We are buying a Keystone Cougar 32SAB with a ship weight of 7,248 and hitch of 745 = 7,993

We are looking at a 2005 Excursion, 6.8L V10 with a GCWR of 17,000. Adding the TT/hitch and the Excursion = 15,334. We'll have about 1,000 lbs. (including driver and passenger) to add to the set up = 16,400 (+/-)

It shows a max tow of 9,600 with the 3.73 axle.

Will this vehicle be sufficient? A properly equipped F150 has a towing capacity of 9,500 lbs. Would that be a consideration for this TT?

I would appreciate your insight. Thanks so much.

 

Tackle this problem first... 500 each is crazy, or is it 850 and 150... either way the truck should be fine but there are some AMAZING guys here that know more about towing than I could ever know so I will leave you with this: Hellwig Sway Bar and RAS.

 

Thanks, I meant 1,000 for driver, passenger and stuff. We're both under 130 lbs. Yes, I plan to use a WDH and sway bar as well.

 

Hi Lori, I see that you have been asking about a few different truck and trailer combos here, I hope we can help to clear up a few things for you.
First off forget all of the "Dry weight', "shipping weight" and "dry tongue weight" listings provided by the trailer makers and dealers, they are PURE FANTASY and do not reflect any real world weights. All of your calculations about what trucks can tow what trailers must be based on max GVW of the trailer and for travel trailers the tongue weight should be AT LEAST 10% as a MINIMUM and closer to 13 to 15% for best performance and less chance of weight balance influenced sway. So lets look at your numbers again, you are adding shipping weight and dry tongue weight to arrive at a total trailer weight, that is incorrect. According to the Keystone website the "shipping weight" is 7248lbs with a "cargo carrying capacity" of 1752lbs, these two get added together to find a total GVW of 9000lbs. Remember that that shipping weight does not include a battery or propane bottles and any other dealer installed options, that weight comes off of the cargo carrying capacity as will all of your belongings/food/clothes/beer that you will pack in it. The "Dry tongue weight or shipping tongue weight" is a joke, those propane tanks and battery sit on the tongue and so will part of the cargo weight, you would NEVER see 745lbs on the tongue. Going back to the 10% to 15% TW rule you are looking at 900lbs to 1350lbs of loaded for a trip tongue weight on your 9000lb camper. These are the real world numbers that should be used when setting up a truck and hitch for towing.
An Excursion can be setup to handle a trailer of that size and weight but it will take a little bit of work, some new/used parts and a really good WD hitch with built-in sway control/elimination. I pull a 41' 11k Jayco Eagle Premier 338RETS with our EX, to make this a safe and comfortable combo I swapped in front and rear springs from an F-350, deeper ratio gears in the differentials and Hensley Arrow sway elimination WD hitch. I also installed headers and a tuner for a little extra towing performance. For my situation this was a total of about $3300 and it transformed my EX from being barely able to control a 9500lb toyhauler to the very stable well behaved comfortable tow rig that it now is with the longer and heavier trailer we now have. Expect to spend a little more as I did get a few smoking deals when building my EX.
For a 36' long trailer like you listed I would strongly recommend looking at a Pro-Pride or Hensley Arrow WD hitch, they are the best available. This is important with the EX's relatively short wheelbase and a long tall trailer like that 32SAB. They do cost more but good deals can be found on used units, they work just as well as new ones, I bought my HA for $650 used, a huge savings!

 

You will want to use a high quality WD hitch with built-in sway control and a rear sway bar (rear axle anti-roll bar), the sway bar goes on the rear axle of the EX and not one of those cheap little friction sway bar do-hickies that attach between the WD hitch and trailer frame. Your selected trailer is way past the length and weight for one of those friction bars (or even 2 of them) to control a sway event.

 

Thanks WE3ZS, your post was very helpful and I'll go back to the drawing board and work up the numbers.

If we can't find an EX to suit the Cougar, we may have to go with an F250 6.8L V10 which will handle it too.

Thanks for taking the time to enlighten me!

 

Feel free to ask any other question you may come across in your research, there is nothing that will ruin an RV adventure more than finding out that a combo just doesn't work well together. Like I said, the Ex can be a great tow rig with a little help!

 

Alright guys, Tom has been extremely active in all the suspension and towing threads giving expert advice and he needs to be shown a lot of love....rep love!

I tried to hit him but I'm always getting the "spread the love" message so all y'all need to click the rep icon and smash him with reps.

Stewart

 

Nice work Makes me want to go tow something...

 

Reps sent

 

Ditto!

WOOOOO!!

 

Apocalypse already said this but I'd get a rear anti sway bar such as the Hellwig installed if the Excursion doesn't already have it. (Tom has it on his setup as well)

The nice thing about the Excursion is that it weighs so ******* much that it can handle a decent trailer despite it's somewhat short wheelbase (its the longest wheelbase you'll get in a production SUV). Even if you do none of the other items mentioned here the Weight Distributing Hitch should be the absolute first thing you buy, regardless of vehicle.

Also, assume anything the RV dealer and salesperson has said about what it weighs and tow vehicles as complete lies (I see people leaving the stealership with your trailer attached to a ~05 F-150 and cringe. The Excursion is a great vehicle for most lightweight travel trailers - it's just really, really important to have the right setup.

 

That 2005 limited may already have the rear stocker.

 

The shipping weight includes the hitch weight. the hitch weight is just listed for dry towing purposes. I`m towing a 7100lb dry 32foot long TT with an 02 V-10 X with 4.30 gears. loaded, my TT is 9200lbs with a GCWR of 17,500 lbs. I towed it a couple of times with the 3.73`s and it was a dog. when I swapped to the 4.30`s it was a night and day difference in towing performance!


And then you have the issues of the stock suspension in the X. it needs to be modded with either SD springs or some type of add on spring or air bag along with a rear sway bar. lots of things need to be considered when towing heavy with the X.


Gotta go right now, but I`ll have more info later!

 

Tom, I don't mean to hi-jack this thread but wanted to ask about your Hensley setup. What is the amount of drop you are using on your hitch? Do you know the actual hitch height you are working with?

I'm looking for used Hensley or Pro-Pride for our camper and our ride height looks pretty close.