I know this question has be asked and answered time and time again (I think I've read all the posts). I am finding a lot of inconsistencies in the answers, though. I have a 2006 F150 SuperCab 2WD 5.4 3v 3.55 rear axle ratio. I've done all the calculations and research and I believe I would be fine with either of these TT, but I am a bit nervous with the GVWR of the Keystone Hideout 268LHS. What do you guys think.

Keystone Hideout 260LHS
Shipping Weight 5158
Carrying Capacity 2442
Hitch 645
Length 29' 11"
Height 10' 3"

Keystone Hideout 268LHS
Shipping Weight 6081
Carrying Capacity 1584
Hitch 665
Length 29' 4"
Height 11' 0"

 

The inconsistent answers are probably just due to the various opinions of others... It's hard to determine what "your" proposed combo is going to be like because we aren't "you"..

The first step is determining YOUR tow numbers and that's not necessarily the "tow ratings" for your truck... When it says you have a "tow rating" of #9000, it does not specify what kind of trailer that is.. Lots of difference between a #9000 boat and a #9000 TT...

Okay, with that out of the way, determine how much PAYLOAD you have left on the truck. You may or may not have a "Payload" sticker on your door jamb.. If you do, that will tell you how much payload the truck had when it left the factory. If you've added stuff to the truck, your actual payload will be less.

You'll be looking at around 800-900 of tongue weight when it's all said and done with either of those trailers I'd guess.

How much more would you be loading in the bed and additional passengers and such for your camping trips?

Factor all that in and see where you come up on your available payload. You will also have to watch your rear axle weight too. Got 16" or 17" wheels with "P" rated tires?? That will make a difference too (in how it tows that is).

So, there are a lot of variables in any "can I tow this?" question... The true answer is "It depends"..

Get some weights for your truck as it sits now and then you can start doing some math..

Mitch

 

Ignore the tow ratings - it's payload and truck GVWR that is the first limiter.

Load up the truck like you would to take a trip with the trailer - including people and a full tank of gas. Go get it weighed, subtract the weight from the GVWR on the door sticker and that's how much your tongue can weigh.

 

Weight and gearing aside, A 30' TT is way too much trailer for any half ton pickup imho

 

GVWR is 7050 and my truck all loaded up with wife, two kids, gas, and gear is about 6100. That gives me a tongue weight of 950 (so I'm good with either). I've been told to take truck weight (all loaded up) minus max tongue to get you trailer weight. That is 6100 minus 950 = 5150 trailer weight. This second calculation is what has me worried. Everyone I talk to that has pulled TTs for a long time says I'm good with either. Just wanted to get some opinions. Thanks alot for the advice.

 

Well, kinda... The 2 trailers you have in mind have GVWR of over #7500. The #6100 you mention is above the "dry weights" you listed, but how did you come to that figure?

All your math does is tell you how much weight is on the trailer axles. The trailer itself still weighs "#6100" and then your tongue weight will more likely be around #800 or a little less at that trailer weight. (~ 12% - 15% of trailer weight is good for the tw)

Most folks will load anywhere from #1000 to #1500 of additional 'stuff' in the trailer. It might sound like a lot, but believe me, it adds up quick and usually it's more than you figured...

Got any room for growth? Kids grow, your camping style might change, you may find you want to take more 'stuff' with you as you go along..

Bottom line is those trailers will be pretty much maxing out your truck in both weight and towing performance. If you can deal with that and it gets you where you want to go, you'll get down the road and have a great time!

If you don't like the way it tows or handles, that's something we can't really judge or speculate on because we all have different idea's of what is "the perfect tow" and it's usually our own setup!

I'd tow either of those trailers with my truck... But, I've got a #7700 GVWR, 3.73 gears and a Egoboost under the hood..

Good luck with the decision! Most important thing is to get something that makes sense for you and you can live with!

Mitch

 

Using your number for hitch dry and cargo weight they both add up to around 8300lbs. The Ford towing guide for 2006 shows 8500 max for the 138 wheelbase and 8400 max for the 154 wheelbase. So your approaching max for each your GCVW is 14000 in either case so your 6100 truck weight leaves you a theory max of 7900 trailer weight. Where that weight actually goes is another issue. On avg those size tires are limited to about 1900 ea so only 7600 could go on the axles the rest must go to your truck. which would be roughly 700 lbs based on max trailer weight plus the weight of your hitch itself.
This is where the math no longer works and you have to pull it on a scale and see what happens. I have never seen a real world setup that could get to the max numbers without overloading something. A few years back I was involved in specing out a small fleet of trucks to haul steel in MI. We have 160k weight limits here However with length restrictions axle limits axle spacing requirements and so on we never could get past 153000lbs and remain legal. There was no combination of axles and equipment that would do it without having to overload permit each truck for each trip.

 

Oh... I thought the "#6100" was what he thought the trailer weight would be..

Okay, it's what his truck weighs when he's got it loaded up, but no trailer....

So, I'm not sure what he means by the "#5150 trailer weight"??

Mitch

 

Mitch I could not figure it out either so I looked up his truck and the trailer and put the numbers together. So many numbers have to match up to be correct and no combination of them can exceed any max rating. No way to know if his tires are the same or higher load rating than factory. If he uses max trailer weight he can't tow it by the numbers the same applies to using max truck weight. Even using his numbers saying he has 950 left for hitch weight does not mean the 950 is all available on the rear axle where most of the hitch weight will end up. More and more I am finding the new higher tow ratings are much harder to achieve on anything other than a factory setup trailer for a advertisement.

 

Exactly - which is why some of us here usually tell people that want to tow trailers that size and weight to get a 3/4 ton truck. Whether a 1/2 can tow it or not isn't really the issue, a 3/4 ton has the upgraded chassis to make for a lot more stable tow.