New RV towing question

[DisneyinPA]

Hi guys. We are think about getting a new travel trailer. It’s a Forest River Salem Hemisphere Hyper Lite. Dry weight 7173 with a hitch weight of 965. I’m coming from PA. Would like to take it to the Fort sometime in a year or two. My towing capacity on my F150 is 9100. Do you think it would be safe or look for something smaller? The next size down dry weight is 6688 with a hitch weight of 890. Thanks!

 

[Teamubr]

You should be ok with the trailer you are considering. Remember the dry weight is just that. When I had a TT, I typically added about 1000 lbs for our stuff, food, clothes and water. That would still bring you in about 1000 under the tow limit.

One other thing to consider is the total max weight (GCWR) for the truck. That is the truck, trailer, passengers and anything else you have in the truck. It is possible to be under a tow rating but way over the combined weight due to passengers.

j

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

Without running all the numbers and having the VIN and specs for your truck its hard to say for sure. Personally, I think thats too much trailer for a half ton especially when you add (like has already been said) cargo, fuel and passengers. Even if its within specs its still going to be a handful on the road. Strictly anecdotal but I wouldnt put anything over 28ft long and 6000# dry behind a half ton (my personal opinion and worth exactly what you paid for it)

 

[PaHunter]

The big issue is what is your payload capacity of your truck ? If it is about 1500, you would have enough room for passengers, but that would be it.
Only way to determine true tongue weight is weigh the camper.
Dry weight is just that. It does not include the battery, propane, any clothes, food, water, or anything else you add. So basically dry weight is useless.
If you look back thru the Truck and Towing thread, you will see, we started pulling a 25 foot Bullet with a 1500, do not pass a gas station. We then moved to a 3500 truck with the same trailer, night and day. Went from 6mpg gas to 13/14 mpg diesel.

 

[Sjm9911]

You will not like it. Way to heavy. And its like 37 foot long. You will be pushed and pulled all over the hyways. As stated, its dry weight, you have to add on all the extras. So its empty weight at the factory. Added stuff may include include the awning, fridge , heater, wdh, etc. Im by all means not the tow police, but i had a 2012 GMC sierra max tow that was awful on long trips. And it had about the same max as yours. My TT was only 5400 loaded. And yea, stopping for gas and bathroom breaks added on a ton of travel time. I got a bigger truck. In reality, I like to look at the max weight the trailor can be and then go 20 percent lighter. Just because you can tow it dosen't mean you should. Good luck.

 

[Teamubr]

Question for the OP.

@DisneyinPA

How much towing experience do you have? If you tow a lot or have a lot of experience towing, you probably know how a combo will respond closer to the limits. I know many on here will say you shouldn't go over X% of the tow rating. For someone inexperienced, that may be good advice, because towing something that is only 50% of capacity will pull much different than towing at 98%. I have many years towing all over the country and didn't hesitate to pull right up to the limit. The tow ratings and GCWR were determined by the manufacturer. If they really intended your F150 to be limited to 20 or 25% less than the stated 9100 because that was the "safest", then they wouldn't have put 9100 in the manual.

Each persons comfort level towing is not the same as what is your vehicle capable of.

j

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

How much towing experience do you have? If you tow a lot or have a lot of experience towing, you probably know how a combo will respond closer to the limits.

^^^^^this^^^^^

I'm with @Teamubr. I've towed a lot big and small. I think I personally could easily drive the combo you are proposing, but I don't think I'd want to. Everything everyone else has mentioned above and it also has potential for an uneasy drive with porpoising, sway, and big stopping distances. Something I'm confident to react to, but again wouldn't want to have to all the time.

I always err towards "P" for plenty for the tow vehicle. We could have pulled our old 28' Ultra-Lite TT (similar specs to the rig you are eyeing) with my wife's Suburban and been just fine and more comfortable in the cabin. However, the only thing we ever pulled it with was my 3500 dually that I already had.

 

[Sjm9911]

Here is someone simmiler towing something big. Not as big as the one you want. And what he did to improve the ride.

 

[jkh36619]

I personally wouldn't do that setup.

 

[bama_ed]

I personally wouldn't do that setup.

Yep.

This type of question comes up all the time on camping forums. Learn how to read the numbers.

Because you're overweight.

I guess the 29XBHL model is what you are looking at on the far right (matches the 7,173# dry weight):



The "dry weight" is technically known as the UVW: Unloaded Vehicle Weight. Right below it is the CCC: Cargo Carrying Weight (of the trailer). Those two numbers added together are the GVWR: Gross Vehicle Weight Rating. In other words, the empty trailer plus all the stuff you can carry INSIDE the trailer is the number to bounce against your tow vehicle number.

CCC+UVW is 9,765 pounds and if your F150 is rated to pull 9,100 max, you are overweight. People say, oh I'LL NEVER carry 2,500 pounds of stuff. And yet they can and do (depending on how they camp).

The problem is not "towing" (getting the hitched up rig rolling). It's not "how it rides". The problem is "stopping" (bringing the moving combo to a safe zero velocity). In the past I braked at high speed far enough in advance and even with the brake controller I reached Zero-V in the middle of the intersection. I felt like a fish under glass with everyone from all directions looking at me.

You also got some hills in Pennsylvania (my son lives in Scranton). Your tranny will be doing a lot of shifting up and down hills and accelerating and you'll wear it out eventually.

Some of us also put a buffer between the tow vehicle tow limit and GVWR. The Ford pulls 9,100#? Get a trailer that doesn't exceed 7,500# GVWR which gives you a buffer/margin of 1,600#. Vehicle tow numbers generally assume two people who weigh about 150# each. Taking the family? Packing the bed of the truck with all the STUFF that goes camping? Every pound you add to the vehicle (people/stuff) is a pound you give up in CCC. Full tanks? That's 1,100# right there. Are you taking Uncle Joe with you too? He weighs 300# .....

And so on .....

This comes up when people get the small travel trailers (18') that GVWR 4,000# and their minivan they want to tow it with is rated for 3,500# "with a properly equipped tow package".

I wouldn't touch that trailer with the F150 - at 37' it's too heavy. Need to look elsewhere - they can call that particular model a "Hyper-Lyte" but at nearly 10,000#, light it ain't.

Bama Ed

PS - people joke with me because I have a small trailer GVWR of 3,500 and a tow vehicle rated at 8,100. I'm not a margin/buffer guy. I'm a numbers guy and I can do the math. (Plus, one day I dream of a single axle small Airstream).

PPS - oh and plenty of people that claim they take their 10,000# TT out for the weekend behind their Chevy Impala. Your insurance company won't support you, I don't believe, if you exceed your weight limit. Making modifications means you knew you were overweight. So if you have an accident while hitched, you could be in trouble.

PPPS - and the truck, as PaHunter points out, has its own numbers to run. The Hitch Weight (965# which sounds right for a 9,700# trailer) counts in the truck payload capacity. And people and stuff in the vehicle count too. You have to do the math and plan for a "worst case" scenario.

 

[PaHunter]

If the trailer is 37 feet long, it is almost 2x the length of your truck. Most accidents if you look online you will see the tail wag the dog. Once it gets out of shape you can not recover.
I was towing a 43 foot trailer with a semi truck. I can tell you, when I would quarter up on a trailer like that the aero push from the front of my truck would send drivers panicking. First it pushes the trailer toward the side of the road, then as I would pass, it would suck that trailer closer to my trailer. In my side mirror you could see the driver fighting to keep control. It happens with every semi that would pass you.
I am all for getting the biggest trailer one can safely handle, but remember if something goes south, your family is in the truck. Is your family safety worth less than having a bigger trailer ?

 

[Syndrome]

Hi guys. We are think about getting a new travel trailer. It’s a Forest River Salem Hemisphere Hyper Lite. Dry weight 7173 with a hitch weight of 965. I’m coming from PA. Would like to take it to the Fort sometime in a year or two. My towing capacity on my F150 is 9100. Do you think it would be safe or look for something smaller? The next size down dry weight is 6688 with a hitch weight of 890. Thanks!

NOPE - dont do it . Not enough truck for that rig ! Yes, it may pull it , but it aint going to be safe , or fun , or safe , or ..........
Just got back from a roundtrip from PA to the Fort - 2200 miles . Our 32' RV is 6500 empty , loaded maybe 8000, 800lbs at the tongue . We pull with a 3/4 2500 Suburban with a big block 8.1 496 4.10 rear with hydro brakes rated for about 13,000 lbs. We have a great WD hitch with Sway control ........and it was STILL a little bit of a handful at times . Semis passing, traffic , extreme high wind warnings on 81 , etc . I wouldnt want to pull any larger than we have now , and it pulls very good ! Almost no sway , and we are way under the weight rating.
You are asking too much from that F150, and the outcome may not be pretty . I would be sticking with a 5K empty trailer or under for that truck for it to be a safe and pleasurable towing experience . Heck, we are even looking to go a little smaller than our 6500k trailer for our 3/4 so as to make towing easier .

Good luck, hope you make the right decision , and a pushy RV salesman doesn't try to lead you in the wrong direction !

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

Something else that tow ratings dont factor in is the surface area of an RV. Theres a world of difference between a 20 ft long car trailer with 10k# on it and the surface areas (frontal and side) of a longer, similarly weighted travel trailer. The side force exerted on a 30+ ft travel trailer is huge.