Is my truck enough.

[Bobstekeur]

My wife and I just retired and we bought a 2013 Jayco Eagle 266rks which has a dry weight of 6305 and a gvwr of 8500 with a hitch weight of 935. The RV come with a weight distribution hitch. I have a Ford F-150 FX4 with a V6 twin turbo engine and it’s Maximum towing capacity is 11,300 lbs. I’m still confused on how to calculate the max weight the RV can be. I’ve been reading the stickies but still not sure. Will my Ford safety pull my RV?

[TWP723]

If your GVWR is 8500lbs. on the trailer, that's the max weight it can be. It weighs 6305. So the max it can carry per Jayco is 2195lbs. bringing it to 8500lbs. Although I wouldn't recommend it. The hitch weight is fine for that truck. You're well under max cap for the vehicle.

[Quantum]

I'm towing something similar to you, at 6400lbs dry and 8200lbs GVWR.

You'll need to look at the yellow/white door sticker on the driver's door jamb of your truck and look at what your payload number is. For instance, my truck's payload is 1650lbs per the sticker on my door.

Then you need to find out what your loaded (ready for camping) weights are. You need either a tongue weight scale or visit your nearest CAT scale to figure out if you're overloading your truck.

The tongue weight on my trailer is 950lbs when I'm loaded up and ready for camping. That leaves me 700lbs for passengers, weight distribution hitch and whatever is in the box of the truck.

As far as pulling power and tow capacity, your truck is sufficient. The concern will be with your payload (weight on the truck).

Get some numbers and report back here when you can.

[Camper_bob]

Once you weigh your rig, my bet is you'll find that the dealer provided an underrated WDH hitch. Too many stories on just this forum of people trusting the dealer to make that decision (and I'm one of them). All too often, the dealer specs the hitch on the brochure weights (which are not "real world" weights), or the GVW of the trailer (with no consideration of a potential 15% tongue weight), does a marginal-at-best setup and sends the customer on their way.

All too often, the customer finds out later that their loaded tongue weight exceeds the maximum of the WDH spring bars. Example: GVWR of trailer is 8,000 lbs, so dealer specs an 800/8000 WDH. Actual loaded tongue weight is 15% of GVWR, or 1,200 lbs. OOPS.

So, it's important to know your real-world, actual and worst-case scenario, weights not only to determine if you're in line with your truck's capabilities, but also to properly spec a weight distribution hitch.

Bottom line, follow the instructions on the "sticky" that details how to weigh your rig so you can make the proper determinations.

[2021JayFlight28BHS]

Originally Posted by Bobstekeur

My wife and I just retired and we bought a 2013 Jayco Eagle 266rks which has a dry weight of 6305 and a gvwr of 8500 with a hitch weight of 935. The RV come with a weight distribution hitch. I have a Ford F-150 FX4 with a V6 twin turbo engine and it’s Maximum towing capacity is 11,300 lbs. I’m still confused on how to calculate the max weight the RV can be. I’ve been reading the stickies but still not sure. Will my Ford safety pull my RV?

The 3.5 is a beast and will pull the weight fine. But as others have said payload is we’re you run into issues. I recently traded my 2018 f150 3.5 max tow truck in on a f250 for this very reason. Not enough cushion for me, and in my opinion the rear of the f150 was too soft (spongy) for that much tongue weight (I was about 950lbs too). Night and day diff in how it tows…. No more bounce in the middle and no sway…. If you do keep the f150, please check the wdh and spec it correctly based on tongue weight, not trailer gvwr and drive 55mph or less to keep safe…. Just my opinion.

[JFlightRisk]

I found our F150 had a little more rear bounce than our Tundra TRD that we traded in. I ordered a full set of Bilstein shocks, and the difference is amazing, towing or not. They took that extra bounce out of the rear.

[Marcm157]

I towed a 28BHBE 6500 dry / 8600 loaded for camping (my wife packs everything) with a 2016 F150 with the same engine as you. As you and others have said it's a beast BUT, the truck just didn't handle the weight as well as I'd hoped. The 11,300 is just a number. Yes the truck will pull it but not comfortably or in my opinion safely. After 1 season I upgraded the truck to a 250 and have a much better tow experience.

I will say without a doubt the 3.5 Eco out pulled the F250 in shear power but the 250 is a better all around tow vehicle...

[2021JayFlight28BHS]

Originally Posted by Marcm157

I will say without a doubt the 3.5 Eco out pulled the F250 in shear power but the 250 is a better all around tow vehicle...

I agree, wish I had the same power to weight ratio and that turbo feel in my gas f250, but worth the trade off to keep my family safe.

[Rustic Eagle]

Bobstekeur,

Welcome to JOF

Originally Posted by Bobstekeur

snip......I’m still confused on how to calculate the max weight the RV can be. I’ve been reading the stickies but still not sure. Will my Ford safety pull my RV?

As far as safely pull the 266RKS, IMO that will depend on your personal loading habits and towing expectations.

First, the 6,305lb UVW and 935lb Dry Hitch Weight you referenced are 'published' weights (web site, brochure, etc). There should be a yellow sticker on the side of the TT with the "as-shipped" UVW....., I bet the 'as-shipped UVW' is close to 6,800lbs.

Hypothetical moderately loaded 266RKS: (UVW 6,800lbs) + (cargo 700lbs) = 7,500lbs gross weight. A recommended loaded tongue weight range of 975lbs to 1,125lbs (13% to 15% of gross). Add another 680 lbs to the gross weight if you tow with full fresh water (82 gallons).

Worst-case loaded to GVWR: 8,500lbs = 1,105lb to 1,275lb (13% to 15%) loaded tongue weight range. The WDH for the 266RKS should be sized based on TT GVWR....., IMO a WDH rated at 1,400lbs would be ideal. The 1,400lb rated WDH (not overkill) will address lower 266RKS loaded tongue weights ranges as well when adjusted properly.

We all have different loading habits that influence one's typical ready-to-camp "loaded" gross weight, and it's not difficult to approach one's TT GVWR.

As mentioned, a 3-pass CAT scale visit under "loaded" TV/TT conditions will tell you everything you need to know.

CAT Scale how-to: https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...v-tt-3871.html

Bob

[Big1]

Welcome to the forum.

[spoon059]

As others have said, you need to know your payload. Payload is king when you tow a trailer. Max trailering weights are mostly advertising numbers that can almost never be achieved in the real world, especially not when towing a high front wall RV .

Look at your yellow door sticker. It should read something to the effect of "occupants and cargo may not exceed xxx lbs". This is the important number. Luckily, the F-150 with Ecoboost is one of the highest rated half ton trucks you can buy, especially if you got the Max HD package.

Tell us your payload rating so that we can give you informed responses. My gut tells me that you should be fine with just you and your wife and some light loading in the truck (firewood, chairs, bikes). But, until you provide hard data about weights, its hard to provide informed responses.

[Bobstekeur]

Thanks everyone for all the good information, I have a lot to learn. I’ll have to find the specs on the WDH as it can with the TT from the previous owner.

[CAG]

Originally Posted by Bobstekeur

Thanks everyone for all the good information, I have a lot to learn. I’ll have to find the specs on the WDH as it can with the TT from the previous owner.

There are number of helpful Web sights that you can plug the numbers from your truck and your trailer into and come up with results that will help you decide if you are safe or not.

No offense to advice you might get but “ I’m towing this and have had no problems is not an answer that makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

Search Can I tow this? And see what comes up.

[mass-hole]

Agree on others saying to get shocks. The factory F150 shocks in the rear are terrible. A set of Bilstein 4600's or 5100's make a huge difference.

Do you have the Max Tow Package? Yes the 2012 F150 can tow 11,300 but you must have the max-tow package to do so. That package also increases the trucks GVWR 350-400 lbs. over the normal F150's. If you do not have max-tow, then your payload is probably very low, like 1200 lbs, with an FX4.

[Bobstekeur]

I just checked the door label and it said the combined weight of cargo and occupants shouldn’t exceed 1614 lbs. I’ll look into replacing the shocks. I have a cat scale pretty close to me that will be my first trip. I haven’t towed the TT yet it was delivered to my house. There will be 2 of us so 340 plus what ever the tongue weight is. I’m trying to be very weight minded and pack as light as I can. I’ll wait until I get close to where I’m going to fill the fresh water maybe 10-20 gallons in case we need to stop along the way but first couple of trips we be local. I’m pretty much tied to this truck now.

[Tony from NJ]

Just make sure you have a little extra torque on the anti sway bars and the RV is close to level - you’ll do fine,

[Girtski]

Good luck. I had to buy a Hensley hitch because the most capable F-150 ever.... failed. Wish I could get my 55K back and just use my 2001 which towed it just fine.

[Quantum]

Originally Posted by Girtski

Good luck. I had to buy a Hensley hitch because the most capable F-150 ever.... failed. Wish I could get my 55K back and just use my 2001 which towed it just fine.

The new generation F150 is harder to dial in than the previous generations. That said once it's dialed in, it's the best 1/2 ton towing machine I've used.

[robert9999]

I couldn't live with that much weight being pulled with my f 150, 2wd, 5.0. I'm at 5,400lbs unloaded with a max of 6,800. I keep the trailer at 6,000 lbs when on the road, F 150 loaded up to max weighed in at 6,100 lbs on my first ever journey but I trimmed that down a couple of hundred lbs also. I can pull okay with it but with a 30 ft TT behind me I can feel the sway in winds & when big rigs pass me by. 10-11.5 mpg when on the road. I wished I had gotten a super duty but this will do especially on the east coast without giant mountain passes to get through.

[kblast523]

Back to the F-150 rear shocks...My then new F-150 Screw XLT 2.7EB made about 12k miles before I yanked the 'sponge assists'. No one providing replacements so I specked 2014 F-150 shocks and THEY FIT!!! KYBs to be exact, and oh what a difference they made. Took one of the factory shocks to the dealer and showed it to him...no action...I could fully compress and extend it without difficulty. No leaks, no warranty...Preparing to replace the factory Hitachi (yes, they make auto parts too) shocks on the Titan with KYB's...but I've made 35k and just now getting a little bounce out of it with the Sumo's.