unloaded front height and no WD hitched height, so it will be higher with WD hooked up than unloaded.

 

A WD hitch most certainly does put some weight back on the trailer tires. Search on the many posts on this including one of mine about a month ago for more info on why this is the case.

 

I set my hitch up about a month ago according to the hitch specs I had. I have been discovering that about all hitch manufacturers have changed their specs and don't want the front to drop below unhitched height. Changes were evidently done to help make the setup less prone to jackknifing.

I'll do some more studying regarding weight distribution back to trailer tires - everything I've seen has treated the hitch as a giant lever lifting up the back of the truck.

 

Another way to look at it is that the WD hitch effectively extends the tongue length of the trailer to the rear axle of the tow vehicle. When the front of the tow vehicle doesn't move up or down, that means that there is no additional weight or lift on it from the trailer on the front axle. In other words the tongue weight is effectively directly over the rear axle.

 

WD will put some weight back onto the TT axles, 15-20% in typical. But the goal is to still have at least 10% weight on the TV axles, many saying 12-13% is ideal.

 

You are right at the limits of your truck with a family. You most likely are also looking at a trailer larger than 27'. Don't go by the model number, most do not represent the true length, and many not even the length of the box alone. You are probably looking at a 31' TT or a 29' if it's a standand weight trailer made with stick and tin.

See my post here why you'll most likely be overload with anything heavier if you plan to take the family.

Good luck in finding a trailer that will work with your truck.

 

I say 20% - 25% from weigh sheets I've tracked but 15% would surely put you on the safe side where there should be no worry.

I guess it all depends on how the hitch is setup. Some installers prefer to put more weight on the rear axle so it sags a bit. This is said to handle better but I would be skeptical on that as a loaded rear suspension causes more bouncing in the rear supension and coupler.