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Old 08-06-2015, 12:19 PM   #1
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2016 Jayflight 28 BHBE Elite - towing with an F150

we are looking to purchase this Trailer. We have a Ford F150. our tow limit is 7700 lbs, and the trailer weight is about 6700 with the options.

I'm just wondering if anyone else out there is towing the same and if they notice any issues (is the trailer too heavy for the truck).

Thoughts?

thank you!
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Old 08-06-2015, 12:56 PM   #2
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The short answer is, yes, I think that's too much trailer for that truck.

That 6700# is the "as shipped" weight. It has a GVWR of 9250#. While you won't likely load that much into it, it's realistic to consider that you may load 700#-1000# of "stuff" in it. That brings your 6700# to 7700#. In other words, your actual towing weight will be considerably more than 6700#. It's also possible that you may end up loading it to 9000#.

Another even bigger issue is your payload. Look at the sticker in the driver door. It will show the available payload. Say the payload is 1600#. Estimate a 7000# trailer with a 13% tongue weight. That's 910#. Subtract that from your payload. You now have 690# left. Sound good? Subtract the weight of all passengers, the weight of the weight distribution hitch (perhaps 100#), and the weight of your "stuff" (bikes, cooler, dog, etc). 690# may not be enough.

I can tell you from personal experience that towing a trailer close to your weight capacities is safe if setup properly, but its a far more comfortable towing experience to have a wiggle room, that is a trailer 15-20% less than the towing capacity of the truck.
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Old 08-06-2015, 01:05 PM   #3
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yes - the ship weight is around 6400 but i called Jayco directly and we added in weight of lp, and the options such as the thermal package and trifold sofa bed, and elite package, and it was around 6800.

our payload is 1582, the tongue weight is 660 our allowance on tongue is fine there - but it will likely be at the upper end of payload and maybe upper end of tow weght (I don't see us putting more than 800 or so lbs on the unit, but you never know).
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Old 08-06-2015, 01:11 PM   #4
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You may be fine. Where do you plan on taking it?
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Old 08-06-2015, 01:58 PM   #5
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About an hour away most weekends. But may take long trips once or twice a year from ohio to Florida for example. Possible trips up to 4 or so hours away a few times a year maybe
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Old 08-06-2015, 02:15 PM   #6
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I can tell you right now, those numbers are too low. Figure 12-15% tongue weight for a comfortable tow. The dry tongue weight is 12% of the dry trailer weight. I would bet you that your tongue weight will be very close to what DocBrown suggested. Its amazing how many things you take with you on trips... bikes, firewood, water, groceries, clothing, bedding, television, games, etc etc.

We bought our 29QBS and had just enough truck to handle it with our Toyota Tundra. That was before we started carrying a water table for the daughter, bikes and a trailer for the kids, firewood because the daughter likes smores, television, diapers, pack and play for the 7 month old, bringing groceries from home, etc etc.

We just traded our Tundra on a 3/4 Ram last week. The Ram handles the extra weight so much better. I would suggest you look at lightweight trailers like the Whitehawk or the expandable line, or you consider a heavier truck. I know its more stress to consider... but its better to know these things BEFORE you start investing money, rather than find out after you have dropped $20K on a trailer and then needing to upgrade your truck. Trust me on that one...
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Old 08-06-2015, 03:03 PM   #7
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husband is questioning as we are good on paper - I told him that I have seen a NUMBER of people saying that they bought a upper limit of their capacity trailer, and after towing it for awhile ended up upgrading their truck to make towing easier. he is questioning if those people were average weekenders like we will be, or if they are 6 month out of the year towers. I think it's just the average camper like we are... but maybe you can elaborate on why you traded in for the bigger truck (for us who have not experienced it, it's hard to understand why, if you are within limits, you couldn't keep things status quo?)
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Old 08-06-2015, 03:19 PM   #8
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Ohio Mom,

How about a Whitehawk 28DSBH?

White Hawk 2015 28DSBH

It is nearly the same floor plan but the gross weight is 1700 pounds less on the GVW than the Jayflight. The price is probably higher on the Whitehawk but maybe less than the truck upgrade.

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Old 08-06-2015, 03:56 PM   #9
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Unloaded Vehicle Weight (lbs) 5,460Dry Hitch Weight (lbs) 635Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (lbs) 7,500Cargo Carrying Capacity (lbs) 2,040
its really only about 800 lbs difference on the unloaded weight(Shipped weight). the gross weight is only marginally important because we won't be loading 2000 lbs of stuff into it likely
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Old 08-06-2015, 04:09 PM   #10
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Look at the 26BHSW Jayfeather. Similar floor plan with 4815lb unloaded weight and a tongue weight of 580lbs. That would be much more doable with a 1/2 ton.
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Old 08-06-2015, 04:51 PM   #11
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is 100 lbs of tongue weight really that big of an issue do you think? i mean, I know we are under limit on the 28 BHBE tow weight, and the tongue weight is about 660. It's a whole 80 lbs difference. i just cant imagine that making a huge impact.
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Old 08-06-2015, 05:06 PM   #12
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I too have an F150 with the 7700 pound tow rating. Payload is rated at 1562 pounds. I tow a 26BH with a factory weight of 4950 lbs which turns into 6200 lbs loaded to go without water on board. I feel this is the limit for my truck. I would not want to tow anything longer or heavier especially since we sit at only 20 lbs under our payload. We are also very close on the rear axle weight of the truck.

I verified all my weights on a CAT scale. It's pretty eye opening how far off the weights are from what they appear on paper. For instance the tongue weight of the trailer was more almost 50% more than what the specs say.

We tow our 26BH without issue but I can really tell that there is no more wiggle room. That means no load of firewood or pile of bicycles in the box. I'm really careful when driving in windy conditions.

At a quick guess I think that the 28BHBE when loaded will put you over your payload, over your rear axle rating, over your tow rating and be a bit of a handful to tow. I would not consider it for myself.
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Old 08-06-2015, 06:05 PM   #13
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There was no mention of any specifics of your F150 such as regular or crew cab, 2WD or 4WD, engine size, transmission, rear axle ratio, tire size and hitch class on your truck.

I have a 2015 Jayco Eagle 284BHBE, same floorplan and weights as the Jayflight 284BHBE. I have 34 years of pulling travel trailers with my Eagle being my 6th, with many different tow vehicles including 1/2 ton trucks and now a 3/4 ton. I do long distance towing of 2500 miles per trip and short 200 miles trips.

The Jayflight is far too much trailer for your truck especially in the payload and overall weight. You will not be happy with the towing experience and severely shorten the life of your truck.

Just remember anyone selling a trailer only cares about selling you the trailer. That is their only interest.
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Old 08-06-2015, 06:24 PM   #14
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Lots of good suggestions here.
Do not believe the sales person telling you "no problem, you won't even know it's there".
A visit to the CAT Scale will give you more info and help make an educated decision.
The driver's door jamb has the Front/Rear GAWR (IMHO, these #'s are the ones to watch). The scales will tell you the Rear GAW. Subtract the GAW from the GAWR, this will be the cargo you can add to the rear axle.
About 100# will be the hitch. Whatever is left is the approximate MAX tongue weight you should consider. Divide that # by 0.15 (15%), this number is the estimated MAX TT weight you should tow. Add 800-1000# to the dry TT weight to get an idea what it will really weigh.

Don't assume the Max Tow weight for your TT will tell you how much TT you can tow.

Our first TT to as a little more than half of our max tow but we were about 200# below the Rear GAWR.

The CAT Scale is your friend.
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Old 08-06-2015, 06:35 PM   #15
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Full disclosure, I am still fairly new to this, but have found this forum has many veterans that really understand this stuff. We recently purchased a 29BHDS, slightly different floor plan and a little heavier but close. We are towing it with a 2013 F150 Supercrew, but it has the 3.7 rear end and the maxtow package, my payload is 1832 on my truck, and the towing limit is 11,200. We have towed it this summer around 600 miles.

I have already added roadmaster active suspension to the rear end, this made the difference in towing between terrible and tolerable. My kids were literally bouncing so hard in their car seats in the back that the harnesses were catching them before we did the suspension, it made a significant difference. I am planning to upgrade to LT tires as well and heavy duty shocks before the next camping season. If you get this trailer, plan on putting some money in your tow vehicle. That was not something I was expecting frankly.

I bought our truck with the max towing specifically thinking we might buy (which we did) and I can say its all it wants weight and handling wise. Engine power wise, its fine, no problems accelerating or holding speeds on hills at all. (I have the twin turbo ecoboost).

Listen to people here, make sure you understand your weights, I personally will be going to a cat scale soon to make sure with a load and family were under the gross and individual axel weights on the vehicle, and the weight distribution is set correctly. The big question I haven't seen a good answer for is if you go over your factory payload/axel limits, which is where you will probably have a problem on the half ton, and you have an incident, what does that mean liability wise.

I really wish they had a 3/4 ton on the market with as large a back seat leg room as the F150 SCREW that wasn't any longer than the 145" wheelbase, anything longer WONT fit in the garage.
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Old 08-06-2015, 08:04 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OhioRVMom View Post
husband is questioning as we are good on paper - I told him that I have seen a NUMBER of people saying that they bought a upper limit of their capacity trailer, and after towing it for awhile ended up upgrading their truck to make towing easier. he is questioning if those people were average weekenders like we will be, or if they are 6 month out of the year towers. I think it's just the average camper like we are... but maybe you can elaborate on why you traded in for the bigger truck (for us who have not experienced it, it's hard to understand why, if you are within limits, you couldn't keep things status quo?)
We do about 8 or 10 trips a year that average about 150 to 200 miles one way. We do 1 trip that is about 1000 miles one way each year. I'm not saying that it can't be done, I'm just advising you to educate yourself on the issues at hand.

You WILL be near or slightly over your payload. That won't cause a catastrophic failure, but it will cause more wear and tear on your tow vehicle and the driving experience won't be as "pleasant". By pleasant I mean that the vehicle will be pushed and pulled by the heavier trailer... braking will take longer... handling will be worse.

There are things you can do to improve the ride though. Putting LT tires on your F-150 instead of the P rated car tires will help stiffen up the ride. Airbags on the rear suspension won't increase your payload, but they will smooth out the ride and give you less of a porpoise effect. Having a high quality weight distribution hitch will help put weight on the front axle and improve steering. Driving slower and keeping more distance between you and the moron in front of you will decrease the need for emergency braking.

At the end of the day, that is a LOT of trailer for such a low tow rating and payload rating. It can be done, but you will likely be over your payload rating. That doesn't inherently make it unsafe... but it sure makes you closer to unsafe.

We upgraded the Tundra because we occasionally tow in the mountains of eastern Pennsylvania and I worried about the Tundra's ability to control speed downhill in an emergency situation. We upgraded because the 29 foot long camper becomes a pretty big sail and can catch crosswinds or passing traffic "blowback" and push us around. We upgraded because we were a couple hundred lbs over our payload (but still under axle ratings) and the truck just felt overloaded. We had factory E rated tires, I had a sway bar and I had airbags. They certainly helped make the ride more stable... but I didn't like taking unnecessary chances with my wife and kids in the truck.

I hope you make the right decision, whatever it may be, and you and the family enjoy RV'ing. We just got back from 5 days at the beach and my 2/5 year old had a BLAST in the "sandbox" as she referred to the beach. We go to the lake once or twice a year, go to Florida in the winters, etc. All these experiences that we are having are due to having a camper. Without a camper, we wouldn't take all these trips. It costs decent money... but we are making memories and broadening our horizons.
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Old 08-06-2015, 08:14 PM   #17
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how much do you think would be a good number then? our second choice was the 287BHSW - with a 6030 weight and a 645 hitch. without this we are forced to either go with a lower quality(Cheaper) trailer to get what we want, OR, go to the Jay Feather line. Hubs was really hoping to avoid the canvas options, but if this doesn't work, it may end up being that.
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Old 08-06-2015, 08:24 PM   #18
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You don't need to go cheaper, just shorter. Probably a 23 or 24 series. White Hawk or Jay Feather would be best.
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Old 08-06-2015, 08:27 PM   #19
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the white hawks are not that much less in weight, and some are heavier in the hitch too.. disappointing. jayfeather is an option, but not one we are thrilled with (trying to stay away from canvas) there are other options like a wlidwood lite i think it was but i really wanted a jayco - just not sure we can find one to sleep the family that we wanted to..
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Old 08-06-2015, 08:42 PM   #20
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How many do you need to sleep?
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