Towing Capacity Question???

[crysann]

I've been missing for a while, which I guess is a good thing, it means Big Red has been behaving herself .
Anyway, I took in 3 foster horses from hurricane Ike and the horses came with a trailer. It's a 3 horse slant with a tack room. The tounge weight is 1875 lbs. total trailer weight is 12500lbs. I have a ranch hand bumper and for the life of me I can't remember what it's capacity is.
So, am i pushing my luck to pull that trailer with 3 or 4 horses in it? I really think I am but my husband said she can handle it. (really worried I'll break it)
And to recap on my truck its a 1996 C-150, E-4OD tranny, 351, 5.8 liter, stock suspension.
Thanks for all the help in advance

 

[crysann]

sorry its actually a 4 horse slant with a tack room (had a blonde moment)

 

[Skandocious]

Yes ma'am I think you'd really be pushing your luck with that. My brother has a Reunel bumper (one of the more heavy duty bumpers you can buy, retail = $1000+) and his capacity is 10k. I can't imagine you can get much more than 10k off of a bumper hitch.

The other problem is that your truck is only rated for 7200lbs. 12,500 is a LOT of weight for a half ton, and your transmission will probably be the first thing to go. Is it a factory cooling system on the trans or have you installed bigger coolers or other accessories? Do you have a trans temp gauge?

How far do you need to pull this trailer?

 

[crysann]

Hi skan,
Don't NEED to pull it, it would just be nice to make one trip with 4 horses then 2 trips with 2 horses. And Nope don't have the temp gauge. I've tried to keep my truck as close to stock as possible, so i haven't added anything special to her. She's all stock, if you'll give me a sec i'll recheck the weight info on the tounge of the trailer just to make sure I'm right i was going off memory a minute ago...

 

[crysann]

Ok it says "gross trailer weight #12,500, Max vertical tounge weight #1875"

 

[Skandocious]

Well almost 100% of the time, the rated tongue weight for a hitch is 10% of the rated towing weight. So assuming it is a 10,000 lb tow rating, it would be a 1000 lb tongue rating. Looking at the Ranch Hand website, they've got the tow capacities listed for all the models. Can you choose yours out of the lineup?

http://www.ranchhand.com/BackBumpers.aspx

 

[crysann]

I have the "cowboy back bumper"

 

[Skandocious]

K I looked it up for the 95 F150:

http://www.ranchhand.com/products.a...d&model=F-150 Pick-up&description=Back Bumper

It's only 5000 tow and 500 tongue. I would NOT recommend towing this trailer with that bumper-- you're well over double the rated capacity, not to mention 4000+ lbs over your trucks rated capacity too.

It won't be safe for you and other drivers on account of the hitch not being the right rating, and it won't be safe for your truck (namely the transmission and drivetrain) on account of the fact that your truck is only rated for 7200lbs.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news

 

[crysann]

You're not the bearer of bad news! My hubby and I have been locking horns over it for the past week, you just made me the on that was right. . So thank you, he was bound and determined he was going to put that trailer on my truck and I told him no, we live on the top of a mountain, I just can't see how Red would be able to pull all that weight up a 45 degree angle hill and not get broken. Besides, she's not a spring Chicken anymore and if you stress something that's old it WILL break. I'll stick to my 2 horse trailer with it's 800lbs tounge weight and that will make me a happy camper.
Once again thanks I appreciate it.

 

[conanski]

Good call.. that load is strictly 1-ton diesel territory! 4 horses in that trailer would make the tail much heavier than the dog, and that's means you would have no control.

 

[CaFordDude]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news

Big surprise...Chris the resident wet blanket has dashed someone's hopes and dreams yet again...

















Just kiddin Skan. Nice researching and info.