Just got back from the big Rv show in Springfield Mass today and the wife and i found exactly what we have been looking for! Its a 2012 Keystone Outback 292BH. Just not sure if it will be to much for my truck?? The campers dry weight is 6510lbs and the hitch weight is 850lbs and its 32' 9" long.The GVWR on the camper is 8200lbs I know my truck is rated for 11,200 lbs towing but its the tongue weight i am worried about. My payload is 1700lbs and after you add in the family and a couple items in the bed of the truck i feel i might be pushing my luck. I cant see us ever loading the camper to its max rating since we only usually go away for a few days at a time. Just want some honest real world opinions. SO WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK??

P.S. my truck is a 2011 F150 FX4 Supercrew Ecoboost with max tow pkg, 373 gears and 157" wheelbase.

 

It will pull it just fine, but you will be over your max payload.

 

I was told to figure 15% of gvwr of trailer for tongue weight which is 1200lbs. But even with using that # and adding the wife and kids (350lbs) it still leaves me 150lbs to spare. I know i will be close but i don't think i will be over?? Especially when i don't ever plan on maxing out the weight rating of the trailer.. Cant believe 170+ people read this and have only one person comment?? No one else out there is pulling a camper with similar #'s that can give me some insight???

 

IF the payload number you stated is from the door sticker I beleive you will be fine. (The Ford website payload numbers are off if you have a few options on the truck). 15% for tongue weight is a bit high...more like 12/13%. So even if you load the TT to it's GVWR your tongue weight is probably at 1,000# leaving 700# for your familiy and stuff in the back. You are good to go.

 

Yes it is the # off my door jam sticker. Fords website states that my truck with Max tow pkg is rated for 1890lbs payload. I guess because of all the options on my truck and the fact it's a FX4 is why the payload is 1693lbs on my door jam sticker.

 

A weight distributing hitch setup will put some of that tongue weight back on the trailer axles as well. Going off the 8200 gvw of the trailer you will be looking at around 1000 pounds of tongue weight figuring around 12%. I don't think that the tongue weight will be a huge issue. At 6150 pounds dry I would guess you will travel at about 7500 pounds loaded. The best thing to do is get the tongue weighed to see what your REALLY dealing with. If the rv dealer wants the sale and your serious, they should have no problem helping you out

 

What's the trucks GVWR? With 'Max Tow' I think it should be in the #7,650 range? Is that what it is? Or do you just have the 'Tow Package'? (#7,350 range)

I think you'll still be over your GVWR, but that's not the end of the world.. It's how much over you'll be that might make it that way...

Couple hundred pounds.. No big deal.. 500+ and that's getting up there.

Only way to know for sure is to know your ACTUAL weights.. Yes, yellow stickers and 'dry weights' are all fine and dandy, but what it weighs when you are in it and all is another..

Mitch

 

GVWR on my truck is 7,700lb. I did have my truck weighed after a trip to the town dump and with me in it and a full tank it weighed 6220lbs not sure how accurate there scale but i guess i still have 1780lbs left to play with..

 

Thanks for the confirm on that Kevin. That's a pretty good amount of payload left. A lot better than I have!

I'm sure it's still got the OEM tires on it too. They will be essentially "P" rated tires and have a max PSI of 44. I'd make sure I had them all pumped to that that when towing..

You may still find things get a bit 'squirmy' on you as those P sidewalls are still going to be softer than say even a LT C rated tire. I know the "Max Load" listed on the tires are going to be more than what you are hauling, but you still will have soft sidewalls...

It's going to be a full load, that's for sure. Take it easy and don't be in a hurry or worry about 'keeping up with traffic'...

Happy travels!

Mitch

 

I have a 2008 Outback, I would add more to the tongue weight as well, that is empty tongue (no propane or battery). I would also advise on getting either the reese dual cam or the Equal-i-zer

Also take a look at this blog.

 

I have an F 150 Super Crew Ecoboost FX4. Factory 20's. Shows 7200 GVRW and 1300lbs cargo capacity on door tag. I have an Outback 280RS which shows 8200 GVRW. and 1500 lbs capacity. This thing sways all over the place. I actually set off my sway control system in the f150. I got an alarm warning and it took me out of cruise by itself. After that trip I bought a sway control to add to the hitch. It helped but I added a second and it helped some more but I still have sway. I weighed the hole set up three different ways. Truck trailer, trailer, truck trailer but wheels of trailer on scale only. Truck 1/2 tanks fuel and me 5940, Tongue weight 860lbs, Trailer total 7320. If you add 860 to truck I have 440lbs left for 1/2 tank fuel and two more adults two dogs and the stuff I haul in the bed 10 gal gas Honda gen table chairs tools ect. I am over weight. What happens when I stick a 600lb quad int the trailer as it is meant to haul. It is carried in the front of the trailer. Looks like I need more tongue weight to help the sway but truck won't handle it. Should have bought a 3/4 ton but this truck pulls the weight just fine. The Ecoboost is a great motor, and Keystone markets their trailer as 1/2 ton towable.b

I had a hitch guy check out my set up. To measured the truck and trailer. said the equalizer hitch is set up perfect. Trailer is almost perfectly level when hooked up. Guess I will buy LT D or E rated tires for the truck and hope for the best!

 

A trailer should not sway by just towing it down the road if it is properly loaded and has the proper amount of tongue weight. Placement of it's axles makes a HUGE difference too.. The farther back from center of the trailer the axles are, the more tongue weight you get and then you get a naturally stable tow.

These days, it seems the travel trailer industry is trying to get longer and longer rigs, but still need to cater to the "1/2 ton" crowd, so they are moving the axles closer and closer to center to keep the TW down... Well, that's going to make for a handful to tow..

WD hitches help by getting the weight distributed to the front axle of the truck and some back to the trailer. Then they have the friction type of sway control. This helps, but they are NOT intended to prevent sway of a trailer just going down the road..

Then you have the built in sway control hitches. There is the Equal-I-Zer brand. It's been around forever. There is the Dual Cam and then the really expensive Hensley and ProPride and several others..

If you sway just going down the road, what are you going to do when something out of the ordinary occurs? Semis passing, gust of wind, having to do an emergency maneuver or slam the brakes?? Those are the situations where the sway control is supposed to come into play.

Anyway, once you get a handle on just getting down the road, that's when you have a 'perfectly adjusted' setup..

Good Luck!

Mitch

 

To the OP... My experience, you'll be well over on payload and most likely over the gross rear axle rating with a tongue weight that high. Ive been hopeful several times but crossing a CAT Scale proved otherwise. Even a WDH won't pull off that much weight properly configured. And for the record, 11,200 max tow capacity means nothing unless the wife and all the gear in the truck is left home.

 

Please explain to me how you figure i will be well over my payload and rear gross axle rating??? I am almost ready to go and buy this trailer and i thought i have done all the math correctly and even though i am close to my limits i am still under. Being conservative i figured 1100lbs for tongue weight to be safe .Then I added 350lbs for the wife and kids. I will only have a couple chairs and a cooler in the bed of truck(60lbs?) I use to put are bikes in the truck but the new trailer has a rear hitch for my bike rack.So, tongue weight(1100lbs) + wife and kids(350lbs) +chairs and cooler(60lbs) = 1510lbs. That is being conservative because we never will load the trailer to its max 8200lb rating. My rear axle rating is 4050lbs. So please tell me what i am missing before i sign on the dotted line and make a multi thousand dollar mistake..

 

Do your self a favor and weigh your truck with you in it and a full tank of gas. Then look at your door tag. It shows GVRW the tire tag will show the weight you gan add to truck. You will have 26-36 gal tank you need to figure this into your weight. If you have a rock yard or truck stop near by with a scale take your truck their. You probably need more truck. I made the same mistake looking at the max tow and not the GVRW of the truck. The truck will probably handle the weight but will your tires? Is it worth it to have a failure with your family in the vehicle? I just made the decision and got rid of my 150 yesterday for a 250. Didn't want to but if I had my outback 280 RS completely loaded with an ATV and water I will be more than 1200 lbs over GVRW of the truck. The truck will pull that load with no trouble but the weight on the axels and tires could cause a problem. Don't want to look back after a serious accident and say I should have had a heavier truck. Remember the trailers usually come in heavier than that state. Best to weight the trailer as well if you do purchase it. They also have tags. If you look at the load carrying figure you may be surprised as they usually under build the trailers and put lighter axels on them to get the 1/2 ton towable rating. So if you load it the way you want including water weight and batteries propane and everything else you put in it, most trailers are over weight for their specs. Again tires and axels will be stressed and trailer tire suck anyway.

Good luck