What’s the biggest tow behind camper you would pull with your F150?

[PungoteagueDave]

Not every Powerboost has a Payload that low. (~1100)

Here's a Powerboost we bought for the office: (admittedly not dolled up real fancy, but tows the RV like a champ!)

My Platinum has ~1400lbs and it's a luxury yacht.

I have a KingRanch on order that I am aiming for ~1500 by leaving off the panoramic roof and the powered tailgate.

How do you leave the powered tailgate off a KR? Though that was standard. I'm thinking of taking my tailgate off when towing. Doing that and putting the spare tire in the boat would provide enough cushion to have a passenger.

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[Snakebitten]

Power Tailgate is not "standard" on the KingRanch
Keep in mind that I just now took the screen shot so it's a KingRanch with zero options.
Nobody will see one for $58k ?

 

[PungoteagueDave]

You can definitely spec an F-150 to do this - my son has a '20 F-150 Lariat ecoboost and tows a 31' TT - I drove/towed that rig cross-country this summer with his wife and kids (Navy pilot, was on deployment, so I helped with the relocation to Whidbey Island), from Jacksonville to Washington state, and it did fine, got 9 mpg towing 7,100 pounds. It did have weight distribution, is not a PB (Gen 13 truck). I would not advise him to buy a PB for his usage - would be wasted extra weight, reduced capacity, lower mileage, far lower range between fill ups. But you can do it, just be careful as pointed out above. The reason my payload is so low is the spray-in liner, tonneau cover (OEM, so counted in payload capacity reduction), and sunroof, King Ranch goodies like seat massage. But the PB battery itself is the biggest weight penalty, and it does nothing when towing except add some hp. I did not find it was an advantage - nice to have, but my son's ecoboost is just fine at towing - we went through the Colorado Rockies, and over Washington's Snoqualmie Pass, never slowed down a bit. And way better mileage than my PB. I would still prefer that he have a Super Duty, but as it is his daily driver, probably a decent compromise.

 

[PungoteagueDave]

Power Tailgate is not "standard" on the KingRanch
Keep in mind that I just now took the screen shot so it's a KingRanch with zero options.
Nobody will see one for $58k ?

Thanks, thought it came with mine automatically. I probably just blindly checked all the boxes. That tailgate is pretty sweet.

 

[Snakebitten]

Thanks, thought it came with mine automatically. I probably just blindly checked all the boxes. That tailgate is pretty sweet.

Yea, I have it and the glass roof and everything else short of bed liner and cover on the Platinum Powerboost I'm in now.

I love everything about the truck and now determined to have one built the way I want it rather than a dealer. And KingRanch is my trim preference over Platinum. Personal preference based on a couple of KingRanch trucks previously.

But the biggest reason I am swapping is that I want the 6.5' bed and would like to test the CCD suspension.

 

[70Mach1]

It has a hitch weight below 800 pounds?

Yes it’s about a hundred pounds below that. It will sneak up with gear but I will still be within the limit. I appreciate the concern and heads up to payload.

As I am seasonal I will not be towing our camper often. For the limited number of times towing it per year i don’t want a SD as a daily driver.

I like your kayak setup! What did you end up going with for the tonneau and rack config for this set up?

 

[HellcatTremorStang]

I guessing I’m an idiot ….lol . If you ask me I think these trucks are massively under rated from the factory - brand not withstanding .

I towed my Hellcat- which was STUFFED full of clothes and all my kitchen supplies as I moved from Toronto to Vancouver (think driving from New York City to Seattle) - trailer was 2200lbs + 4600lb car + atleast 600lbs in the car(full trunk, back seat, front seats) - so trailer was likely 7400lbsor more . On top of that my truck bed was full of books, clothes, kitchen utensils- and the cab (crew)was jammed full of stuff. + my dad and I @ 175lbs each. Drove the truck 3300 miles in 5 days - through the mountains - zero issues- except for some jerking from the damn surge break.
Truck was squatting pretty good. Ride was fun though- it was great putting the truck through the paces . The 6.2L - 10 speed did it’s job and with the intake/exhaust it sounded great .

I’m looking to do a similar trip from Vancouver to Florida as I move . I’ll be doing that with my Tremor 3.5L though -towing my new Widebody Hellcat . This time I won’t have the truck loaded up though- or the car .
See pics!!

 

[Snakebitten]

Towing 7,500 lbs of flat bed trailer with a car on it is VERY different than a 7,500lb RV.
You ever held up a sheet of plywood in a 10mph gust of wind?
Try double that sheet at 70mph!

It's literally like pulling a parachute AND the weight.

Boats slice the wind, relatively.
Flatbeds with a car or tractor are only a little tougher than a boat.
An RV is a wall.

 

[PungoteagueDave]

Yes it’s about a hundred pounds below that. It will sneak up with gear but I will still be within the limit. I appreciate the concern and heads up to payload.

As I am seasonal I will not be towing our camper often. For the limited number of times towing it per year i don’t want a SD as a daily driver.

I like your kayak setup! What did you end up going with for the tonneau and rack config for this set up?

It's the OEM Ford retractable made by Retrax, also sold separately as the Retrax XR tonneau. Great tonneau, have had Retrax on pickups since 2006. The rack is the Overhaul HD by Yakima, topped with their sideloader system for kayaks. It makes loading the kayaks easy for one person who can lift 90 pounds, which is what our Hobie Outbacks weigh stripped down. A couple more detailed pics here, plus one close-up of the new weight distributing hitch setup

 

[Jackson84]

21 XLT with Max Tow, weight distribution Hitch pulling a 33ft (Tongue to rear bumper) 6100lbs dry TT. 2nd one I have owned and have had zero issues with the family, dog and loaded camper. I have a level, 34 inch nitto grapplers, and the RAS kit for the rear.

 

[Shooter56]

Lariat package with a payload of 1441 lbs. I keep the driver, passenger, dog, and bed and cab items like tools, water, extra propane bottle, WDH, etc to about 750 lbs. TT is 3870 lbs empty with double axels. Once I get it loaded, including 2 20 lb propane tanks, 1 12v battery, water, and everything else which amounts to about 1000 lbs. My Sherline hitch scale tells me I'm at 550 lbs for hitch weight putting me at about 1300 lbs of payload. I like giving myself a little cushion since I have not been to a CAT scale yet. So I am comfortable at these weights, with this trailer and the truck seems to handle it pretty easily. In my neck of the woods we have mountain passes and high winds from time to time, so I have towed in some pretty good winds, 50mph gust one time, but regularly in 25-30 mph winds, as well as hard rain and light snow without much concern. The WDH is amazing, when we get hit by a sideways gust, I feel a quick push, but no sway. We did a 740 mile round trip in January in steady winds and still ended up at 10.2 mpg.

If I knew conditions were going to be ideal, I would probably be comfortable towing a little more, but assuming less than ideal highway conditions, mountain passes and lots of forest service road use with tight spaces, I'm good towing right below 5000 lbs with my set up. Camping is supposed to be relaxing. The last thing I want to do is worry about towing issues, so I am not the guy who is looking to max out my truck with a bigger trailer.

 

[darioa]

I have a 2021 King Ranch Powerboost with a 1328 lbs payload capacity. I tow a 6200 GVWR Lance 1995 (about 24 ft). I have gone from Colorado to Washington DC and back, and all over Colorado (I have about 8,500 miles on the truck, with 6500 towing). I have a WDH which allows me to go 75 MPH on the highway. More than that and I feel some sway so I usually max the speeds at 65MPH. The tongue weight is around 600 lbs so, when fully loaded with my wife and I and the dog, and full of gas, my payload is really close to maximum (until I use some fuel). I put the suitcases and tools in the trailer, but I carry 5 gallons of gas in the truck bed, as far forward as possible.
I get 10-11 MPG depending on whether I carry water in the trailer or not. I would be concerned towing something bigger or heavier, not because of power or torque (I have plenty of that), but because of payload. I have the stock tires and shocks, no air bags. Adding air bags adds to the weight and thus decreases the payload, so I'm not sure about the benefit (still researching).
I get 22 MPG in city driving and about the same in the highway, when not towing (in winter conditions), but I try to turn on the electric function by lightly pressing on the brakes, as much as possible.

 

[Buyer2021]

... and full of gas ...

Just FYI, the "combined weight of occupants and cargo" (AKA 'payload rating') on your federally mandated loading sticker is in addition to the "curb weight" of the vehicle, and that already includes a full tank of fuel.

CFR Title 49, FMVSS Section 571.110:
"Curb weight means the weight of a motor vehicle with standard equipment; maximum capacity of engine fuel, oil, and coolant; and, if so equipped, air conditioning and additional weight optional engine." (Emphasis added)

Further details of the 'payload' placard requirements are also covered in that section of the Code of Federal Regulations.

 

[Snakebitten]

On the F150, the curb weight does include the weight of the standard fuel tank filled with fuel. But if you opt for the 36 gallon tank, Ford gives you an 83lb hit on your cargo capacity. That would imply that they are deducting the weight of the additional fuel that the larger tank holds.
But still, it's included in the truck weight at that point and doesn't count against the Payload on the sticker.

 

[Jack in Prescott]

Dave, I think you're focusing more on trailer length than you should. Wish you made the trailer GVWR and your decal F150 cargo weight available to us. As mentioned by many, your first challenge is your rated cargo capacity vs. your real-world all-up cargo weight (hitch, bed load, passenger load, etc.) for the new pull-behind trailer. Next and not mentioned by most, is where you will be towing. We routinely tow up/down 7% grades because we mostly tow up/down the Rocky Mountain spine. Will you see those grades on occasion, too? How about midwest and high plains towing across Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, the Dakotas, Montana etc., with their often hefty winds? And third, not all weight distribution hitches perform the same. How good a job will yours do?

My rig is a duplicate of Mario's, several posts above, and with the same basic performance results he summarizes. Would I tow more than 6,000#? Assuming all the weight limits are observed and given my PB's 1500# cargo capacity, I'd consider a 7,000# tow. But given where we tow and for the Anderson WDH that I use, that would probably be my limit.

Jack

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