I am interested in the towing capacity of my 2010 F150 XLT Supercrew. I have the 5.4L V8, 4wd, towing package, and with 3.55 gearing.

I am looking for a travel trailer and wanted to get a definate answer from some people who tow with my similar package.

 

I just did this excersie myself when shopping for a trailer to live in (indefinitely) while working away from home.

Here is a link to the 2010 towing guide:
http://www.ford.com/resources/ford/g...vF150sep09.pdf

I have the same setup, except for being 4X2 instead of 4X4. The only differences should be 100 lbs less tow rating, plus whatever difference in your GVWR. For my setup, tow capacity is 9,800 lbs. However, that number seems to be more of a marketing ploy. The one that I based my trailer purchase off of was:

GCWR - GVWR = Trailer + Cargo

So for me, it wound up being (if I remember correctly):

15300 - 7100 = 8200 lbs


I did everything I could to stay under this number, while at the same time making sure I was staying under the 1,130 lbs tongue weight (with weight distributing hitch).

I wound up purchasing a 35'4" travel trailer weighing 7,800 empty and a tongue weight of 900 lbs. Although it tows it fine, it is far from ideal. I can easily tow between 65-75 mph, but gas mileage suffers for that upper end. Keeping it around 60-65 mph, I get around 9 mpg.

I don't plan on towing that often so an F-250 is out, but I would like to have more room in the numbers. I've been looking at an Ecoboost with 6.5" bed, 3.73 gears, and max tow for an estimated GCWR-GVWR=9500.

 

I have nearly the sane truck in an 09. I am rated to tow 9700 lbs. If you tow a travel trailer, you will likely hit your payload limit before your towing limit.

 

Really, look for the yellow sticker on your driver's door or door jam. It will give the maximum weight of occupants and cargo should not exceed xxxx pounds. Take off the weight of your family, estimated of weight of what you'll put in the truck bed, then divide by 0.15. That's the loaded weight of a travel trailer RV you should buy. I bet you'll end up in the 6000-ish pound range.

 

I suggest using .1 instead of .15 for most travel trailers. If you have a typical 12% - 13% tongue weight, you will end up with around 10% on the truck and around 2.5% put back on the trailer axles by the WD hitch. Your truck can likely handle a 8000 lb trailer properly hitched and driven. Also note that many trailers weigh a lot mote then you think they would by looking he dry weight. This is true for the tongue wright also. My "540 lb" dry weight tongue weighs 960 lbs. Around 710 on the truck and 250 shifted back to the trailer according to the scales.

 

1375 Cargo and Occupants Weight Max for truck
400 lbs for family
200 lbs in the bed
= 775

775/.15-------5166 lbs

775/.10-------7750 lbs

The manual says max trailer of 9600lbs, but I'm not gonna get anywhere close to that. I want to stay under 7500 GVWR, and lower if at all possible. Would really like to be under 7000.

 

Look for TT's under 6000 pounds dry and you should be pleased with how it tows.

 

Take the 200 lbs out of the bed and put it in the trailer and then you can tow 9750 lbs before hitting your payload limit - not that I recommend towing that much. The only concern I had about towing my 7500 lb TT was my brakes; my 09 brakes are smaller than those on the 2010. I towed my TT across the mountains on Rt. 68 in Maryland a few weeks ago, and am no longer concerned about my brakes. I just went down the hills at 60 MPH in 3rd gear (just tapped the brakes 3 times in tow/haul mode to downshift to 3rd), and handled the grades without using my brakes at all. The TT is like having a parachute behind my truck.

 

You have a truck nearly the same as mine and my max is ~5600 lbs. First let me state how I did the math. An average tongue weight is 13% so that is what I used. Second, with a weight distribution hitch, you should have equal weight on the 2 truck axles and your 1 set of trailer axles. But don't forget to factor in the 100 lbs weight of the hitch system.

So here's my truck. From the factory, the payload was 1430 lbs. I add a hard folding tonneau cover and bedrug bedliner. Their weight together is 70 lbs. So that has to be subtracted from the payload for a new payload of 1360 lbs.

My weight of tools in the truck and family is 695 lbs.

So heres the math: 1360 lbs - 695 lbs = 665 lbs. Now 665 lbs / 2 = 332.5 . Then 332.5 * 3 = 997.5 . Remeber Weight distribution hitch equalizes weight on all 3 axles. So the truck has 2/3 of that weight and why 665 was divided by 2. Then the answer was multiplied by 3 to give the total weight that the weight distribution hitch will have on it. Now remember that 100 lbs of that weight is the weight of the hitch system itself so now we will have 997.5 - 100 = 897.5 lbs . Now 897.5 / 13% hitch weight is ~6904 lbs. Now trailer options from the factory, clothes, food, water in the tanks, hitch gear, camp gear, can easily come in at 1300 lbs. So 6904 - 1300 = ~5600 lbs dry/ unoptioned factory trailer weight specification. So at 13% tongue weight, I can't go over a 5600 lbs speced trailer weight from the factory or a fully loaded and optioned 6900 lbs trailer.

Any trailer heavier than 5600 lbs from the factory brochure spec will cause my truck to be overloaded most likely. Of course this is not concrete as your hitch weight should be weighed as well as your rig to make sure you are good in all weight ratings. My calculations only give a starting basis and are not an exact science. Weighing your rig is the only sure way to know. You can also weigh the campers hitch at the dealer with a battery and full propane tanks to get an idea. There are hitch scales for about $100 sold to do this.

The limitation on 1/2 ton full size trucks is the PAYLOAD, GVWR, and GAWRs. You will exceed this way before you exceed the Tow Ratings and GCWR. Now if you pull a car carrier, boat, or other low or narrow profile trailer, this is different obviously. Makers don't consider travel trailers in their rating other than the surface area recommendation. Their ratings are based on low percentage hitch weight and low profile.

For me if I want a heavier trailer than an unoptioned, unloaded, 5600 lbs (6900 lbs optioned and loaded) travel trailer, I'll have to go up to a F250 or F350. You know, that's the reason why Super Duty trucks are made. 1/2 ton trucks do have their limitations even if others want to make them do the work of a Super Duty. Just because the truck can do it initially doesn't mean it can do it safely or reliably for years to come.

My camper right now is about 2000 lbs lighter than what I could tow, but I see no reason to go up in size. I love the floorplan and the trailer works great for us. It's even got room for our family to grow.