towing 10,000 lbs with a water load -- doable?

[toby_d]

Hi All,

I need to get water trucked in for our house and garden, which is not super cheap, and more importantly it's difficult to get someone to do it. So I'm considering buying a 10k trailer, putting a 1,000 gallon tank on it, and hauling it myself.

The basic math says I can get a 10k trailer, tank, and a little less than 1000 gallons and hit the 10,000 lb towing limit (ER Lariat with tow package). (And I am prepared for terrible range but it's only about a 20 mile round trip.)

I've read a few threads about how well these trucks tow 10k (seemingly effortlessly), but I'm thinking having a load of water sloshing around might make things just that much hairier.

Anyone have experience or wisdom to share?

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[TaxmanHog]

No experience with the scenario, but make sure the tank is positioned at / near the trailer axles and properly & securely strapped to the trailer, it should be fine.

 

[stgrace]

Im interested to read the replies. My only advice would be to possibly fill the tank completely full to reduce the sloshing

 

[RickLightning]

There are many factors affecting towing. Most important is the PAYLOAD. There there is the limit of the hitch itself.

My Lariat payload is 1,686. You can find yours on the yellow sticker on the doorjamb. A trailer should put 10 - 15% on the vehicle, ideally around 13%. You will need a weight distribution hitch for tongue weight over 500 pounds. Assuming 100 pounds for the wdh:

1,686 - 100 = 1,586. Now subtract the weight of everything you added to the truck after delivery (mats, spray-in liner, anything else). Let's assume 50 pounds (probably light). Now, subtract your weight, I'll assume 175. 1,586 - 50 - 175 = 1,361.

The max tongue weight for the hitch that came my Lariat with max tow, with a wdh, is 1,000 pounds. Sticker is printed on the hitch.

1,000 - 100 for the wdh = 900. 900/.1 = 9,000 pounds. A more likely 13% would be 6,923 pound max load. If you end up at 15%, that's 6,000 pounds.

A gallon of water weighs 8.34 pounds. Assuming no weight for the tank or trailer, 1,000 gallons would be 8,340 pounds. So now, you can't do what you want.

You can play with trailer weights, tank weights and sizes, and then the weight of the water filled up, and see what might work. I suspect it will be 500 gallons, not 750.

 

[xwing]

You can control how much water you put in the tank. I did not weigh my trailer, but I guestimate I was pulling 7-8K My trailer weighs almost 4k. I pulls fantastic. In some ways better than my 6.7 diesel, since there is no transmission shifting. This hitch was the perfect level for my trailer and rated for more than I needed. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004QEKGPU?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_3

 

[RickLightning]

You can control how much water you put in the tank. I did not weigh my trailer, but I guestimate I was pulling 7-8K My trailer weighs almost 4k. I pulls fantastic. In some ways better than my 6.7 diesel, since there is no transmission shifting. This hitch was the perfect level for my trailer and rated for more than I needed. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004QEKGPU?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_3

So you were towing 11 - 12,000 pounds, which puts that over the towing capacity, as well as your receiver's capacity for the tongue weight of the trailer.

Just because it can be towed, doesn't mean it should be towed.

 

[xwing]

So you were towing 11 - 12,000 pounds, which puts that over the towing capacity, as well as your receiver's capacity for the tongue weight of the trailer.

Just because it can be towed, doesn't mean it should be towed.

I would not tow it cross country, but for 20 miles on good roads. No problem. If Ford says it can tow 10k, 10% over is not going to break it.

 

[chl]

Others have done the weight calculations above. I just want to add this word of caution...

"Sloshing" can be a big issue with carrying any liquids, plenty of inexperienced tanker truck driver have accidents - it is a potentially shifting load and when partially full most definitely a shifting load!

Slow acceleration and deceleration, going slowly around curves, etc. are very important.

If the tank is full less of or no problems.

Probably need to read up on that if you try to do it...there is a reason it is hard to get someone to do it, after all.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Tow capacities of consumer vehicles are calculated and tested assuming static loads. Water is not a static load unless its container is completely full. The worst situation would be to tow a half-full container.

Instead of a 1000 gallon tank, which would be more than your towing capacity if towed full (8300 pounds water + 200-500 pounds tank + trailer that weighs at least 2300 to 4000 pounds), I would get two 400 gallon or smaller tanks (6,640 pounds water + 200-500 pounds tank), put them on a 10k GVWR trailer (usually about 7500 pound load capacity) and fill them completely.

If you tow a tank that’s half full, you could experience surging that goes well beyond your truck’s braking capacity. And it’s most likely to happen when you need to brake suddenly because of some other emergency on the road.

If you want only one tank and you want to tow it partially-full, get one with internal baffles to reduce the surging.

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