After 6 yrs Full Time-I sold a 43' Allegro Bus and purchased a 2010 F250 with cap and a 30' Excella (transferred as much stuff from Bus to F250 as I could) and towed from Portland OR to Tallahassee Fl ,along the way had it weighted at 10060 lbs. bought a house No problem towing. Cost too much to run diesel so I bought a 2010 F150 Lariat V8 5.4/330 6 speed Electronic Auto Trans w/ Tow & Haul Mode. I am gutting the interior to reduce the weight. I have towed the Excella only 7 miles with the F150 (without engaging the tow mode... Duh!) and wasn't comfortable with the breaking. The interior is apart and I don't want to test tow it (it is in a hard place to get in and out of). I will tow the Excella east of the rockies.
So the question is: Do you think it is safe to tow with the F150? Is it a good match?
I tow my 30' '02 Classic w/ slide with my '10 F 150 set up the same as yours. We pull from SW Iowa to FL every season. My trailer weighs about 8500 lbs, empty. Hitch is about 850 lbs. We use an Equalizer 10,000 / 1,000 WD hitch. We have no problems. We don't need to be first over the hill or have the best mileage. I don't have any problems with the braking ability of the truck or trailer. I feel it is a good match and think yours will be, too.
I tow our 34' with an '09 F150 with the same setup. We have a ProPride hitch on it, an I have towed all over East of the Mississippi. That includes the Smokies with some 12% grades thrown in for good measure. I have not regrets with out setup.
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Craig and Carol
1997 34' Excella 1000
1970 27' Overlander, International
2009 Ford F150 5.4L
ProPride hitch with 1400# bars
AIR 41028
TAC GA-8
WBCCI 10199
Past President Southeastern Camping Unit (12)
Re the electric breaks... they worked fine coming cross country. I'm am now sure that the problem was my not engaging the tow/haul switch on the F150.
Well, maybe.
The new TV's brake controller will need to be calibrated to get the trailer brakes to work correctly. If it's set to max voltage and you can't get the trailer brakes to almost lock up when you apply them manually with the controller at low speed, the brakes may just need adjusting, or you may be ready for a brake job on the trailer. Or maybe the controller isn't working properly.
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Like the tortoise, travelin' slow with the house on our back
2012 FC27FB "Ted Zeppelin"
2010 Tundra Crewmax Platinum "Silver Rhino"
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