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Old 09-11-2016, 07:10 AM   #21
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I am loving all the advise and knowledge. I really appreciate it!!!!
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Old 09-11-2016, 09:45 AM   #22
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I think 3.55 is the axle ratio.

You would be best off getting a "Hensley Arrow" hitch or "ProPride" hitch.
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Old 09-11-2016, 12:35 PM   #23
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The wb of the truck vs the trailer length is something to keep in mind. That's why I recommend a good wdh with integrated sway control. As mentioned, properly set up.

3.55 gearing should be more than enough for you. I am not familiar enough with the Fords to know exactly what the ratios may be, even with the tow package.

The HA and PP models are the best, but if you're borderline in regards to the payload of the truck, they are considerably heavier than the Reese or Equal-I-Zer models. With kids that are still growing, and getting heavier, you may end up exceeding the payload.
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Old 09-11-2016, 02:13 PM   #24
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3.55 is a good ratio for towing. 3.73 is the best Ford offers in your F150. The 3.55 will be sufficient to tow the 28BHBE. I pull with 3.31 which is less than ideal and still have no issues.
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Old 09-11-2016, 07:34 PM   #25
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If you go with the 28BHBE, It WILL pull hard with you having the 5.0 L V8 engine and 3.55 gears. Looks like your truck has the payload so you should be close. What is the GCWR? Should be something like 15,000# or so. My 2017 28 BHBE weighs in at 8500# with 80 gallons of fresh water and enough stuff for a full week of camping with just the wife and I. My Tundra weighs in at 7,000# so we are close to the limit of 16,000# GCWR at 15,480#. My truck has a bigger, more powerful 5.7L V8 and 4.30 gears and in 4th gear it pulls 60 - 65 mph no problem. It does bog in 5th gear and there is no way it would pull in 6th. I run a ProPride 3P hitch and the combo is 100% stable in any wind condition short of a Tornado! It is even 100% stable in the air wash behind tractor trailers on the interstates. If you can afford the new F150 and a new 28 BHBE, you can NOT afford to skimp on the hitch.
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Old 09-12-2016, 10:23 AM   #26
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Good day! We just came back from Glacier National Park(5600 miles round trip from Chicago). Not sure how Chevy compares to ford in towing, but I towed our SLX 287BHBS with a 1500. It towed it pretty well. I think the F-150 supposedly tows better than the Chevy 1500- but really don't know. I was pleased with how our truck towed it- other than gas mileage!
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Old 09-12-2016, 01:37 PM   #27
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I have a 2014 Whitehawk 28DSBH towed with a 2012 F150 Super Crew with the tow package 5.0 ltr and 3:73 gears. I have towed coast to coast across Canada with no difficulties. The western mountains with 18% grades certainly were a test but as others have added get yourself a good WDH setup. I have been very happy with my Husky Centerline hitch and on big trips I only pack what I need, no extras so as to keep the weight down. LT tires are a must as well. Good luck with your search.
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Old 09-12-2016, 01:40 PM   #28
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1969lbs is pretty good for payload.

1969-625 (family) -200 (bikes) - 75 (hitch)= 1069lbs left over

I would keep at least 200lbs in reserve for a growing family and anything else added to the truck. So let's assume a maximum tongue weight of 850lbs for the trailer.

Most travel trailers do well with 13-15% tongue weight. So you should look for a trailer with a GVWR of around 7000lbs.
The 8250lbs of the 27BHS would have a tongue weight of around 1072lbs.
The heavier 9250lbs of the 28BHBE would be around 1200lbs. Both of those are using 13% tongue weight.

Even not loading those trailers up to GVWR you will be looking at over 7000lbs travelling weight.

The dry weight of the 28BHBE is 6510. So lets assume that is 6800lbs delivered with batteries and propane and any other options on the trailer. You will probably load an additional 1000lbs of stuff into the trailer. So lets assume 7800lbs loaded up and ready for the road.

7800*0.13=1014lbs of tongue weight.

1969-625-200-75-1014=55lbs
Payload - family - bikes - hitch - tongue weight = unused payload

So based on those conservative assumptions you would have 55lbs of extra payload available. ~3% safety margin based on your available payload.

How much safety factor would you like while you are towing with your family?

Two other options...

http://www.jayco.com/products/travel...t-slx/242bhsw/

http://www.jayco.com/products/travel...t-slx/267bhsw/

Cheers
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Old 09-12-2016, 02:13 PM   #29
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3.55's are more than adequate for towing. Todays newer vehicles have lower ratios. The average ratio on the Super Duty's is 3.55, although 3.73's and 4.30's are offered in an option package or DSO'd directly from Ford. Unless you're towing a small farm, 4.30's are overkill and gas mileage is horrible. They're mainly used in DSO trucks. The rears offered for the F150's are 3.15, 3.31, 3.55 and 3.73. The first two are for highway use and maybe light towing. The latter two are the tow ratios. Of course, 3.73's are the torque king for the F150.
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Old 09-12-2016, 02:54 PM   #30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Subaru297 View Post

1969-625-200-75-1014=55lbs
Payload - family - bikes - hitch - tongue weight = unused payload

So based on those conservative assumptions you would have 55lbs of extra payload available. ~3% safety margin based on your available payload.

How much safety factor would you like while you are towing with your family?

Cheers
Having a good quality hitch properly adjusted has everything to do with safety whereas whether you have 55 lbs or 255 lbs of available payload has nothing to do with safety margin or the safety of your family.

I have been towing a 28BHBE for my 3rd season with a 2010 F150 with Maxtow which has 1683 lbs of payload for 3 passengers and a 50 pound mutt. The tongue weight on my trailer is 950 loaded for camping and we are able to pack within the limits of our truck. Recognizing that we are within the safe upper limits of the capability of my F150, we went with the Pro pride hitch which eliminates sway and I have never had any with this setup. I also installed airbags and LT tires which I air up for towing and air down for unloaded daily driving.

As you have read, there are many that tow the 28BHBE comfortably with properly equipped 150/1500 "half-tons" with properly adjusted hitches and setups. There are also many opinions from those that didn't have a proper hitch or their TV/TT combos properly setup and had problems with sway or those that have never towed a 28BHBE with a modern F150 who claim it is unsafe to tow anything over 2000 lbs with an F150 because it is a "half-ton truck". You have to take a lot of the well-intentioned but ill-informed advice with a grain of salt as posting 2+2=5 over and over again doesn't make it so.

One thing to keep in mind, the payload of your F150 is calculated based on there being a 150lb driver and a full tank of gas. The 28BHBE also comes with an option for a bike tray or rear bumper receiver which would also give another 200 lbs of payload weight out of the box of your truck.

It you have any questions about pulling the 28BHBE with an F150, feel free to PM me for more info.

Happy camping,
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Old 09-12-2016, 03:19 PM   #31
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Just trying to give both sides of the story and I was surprised nobody did the math yet. All I can give an opinion on is the numbers.

I have never towed a 28BHBE with a well equiped F150 so I can't give my experience on that but based on my experience towing other smaller, lighter trailers I know that it will be close to the limits based on the numbers. How close the OP wants to get to the limits is up to them of course.

I had a 2013 F150 (only 1450lbs payload) with the 5.0l and 3.55 gears and long box pulling a 28BHS (7000lbs gvwr) and it was not a confidence inspiring tow. Did it work? Absolutely. Would it work in an emergency situation???? Thankfully I never had to find out but it was very close to the limits. I had 35lbs of unused payload.

I have no idea what the OP's position is or what their experience is. All I was pointing out is that it will be close to the limits based on the numbers and now is the time be aware of that. Not after they get a new trailer.

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Old 09-12-2016, 06:27 PM   #32
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Weight wise, At your payload of 1969 and 625 worth of family/payload, I think you will be OK as long as you don't overload things and probably don't tow wet. My hunch is your going to be under 1000 lbs tongue weight fairly well loaded. Do remember, toppers, spray in liners, anything added after the manufacture of the vehicle will count as well.

If you want to firm this up, you could take your vehicle loaded to a scale, weigh it. Your available tongue weight should be pretty much the GVWR of the vehicle minus your gross vehicle weight. Don't forget a few hundred pounds for your weight distribution hitch. Also, the tongue weights on the specs generally don't include a battery or gas bottles.

WORST CASE, as long as you don't exceed the GVWR of the trailer (2017 model is GVWR is 9250) at 15% tongue weight (which is probably the max you want anyway) your only at 1388lbs. I don't think you will ever get that heavy if you meter your loading a little and keep stuff out of the bed. You can get fairly inexpensive tongue scales off Amazon and I would think the dealer would let you set the trailer on the tongue. They probably wont let you load it up and take it to a scale unfortunately :-)

If you havent, use others cat scale results, this one is a good example http://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f3...hbe-37715.html

Kudos to you for looking into this ahead of time, I wish I had looked into it more.

One more suggestion on the F150 if your going to be near payload, look at rear suspension enhancements. I used the Roadmaster Active suspension, many use the timbrens and/or shock upgrades. The R.A.S made a world of difference when we used to tow with our F150.
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Old 09-12-2016, 09:37 PM   #33
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One thing to keep in mind, the payload of your F150 is calculated based on there being a 150lb driver and a full tank of gas.
I have to disagree with the payload based on a 150lb driver being in the vehicle, if going by the yellow payload sticker in the drivers door jamb. This sticker is required for all vehicles sold in the U.S., and states "The combined weight of OCCUPANTS and cargo should never exceed: XXX(Xlbs". Occupants means any person occupying the vehicle, which would mean the the weight of the driver as well as any additional passengers are counted toward the total payload.
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Old 09-13-2016, 06:15 AM   #34
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I too was faced with your dilemma. I have a 13 F150 5.0 with 3:55 gears. I wanted the 28 BHBE but I thought it was just too close to my towing limits. So I started looking at the White Hawk's. Settled on the 28 DSBH and I am very pleased so far. Truck pulls it great. Camper has been great as well. Only one warranty issue for the bathtub floor being soft in spots. That was repaired and I've had no other issues after spending nearly 30 nights in it so far this year. I don't regret not getting the 28 BHBE. For me and my family, the 28 DSBH is just about perfect.
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Old 09-13-2016, 11:33 AM   #35
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I will give you all an update as things progress and let you know and again ALL advice is appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to respond!!!!!
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Old 09-13-2016, 06:18 PM   #36
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We have the 28BHBE and consistently have tongue weights of between 750-800#. It's a great layout, we have no regrets. You probably want to avoid the Elite package, some people have reported much higher tongue weights with it and full freshwater tanks.

Quote:
Originally Posted by swik23 View Post
We sold our 23B Jayco hybrid camper and are looking for a bunkhouse model. We have a 2016 Ford F-150 v8 with the tow package. I would love some input on what we can safely tow. We live in SW Michigan and te surrounding area we camp at is fairly flat. We are a family of 5 plus a 25 pound dog and usually carry 5 bikes in the truck bed. We usually camp an hour or less from home and usually one 3 hour trip to Pentwater once a year. I am trying to attach some pics so hopefully that works. I have seen the instructions and understand going to the scale is the way to do it right but I am the wife and a little boggled by all the numbers lol, but I do want to make sure we don't end up needing a new truck.

Some models we are looking at are

Jay flight 27BHS 6,065 unloaded and 620 hitch weight l
Jay Flight SLX 287BHSW 6,090 pounds and 645 hitch weight
Looked today at a 2015 used White Hawk 6,020 and 655 hitch weight
Love the 28BHBE but from reading on here that may be too much to tow.

Passenger weights of all 5 plus dog is about 625
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