Tow capacity of a 2020

[Cybot]

Because of the electric parking brake.

Ok, since most of the braking is done on the front brakes do I need the rear?

 

[dfw62]

My understanding is that our Raptors have the same brakes as the standard F150 which has much higher payload and towing ratings so not really seeing why they need to be upgraded for towing. From what I can find quickly I don't see any upgraded brakes listed for any of the tow packages on the F150 (those that may know better please correct if wrong) so seems the stock Raptor brakes should be fine. Plus, any RV you get in the sizes it sounds like you are considering will have it's own brakes and you can adjust their stopping power with the gain setting on the Raptor's brake controller. If there are optional brake upgrades for the RV you like they may be worth pursuing.

IMO, it's the soft rear suspension that is the concern that needs to be addressed. Trailer sway is your biggest concern with a large RV and a softly sprung tow vehicle.

With a large RV you can expect to exceed the rear axle rating and I'm not sure what the limiting factor is for this rating. If it's the soft suspension then maybe the suspension upgrades you are considering will provide you the stability you need. If it's the axle itself I'd be concerned. It could also be the tires but I could not find an inflation/load table to determine if this could be the case. Regardless, you'll probably want to tow with more psi than the door jamb recommended psi. Anyone have the inflation/load table for our BFG's? If you're running different tires you'll want to verify they can handle the loads you expect. Assuming the tires you have are load range C you may want to consider getting some with load range E as the stiffer sidewall will be noticeably less flexy when towing.

 

[Cybot]

My understanding is that our Raptors have the same brakes as the standard F150 which has much higher payload and towing ratings so not really seeing why they need to be upgraded for towing. From what I can find quickly I don't see any upgraded brakes listed for any of the tow packages on the F150 (those that may know better please correct if wrong) so seems the stock Raptor brakes should be fine. Plus, any RV you get in the sizes it sounds like you are considering will have it's own brakes and you can adjust their stopping power with the gain setting on the Raptor's brake controller. If there are optional brake upgrades for the RV you like they may be worth pursuing.

IMO, it's the soft rear suspension that is the concern that needs to be addressed. Trailer sway is your biggest concern with a large RV and a softly sprung tow vehicle.

With a large RV you can expect to exceed the rear axle rating and I'm not sure what the limiting factor is for this rating. If it's the soft suspension then maybe the suspension upgrades you are considering will provide you the stability you need. If it's the axle itself I'd be concerned. It could also be the tires but I could not find an inflation/load table to determine if this could be the case. Regardless, you'll probably want to tow with more psi than the door jamb recommended psi. Anyone have the inflation/load table for our BFG's? If you're running different tires you'll want to verify they can handle the loads you expect. Assuming the tires you have are load range C you may want to consider getting some with load range E as the stiffer sidewall will be noticeably less flexy when towing.

Very interesting, thanks for the write up.

So what about this bump stop thing? It seems that's would only be useful for off road and maybe baja. Anybody have an opinion on that?

Also besides the arrow dynamics and the added surface area that will catch more wind. Is there anything else I should be worried about when it comes to length of the trailer.

 

[dfw62]

Also besides the arrow dynamics and the added surface area that will catch more wind. Is there anything else I should be worried about when it comes to length of the trailer.

As you look at RV's keep in mind that one with dual axles will track better than one with a single axle. In addition to length consider height as a taller trailer will have more side surface area than a shorter trailer of the same length. Plus a higher trailer center of gravity can make it more prone to sway.

Most RV's are 8' wide which will require some sort of mirror extension to see down the side of the trailer. Some are wider up to 8.5' and some like my Winnebago Micro Minnie are narrower at 7'. One thing I really like about my 7' wide trailer is that I can see down it's entire length with my stock mirrors. However, there is a trade off as it has less interior space.

 

[Badgertits]

Lots of opinions here…I saw a guy in a ChevyS-10 come into my scrap yard w/ cast iron rotors & drums filling that bed to the brim & spilling, then he- along w/ his friend, proceeded to unload the entire contents into our pile & scale out- net weight of the load on that poor beat down S10 was 2580 lbs!!!!!!!!!!! More impressive than the weight in the bed was the fact that 2 highly motivated ****/crack heads were able to offload it BY HAND in less than 1 hr. Seriously unfathomable, I dunno if one of the equipment operators helped out by sweeping some off w/ a grapple….but still- crazy!

Now I’m for sure not recommending for that, but….the Raptor can/could/will tow & haul whatever weight anyone would be willing to max out ANY F150, 10-12k lbs, sure, do it enough times & you’ll be busting springs, shocks, ball joints, tie rods, bump stops, etc etc etc - BUT it’s plenty capable of it in terms of braking & the engine/tranny power & durability.

All that being said….we all know there’s a wide margin of discussion between what you CAN do & what you “SHOULD” be doing

 

[Cybot]

Lots of opinions here…I saw a guy in a ChevyS-10 come into my scrap yard w/ cast iron rotors & drums filling that bed to the brim & spilling, then he- along w/ his friend, proceeded to unload the entire contents into our pile & scale out- net weight of the load on that poor beat down S10 was 2580 lbs!!!!!!!!!!! More impressive than the weight in the bed was the fact that 2 highly motivated ****/crack heads were able to offload it BY HAND in less than 1 hr. Seriously unfathomable, I dunno if one of the equipment operators helped out by sweeping some off w/ a grapple….but still- crazy!

Now I’m for sure not recommending for that, but….the Raptor can/could/will tow & haul whatever weight anyone would be willing to max out ANY F150, 10-12k lbs, sure, do it enough times & you’ll be busting springs, shocks, ball joints, tie rods, bump stops, etc etc etc - BUT it’s plenty capable of it in terms of braking & the engine/tranny power & durability.

All that being said….we all know there’s a wide margin of discussion between what you CAN do & what you “SHOULD” be doing

LOL, well the only thing I'm worried about in the "should be doing" category is hurting other people. So that's mainly the reason I'm willing to pay the extra money for the uprades to carry a trailer. If I wouldn't be doing that then I'd like you all and do it for off road performance. I'm greedy, I want both (but I know that I'll degrade the performance to add some stability I'm just looking for that sweet spot in between both), I Want be able to carry the trailer that I will be calling my dwelling for a few years, but still be able to have some fun in the truck (and I'm smart enough to know the difference between a pipe dream of towing a huge trailer and carrying something that I'd be happy and comfortable with) until I find the perfect spot that I want to live. Then build my dream house and backyard play ground with a pool, bar, outside and inside chef kitchen, outside and inside theaters, you know the bare necessities.

 

[ayoustin]

Look carefully at the picture and read the attached link. I don’t know what was inside that trailer, or anything about the trucks payload capacity, but I bet the ACCIDENT is related to the trailer. Remember payload is directly related to the weight axles can support…..NOT what the trailer can carry. Magnify the rear axle and you will see the lugs have been completely sheared off and lugs are part of the axle. If the victim in this case was a member of your family and if the payload was over weight, how would you feel? As for the driver of the truck, most, if not all states, have laws in place when a person dies as a result of another person. Normally it falls under involuntary manslaughter. I occasionally go to Vegas to eat, drink and watch shows, I don’t gamble. Lastly, like Rex articulated, just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

Indiana driver killed when pickup truck wheel bounces through car windshield along I-70​

Wheel comes off pickup truck, bounces over Indianapolis interstate median, kills 2nd driver

Police say a wheel came off a pickup truck on an Indianapolis freeway, bounced over a median and crashed into the windshield of another vehicle, killing its driver.

www.wevv.com

Not disputing what should or shouldn't be done in regards to towing, but there is next to no information on that article. In nearly all cases I've seen of wheel studs shearing and the wheel separating from the vehicle it is *almost* always because the lug nuts weren't tight. Happens all the time when quick service places forget to tighten a customer's lug nuts. Unless that guy filled that small utility trailer to the roof with bricks and bags of concrete the failure was more likely due to negligence from either the owner or someone who worked on the vehicle.

 

[K9 EXPERT]

Not disputing what should or shouldn't be done in regards to towing, but there is next to no information on that article. In nearly all cases I've seen of wheel studs shearing and the wheel separating from the vehicle it is *almost* always because the lug nuts weren't tight. Happens all the time when quick service places forget to tighten a customer's lug nuts. Unless that guy filled that small utility trailer to the roof with bricks and bags of concrete the failure was more likely due to negligence from either the owner or someone who worked on the vehicle.

It’s been my experience as a 30 CHP Officer, the opposite is true. I’ve seen it more times than I can remember. Normally if lug nuts are loose enough they will become detached from the lug, which will cause the wheel to briefly violently wobble before the wheel totally breaks off. The lugs that remained on the axle resulted from the detached nuts and the lugs which stayed intact are sheared off because they still had nuts attached. If all the lugs are sheared it could be because they were over tightened or the vehicle was over loaded. There are other reasons that can cause all nuts to shear off the axle, but the two I mentioned are the most common reason.

 

[EricM]

800lb on the tongue will likely overload your rear axle unless you have a WDH.

I doubt it. Overload in what way exactly?

Again, you *can* tow 8000 lbs with a Raptor, you just can't do it with half of your belongings and family in the truck.

 

[ayoustin]

It’s been my experience as a 30 CHP Officer, the opposite is true. I’ve seen it more times than I can remember. Normally if lug nuts are loose enough they will become detached from the lug, which will cause the wheel to briefly violently wobble before the wheel totally breaks off. The lugs that remained on the axle resulted from the detached nuts and the lugs which stayed intact are sheared off because they still had nuts attached. If all the lugs are sheared it could be because they were over tightened or the vehicle was over loaded. There are other reasons that can cause all nuts to shear off the axle, but the two I mentioned are the most common reason.

As someone who's frequented racetracks for years I see this somewhat regularly. Overtight lug nuts can cause them to shear but not tight enough does too. Once the nuts loosen enough the studs are loaded in shear instead of tension, shear strength of steel is generally around half of its tensile strength, so once they are loaded hard enough in shear they shear off. Overloading an axle shouldn't ever shear wheel studs because the weight is carried by the center bore of the hub, not the wheel studs. The purpose of the studs and lug nuts is to retain the wheel to the axle and transmit force from the drivetrain, not carry load. In a vehicle that is properly maintained, if the axle is overloaded the axle itself will bend before a wheel falls off.

Towing guidelines and payload/GVWR rules should obviously be followed, but I wanted to stress the importance of proper vehicle maintenance and not scare people that if they find themselves in an overloaded towing situation that their wheels will fly off and kill someone.