Thought I'd dip into the collective wisdom for my first post. I have an '09 screw, bone stock, with the 4.6 3v and 6 speed auto and a 3.55 rear end. I'm hoping to make a cross country trip from CA to GA after retiring from the Army.

I was wondering what is the largest trailer one would recommend hauling.

I know the truck is rated for 7k, but I'm looking for a little more info and I'm a towing newbie so any tips are appreciated.

Thanks, Phillip

 

Stick to 5000 pounds unloaded or dry weight as most RV manufacturers call it. That will get you near 6k ready to travel. That will get many half ton trucks near their GVWR with some stuff in the bed.

How much payload does the yellow sticker on your driver's door say your truck has?

 

My truck is rated at 1605 lbs if I understood your question correctly. I found a link to Trailer Life in another post and there are some good towing tips that I'm going to have to spend time reading carefully.

Tips from anyone else?

Phillip

 

I have the 2010 version of your truck and recently towed a 4K lb travel trailer. I would personally stay around 5k lbs on a 1/2 ton truck especially if you plan to travel across the country.

My 4.6 did great, but the gas mileage sucked! We travelled 1200 miles overall and I averaged 10 mpg for the whole trip. It seemed that no matter what direction we turned, the wind was always in our face and gusty!!!

My truck has the tow package and the integrated trailer brake controller is excellent. Much better than aftermarket controllers I have tried in the past. It is very smooth and progressive in applying the trailers brakes, Tow/haul on the transmission helps a lot too. However the truck didn't want to stay in 6th gear due to the wind, so that didn't help the mileage.

In my opinion, if you want to tow more than 5k lbs, especially on a long trip thru the mountains, step up to a F250 with the 6.2l (or diesel if you can swing it). With the 6.2 you'll get the same mileage towing, but have a lot more truck to muscle the trailer around with.

Also remember it isn't only weight that hurts towing performance, aerodynamic drag of the trailer is a big player. The big blunt front end of a trailer produces a lot of drag and as speed increases, so does the drag. Drag increase with the square of velocity, so if you double your speed then drag increases 4X....this is significant.

 

I disagree with Rotorguy's opinion a little. 10MPG towing any full profile TT is great! Dunno what speeds, but not holding 6th gear? Duh! I get 7-8mpg, using the equivalent of 4th gear in your trucks (my 3rd, sometimes 2nd). Let the engine rev! The 4.6L's peak torque is around 4000rpm! It'll stay happy in the 2500-5000rpm range all day and night.

1605 actual payload is a good number for a half ton. By the time you load up people and a few things in the bed, you'll likely have less than 1000 pounds left for a 7k pound trailer loaded.

 

Yep 5k is the most for the 4.6. I get 9mpg for the flat tow, the last trip up cajon pass and back in the wind I got 7.4mpg. My box pulls like a dream empty and they say its 4900.

 

Thanks for the replies. As I learn more I can ask more. As I think I mentioned, I've never towed before so I'm starting from level zero. Happy New Year to all.

Phillip

 

Is that 1605 off the yellow sticker on the door jamb (B-pillar) or out of the book? Your truck must be a mildly-equipped XLT to have that payload capacity. Myexperience will show you being close to (if not) overloaded towing a properly set-up trailer of 7,000 pounds unless you are a few in the cab and light in the bed.

 

Yeah, the 1605 is off the yellow sticker in the door jamb. We figure we'll be close to 1000 lbs with 5 passengers and luggage. So does that leave me with a max trailer weight of something under 6K?

Anyone have any recommendations on the length of trailer or is it more based on weight?

Someone told me that anything over 18 ft is more trailer than that truck can handle. I honestly have no idea. I've seen pictures of what appear to be smaller trucks i.e. F150 single cab, pulling larger trailers up to 24 ft.

Thanks, Phillip

 

It's based on weight. However, the longer the wheelbase the more stable the tow will be.

With 1000# payload, your trailer weight will be limited to about 5k. If you need to tow anything bigger with that kind of payload, you need a Super Duty or a max tow F-150.

 

I too am just getting started but have done several months of researching the same things. (thanks Mitch

Last time I went to the dump with the dog, wife, me, full tank of gas and 5 heavy cans in the back, it weighed right @ 6K. Manual says I can pull a max of 6K. Total 12K.

The wife and I had a whole laundry list of must haves, including a slide, maximum length and minimum dry weight.

We ordered our McKenzie Ion 298 BH on Dec 4 (should be in late next month). It's total length is 31'8" and dry weight is 4201 lbs. I could find nothing even close to this win/win combo.

Check it out... and good luck!

http://www.mckenzierv.com/modelsxml/...aspx?model=ion

PS Don't forget the equalizer hitch and brake control!

 

That's a nice looking trailer, but I bet you'll be more than 5k lbs when you hitch it up. Dry weight is a bogus number used to sell trailers. Don't let the trailer salesman convince you how light it will be, he only has one goal in mind.....a sale! Nobody tows a "dry" trailer....that means no options, propane, battery, food, dishes, clothes, supplies, water, etc. All that stuff adds up fast, but if you are very careful you should be fine. When you pick it up, run by the scales and weigh the truck and trailer combo and work with the numbers. It will never be as light as the day you pick it up.

Take your time out on the road and have fun camping.