I recently came accross one helluva deal on a travel trailer, just could'nt pass it up. I never even thought about how much it weighed. Now I have a travel trailer that weighs 4200# dry and will be trying to pull it with a '97 F150 4.6. I say trying because I have'nt brought it home yet, when I hooked the trailer up it just about bottomed out the truck. I went to the local muffler shop and they suggested I install a Timbren (load leveling ) Anyone ever heard of this? Should I just break down and trade in the best truck I ever had to upgrade into a bigger truck? This ones paid for and I would almost rather sell the TT.

thanks,
C

 

C,

I had the same problem about two years ago. I was driving a 91 F-150 5-spd with the straight 6. My wife was driving a 99 F-150 XLT Lariat with the 4.6 L. We decided to buy a TT and wound up with a 26 ft Sunnybrook. The trailer competely dry / empty weighs right at 5000 lbs. At the time we bought the trailer the salesman said the wifes truck would pull the trailer with no problem. YEA RIGHT ! Doing the math with engine size, axle ratios, trailer weight, etc. we were within several hundred pounds of our gross weight limit with the trailer empty. Keep in mind this was with the fresh water tank, waste tanks, propane bottles etc. empty. After we added food, clothes, propane, the beer cooler ( I think this is what put us over the limit) we were right at max. gross towing weight. The truck really had a hard time even staying at 60 mph on the interstate. If we hit even a small hill we would slow down to 45 mph. After two trips we knew we had a serious problem. So for the next year we borrowed my father-in-laws F-250 with a PSD. Finally I found a deal on a 2000 F-250 XLT Ext Cab with the V-10, problem solved. My .02 cents worth here would be to do the math with the engine size, gear ratio's etc and see what your weight limit actually is. Take the trailer to a trucking company and ask them to weight it for you, this will give you an idea of how much weight you are dealing with. Is your truck stock ? headers , cat-back, air intake etc. will give you a few extra HP and Llbs. of torque. Also remember you will need electric brakes, and a good transmission oil cooler. I have never heard of the load equalizer system you mentioned. We used a "Draw Tite" load equalizing hitch. It worked really well as far as getting weight back on the front wheels of the truck. Hope this helps. Good luck.

GA-V-10

 

HI Pony

GA V10...a very good reply..He did what im thinkin....my thread here.."What would you do?"

In my case im about maxed out. Look at GCWR etc. Yes, you need a load equalizer for sure. It would raise your read end up and front end down some.

My TT...GVWR 4700#....Draw-Tite...750#spring bar/10000#gross/750tongue wt. This works well for my TT. I havent needed sway control bars.. thats something else you may need? Just really depends on how well yours tows/handles. Do a short tow on interstate 55/60mpg where big rigs can pass you and also a windy day. You'll know.

There are different brands..prices. They have wt. ratings.

Your truck should tow TT. Easy tow VS hard tow? Just depends on where you go.

Good luck...OT

 

You will be shocked at what on overweighted vehicle will do. On our 350 PSD, the springs started bending to much,(had a small S shape) it snapped the overload bracket, and the trans started shifting very hard. All this was done while towing over the recomended weight. A good 250 or 350 should be plenty to handle a trailer, no matter if you upgraded. Ours towed a 34' triple slide with ease. If you are buying on just to tow, a dually is really nice. The tires last a lot longer and it just pulls so much better.

 

Hey C -

If you have the 3.55 rear end and tow package, you should be well within the towing capabilities of your truck. I have a '98 F-150 4.6 supercab 4X4 with tow package, and its rated at 6,600 lbs max trailer weight. Depending on the model, your truck may be rated as high as 7200 lbs max trailer weight (for the regular cab 4.6 with 3.55 rear axle). Check your owner's manual to be sure. I've heard that a good rule of thumb is to keep your gross trailer weight 15 percent below the max.

Anyway, I pull a 22 ft TT that also weighs 4200 lbs dry. I figure when it's loaded, it runs between 5400 and 5700 lbs, and it pulls just fine. An equalizer hitch will make all the difference in the world; when set-up correctly, the rear-end of your truck will barely drop at all. Of course, you'll have to stick to the slow lane going up hills, but it shouldn't be too bad.

Of course if you had a 250 or 350, you wouldn't have to worry about these issues, but I'm like you, I plan on keeping my 1/2 ton.

Good Luck

Habanero

 

I'm with GA-10, same thing happened to me. I had a 98 F150 S/C 4.6 with 3.55's. Dry was supposed to be about 5000 on my 26 ft Fleetwood. Thought with a 7000 pound max I'd be fine. NOPE. I didn't feel comfortable at all. I have a CDL and have driven big rigs in the past, but this combination scared the pi$$ out of me. I did had an equalizer hitch also.

I learned the hard way and moved up to an F250LD with the 5.4 and 3.73LS, made a big difference for me. The GCVW is a big player along with the equalizer hitch. Everything I've read since says to keep no more than 75% max, don't go by the "7000 max rating" cause once again, the GCVW is the important thing.

And another thing I learned from several RV pages, those weights posted in the trailers are very unreliable. They frequently weigh more. Get the trailer and your rig weighed.

If you're not set up right you'll wear your truck down a lot faster.

So what kind of great deal did you get?

 

Lots of good advice, and I must admit I have never towed anything over 2000#'s. My truck has the 3.55 gears and I am having the load levelers put on this week. I have a Reese hitch and anti-sway bar. I will try a few test runs with the camper to see how it handles. Guess I should've stuck with the pop-up.

helluva deal.......does'nt seem quite so good now
i got a 1999 Wilderness for almost $5000 less than book value.

 

You should be able to handle that trailer but you WILL need a weight distributing hitch. A WD hitch distributes the weight evenly among the truck and trailer axles by using spring bars.

You will also need an electric brake controller if you don't have one yet.

Get a hitch with sway control (and avoid the friction bar type). I would recommend (in decreasing order of preference and price):

Hensley Arrow (very expensive but the best)
Pullright (also expensive, very good but ugly)
Equal-i-zer (much less expensive)
Reese Dual Cam (quite cheap)

Ian