Can my F-150 pull this TT....safely?

[AzHunter1968]

So I recently purchased a TT...Aerolite 242bhsl. Dry shipping weight:5510, Hitch weight:720. I currently own a 2007 F-150 5.4 SupercrewCab 4x4 with 3.73 gears and the tow package. Its stating my maximum cargo weight is 1482. The more I think about it the more I'm starting to stress out about whether or not I have the ability to tow this thing safely. I figure with me, my wife, and 3 kids I'll be in at 560 pounds. So thats 720+560=1280 towards the maximum cargo? This doesn't also take into account the gas? cargo I'll be putting into the truck/trailer? Ez-equalizer hitch? I feel like I'll be way over the 1482 mark. If I am what are the possible consequences? Is there anything I can do to adjust weight? This is my first trailer and although my pops has towed numerous trailers and has drove as a truck drive all his life he says I'll be fine. If I place more of the cargo in the trailer then lets say th ebed of my truck will that offset some of the weight? HELP!!!!

[wildcatter]

You will be pushing the limit, but yes you can. I pulled a 27hfs with a 1999 Silverado for several years, no issues. Just make sure you use your equalizer hitch, otherwise you buck all over.

[aufinger]

Originally Posted by AzHunter1968

This doesn't also take into account the gas?

Find out exactly what's included in your Curb Weight. In most cases, the weight of the fuel is already included in the truck's Curb Weight, and if so you don't need to deduct the weight of the fuel from the Cargo Capacity. Also, while the definition of Curb Weight doesn't include the driver, sometimes posted weights include 150 lbs. for the driver. Larry G.

[JIMNLIN]

Listen to pops.
As others say your going to have a max load to pull which bothers some folks and no problems with others.
You already have the combo so make a trip in some hills and flats and see if your comfortable with its towing performance.

I would also weigh the truck for separate front and rear axle weights before and after the trailers is hooked up. That way you will know if your over tire/axle load limits and how much weight the front axle gained or lost for proper WD hitch set up.
You may want to think about LT C or D tires (stiffer sidewall) on the truck to replace those soft side P tires.

[Ottawasteve]

Originally Posted by AzHunter1968

So I recently purchased a TT...Aerolite 242bhsl. Dry shipping weight:5510, Hitch weight:720. I currently own a 2007 F-150 5.4 SupercrewCab 4x4 with 3.73 gears and the tow package. Its stating my maximum cargo weight is 1482. The more I think about it the more I'm starting to stress out about whether or not I have the ability to tow this thing safely. I figure with me, my wife, and 3 kids I'll be in at 560 pounds. So thats 720+560=1280 towards the maximum cargo? This doesn't also take into account the gas? cargo I'll be putting into the truck/trailer? Ez-equalizer hitch? I feel like I'll be way over the 1482 mark. If I am what are the possible consequences? Is there anything I can do to adjust weight? This is my first trailer and although my pops has towed numerous trailers and has drove as a truck drive all his life he says I'll be fine. If I place more of the cargo in the trailer then lets say th ebed of my truck will that offset some of the weight? HELP!!!!

You have correctly identified payload as the limiting factor with our F150's. I am towing with a 2010 5.4 with the 6spd and Maxtow package which has the 3.73 gears and 200 lbs of payload (1683) more than your F150. My trailer is a Jayco Eagle 284 BHBE. Based on the info available when I ordered, dry weight was supposed to be 6600 lbs with a 600 lb tongue weight. As delivered, it ended up being 7300 lbs due to added options. Loaded for camping it weighs in at 8,000 lbs which is well shy of the 9,500lb GVWR of the trailer. Tongue weight is 1050 lbs based on Sherline tongue weight scale. It is just my wife, son and I in the truck and we do not put any heavy items in the box of the truck and I do not travel with filled freshwater tanks (84 gallons=650lbs). I recognize that I am close to my maximums and it would be easy to exceed them by throwing bikes, coolers, firewood etc. in the box of the truck. If you had 500 lbs of stuff (payload) in the box of the truck and moved it into trailer, it would be 60lbs of increased tongue weight @12% tongue. All things being equal, an extra 1000lbs of trailer will increase tongue weight by 120 lbs with a 12% tongue weight.

I would recommend getting a good quality hitch and make sure it is properly adjusted to avoid possibility of issues with sway. I have been using the Propride 3p for 3 years and would not tow without it. If I had to pick one item for increased safety, it would be the 3p. Expensive but cheaper than new truck payments. I also added airbags ($300), which do not increase payload or towing capacity but do reduce squat and firm up the rear of the truck when aired up. Manually inflate them with small battery operated air compressor. When the time came for new tires, I opted for LT Michelin tires ($25 extra per tire) in the same size as the P rated tires which make for a bit harsher ride unloaded, but increase stability when towing. The day after my extended warranty ran out, I ordered and installed a tuner from 5 star tuning. It increased torque by about 12% (with premium fuel) and changed the shift patterns which improved pulling up long grades.

I have never had a problem maintaining the speed limit although accelerating up a steep grade can be a challenge when you get stuck in the right lane, due to traffic, behind a rig on a long grade that has to slow down to 30 or 40mph. Stability and braking have been perfect and I have never had a concern in this regard even under emergency braking for distracted drivers and evening wildlife on the highway.

Sorry for the long winded explanation, but given my experience with a similar setup, I thought it would be helpful. You will probably get uninformed "experts" that will tell that all F150's should only pull pop-ups weighing less than 4,000lbs and those that had poor experiences with their F150's because they were overweight or did not have a properly adjusted quality WD hitch. There are many out there with similar setups that have safely towed many miles.

You might have to pack carefully, but you should be able to bring that setup in under your max ratings and you might need a couple of trips to the scales to get your setup where you want it. Without filling freshwater tanks, many people typically have about 1000lbs of camping stuff in their travel trailer, so your packed weight would be around 6500lbs, at 12% TW you'll have about 780 lbs of tongue weight or 650 lbs at 10%. You can make significant changes to you tongue weight depending on whether you pack heavy items at the front or back of the trailer.

Happy Camping

[SmokeyWren]

Originally Posted by AzHunter1968

Its stating my maximum cargo weight is 1482. The more I think about it the more I'm starting to stress out about whether or not I have the ability to tow this thing safely.

Hi, AZHunter, and welcome to our campfire.


If you define "safely" as not exceeding any of Ford's weight limits, then you'll probably exceed the payload capacity of the F-150. Your real-world payload capacity for hitch weight is not the 1,482 number on the sticker, but is the GVWR of the F-150 minus the weight of the wet and loaded F-150 before you tie onto the trailer.

The Dutchmen Aerolite 242BHSL's dry tongue weight is 13% of dry trailer weight. That's about average, so you can expect that 13% to apply to the wet and properly loaded trailer. Cargo capacity is only 865 pounds, so you can expect to have the trailer loaded to max of 6,600 pounds by the middle of your third camping trip. So that's 858 pounds of tongue weight, plus another 100 pounds for a quality weight-distributing hitch, for a total of 958 pounds of hitch weight. Quality WD hitches include the Reese Strait-Line, Blue Ox SwayPro, and Equal-I-Zer. The less expensive WD hitches such as the Reese Pro Series are NOT High-quality WD hitches with good sway control. Like Ottawasteve, I too have a ProPride 3-P, but you don't need to spend that much to get a quality WD hitch. The good hitches that list for around $1,000 and you can buy online for $500 to $650 are fine to control about 99% of all sway-causing conditions.

Assuming the 1485 payload capacity is accurate, that leaves you only 627 pounds of unused payload capacity for family and anything else you might haul in the pickup. If you haul tools and jacks and jackstands in the bed that has a spray-in bedliner and maybe a bed rug, you're probably going to exceed the GVWR of your F-150 with that trailer. However, finding a bunkhouse TT with less than 6,600 pounds wet and loaded weight is tough.

Here's your TT. Nice little bunkhouse.


The CAT scale is your friend. Weigh your rig frequently to see where you stand with payload capacity. Add the weights on the front and rear axles of the F-150, and compare the total to the GVWR of the F-150. If you're overloaded, then you'll just have to convince Darling Wife and the kiddos to leave more stuff at home.

Is there anything I can do to adjust weight?

Yeah. Leave stuff at home. Don't haul it with you. Travel with empty holding tanks. No campfire wood (buy it after you get there). No heavy canned goods or drinks (buy it after you get there). No heavy dishes or cookware - use lightweight aluminium cookware and paper plates and plastic cups when camping. Anything that weighs more than a handkerchief, consider of leaving it behind. Unload the tool box and leave anything not required to change a flat tire on the trailer. You're going camping, not to the Queen's ball.

[AzHunter1968]

So we just got back from our first trip and Im happy to say I was thrilled with the performance all around of my truck. I recently added new brake rotors and pads https://www.powerstop.com/product/power-stop-z36-kit/ and was never concerned about my ability to stop even going down grades. The Equalizer hitch worked great as well. The last day we were leaving the camp site there was a high wind warning and never did I feel the trailer was going to get out of control the entire way home. My only concern was there were two step grades where my truck got down to 35 mph, but I'm assuming this might be normal for the steepness of the grade? I'm considering putting on a 3" catback system for the added performance. I know the 5.4 Triton doesn't appear to see significant gains in performance with other engine add-ons and I have found a shop in town that will do the exhaust for around $250. I don't see that as to bad of a hit to my wallet. Overall though I felt safe and never second guessed myself on the TV/TT combo I picked. The wife even suggested we upgrade the TV down the road so we can move into a larger TT or 5th wheel when the boys get larger and want to bring friends along.

[2012TxSilvy]

From what I understand, you won't see any gains from exhaust unless you do headers or long pipes. Exhaust is cool, don't get me wrong as I will be doing the same as you but sound is all you will gain I'm told/read

[lcboy]

My last truck I did a lot of power enhancements. The most power came from a chip. Second was the JBA headers. Then the other two had a little difference a K&N and exhaust system. I still use K&N in my new truck because they're lifetime. The exhaust got old on long trips pulling a camper because it's louder under strain. It worked all together and had a lot of power. Gas mileage went up about 1 mpg. Jmo

[Scratch]

I had a similar setup until yesterday when I painfully traded my 2014 F-150, 5.0 4x4 in on a 2014 F-250, 6.7 diesel. The F-150 was my favorite truck of the several I've owned, but it didn't pull big hills with the power comfort level I wanted. We tow a '17 Winnebago 2401 RG weighing in at around 6600 lbs loaded, coupled with a Curt WD hitch setup. The F-150 was great on level ground and we experienced very little sway, but with a trip planned to the Rockies this fall, we decided to take some of the worry out of the planning process. Wish I could have kept the F150, but the retirement budget doesn't allow for two trucks, so here I sit missing my ole horse, but looking forward to taking on the Rockies, Lord willing, later this year. The decision also gives us room to consider a 5th wheel somewhere down the line. Good luck with your decision...

[09 harley]

I had a E250 van with the 5.4 and it is,was a dog. The power is not there. I loved the versatility of the van but traded it in on a 2017 F250 Super Duty CCLB. It is the 6.2 gas and it performs better than I expected and I had high expectations. Going over the Cascades or Rockies I can hardly sense the trailer behind me. I was in California for a couple of months last year and slowing to 35 in the hills made me make the change. Not sorry for one second. I opted for the 4.30 rear axle and my mileage so far has been 12.2-12.4 around town, 15.5-16 highway and about 13 overall. This is still 20% better than my old van.

[Loraura]

Originally Posted by AzHunter1968

So I recently purchased a TT...Aerolite 242bhsl. Dry shipping weight:5510, Hitch weight:720. I currently own a 2007 F-150 5.4 SupercrewCab 4x4 with 3.73 gears and the tow package. Its stating my maximum cargo weight is 1482. The more I think about it the more I'm starting to stress out about whether or not I have the ability to tow this thing safely. I figure with me, my wife, and 3 kids I'll be in at 560 pounds. So thats 720+560=1280 towards the maximum cargo? This doesn't also take into account the gas? cargo I'll be putting into the truck/trailer? Ez-equalizer hitch? I feel like I'll be way over the 1482 mark. If I am what are the possible consequences? Is there anything I can do to adjust weight? This is my first trailer and although my pops has towed numerous trailers and has drove as a truck drive all his life he says I'll be fine. If I place more of the cargo in the trailer then lets say th ebed of my truck will that offset some of the weight? HELP!!!!

Well, you aren't towing it dry so....

A quick look on Dutchmen.com shows average shipping weight is 5665 + 935 CC = 6600 lbs.

12% min safe tongue weight = 792#.

792+ 560 + 100 (equalizer hitch omitted from your equation) = 1452.

So if you load the trailer to max you have a whole 30 lbs to spare.

I'd definitely invest in a tongue weight scale so you can be sure you're not going over, which is easy to do by loading heavy things near the front even if the TT isn't maxed out.

P.S. I love the happy jack bunks!!

[Old Scout]

...not trying to be funny here but when you get at or near a weight limit for a vehicle--I'd be more worried about stopping it, rather than pulling it....