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Kalidas · 08-06-2015, 02:26 PM

Hello Everyone,
First off, I want to say that I am not a complete idiot.
My situation is that I am working in Northern Alberta, and my family, F150 pickup, and the 25'Serenity are all at home in Eastern Ontario.
So, what this means is that I have been trying to piece together all the information from less than ideal sources.
Things have been compounded by the fact that my Ford dealer isn't very good at returning phone calls regarding general questions. FINALLY got the answers that I have been looking for.
My Ford is a 3.5L Ecoboost, with a 3.55 axle.
So, I now know, 100% that I have enough truck to tow my trailer.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to everyone who has been trying to assist me in figuring this out. You are all so very helpful.
We are signing the papers for the trailer on Tuesday, and starting to get extremely excited.

Arcticfox · 08-06-2015, 02:33 PM

Glad to hear you have it figured out. We pull our 28' with an F150 eco-boost 3.5 and have not had any issues at all. I'm sure you won't either.

Good Luck

Cheers
Doug

Kalidas · 08-06-2015, 03:08 PM

Thanks Gord, we are really excited.

Oxen · 09-08-2015, 11:33 PM

BC Bruce, So, what configuration did you arrive at and what did you start at?

DC Bruce · 09-10-2015, 05:57 AM

So, I spent the better part of a year shopping for a TV. First priority was to find sufficient rated cargo capacity to carry the tongue weight me, my wife, my100 lb. dog and some "stuff." Using the mfr's. on-line configurator eliminated any Ram 1/2 ton crew cab, Toyota doesn't have an integrated trailer brake controller, so that left GM and Ford...and a 3/4 ton. We drove 3/4 tons (gas and diesel) from Ram and Chevy but my wife in particular found them just too massive. We drove a '14 F150 Lariat crew with the Ecoboost 3.5, which is rated at 1730 lbs. payload. Just could not get comfortable in the seats (and at 6'4" and 209 lbs., I'm not fat). Otherwise, would have worked for us. Drove new Ford aluminum truck, but sufficient payload in a crew not available (max payload package not being produced yet). Liked the GMC/Chev with the 6.2 but needed the max trailer tow package to get more than 1500 lbs payload in a crew. Did a national search with cars.com and found a '14 Chevy in Alabama with the right stuff but it sold before I could do a deal. Found a '15 GMC in Denver, which I bought. Got a $100 plane ticket, flew out and drove the truck home. 1960 lbs. payload crew cab SLT. Most of the bells and whistles, short box, no sunroof (which is fine with me). I paid about $5000 more for the '15 GMC than I would have spent for the '14 Chevy LTZ in Alabama, but I think it was worth it to get the 8-speed. Works fine towing my FC 27. Had an F150 with equivalent cargo capacity been available, it would probably have come down to price. The F150 has a more highly damped suspension than the Chevy/GMC, which I would have preferred. OTOH, as I said earlier I prefer the normally aspirated engine of the Chevy/GMC over the turbocharged Ford, but the Ford would have been more than satisfactory. Lots of folks pulling Airstreams, including 30-footers with the Ecoboost and seem to be happy. Our feeling was that a 1/2 ton would be a much better daily driver than a 3/4 ton. And, the thing is, if you go diesel in the 3/4 ton, you don't get that much more payload than I have because the engine is so much heavier; and the truck itself weighs 1000-1500 lbs. more. I know that for some that's a feature not a bug, but it definitely affects the way you stop and go, and you're burning fuel to haul that extra weight.

ROBERTSUNRUS · 09-10-2015, 06:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gene

The 2.7 sounds like a vanity truck suitable only for a daily driver and light duty as a pickup. It probably could tow a Bambi though. Maybe a turbo on each cylinder would be better for a medium duty pickup and that may be coming someday.

Gene

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonnyo

with 325hp and 375 lbs torque and a very lightweight truck, it will behave very similar to a tundra 5.7l and will do better at altitude. It does return amazing fuel economy when not towing but for towing purpose, it s definitely a capable vehicle. They are popular here in BC.

Bambi.... those are tow with car and small suv here in canada!!! different world i guess.

Hi, Gene; The new 2.7L Ecoboost should do well. It has 25 more horse power and 20 pounds more torque than my Lincoln 5.4L with half the size engine. My Lincoln did fine for ten years of towing. I still would have chose the 3.5L Ecoboost though.

graysailor · 09-10-2015, 10:34 AM

On the border. You will probably be lacking in payload capacity.

NorthernAir · 09-14-2015, 11:44 AM

Hi,
I just completed a 4500 km trip from Yellowknife NT to Chilliwack BC, through the Rocky Mountains. I have a 2011, F150 3.5L ECO BOOST. The vehicle has the factory trailer package, so it has the proper rear diff. Rated towing cap is 11,200 lbs. I did not have any problems at all towing our 2011 25' FB, Flying Cloud. It may actually be too big of a vehicle for the application.

Arcticfox · 09-14-2015, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NorthernAir

Hi,
I just completed a 4500 km trip from Yellowknife NT to Chilliwack BC, through the Rocky Mountains. I have a 2011, F150 3.5L ECO BOOST. The vehicle has the factory trailer package, so it has the proper rear diff. Rated towing cap is 11,200 lbs. I did not have any problems at all towing our 2011 25' FB, Flying Cloud. It may actually be too big of a vehicle for the application.

Welcome to the forum. I see you listing yourself as from Yellowknife, Alberta. So enquiring minds need to know; is if Yellowknife or someplace in AB. We spent 25 years in Hay River so its not everyday you see Airstreamer's from the north.

Cheers
Doug

NorthernAir · 09-14-2015, 12:41 PM

Hi Doug,
The quick picks for the hi=ome town defaulted to AB. I just updated my profile to reflex Yk and NWT.

NorthernAir · 09-15-2015, 08:32 AM

Hello and congratulations,

I just posted yesterday about my experience with a 25 footer and my F150 ECO BOOST. Plse look at my post. The important specs are listed in your owners manual. I was surprised at how varied the capacities are of the various sized F!50s. It depends on your vehicle wheelbase, engine size, rear diff ratio and if you have a factory tow package installed. My personal decision was to only tow a max of 80% capacity of the vehicle. I weighed my completely loaded rig on the scales at our local landfill. I found that the complete rig only weighed in at just a shade over 6000 kg. This is well within specs and well under the 80%.

NorthenAir