I have been trying to do some research but i keep finding different answers on the RV forum. I was hoping some of you FORD guys could help me

I have a 2010 F150 4X4 XTR Screw. I have the long bed and the 4.6 motor. I know my tow rating is 7,600 lbs

The trailer i have just ordered is 4,600 lbs with a tongue weight of 590 lbs. I have a center line leveling hitch and sway bars ordered as well. The trailer dealer said that they can set up the torsion bars as to make the tongue weight as light as 0 pounds ???

I think i am alright with just the trailer but i want to put my two motorcycles in the bed of the truck. The two bikes weigh about 650lbs.

Any thoughts or advice ?

Thanks, Randy

 

First, a WD hitch does not get rid of tongue. It distributes it from rear to front so the rear does not sag. Also you state the trailer weight is 4600lbs. Is that the empty weight or the GVWR of the trailer? Never use the empty weight as it will never be empty. Use the GVWR. My guess is that with the bikes in the back you will be over your GVWR, GAWR, and or GCWR.

 

The 4600# of the trailer is empty. I do not have the trailer yet and there is not many spec's for it as of yet. The trailer is just now going into production.

The trailer salesman was sure it would be no problem but i suspected those in this forum may know more. I thought i might have to add air bags to my truck.

Randy

 

What does the yellow payload sticker on your truck say? How much does your truck weigh with it loaded up with people and the bikes in the bed?

My #5000 LOADED trailer has a #700 tongue weight.. It's only a little 22' TT too...

Think of tongue weight as putting a #80 bag of cement in a wheel barrow. The front wheel is like the front axle. The legs are like the rear axle and your legs are like the trailer axles. The handles are like the WD bars.

What happens when you lift up on a wheel barrow? Does the weight of the bag of cement change? Of course not.. When you lift up, you distribute the #80 over the front wheel, your arms, legs and the WB legs (assuming you don't lift it totally off the ground.)

Forgetting the bikes in the bed, you will probably be okay on payload. Put those bikes in and you'll likely be over your trucks payload.

You'll get down the road either way.. All air bags will do is keep you level, but won't change your weights.

Mitch

 

With just those 2 bikes in the back you will be over max payload capacity. You're truck is "rated" at 5669lbs and it will be closer to 5750lbs if not more. Case in point, my 2005 F150 4x4 SC was rated at 5849lbs but on a CAT scale with about 15gallons of gas (8lbsx15=120lbs) she weighed in at 6057 without me in it. So lets see where that leaves us....

Your truck 5750lbs - subtract that from the GVWR which is 7150 and that leaves us @ 1400lbs (it IS a 1/2 ton truck after all) - Again without you or gas in the truck. You (like me) have a 36gal tank so that's 288lbs leaving us with 1112lbs. Put you (175lbs) and say, your 125lbs wife (or whomever is riding the other bike) and you're at 812lbs. See where I'm heading with this. Now throw those bikes in and you're done. you're approx 485+lbs in the red.

Another thing to consider is the ACTUAL tongue weight of that trailer vs the "rated" tongue weight. My trailer (which weighs 7500lbs loaded) has a rated tongue weight of 780lbs but was more like 865lbs once I weighed it. They say expect at least 10% if not closer to 12-15% of the actual weight of the trailer to be your tongue weight. And also remember your trailer's weight is as built with zero options and will always weight more than that. As Kingfish recommended, using the GVWR of the trailer will keep you safe for guesstimations.

I went with the 7-lug HD payload package after studying this for quite some time, taking the time to weigh my stuff and crunch #'s. It has a GVWR of 8200lbs and it has an 8' bed and I wanted to close the tailgate as I also tow with 2 dirtbikes in the back - My truck weighs 6280lbs full of gas + 865lbs tongue weight of the trailer + 465lbs for me, the wife & my son + 460lbs for my 2 dirtbikes = 8070lbs which allowed for bags, misc gear etc. Another to take into account is GCWR which is the weight of the truck and trailer loaded as you would tow it. My truck comes stock with 4.10's and is rated to tow 9200lbs, but with a GCWR of 15,500 and a truck loaded to 8070lbs, that dropped me to 7430lbs of tow capacity which I was ok with by manipulating how much water I towed with. So...

You, your passenger(s), gas and gear should be ok towing that trailer, but you gotta leave the bed empty. Hope this helps

 

Thanks for the reply 7lug.

Now i have to find a way to fix this.I had figured the payload was 1430 - the bikes at 350 = 1080. Tongue weight of the trailer is said to be 580 which i thought left me 500# to spare. The Ford dealer or trailer dealer never said that gas and passengers counted into the payload.

The TT was bought so we had a nice place to stay on Bike trips. The truck is almost new and i was told no problems when i bought both the truck and the TT. I just ordered 10 ply Cooper tires for the truck to be on the safe side. There is no way i can afford to buy another new truck , not to mention a Super Duty is a big truck to use for around town the rest of the time.

Randy

 

Sounds like you should have gotten a toy hauler!!

 

Hey Ken I feel your pain. That's the sad state of affairs when dealing with car dealers these days. I just bought a new truck and when I was lookin at a new Ecoboost I had the salesman (and this was supposedly one versed in F150's as I requested) tell me the 7lug option no longer existed. That was until I opened their brochure in front of him and showed him. Then he went on to say "It's just a regular F150 with the max tow package. Wow.. Just wow.

At any rate E rated 10-ply tires is a great start. Here's where it gets "sticky". CAN you tow that trailer with 1 bike in the back and be reasonably safe? I say yes, others may not. I say yes with a truck that's set up with a few modifications to help you get there. Obviously it's not ideal, but it beats a new truck (unless the cost of the mods outweighs the hit you'd take trading it in). Where it gets "sticky" is in the unfortunate event you are in an accident. Here in CA the CHP is versed in GVWR & GCWR of trucks who tow big RV trailers. It's due to the diesel crowd who insist on towing 40ft 5th wheels with a diesel F250. Yeah they have the power to tow a 17,000lb trailer, but they often are WAAAAY over their GVWR/GCWR. So if that is your dilemma, and your insurance company somehow finds out you're towing/hauling above capacity, you could be hung out to dry on the repair bill...But on to getting your truck up to specs

1st is the tires and that's done. Brakes are often overlooked and are an area of concern for any 1/2 Ton truck. I am a HUGE believer in EBC brake pads and High-Temp brake fluid. Living in Vegas we would take the trailer up to Utah in the mountains several times a year. After a pretty scary episode one time where the brakes got really hot and the fluid wasn't doing its job, I did a complete flush with Motul fluid and went to EBC Yellowstuff pads and WOW what an improvement. There is NOTHING scarier than coming off a mountain with 15,000lbs of truck/trailer and you feeling the brake pedal get worse and worse. I went to Motul 600 and I won't use anything but EBC... period!

Obviously a good weight distribution hitch as mentioned by the guys here is also a necessity. I have a feeling that trailer plus the bike(s) will still leave you with more rear sag than you'd like. Not only does excessive sag look bad, but it un-weights the front axle which can severely decrease braking and steering capability. I'd look into a set of good airbags. You don't need an on-board compressor or anything. I have the double-bellow bag from Firestone, but have used the Ride-Rite single bellow bags with good results. Air bags will help when you're just hauling the bikes (or other gear) without the trailer. Initially I was hesitant to run airbags because on my 4x4, having them strapped to your rear axle you will lose some wheel travel (axle droop) when/if you do some 4-wheeling. So I would take them out and bolt em back in when I towed. On my new truck I run Day-Star airbag cradles that allow the air bag to separate from the axle when droop exceeds the length of the bag, so I don't have to worry about tearing them if I'm out off-roading.

As far as performance is concerned, I think the absolute BEST mod a person can do for towing and hauling is gears. As a matter of fact, if you look at manufacturers tow/haul ratings, often times the only thing that separates one truck with a lower rating from the one with the higher rating is factory gear ratio. Based on your info, I surmise that your truck came with 3.55's. I think 4.10's is ideal and will help that 4.6 tremendously. I used my truck as a daily driver and I got just about the same MPG (hand calculated) as coworkers and buddies who had say 3.73's. If your truck did not come with a tow package, I'd upgrade the transmission cooler for sure, and make sure your hitch is at least a Class IV. For more power and better torque convertor lockup, I think an aftermarket tuner like the SCT X3/SF3 (buy it used off of eBay or in the classifieds) and a custom tow tune (Check 5-Star tuning/ VMP/ Troyer) will be helpful. Ford leaves a lot of power on the table with these modular motors that a good tune will get back. And then of course a good exhaust system, nothing crazy, just a single 3" from the CAT-Back will help low end torque. I'm not a big fan of aftermarket intakes on trucks anymore, I'd just get a good HI-Flow drop-in like a K&N and be done.

 

Thanks for the reply 7lug

I did price out a new truck but they want mine plus about $15,000.00 for a F250. I am going to get the air bags added to my truck before i even pick up my trailer. I have a Husky Center line hitch ordered to be installed with my new trailer. Perhaps in a few years i will look to a bigger truck but its not a option right now. Just for comparison sake i checked out ordering the trailer mirrors from ford for my truck and they are $800.00 bucks not including install.

Randy

 

No way... Do some research. I found mine at an online Ford Parts place and got the OEM tow mirrors with the integrated turn signal (which wasn't an option on my year) for like $140ea and for the heated ones were like $170. I didnt go with heated mirrors because I don't have a switch to turn them on. I did a quick search and here's what I found. And the install was very straight forward and simple. I'm sure a Chilton could walk you through it. It was a fantastic upgrade for me.

https://www.bluespringsfordparts.com...SIDE%20MIRRORS

I'd look at picking up a used 2011 7-lug with a 5.0. I have a buddy who bought one after seeing that I had a 7-lug and he LOVES it. He went with a 2011 cuz the 7-lug was only a SuperCab option before 2011 and he wanted a SuperCrew. Plenty of power, stock 3.73's and enough payload capacity to not worry. As mentioned, I was looking at a new Ecoboost, but I was very impressed with that 5.0. I was coming from a 5.4 and I can see why so many people love that 5.0 - And all the write-ups I've read about towing with the 5.0 have been stellar, even out past 9,000lbs. If you do go to a Super Duty I'd opt for a F350. With my 2500 Diesel, the payload capacity (-) truck weight I'm actually right around where I was with the F150. Just got WAY more power. There's an old saying "You can never have too much truck". I got a screaming deal on a flawless truck, otherwise I would've gotten a 1-Ton

 

I have a 2011 F 150 with the tow package and a 3.7 V-6. I used tow haul for the first time last week. I towed a 4100 pound vehicle on a UHaul car hauler. The hauler was the full hauler with the entire weight of the vehicle on the hauler, not the back two wheels on the ground. I liked the downshift when coming to a stop. However, twice when I did not come to a stop and it downshifted coming off a grade I had a lot of trouble getting it to come out of the downshift. Could you give me some advice on that?

 

Let it downshift. The 3.7 has a 7000 rpm redline, high revs won't hurt it at all.

 

Are you in Tow/Haul mode on the transmission? Like GLC said you may just have to rev it. Even though the V6 makes its peak torque lower than either V8, it's still only 278lbft and that may not have been enough and the truck would have fallen on its face had it up shifted. You mentioned "not coming to a stop it downshifted coming off a grade". Can you clarify that? I'm a little confused.

 

In tow/haul mode it's designed to go down a gear when you tap the brakes going downhill.

 

Good information