Push me over the cliff...or not

[Cub1]

Hey all,

I've been poking around the site for a few years after the wife and I started using our first TT back in 2020. Fast forward to today and we have a newer, larger TT and F150. I really appreciate the info here and figured this was the best echo chamber to join for conversation and assistance

Anyway I'm hoping I can get some talking points from you guys to help me either purchase or not purchase a 3/4 truck...

We recently upgraded our camper from a 1988 Kit Road Ranger to a 2022 Cruiser RV Shadow Cruiser 225RBS. Dry 5138 dry and GVWR is 7486. Tow vehicle is a 2022 Ford F150 Tremor 3.5 EB, Supercrew 5.5' bed, 154" WB. It's a mid spec truck so payload is decent at 1702lbs. I've added a 120 lb, 200aH battery weighing 120 lbs and use an E2 2 bar 8k hitch which was setup by a shop (haven't been impressed compared to our old curt chain setup). I feel confident that the hitch weight is not an issue with the battery, tank locations and front pass through storage setup....

Now everything I see from my more than back of napkin math, but less than actually scaled weights says truck can pull the trailer fine and with a few hundred pounds in weight to spare...

While everything looks good, I have not been all that comfortable towing it only a few short distances. It's feels much wider than my F150, it's 11" tall and has an axle flip, so it sits relatively high. I'm wondering if the profile and footprint of the camper is what is causing me to be less than happy with my setup, but I'm having a hard time finding on anything about trailer dimensions and trailer ride height. Everything is about length, weight and wheelbases. I'm coming up on a big move to Las Vegas and will make 2 trips...one towing my car and then the final with the camper, so I'd like to be comfortable I suppose.

I have the opportunity to purchase a pretty well spec'd 22 RAM 2500 Cummins, but i realize it's a lot of truck size wise and $$ wise.

Any talking points or advice from the Gurus here?

Thanks!

[Tomahawk]

Seems like you are right on the edge or maybe a little over the capability of the truck. You are going to get a opinions more less split down the middle. For me, I would error on the side of caution. Since you already have the TT and truck I might try getting the best WDH system, going to the scale, and making sure everything is exactly right. If I still wasn't happy, then new truck.

[Alpine36]

I’d load it as you normally would, run it over the scales and drive it on the highway to get a better feel. Obviously if the scale weights exceed your allowable g(c)vwr limits, the choice of a more capable tow rig is easy.
On the other hand….
If your scale weights are within limits that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be “comfortable” driving it though.

[Cub1]

Originally Posted by Tomahawk

Seems like you are right on the edge or maybe a little over the capability of the truck. You are going to get a opinions more less split down the middle. For me, I would error on the side of caution. Since you already have the TT and truck I might try getting the best WDH system, going to the scale, and making sure everything is exactly right. If I still wasn't happy, then new truck.

Seems par for the course on the opinions going down the middle. Almost every opinion comes with some decent info here, so open to all. When I move, I will have to be hitting the scales to be paid for the move (work related and paid for). So that might be a good time to get those weights. Thanks!

Originally Posted by Alpine36

I’d load it as you normally would, run it over the scales and drive it on the highway to get a better feel. Obviously if the scale weights exceed your allowable g(c)vwr limits, the choice of a more capable tow rig is easy.
On the other hand….
If your scale weights are within limits that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be “comfortable” driving it though.

Completely agree. I understand the scales are absolutely necessary to understand where i sit with over all wieght capacities. But I'm also aware that weights only tell part of the story. Leading to my question above about the more unmeasurables like overall height, width, etc.

Thanks!

[Old-Biscuit]

F-150 Pickup
*55 sq. ft. Any Powertrain with Trailer Towing Package or Payload Package
and Trailer Towing Ratings between 5,001 and 7,700 lbs.
*60 sq. ft. Any Powertrain with Trailer Towing Package or Payload Package
and Trailer Towing Ratings 7,701 lbs. and greater

Frontal Area is the total area in square feet that a moving vehicle and trailer exposes to air resistance. The chart above shows the limitations that must be considered in selecting a vehicle/trailer combination. Exceeding these limitations may significantly reduce the performance of your towing vehicle.


Weight Ratings/SCALED WEIGHT and Frontal Area.

[MCCOHENS]

Your load factor(actual load or tongue weight divided by rated tow or capacity) is higher with the new trailer. For example, towing my trailer with our colorado 5 cylinder we were 90% load factor and now with the silverado under 70%. Much happier now. So the 2500 will bring the factor to a lower number but honestly you may not need it.

My magic bullet to improve towing was rear springs with an extra 2 leaves. Air bags and additional coil springs do nothing about the "wag" but these monster springs do. The ride sucks when empty driving locally but the truck is 90% towing now so the change was worth it.

Weighing everything is a good decision, on the way home spend an hour or 2 on the highway. Maybe time will make you more comfortable with the rig too.

[tuffr2]

If you read your F-150 owners manual it might say something about frontal area of the trailer. By raising the travel trailer higher that frontal area will be more important. Plus raising it higher will affect the aerodynamics.

In case you do not know the 'lower' you go the better the aerodynamics. All the sedan cars have been lowered to get 38 to 42 mpg.

I towed a 5,500 lb. 26.5' travel trailer with a 2011 F-150 with a Drawtite WD hitch and it was rock solid with zero sway. But I did not raise the travel trailer.

The Ram 2500 with the diesel engine will not care about the height of the trailer as much as the F-150.

[Dave Pelletier]

Good advice so far. My 2cents; your trailer is at or slightly over the max I would tow with your truck. I'd replace it with the RAM myself; there will be no comparison in the towing experience.

Dave

[carybosse]

Your trailer is slightly less weight and length than my TT. (Actually, the length may be pretty significant, 5 foot shorter than my trailer.) Your truck capabilities sound slightly less than my truck. Your height is slightly more than my TT, that is the only issue I see.

That said, and as I have said many times, my TT is the max I would ever consider towing with my truck. Ignoring the impact of the height, which may be a lot to ignore, I would put your TT at the max for your truck. I think I would be comfortable towing it with my truck, but yes, a 3/4 ton is going to be much better for this setup.

[Doss]

How do you like the camper? We bought a Cruiser RV MPG and have only spent one week in it, but really liked it.

[MtCamper]

Buy the Ram. You know you want to, you just posted here for affirmation. Night and day difference. You'll love the Ram.

[Arch Hoagland]

I see you live in Colorado. Go buy the Ram.

You'll be happier than a pig in do-do the first time you climb one of your mountains.

[tuffr2]

Living in Colorado I strongly agree with buying the Ram diesel to go up the mountains and more importantly going down the mountain. I turbo diesel looses the least power at higher elevations also. The Ram diesel is said to have the best exhaust brake going down the mountain.

[Cub1]

Originally Posted by MtCamper

Buy the Ram. You know you want to, you just posted here for affirmation. Night and day difference. You'll love the Ram.

Absolutely want the affirmation. You ever just think about something, and go "nah, I'm crazy"? This is one of those. Trucks these days are so outrageous.

Originally Posted by Doss

How do you like the camper? We bought a Cruiser RV MPG and have only spent one week in it, but really liked it.

We love it! We wanted to go smaller, but this had almost every feature other than an outdoor kitchen setup, which is hard to find in a smaller camper anyways. Looks good, features are good. What's to complain about. We've only had it out twice. Once boondocking and once with hookups, so
not much experience, though

Originally Posted by tuffr2

Living in Colorado I strongly agree with buying the Ram diesel to go up the mountains and more importantly going down the mountain. I turbo diesel looses the least power at higher elevations also. The Ram diesel is said to have the best exhaust brake going down the mountain.

Appreciate the input. I do agree that I know I'd be happy out west here with the diesel. We're moving to Vegas soon so headed "deeper" into the western area. All of our towing is west as well. We have a trip from Vegas to Salt Lake City in October that should be a blast! maybe better with a ram


Update: Haven't gotten out to the scales yet (TT is covered and winterized), but they let me take the RAM out for an extended test drive for a few hours. A couple things to note:

1. what's with the magnified mirrors? They seem almost useless to me. Any time I could get the mirror where I wanted, I was looking at almost nothing it seemed like. The convex towing mirrorettes were way more useful

2. The interiors on the rams are light years ahead of the other big 2.

3. While the dimensions of the truck are not grossly larger than my F150, it definitely feels bigger. The seating position is higher, and the mirrors are as well. very comfortable though.

Anyway, I left the truck at the dealer to think more through the weekend. The trade they're giving me for my truck is great. 58,200 trade allowance when I paid 62,xxx a year and 14k miles ago. Hmmmmmm.....

Thanks for the great and constructive advice!