Realistic towing capacity for travel trailer?

[Veritas107]

My apologies if this has been addressed before. But does anybody here have any experience on realistic towing capacities ? I was looking to get a travel trailer and just wanted some ideas. What other people had looked at or used?

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[Shakesbear]

Do you have the 4K towing package?

 

[The Real Maverick]

It depends on a lot.

#1 is how fast you drive.

At 55 mph it can tow more than you'd guess. The "ratings" seem to be good for the 60-65 mph range.

At 70-75 mph you'd better be towing less than the ratings.

 

[danstheman]

You need to be within the vehicle's towing capacity, as well as tongue weight rating. With the 4K towing package, the tongue weight should not exceed 400 lbs, and the towing weight should not exceed 4,000 lbs. It gets quite complicated depending on wether you don't want to exceed the recomended ratings and keep your warranty intact.
If you don't have the 4K tow package, or have a hybrid, those ratings drop to 2,000 lbs towing and 200 lbs tongue.
The towing weight for a relatively small travel trailer is 2,000 to 3,000 lbs dry. We just bought a Forest River R-Pod 171C that is 2400 lbs dry (empty like when you first get it, without water or propane in the tanks, and no personal belongings). Once you load it up, you can quickly start to approach the 4,000 lb limit of the 4K towing package. Without the 4K towing, you probably can only tow a tent trailer safely.

 

[Narclepticfool]

On a recent dump run I got a weight on my small contractor trailer (6x10 vnose enclosed). It weighs in right at 3500lbs. It tows amazingly well with the 4k tow package. I will clarify though, that I have a weight distribution hitch on it, as towing all the time with independent rear suspension and no distribution will eat your rear tires in nothing flat. Ask me how I know!

Lighter is better, and proper weight distribution is very important. Also I get 15-18 mpg towing at 3500lbs around town (generally not highway).

 

[todd92]

The realistic tow capacity is 4000 pounds for a 4K equipped Ecoboost and 2000 for all others. In addition, you have a max tongue weight, max payload, max GCVW and max frontal area. All of this is available here:

Ford Maverick Towing Guide

 

[Joe Strummer]

There are a billion posts on this issue. Use the search function.

 

[The Real Maverick]

The tongue weight limit is the same on all trucks (400#) because it's the same hitch, body, frame, and same number of mounting bolts.

Don't be confused by different part numbers. One has a cutout for the 7 pin wire harness and one doesn't. They are all class III hitches but the hitch does not determine your tow rating. I'm just saying the hitch is not weaker on the 2K trucks.

The 4k trucks have enhanced engine components, but not hitch components as far as anyone can tell.

p.s. 30 years of towing says 15% on the hitch is better than 10% if your truck can take it.

 

[RichardCranium]

Also, don’t think anyone mentioned it yet, but travel trailers tend to be a bit heavy on the tongue weight. Look up the specs before you buy, but I have seen some 4000 gvw travel trailers with tongue weights listed well over 500lbs.
I will be towing my Jayco 154bh that has a GVW of 3200 lbs. I doubt I will be at full capacity, but things like water is not counted as dry weight (I tow empty and fill at camp) I have heard that batteries are not calculated into the trailer weight as well, but my trailer calculates a full propane cylinder (listed on spec sheet). My guess is that even though I am going to be well under the 4000lbs tow capacity, I will be pretty close to 400 lbs on the tongue.

 

[FischAutoTechGarten]

My apologies if this has been addressed before.

Yeah, it has, but I'll share a reference outside of this site. All of us will be pulling smallish stuff because we've purchased smallish trucks .. (i know, obvious).. anyway, ive been learning about lightweight options on this Tear Drop and Tiny Travel Trailer Forum. Lots of cool stuff to learn.

https://www.tnttt.com/viewforum.php?f=2

There are a billion posts on this issue. Use the search function.

Joe is right... Use the search function to do some research... There's a lot of good information from Maverick owners who tow here. Lots of variety in the camper setups folks are pairing with their Mavericks.

 

[Veritas107]

Do you have the 4K towing package?

IDK I have th

 

[Veritas107]

IDK all I know is I have 2.0 eco-boost engine on a 2023 XLT. Where would I find this information on the sticker sheet or the owners manual?

 

[Carlitos_92]

IDK all I know is I have 2.0 eco-boost engine on a 2023 XLT. Where would I find this information on the sticker sheet or the owners manual?

It's a pretty important specification to know when looking at towing capacity.

Look at your hitch receiver. If there are two electrical connectors to the left, and one of them has 7 pins, you have the 4K package. If you only have one connector with 4 pins, you don't have the package.

It will also be called out on the window sticker for your individual truck, but the manual covers all flavors of Mavericks, so that isn't going to tell you.

 

[JLB]

There is surprisingly little conversation in this forum about electric trailer brakes. I would be very hesitant to tow any trailer that weighs more than half what the 3500 lb Maverick weighs at highway speeds, or on mountain roads, without a trailer equipped with electric brakes (and the trailer brake controller in the 4k package).
A trailer of the same weight as the truck will about double stopping distance, and the truck brakes will heat twice as fast, unless the trailer wheels also brake.

Lack of an electric brake controller that only comes with the 4k towing package is probably half of the reasons of why the Mav is limited to 2k without the towing package, the trans cooler and gearing the other half.

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