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Old 11-25-2016, 01:10 PM   #1
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Towing question

Hi folks. My wife and I are getting back into camping after a 10 year layoff. My question has to do with towing. I have a 2015 F150 4x2 with the 3.5 Ecoboost V6. Additionally, it is equipped with the following:
3.55 gears
6800# GVWR package
Trailer Tow Package
Integrated trailer brake controller
Payload per sticker on door jamb is 1900 lbs.

We are seriously considering one of two Jayco Travel trailers:
2017 28rls with tongue weight of 700 lbs. and unloaded weight of 6405
2016 29rlds with tongue weight of 805 lbs. and unloaded weight of 763

After reading the wealth of info on this forum, I believe I'm okay with either of the two trailers. Looking for confirmation and any comments/suggestions. Thanks in advance
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Old 11-25-2016, 01:39 PM   #2
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I'm towing a similar weight with my F150.

You should base your calculations on 'wet weight' not dry weight. You'll never tow your camper around empty, with an empty truck. It's better to use the trailers max weights... i.e. that 28rls can hold an additional 2000+ pounds of cargo. What does this do to your payload in your truck? How many people are in your truck? Assuming 15% of your camper weight is on the tongue, that adds an additional 300 pounds to your 'dry' tongue weight, not including your passengers and gear. How much additional stuff is in it? When you start thinking about 'real world' camper towing, you'll likely realize pretty fast that the dry weights are meaningless.

A bad RV salesman will quote the dry weights, a good one will quote the 'wet weights'.

You can tow that camper with your 150, but you have to fully understand the actual, real world weights you are asking your truck to tow when you are camping, occupants + gear + loaded camper. Very easy to exceed your 1900 lbs of cargo. Just to wing it - let's say your camper is adding 1000 lbs to your truck. You have 500 lbs worth of people in your vehicle, + 200 lbs of gear... firewood, etc.. Subtract that 1700 pounds from your cargo capcity. You have a 200 pound cushion. Are you towing in the 'flats', or in the mountains? Are you comfortable being within 200 pounds of your max cargo? What if a family friend, inlaw, etc wants to come along, or you want to bring that 150 lb generator, the mountain bikes and smoker? (in my case, it's a no brainer that extra people that want to camp with us, have to get there themselves). I decided that I was ok with that because we pack pretty light. My wife, daughter, and I combined weigh about 325 lbs, the 2 dogs are about 125 total.. we tow with empty tanks, and pack light.

Depending on how you load out, you can either comfortably tow that trailer, or you can exceed most of your weight ratings. If you are willing / able to camp light - you can probably do it. Most will recommend that you tow that with a 250, but it can be done with a 150 if you aren't dumb about it. The dry weights are pretty useless.

This is a common topic lately, and I say in all of them that I'm near my max with what I'm towing, and I wish I had a 250 for that extra capacity. So in all of the threads lately about 'can I tow this with a 150' I say sure... but you can also fubar your truck and become a risk on the road if you aren't really mindful of how close you probably are to maxing out.

I'm guessing that if you tow this with your 150, you will fairly quickly join the rest of us that have decided a 250 is in your future. You have to ask yourself how many miles you plan on driving every year with this setup as well, and how far are those trips from home. I'll take my heavily loaded camper to the state park that is 5 miles from my house without a worry in the world, but I won't pull that over the continental divide.
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Old 11-25-2016, 01:44 PM   #3
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Congrats on getting back into camping. I have a 2016 F150 XLT 3.5l ecoboost 4x4 with max tow. My GVWR is 7000 lbs. my useful load is 1825 lbs. We are currently pulling a 2017 White Hawk 27DSRL with a GVWR of 7500 lbs although it is loaded less than 7000 lbs. We found that the truck pulls it like it isn't there but we also found that with the 2 of us, hitch weight, tongue weight and general stuff in the truck, we are at our max payload with nothing left over. We have made the decision to trade our TV for a 2017 F250 because we plan to travel quite a lot after retirement and want the extra cushion. Your truck is a great truck and should do fine. We would like to put our son and his bride in occasionally and just need the extra payload.
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Old 11-25-2016, 02:06 PM   #4
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Welcome to the forum and congratulations on getting back into camping.
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Old 11-25-2016, 02:22 PM   #5
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Looking at the 29RLDS as an example with an unloaded weight of 6735. Most people add around 1000lbs of stuff to a trailer. Some more some less obviously depending on how you pack and outfit your trailer.

So a loaded estimate of 7735lbs to 8000lbs is probably realistic.

In this scenario the trailer tongue weight will be around 1000lbs leaving you with 900lbs of payload. This is a pretty good margin on payload especially if it is just you and your wife as passengers.

By the numbers either of those trailers should be fine but keep in mind that they are both big trailers and they, and the wind, will push your truck around a bit.

You may want to add air bags, timbrens, or Roadmaster active suspension to stabilize the rear end a bit but you certainly shouldn't be overloaded on anything. It will really just depend on what your comfort level is with towing.

Hope that helps.
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Old 11-25-2016, 02:37 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by Subaru297 View Post
Looking at the 29RLDS as an example with an unloaded weight of 6735. Most people add around 1000lbs of stuff to a trailer. Some more some less obviously depending on how you pack and outfit your trailer.

So a loaded estimate of 7735lbs to 8000lbs is probably realistic.

In this scenario the trailer tongue weight will be around 1000lbs leaving you with 900lbs of payload. This is a pretty good margin on payload especially if it is just you and your wife as passengers.

By the numbers either of those trailers should be fine but keep in mind that they are both big trailers and they, and the wind, will push your truck around a bit.

You may want to add air bags, timbrens, or Roadmaster active suspension to stabilize the rear end a bit but you certainly shouldn't be overloaded on anything. It will really just depend on what your comfort level is with towing.

Hope that helps.
Cheers

The roadmaster active suspension website is listing a 75 dollar off promo and free shipping for Black Friday.. I'm tempted.
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Old 11-25-2016, 07:40 PM   #7
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The roadmaster active suspension website is listing a 75 dollar off promo and free shipping for Black Friday.. I'm tempted.
I don't regret doing it. It helped a good deal with the up and down bounce I was experiencing while towing, but where I really see dramatic improvement is when the truck is empty. I have zero wheel hop and she corners much better.
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Old 11-25-2016, 07:47 PM   #8
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[/QUOTE] I'm guessing that if you tow this with your 150, you will fairly quickly join the rest of us that have decided a 250 is in your future. You have to ask yourself how many miles you plan on driving every year with this setup as well, and how far are those trips from home. I'll take my heavily loaded camper to the state park that is 5 miles from my house without a worry in the world, but I won't pull that over the continental divide.[/QUOTE]


I agree 110% - I love my F-150 and she tows my 25BHS great!! But I know if I had the 350 I would enjoy the ride much better but this is my everyday truck and when I bought my truck and being a newbie to the trailer life I felt the 150 with all its hype would of been just fine until I learned about payload and not what the dealers focus on the tow capacity. Oh you can tow 11,400 lbs with that baby...ok I will take one! Not knowing anything and now finding out through this great forum.."what the little yellow sticker say?" Oh well I have the Lariat SCREW with a full glass sunroof and 4X4. Well there goes my payload. I only have 1630lbs of payload because of all the lovely options I have. Yes they are nice but I must watch my load cause it goes fast. If I were to do it again I would buy the 350 platinum and call it a day. But I just bought my truck and only have 7k miles on her but I did put on the RAS suspension to help with sag and stability and for the $$$ it works awesome. Doesn't give me more payload but helps her to sit just bit more level and less bouncy through the rough roads.

Hope you enjoy whatever you end up with but remember apart of enjoying a good vacation when you have a trailer is the drive itself meaning you would be better off feeling relaxed instead of having clenched butt cheeks...

Cheers!
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Old 11-25-2016, 10:14 PM   #9
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Well, actually you should be fine, as long as you are a bit careful with your weights. The sticker payload includes a 150 lb driver. If you don't get crazy packing, and only add about 1,000 lbs to the trailer (28rls), your tongue weight will be around 850, leaving you with 1200 for driver, passengers and stuff in the truck. Of course truck accessories added after manufacture will eat into that, so a trip to a scale would be in order to find out actual weights of the truck loaded as you would if you were camping.
I haven't looked up your actual towing capacity, but believe you are well inside of that too.
For the 5th in my signature, yes we are right at the max. for payload, but still pretty well under max for pulling. Just did 6,000 miles through Colorado and Utah, over many pretty high passes. No issues - I could pass anyone I wanted, engine, tranny and brakes never even hinted at being overloaded. Total miles over 4 seasons pulling to all three coasts now is closing in on 20,000, and I'm still loving the combination.
Weigh your truck to verify what you actually have to work with, and focus on the smaller of the two rigs to pull.
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Old 11-26-2016, 07:59 AM   #10
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Thanks to everyone for taking the time to reply. I guess I should have went with the 250 instead of paying attention to towing capacity vs payload. The Ford website says my max towing capacity is somewhere around 10,250 lbs. I think I may go with the rls and take a trip to the CAT scale. Thanks again.
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Old 11-26-2016, 10:32 AM   #11
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Originally Posted by usmc1976 View Post
Thanks to everyone for taking the time to reply. I guess I should have went with the 250 instead of paying attention to towing capacity vs payload. The Ford website says my max towing capacity is somewhere around 10,250 lbs. I think I may go with the rls and take a trip to the CAT scale. Thanks again.
Welcome back to the madness!!! Lol

A lot of us have learned after the fact of the payload rating being the limiting factor for 1500/150 trucks.

But havingb1900lbs of payload per the door jamb sticker is pretty good. Pending the total family weight, any cargo weight you anticipate in the truck bed (coolers, bikes, firewood, etc), any accessories you have added to the truck (tonneau cover/ truck topper, push/ step bars, etc), and the wdh itself before adding in the tw, you may be ok with the 29. Do remember the longer the tt, the more leverage it has vs the tv. So a shorter tv wheelbase may not be as stable as a comparable tv with a longer wheelbase.

Concerning the yellow payload sticker including a 150lb driver, that is not the case. I state this based on the wording of the sticker: "ALL OCCUPANTS......". All occupants (to me) means anyone and everyone inside the vehicle. The tow ratings did include a 150lb driver, but with the new tow rating standard a 150lb driver and 150lb passenger are included in the tow rating, but not the payload rating listed on the drivers door jamb. If someone knows different please post the info and a link. But on the other side of the arguement if one is that close to exceeding the payload, may not be a good tv & tt combo.

Regardless which model you go with, buy a good wdh with integrated sway control. And make sure to get the correct rated wd bars for your loaded tw, it based on the "brochure" dry tongue/hitch weight.

Good luck!!!
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Old 11-26-2016, 11:55 AM   #12
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Thanks for the reply need-a-vacation. Was thinking of going with the blue ox wdh and I just ordered the roadmaster active suspension kit from etrailer.com with free shipping. I guess I have to buy the tt now! lol
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Old 11-26-2016, 11:09 PM   #13
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I had the exact same setup as you do except I had the max tow package. I have a 28BHBE with a listed dry weight of 6700lb. I also added airbags and LT load range E tires. My payload was 1840lb. I also have a Hensley Arrow WD hitch so I had no sway ever. I recently towed from Texas to Yellowstone and back. Truck did real good. Only issue I had was when there was any type of side wind. It made the drive "uncomfortable". I felt the F150 was just to light and with the huge sail in the back you will get blown around. MPG also was not great with that amount of weight and if you get this trailer I hope you have the 36g tank. I have traded up to a 2017 F250 diesel because of this.
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Old 11-27-2016, 07:53 AM   #14
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Thanks for the response LeonB. I think a 250 is in my future. I plan to camp somewhat local for the next year and when my wife retires I'll move up to the 250. I have the small tank in the 150 so I guess Ill be stopping for gas often!
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Old 11-27-2016, 12:19 PM   #15
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Thanks for the response LeonB. I think a 250 is in my future. I plan to camp somewhat local for the next year and when my wife retires I'll move up to the 250. I have the small tank in the 150 so I guess Ill be stopping for gas often!
Nothing wrong with a small gas tank. Frequent stopping is good for you and more fun. If you're in a hurry buy a plane ticket.
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