half ton F-150 and a Momentum 25G, am i kidding myself

i love this question because you already have the numbers, you just have to add them up. this is close to what i do for a living.

start from the payload sticker, 1,867. that is the truck with nothing in it, a full tank, and a 150 pound driver already counted. now subtract. you and the wife and the dog, call it 350 over the driver allowance. a weight distribution hitch for a 25G, 100 pounds. then the tongue with the rig loaded.

that last one is the whole question. 1,040 empty is the brochure. a 25G with a Ranger in the garage, 30 gallons of water forward, propane, the generator up front, and your gear, you are looking at 1,300 to 1,450 on the tongue. it goes up more than people expect because the garage is behind the axles but the tanks and the generator are in front of them.

so 1,867 minus 350 minus 100 minus 1,400 is 17 pounds. you are at the line. not over, at it. and that is before the cooler and the firewood in the bed. it will pull it. every stop from 65 on US-77 with a 31 foot rig behind a half ton is what you are actually buying.

put the empty truck on a scale first, you may find your real payload is 100 pounds under the sticker once the tonneau and the bed mat are on it. catscale.com has the locator, there is one at a truck stop in Robstown.

what he said, and the part people skip: the rear axle rating on that truck. max tow F-150 is around 4,050 on the rear axle. with 1,400 on the ball plus the hitch plus whatever is in the bed you are close there too. it is not whether it can, it is what happens when a norther hits you crosswise on the causeway at Portland and you have 17 pounds of margin.

if you want a bumper pull hauler on a half ton, the 21G is the one. four feet shorter, about 6,300 dry, the Ranger still fits if it is the two seat. or keep the 25G on the list and start looking at a 3/4 ton. every year we get a few of these in the shop with a bent receiver or a tired rear spring pack and the story is always the same truck.

i ran a 21G behind a 2019 F-150 for two years before the 397 and it was fine. loaded tongue around 900 with a RZR 900 in it. the thing i would tell you is that the garage on the 21G is a hair over 10 feet. a two seat Ranger 1000 is 10 feet on the nose and it fits with the ramp door up and the front tires against the wall. a crew is 12 and a half feet and it does not. measure your machine before you fall in love with the floorplan.

good thread. for the record i pulled a 25G with a half ton for one season in 2014 and traded for a 3/4 ton the next spring, so i am not going to pretend. coastal, if you end up at a scale with the 21G loaded post the ticket here, a real ticket is worth more than a hundred opinions.