Travel Trailer Weight w/ My Truck

[Bigdawgwill44]

I have a question regarding how much my truck can tow and if the trailer my wife and I are looking at purchasing will work.

I have a 2016 F-150 w/ 5.0 V-8 Crew Cab w/ 6-1/2' bed and max tow package. The stickers off my door say:

http://www.keystoneforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19291&d=1542162565

http://www.keystoneforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19292&d=1542162565



The trailer we are looking at is the Grand Design Imagine 2400BH

https://www.granddesignrv.com/showroom/2019/travel-trailer/imagine/floorplans/2400bh

UVW: 5,595 lbs.
GVWR: 7,495 lbs.
Hitch: 505 lbs.
Length: 28'

[rbpru]

As you will find out a lot of "Can I pull this?" depends on the person driving.

I have seen some rigs that I though were really mismatched, yet the driver though was a sweet combo.

How well it drives is in the opinion of the driver but weight and length means extra wear and tear, how much extra depends how close to or over the max limits you are.

Most folks judge their rig by how comfortable they are driving it.

[Community Alumni]

Tow guides are just that, reference guides. They're only really useful for determining the absolute maximum amount of weight a truck can haul or pull. Often times these numbers are never obtainable due to a number of factors; some beyond the control of the end user like the added weight of factory installed options. The stickers on the inside of the door jamb of the truck and actual scale weights are far more helpful when determining what can be towed or hauled.

[Takamine]

https://www.ford.com/resources/ford/general/pdf/towingguides/16RV&TT_Ford_F150_r1_Oct2.pdf

Here's a link to a tow capacity guide. As long as you know your truck's specs, including axle ratio, you should be able to determine your tow and payload capacity.

Good luck

[nickthehunter]

Load the 200 lbs of gear into the TT instead of the bed of the truck. Subtracts 200 lbs from payload and only adds 30 lbs to tongue weight.

[CincyGus]

1677 lbs CCW
- 700 lbs Cab/Bed
------
977 lbs left of CCW

5595 UVW x 15% Tongue weight = 840 lbs
6495 x 15% Tongue weight = 975 lbs
7495 GVWR x 15% Tongue Weight = 1125

977-840= 137 spare CCW if trailer is empty
977-975= 2 lbs spare CCW.
977-1125= -147 lbs over CCW if loaded to GVWR


So if you load less than 900 lbs in the trailer, it's possible you will squeak by your CCW limits of your truck. Understand that is that its theoretically possible and will need to be verified by weighing at scales.

My opinion is it won't be any fun to be constantly worried about if you loaded the trailer properly, not being able to add water to the fresh water tanks to take with you without having to pull the calculator out and figure what you have to leave home to feel safe. And it certainly isn't going to be a nice relaxing drive to a wonderful weekend or vacation.

I'd look for something smaller, lighter and shorter that fit the trucks abilities better.

[Fordlover]

used to be the max tow was only available with the ecoboost, not the V8. I guess that changed?

[drsteve]

Terryallan wrote:

Bigdawgwill44 wrote:
Anohther model we found was a connect 241bhk. It is about the same length as the one we were initially looking at but weighs about 800 lbs. less dry.

Lighter is better, If you like the floor plan

Depends on how they made it lighter.

[Terryallan]

Bigdawgwill44 wrote:
Anohther model we found was a connect 241bhk. It is about the same length as the one we were initially looking at but weighs about 800 lbs. less dry.

Lighter is better, If you like the floor plan

[Bigdawgwill44]

Anohther model we found was a connect 241bhk. It is about the same length as the one we were initially looking at but weighs about 800 lbs. less dry.

[Terryallan]

Bigdawgwill44 wrote:

Terryallan wrote:
I would ask. What is the rear gear Ratio. Just because it has the max tow package doesn't mean it has the 3.73. If not. You will be pushing it with that trailer.

I have the 3.55 gears

You should be good. The 3.55 while not the best towing gear, is a good in between gear. Look in your manual. It will tell you the towing capacities for your truck. I'm guessing it will be around 8,500 lb. Setup the hitch carefully, get it right. You will know it is there, but then we all do.


Good luck, and have fun

[bobndot]

My dry hitch weight was an advertised 450#, once I loaded my 27' TT my hitch weight was 900# . I used a Sherline scale to weigh it and I was very surprised. While your 150 will tow your TT, it might be overloaded on the payload .
Your guess is as good as mine as to...… what does that mean ?
All I can say is get it weighed so you know and take from there.

Driving in a straight like on a freeway is not the same as driving it thru the twisties on a back road or in the case of an avoidance maneuver . You need to have the truck to be in control of the trailer not the other way around.

[2012Coleman]

Bigdawgwill44 wrote:

afidel wrote:
Two things, with this being a bunkhouse how many are going to be in the truck and how big are they? I've got a truck with nearly identical payload and with 4 adult size people plus a tween we're maxed on payload with a much lighter trailer.

Second, I'm really doubting those manufacturer numbers, that dry hitch is under 10%, if true it's not going to tow well at all unless most of the weight you add is forward of the axles.

Total weight of passengers would be 500 lbs. + probably 200 lbs. of gear in the bed of the truck.

Your gong to be at your max or maybe above. I towed this way with my previous travel trailer. Felt like I was sitting on a water bed while driving and big rigs pushed me around with their bow waves when passing. I was worn out after reaching the destination.

Nice trailer though.

[Community Alumni]

You'll probably be ok, just keep an eye on your weights. 1677 (Payload) - 500 (People) - 200 (Bed Gear) = 977 lbs. This is how much weight you have available for the hitch and the trailer's tongue. Since the ideal tongue weight is around 13%, the max tongue weight you should be looking at with this trailer is around 975 lbs. So close to max trailer weight you'll just barely be able to keep this within your ratings, but it'll work.

There's nothing that says that you have to tow at GVWR of the trailer. That trailer has a capacity to hold nearly 2,000 lbs of stuff and equipment beyond the dry weight. If you guys aren't serious packers then you won't even get close to that limit. For years we pulled a 10,000 GVWR with our 1500. No way in the world could we tow that trailer at max weight. We're not heavy packers and the trailer only ended up weighing around 8k on average, which was right at our limits.

What someone did with their truck or the model number on your door doesn't determine what you can or can't tow. You have to do the math for your specific truck and your specific situation. CAT scales are a cheap way to verify your current weights and how much capacity you have available.

[Bigdawgwill44]

Terryallan wrote:
I would ask. What is the rear gear Ratio. Just because it has the max tow package doesn't mean it has the 3.73. If not. You will be pushing it with that trailer.

I have the 3.55 gears