Towing question for a friend

ChevyHDGert · Jun 14, 2010

He has a 2002 Supercrew 4x2 with the smaller 4.6L V8.

He's looking to buy a 29' travel trailer that weighs 5,900 pounds.

The max. loaded trailer weight rating on this truck according to Ford specs is 6,600 lbs.

The GCWR is 11,500 lbs with the truck having a curb weight of 4,655 lbs.

Will he have any problems or what can he do to help?

rjkobbeman · Jun 14, 2010

ChevyHDGert said:
He has a 2002 Supercrew 4x2 with the smaller 4.6L V8.

He's looking to buy a 29' travel trailer that weighs 5,900 pounds.

The max. loaded trailer weight rating on this truck according to Ford specs is 6,600 lbs.

The GCWR is 11,500 lbs with the truck having a curb weight of 4,655 lbs.

Will he have any problems or what can he do to help?

Assuming the numbers you provided are correct, 5,900 trailer seems OK. Subtracting the curb weight of the truck from the GCWR gives you 6,845 pounds to play with. The 5,900 trailer weight is under that... so you are good there. The 5,900 trailer weight is under the 6,600 pounds you said FORD said was max for the trailer... so you are good there.

The only problem is you can only put 700 pounds more of "stuff" in the trailer... and you can only put 945 pounds of "stuff" total. If you put 500 pounds of "stuff" in the trailer, you can only put 445 pounds of "stuff" in the truck. How much do people and gasoline/diesel weigh? (Curb weight does not include people, fuel and stuff.) What other "stuff" do you need to bring?

Again, I did not verify any numbers... I just used your numbers. Gotta take into account tongue weight / axle ratings too. By just numbers, this seems OK... but in reality, it maybe a little to close for some (my) comfort.

Diamondpilot · Jun 14, 2010

I am a Ford guy and I would not do it. He needs a new truck with a larger engine. The 5.4L would do him fine on a new F-150. Properly geared they will tow upto 10,000# and will easily do 7,000# day in and out. Now if he is only taking in a flat state a few times a year he could get buy for the time being but he can get over weight really quick.

Remember that curb weight is just that. No drive, passengers, junk in the truck, ect. As for the trailer its easy to get that 5,900# empty weight up to 7,000# quick by the time you add options like tv, stereo, water, clothing, beading, food, lawn chairs, fishing poles, ect.

I sell boats and I have seen it many times. A manufacture list a boats empty weight at 5,000# We run them over the scales with all the junk one takes boating and they are 25% heavier. I once went to pick up a boat that was to weigh 12,000# in PA and had to have it weight for the over width permit and it was 15,500 and some odd pounds. I thought it seemed heavy but did not argue so I had it weighed at a truck stop on the 4 hour trip home and the weight was within 100#.

Chris

brokenot · Jun 14, 2010

The weight is only one thing to consider. In the manual there'll also be a spec for maximum frontal area. You'd be amazed at how fast the gas gauge will drop as the frontal area increases.

Customers come back with rental trailers and comment all the time how an 8' X 16' enclosed moving trailer pulls harder down the highway than an equipment trailer with a skidsteer parked on it does....even though it's a lot less weight back there. Let your foot off of the gas with a loaded equipment trailer hooked up and you'll coast right along. Do the same thing with a huuuuuge box behind your tow vehicle and it feels like you dropped an anchor over the side.

Of course you can combat the big frontal area issue somewhat by just going slower....

crashz · Jun 14, 2010

I would say it could be done, but keeping in mind those are dry weights. Four grown American adults with a weekend bag each and a cooler of snacks will push it over the limits.

My wife and I could never pull it off, even just the two of us. Yes, we both could stand to lose a few pounds, but the real probelm is the packing (some call it hoarding). She cannot leave the house without the most ridiculous amounts of stuff. I can't imagine what she'd fill all that space with....

QRTRHRS · Jun 14, 2010

I don't care what the manufacturer says, when you are running that close, you need to weigh an empty RV trailer to be sure. Hopefully before you plop down your hard earned cash. That's my two cents worth.

As for the 4.6 with this trailer, nope!

MESSMAKER · Jun 14, 2010

I have a truck that has about the same #s. I pull 5500. It is a load. I only go short distances. I would say no.

Bird · Jun 15, 2010

As the old saying goes, "You can do it, but you ain't gonna like it."

Dargo · Jun 15, 2010

brokenot said:
Of course you can combat the big frontal area issue somewhat by just going slower....

LOL, you can imagine my shock when I first got my 40' diesel pusher with a Cat C9 engine in it. MPG wasn't too bad until that one stretch out west when I realized that it would run 85 or 90 no problem on those long open stretches. After running as fast as 95 mph on that fuel run I thought I had a hole in my fuel tank! I went from getting almost 10 mpg to 4 mpg! We went slower the rest of the trip.