Towing. COUGAR 31’

[Inshore97]

Looking for any advice , do you think the F150 can comfortable tow a keystone 31BHKWE trailer ?

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[MTNMN]

I wouldnt suggest it.

A quick search shows that has a dry weight of 7650LBS. Figure fully loaded with water and propane and gear youre hitting 10,000lbs

Lets say you use a WDH and get it to 10% tongue weight, youve chewed 1000 lbs of your payload without a family member in the truck yet.

Add some beer, family or friends, coolers and toys and youve hit you GVWR and exceeded payload.

Will the truck pull it? Of course..

Is it possible to get it configured in a way to make it legal. Yup!

Would it be the best truck for that trailer or leave much room for extra weight?? Nope.

 

[GolfR]

As with all things...it depends. Mostly on what your payload and options are on your specific truck. You are going to need max tow and as much payload as you can get. You will easily be over 1k of hitch weight with that trailer when it's loaded.

If you set it up right and stay within the numbers limit of your truck you should be safe so long as you keep speeds reasonable, load the trailer/truck right, setup your weight distro hitch, and stay out of high winds. Comfort is a whole other topic. If you aren't experienced with pulling a large RV it can be a nerve racking experience. With a trailer that large, you WILL be pulled around on the road with winds, passing trucks, and road surface conditions. Your comfort with those situations is a personal thing.

Personally, I wouldn't want to pull something that big with my PB King Ranch regularly. It would completely max out my truck. I have rented one that big to drive 1-2 hrs for a family camping weekend before with no issues.

 

[780]

I wouldnt suggest it.

A quick search shows that has a dry weight of 7650LBS. Figure fully loaded with water and propane and gear youre hitting 10,000lbs

Lets say you use a WDH and get it to 10% tongue weight, youve chewed 1000 lbs of your payload without a family member in the truck yet.

Add some beer, family or friends, coolers and toys and youve hit you GVWR and exceeded payload.

Will the truck pull it? Of course..

Is it possible to get it configured in a way to make it legal. Yup!

Would it be the best truck for that trailer or leave much room for extra weight?? Nope.

I would agree. If you are towing once or twice a year to a seasonal RV site an hour away on flat terrain you 'might' be okay. But, I wouldn't. Currently we are in a 21' - 3900 lb trailer. Possibly looking to upgrade. Max we are looking at is 26'. I'd really rather stay with 24' though...

Looking at these two:

Thinking that is the dry hitch weight listed. Not super happy with the numbers on this one.

https://starcraftrv.com/rvs/travel-trailers/2022-super-lite/261bh/

This one has better numbers. But smaller.....

https://starcraftrv.com/rvs/travel-trailers/2022-super-lite/241bh/

Overall weights are fairly close. But thinking a 26' would have more sway than a 24'.

It would help knowing more details about your F150. Which engine, 2WD or 4WD, Payload rating on the door, what axle ratio ratio, what size cab and box etc....

 

[minirx7]

Towing a 30' Jayco (full load 7000lbs) on my 21 Lariat 502.

With the family, bouncing of the payload limit but it is doable. No white knuckle driving though, but feel like i need more truck

 

[UGADawg96]

Looking for any advice , do you think the F150 can comfortable tow a keystone 31BHKWE trailer ?

Only if you're moving it around in a parking lot a few feet. If you want to actually use it, no way it will be "comfortable".

This thread may provide some you some additional insight:
https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/thr...nd-camper-you-would-pull-with-your-f150.8165/

 

[{tpc}]

So just taking a look, that is a 35 ft trailer, not 31 foot. You did not specify which f150, but I don't think I would even attempt with the short wheel base. You would need the longer wheelbase for stability with that length of trailer.

Even more, I would guess your looking at also bringing a family of more than 2 with you, since it is a bunkhouse. You will run out of payload on a f150 pretty easily, even if you don't tow with water.

I think you need to step up to a f-250 with 160" wheelbase at least. Of course now I see you have the 157" KR Powerboost already, but I have a feeling that is pretty maxed out in options, which is going to lower the payload even more. Plus your getting a cap? Less payload.

I pull a 31ft trailer with my truck, and I would not pull anything longer than that, but I have the short wheelbase. Its also just me and the wife in the truck (or just me a lot of times), and I don't tow with water, and I know my weights with gear in the trailer and they are well within capacity. My trailer is considerably lighter than that cougar model, and I think your going to end up in the 1100 lb tongue weight range, because most of your storage is in that pass through up front, and under your bed, also up front.

I know its a damn nice trailer, but I think your going to be over or at the very least maxing out the capacity of your truck.

Of course it will feel just fine pulling down the road, but when it gets windy, or you have a lot of big rigs passing by, could be a different story.

Have you considered the one of the passport or bullet bunkhouse models? They are really nice as well and they have some lighter weight versions that might make for a safer more comfortable pull.

 

[cghall77]

We have a Bullet 290bhs. Dry 6200lbs, tongue weight of 700lbs and 33ft in length. I wouldn't go anything bigger than this without upgrading to a superduty. I would have really liked the 6.7 diesel crewcab, but I can't get it to fit in the driveway. ? Limited to just the supercab that is not as family friendly.

 

[{tpc}]

We have a Bullet 290bhs. Dry 6200lbs, tongue weight of 700lbs and 33ft in length. I wouldn't go anything bigger than this without upgrading to a superduty. I would have really liked the 6.7 diesel crewcab, but I can't get it to fit in the driveway. ? Limited to just the supercab that is not as family friendly.

I was on the fence about the superduty myself. It may be the next truck after this one, but It just wouldn't fit in my garage the way I wanted it equipped. We may be done with camping in a couple years anyways, and I don't plan on moving up from my current trailer, so if we keep camping, I might make the upgrade...just to bring more stuff haha. I don't mind the driving unless on really long trips, but the setup and teardown....ugh.

I'd like to have a class A, then I think about the cost, maintenance, fuel prices....and it just sours from there. We looked at the cougars as well, but a lot of them around us had darker interiors that we didn't like. Current trailer is a salem (forest river product), but in my opinion keystone makes a better trailer. We started out with a passport bunkhouse, but the kids grew up lol.

 

[cghall77]

Our first trailer, 3 summers ago was a Rockwood Roo (forest river as well). I would say that was superior quality in comparison to the Keystone Bullet. Reason for the bullet purchase was the weight. The same floor plan on the Rockwood was about 1000lbs more. Setup time wasn't much of an issue for us, but the tear down on the hybrid was kind of a pain. With our current trailer, it is less that 30 minutes to fully setup or tear down and we don't have to worry about drying out the bunk ends when we get home especially since we have to store the unit elsewhere.

We looked at class A, but then the cost as you pointed out.

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