Thinking of buying a travel trailer, will the ST tow this?

[DawnVic M]

Hi everyone, we're thinking about buying a travel trailer and are wondering if our 2001 Job 1 ST will haul this ok. She's all stock with no mods for towing yet. So please share your thoughts on if she'll haul a trailer this size or what mods we would need to make it safe for Northern California with our potential high elevations. The trailer we're looking at comes in at dry weight of 4119 and hitch weight of 425. Thoughts?

 

[scott degroot]

The towing capacity on your ST is just a tick over 5000 lbs if memory serves me correctly so keep that in mind.



Advertised trailer weights are with a base trailer. They usually never include the options that the trailer is equipped with such as a refer, ac...etc, however if it is a newer trailer the weights should be pretty close being that people are really starting to complain about advertised weights these days. So lets say that the advertised weight of the trailer is accurate, once you load it with all the goodies such as propane, water, gear, food, etc...you are going to be at or over the towing capacity of your ST and we haven't even touched on GVWR or GCWR of the ST yet. Wiil it pull it? Yep, however it is not going to do it without a fight(and not legally either). Even if you manage to squeak in under the max capability of the ST it is not a good idea to tow at your max capability.



I purchased a new toyhauler a couple months back that comes in at 4380 pounds dry on the CAT scale. I pull it with my 2008 Tundra and I can tell you that after owning an ST I would never imagine pulling it with an ST on flat ground let alone in the mountains of northern CA.

 

[Scott Tanner]

Your trac is rated at 5500 lbs towing. It'll tow the weight you stated, but you'll know it's back there. See my library for pics of mine, which weighs right around the limit, fully loaded. the dry weight was 4300. Keep in mind, the frontal area is just as important as weight. the longer the trailer, the better it'll tow. I would suggest Light Truck tires to help with stability, along with anti-sway and load distribution bars. You'll need electric brake controller and an external trans cooler, too. Do a search of my login name over the past 10 years and you'll see a lot of info.

Expect to see 10 mpg towing. the hill will be a challenge, but it'll pull it. I would look at hybrids, or lightweight from areolite, trail-lite, and the like. they are not as tall and wide as normal trailers. Consider a Hi-Lo type also.



I've towed this over 18,000 miles in the last 11 years, including the grand canyon and back to NY..

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[DawnVic M]

Thanks for the responses! We certainly don't want to bury the ST by overburdening her, she's been too good of a truck to do that to her! We'll keep looking since we haven't settled on anything yet. But it helps to know about the brake controller and tranny cooler, and hitch type too. It's all new to us, so we're certainly learning a lot. If you think of anything else, please share!



:supercool:

 

[Gary DiPietroSr]

I set my Trac to tow also. I have changed both sway bars and added a "Road Master Active Suspension" kit, plus many other mods for engine performance. I also have an SCT tuner with a towing program. It has always performed very well towing the camper and the backhoe.

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Forgot to add that I also have the PML over-sized tranny pan.

 

[scott degroot]

STanner,8/12/2013 08:52 MT



. It'll tow the weight you stated, but you'll know it's back there.

I believe this to be the understatement of the century.



Not to split hairs but the actaul max tow weight is 5300 lbs. What is going to get you though is GCWR. If your towing a trailer that is at the max allowable weight for the vehicle I'd bet money that you are over your GCWR (gross combined weight rating).



Personally I stick to the ratings the mfg sets for one simple reason...if something goes horribly wrong and you end up in court and it is found that you have exceded the max limit for the vehicle guess who loses? Sure the vehicle can pull the weight and you can put all sorts of stuff on it to make it do it easier and safer but that still doesn't make it right. My current truck towed the space shuttle and there are tons of videos to prove it however that doesn't mean that it is legal to do so.

 

[Scott Tanner]

The 4x4 is 5050#... the OP's is a 4x2, which is 5280# or 5300#, depending what resource you look at. I swear it said in the brochure that the 4x2 has a 5500# rating. I don't have a copy of it handy. I never said to excees the GCWR, and you're right... it would get messy in court.. I've weighed mine on scales, and am under the 9600#. What I'm saying is if you follow the factory reccomendations, it'll be fine. Is it capable of towing more? sure. should you? probably not. your mileage may vary...



from Fleet Ford



4x2 w/automatic transmission

GCWR (Gross Combined Weight Rating)/Trailer weights

Engine

Rear

axle

ratio

Maximum

GCWR-kg

(lbs.)

Trailer Weight

Range-kg

(lbs.)

0-Maximum

Maximum

frontal area of

trailer-m2 (ft2)

4.0L

SOHC

All 4354 (9600)

0-2395

(0-5280)

4.64 (50)

Notes: For high altitude operation, reduce GCW by 2% per 300 meters

(1000 ft) elevation. For definition of terms and instructions on

calculating your vehicle?s load, refer to Vehicle loading in this chapter.

Maximum trailer weights shown. The combined weight of the

completed towing vehicle and the loaded trailer must not exceed the

GCWR.

Towing a trailer over 1588 kg (3500 lbs.) requires a weight distributing

hitch.

 

[Chris Taylor]

Here's mine(on a snowy UP morning). 3800lbs ready for a weeks camping, weighed on a CAT scale. You know it's there, but this weight is doable. I have towed a boat weighing in at about 5800 lb(boat and trailer), and it was really all it could handle... I also have an additional tranny cooler, trailer brakes and controller and a wt distributing hitch.



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[Scott Tanner]

Chris T,

now that's camping... we like bushwack RVing, finding state land pulling in and "roughing" it... I've camped until Dec 10th before, and woken up to snow...

 

[DawnVic M]

We took the plunge and did end up with a different trailer than we thought we would, but it's basically the same weight at 4109 (per the factory specs). We get the hitch receiver, brake controller and tranny cooler installed this weekend, and will also be getting a weight distribution hitch when we pick up the trailer next week. We're really looking forward to getting out, camping and fishing soon and will keep it at lower elevations until we're more experienced at towing since we're total newbies. It's so exciting! Will post a pic when we get it all together and looking pretty. Thanks for your help!!

 

[Scott Tanner]

post some pics when you get them!!!



don't forget the anti-sway bar- you'll need it, especially w/o LT tires----





what trailer did you end up with?