Looking to Learn the Ropes

[sonofadoc]

Hi all,

I have pulled a lot of horse and stock trailers in my life, but now I'm trying to make things work with an Ford F-150 with a maximum towing capacity of 5000 lbs. or 7600 lbs. with a weight distribution hitch but a GCWR of 12,800. If I put a thousand pounds in my truck ( 1/8 cord of wood 2 passengers) and 1450 (liquids, generator, kitchen stuff, clothes) in the Ollie II that puts me right at 12,800. Do I want to work my 2.7ltr twin turbo Eco-boost 325 horsepower that hard? I'm not too worried about that monster 10 speed transmission with 400 lbs psi of torque. But should I be? I'd appreciate any advice or insight you might have for a guy planning to retire and live in a trailer the rest of his life, not necessarily traveling all the time, but want to be able to hitch up and go at the drop of a hat.

[John E Davies]

Welcome to the forums, there are a bunch of folks pulling with the 3.5 EB, not so many with the smaller boosted engine. Which trailer are you considering? That setup would be dandy for the LE1 but you will quickly run into payload limitations with the larger trailer. Typical tongue weight for that is about 650 pounds plus or minus 100, depending on how heavily you load the tongue and / or the rear….. Mine is unusually low at 480. These LE2s can safely handle reduced tongue weights, though some traditionalists will argue the point.. Add another 50 pounds for an Andersen hitch, the only one that will work. (It is not needed with a Hd truck.)

For a forever setup pulling an LE2, I think you would probably be lots better off trading up to a Super Duty to get way more payload, if you don’t want a diesel, the 7.3 gas pushrod motor would be wonderfully torquey and very low maintenance. With a HD truck you won’t need to buy the Andersen, nor constantly fuss with it. At times it can be a big pain in the posterior, it is definitely not “go at the drop of a hat” simple….

I am not a Ford guy, I am just repeating stuff,  but you definitely need more payload in the truck if you are going to be full timing with two people and all their “stuff”. Of all the LE2 owners who switched from a light to heavy duty truck, I cannot recall a single one that regretted the decision.

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

 

[Mike and Carol]

Welcome to the group.  I agree with JD, your truck sounds like you would constantly be at its capability limits.  You might get by on level terrain but hills or mountains would probably prove too much.  As someone who upgraded from a Tacoma to a 1500 to a 2500 over the last 6 years there is no comparison.  I would recommend a bit more truck, there are lots of Ollie II owners pulling with the 3.5 version of the F150 with increased weight capacities.  Mike

[sonofadoc]

Yeah, sounds right. No doubt about it. Thanks for taking the time to clue me in. Really appreciate it.

[SeaDawg]

You could certainly tow it, since you're within limits with an Anderson wdh.

The question is, will it be fun, and comfortable? Likely not in the mountains,  or higher winds in the plains. 

[sonofadoc]

Nope, something John said stuck with me. That is, that WDH will end up being a pain. That rules out even the Ollie LE for me. I could only add 400 lbs of payload to the truck and about 900 lbs to the trailer comfortably. That puts my GVW right around 6000 lbs. and I'm rated at 6500 lbs. Thanks again for your help.

[Mike and Carol]

The Andersen is a little more work when hitching and unhitching, I wouldn’t call it a pain.  It’s a WDH, so it requires some effort to use.  Just part of the process!  Mike

[topgun2]

Certainly the Andersen WDH is no worse, and, in my experience with other WDH, it is actually better than anything else on the market.  This applies to both how it functions and how it is to use.

Yes, there are those times - less than 5% - where it always seems to be raining or dark or I'm in a rush - where the entire process of hitching up is a "pain".  But as an every day "chore" the Andersen is no big deal.  And, it does help reduce porpoiseing while other WDH actually increase it.

Bill

[John E Davies]

Having gone from a 1 ton crew cab short bed pickup, dead weight ball setup, to a half ton short wheel base body on frame SUV…. In comparison the Andersen is a pain. NO doubt in my mind. The pickup rarely had problems with porpoising, not often enough or severe enough to be bothersome. Only on truly horrendous choppy highways. The only way to make an Andersen ready to go at the drop of a hat is to never disconnect it, which is what I try to do. (Careful campsite choice helps, find a spot that is dead level or slopes a little to the back, and it isn’t hard, but you have to be lucky.) It is a beautiful bit of engineering, and is mostly functional, but it does not contribute to my mental well being. I would be interested to hear more comments from those who went the other direction, after ditching the Andersen….. maybe it is time for a poll.

OTH, as I grow older I have less and less tolerance for hardware that does not function seamlessly with me. 😳 Does that mean I am becoming a grumpy old man? Or just a realist? I look back at a long trip and the happier times are when I can stay hitched for three or more nights in a row.😀

John Davies

Spokane WA

[topgun2]

Certainly, there is no question when one wishes to compare towing without a weight distribution hitch or towing with one, towing without will almost always win.  Why would one wish to add ANY work to what they already have to do without some reason.  For many, that reason is that they wish to have the added security and/or functionality of a WDH or they are required to use one for "legal" or warranty issues.

Indeed, I too rarely have problems with porpoising.  Mostly this occurs on Interstates with construction or those wonderful bridge abutments.  But, when things really start to bounce, the Andersen dampens this while other WDH (that I'm familiar with like the Equalizer) actually amplify it.  Would this alone be sufficient reason to purchase and use the Andersen WDH? - I think not.  But, I suspect that this is not the reason most of us use the Andersen to start with.

Bill