maryamore said:
Hello. I think this web-site is really cool. I've been looking at the Towing Forum and couldn't find the answer to my question. We are seriously considering buying the T-3075 to haul our 800 lb. Gold Wing Motorcycle. We have a 2002 F250, 4X4, Extended Cab, Automatic Trans., 5.4L, V8, Gas, 3.73 Axle, 7300lb. max towing cap. truck (with tow pkg.). Does anyone have any suggestions for how we can make sure that we can safely tow the 3075 with our F250? Thank you, Mary
Hi Mary.
Welcome to the club.
Wrt to your question if your F-250 is sufficient to tow the T-3075.
In my opinion, I don’t think the F-250 is enough truck to safely tow the loaded T-3075.
I based my opinion on the following weight estimates.
T-3075 UVW – 5855 lbs
Note that the UVW typically does not include any factory or after market options added to the trailer. So if the T-3075 has any factory or after market options, you need to add the weight for them.
To do an analysis you need to know or estimate the loaded weight of both the T-3075 and your F-250. But to do some preliminary analysis we can estimate the load weights.
For the T-3075
UVW = 5855 lbs
Add weight:
Gold Wing Motorcycle = 800 lbs
Full LP Tanks = 60 lbs
Water @ 8 lbs/gal (fresh (10gal), HW Tank (6gal), Blank & Gray tanks (1 gal)) = 136 lbs
Personal Food & Cargo = 600 lbs
Factory or After Market Options = 200 lbs
(Note, if there are no factory or after market options - your personal food & cargo could easily = 800 lbs)
So my guess would be that the T-3075 loaded weight would be around 7651 lbs.
This is already over the towing limit of 7300 lbs of your F-250.
Plus you have to remember that the towing limit as reported by truck manufacturers only includes the weight of the driver in the truck. It does not include passengers or cargo in the truck. Therefore to get a more accurate towing limit of your F-250 you need to subtract the weight of cargo and passengers that will be in the truck when towing.
So let’s estimate that the weight of passengers and cargo in the truck will be 500 lbs.
Then a more accurate towing limit of your F-250 would be closer to 6800 lbs. Which is way under our estimated loaded weight of the T-3075 (estimated at 7651 lbs above).
Even without the bike in the back the estimated loaded T-3075 is still over the estimated towing limit of the F-250 (i.e., 7651 – 800 = 6851 vs estimated towing limit of 6800 lbs)
Now these are just my estimates. You can change the estimates based on what you think are more applicable to you. But in my opinion the weights are too close.
Therefore, based on these basic estimates I would say that your F-250 isn’t enough truck to safely tow the T-3075.
The 80% buffer Jon mentioned is typically used to make sure you have enough power to handle towing through hills and higher elevations.
To get a sufficient buffer, I would think that a tow vehicle with a minimum towing limit of 10,000 lbs would be a better fit for the T-3075.
To do a full and complete weight analysis, these are some of the calculations to look at and consider:
Loaded Truck Weight + Loaded Trailer Weight < Truck’s GCWR
Loaded Trailer Weight < Trailer’s GVWR
Loaded Truck Weight + Loaded Trailer Tongue Weight < Truck’s GVWR
Loaded weight on Truck’s Rear Axel < Truck’s GRAWR
The most accurate way to perform the weight calculation is to have the loaded truck and trailer, weighed at a certified scale. However, estimates can provide some very useful insights to matching the correct tow vehicle and trailer together.
maryamore said:
We also discussed that, depending on what happens when we start towing it, we may be in the market for a diesel truck in the near future.
Now, if you go with a diesel truck, there would be no problem.
Here’s a link to a
post that may provide a little more descriptions on weight calculations. It provides information on when we had our trailer and tow vehicle weighed at a scale and compared the weights against the manufacturer's weight ratings.
maryamore said:
Wouldn't the bike in the back decrease the tongue weight though?
Yes the bike in the back would off-set the tongue weight some. However, you still want to try to keep the tongue weight between 12 - 15% of the overall loaded weight of the trailer. This improves towing.
Other impacts to tongue weight is cargo loading (i.e., fore and aft of trailer's axles) and where HW Tank, Fresh Water Tank, etc. are located wrt trailer's axles.
Hope this helps some.
Hutch
. The 3075 weighs 5855 dry, so that would be a nice combo. However, add in the camping gear, and of course the cycle, and you'll be way over the capacity of your truck. 
