Half ton towable travel trailer

estitham

Member
I would like some feedback on hauling the Northtrail 33bkss with a half to pick-up. I own a 2013 F-150 Supercrew 5 1/2 bed 5.0 V-8 engine. This floorplan has everything I want for my family but am concerned about towing. Thanks.
 

jimtoo

Moderator
Hi estitham,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and hopefully to the family. We have a great bunch of folks here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge when needed.

I'm sure you will get more opinions and pretty sure they will recommend a different truck. I think yours is only rated for aprox 8K towing and the North Trail is listed at 9600 lbs GVWR, so I think you will be way overloaded myself.

Check out this good link about weight and tow charts.
Fifth Wheel St.

Enjoy the forum.

Jim M
 

Silverado23

Iowa Chapter Leaders
After towing my NT 31BDSS with a 2003 1/2 ton extended cab Chevy for three years, I finally upgraded to a 3/4 ton crew cab. As far as your ford goes, You can probably do fine on flat runs but when it comes to the mountains you will probably want to upgrade to a 3/4. It all depends on how far, and how often you tow. You'll probably prefer the 3/4 ton truck.
The few issues I had:
1. Between tongue weight and truck cargo was easy to max out the payload and potentially overload the truck.
2. I usually ran between 55 and 60 on flat runs, I could get it up to 65 but usually the combination did not ride as smooth, even with an equalizer hitch.
3. Tires had extra bounce in them when towing on rough roads so it could be pretty uncomfortable.

After upgrading, The three issues were no longer any problem
 

d_fergie

Well-known member
I've towed my 22FBS with both my '08 with the 4.6 V8 & my '14 with the 5.0, 5.0 does better on hills, 4.6 "feels better"...
 

estitham

Member
Thanks Silverado23. My concession trailer weighs 6900lbs loaded and a tongue weight of 1200lbs. I have a weigt dist hitch and I would not want to be any heavier. I wondered the difference of a heavier trailer with a lighter tongue weight. I need bunks so I may settle for the 24bhs until I upgrade. I haul to several fairs within an 80 mile radious from home. Not a lot of hills , but a few.
 

Silverado23

Iowa Chapter Leaders
Thanks Silverado23. My concession trailer weighs 6900lbs loaded and a tongue weight of 1200lbs. I have a weigt dist hitch and I would not want to be any heavier. I wondered the difference of a heavier trailer with a lighter tongue weight. I need bunks so I may settle for the 24bhs until I upgrade. I haul to several fairs within an 80 mile radious from home. Not a lot of hills , but a few.

My NT weighs about 7200lbs loaded with around 900lb tongue weight.

Your experience with the concession trailer would probably be similar to pulling an NT. The main difference would probably be length. I have found my NT tows really nicely but certainly was a load on the truck. My NT towed really nice compared to short trailers that were lighter weight. I towed my NT to around 300-400 mile trips on interstate but no mountains. It did ok but the bigger (3/4 ton) truck makes it much easier to tow. I still use my equal-I-zer hitch as I already had it and I would buy an equal-I-zer hitch again for any travel trailer/truck combination. The equal-I-zer seems to make the travel trailer tow nearly as well as a 5th wheel trailer. It adds anti-sway and load leveling for a decent price.
 

mbopp

Well-known member
As soon as I see "1/2-ton" and "Supercrew" I worry. If it has a 7200# or 7350# GVW you'll exceed the GVW rating before the tow rating if you load it up with 2 adults, kids, dog ect.
 

Shortest Straw

Caught In A Mosh
I would be concerned as well. I pulled my trailer with my dads 2014 ecoboost f150 and it was not a comfy experience at all. Wind and semi's passing us had us all over the place. I understand getting a trailer that is perfect but you will be risking your families safety if you try and keep your current TV IMO.
 

bcochran

Member
We got our 33BKSS two weeks ago and love it so far! Pulled it for the first time this weekend with no problems at all with our 2014 Chevy Silverado 4x4, which has a 5.3L V8 and the 3.42 Rear Axle.
 
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