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Old 07-03-2017, 05:15 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KWN306 View Post
I have a 2016 with the 3.5 ECO Boost (truck is rated to tow 11,300) and tow a 2017 30' FC.

My first trip was a white knuckle experience. The truck and the trailer were all over the place on the highway at 60 mph. And the V-6 worked it's a$$ off in the VA mtns.

I put on a set of Firestone air bags and it helped but I still wasn't pleased.

I have since bought a ProPride 1400 # hitch. The white knuckle experience is gone and the truck is not working as hard to pull the rig. I tow between 60 - 65 mph.

There are a lot of opinions on this forum about needing a 3/4 ton truck, I had a 3/4 ton truck but the body was rusting away. I purchased the F-150 because my neighbor has one and pulls a brand "x" that weighs a ton and has three slides.

IMHO, the hitch makes all the difference in the world.
Now I heard it all when it comes to hitches.
A Pro-Pride will take the place of a 3/4 ton pick up. Awesome, you might want to impart that bit of wisdom to all the truck sales people in your town.

I have posted a great number of remarks about this subject relating my actual experience in towing a 30' with my 1/2 ton for three years and eventually throwing in the towel and upgrading to a 3/4 ton. And there are hundreds of others who made the same decision based on the same experience.
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Old 07-03-2017, 05:21 PM   #22
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Looking to buy a new truck. How can I tell the towing capacity by looking at the sticker on the door jam?
Based on my experience pulling a 30' international for three years with a 2012 F-150 Platinum Ecoboost heavy duty tow package, 3.79 rear axle you would be fine going anywhere with a 27' AS. My truck with all the bells and whistles still had a respectable 1,560 lbs payload.
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Old 07-03-2017, 09:29 PM   #23
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Originally Posted by franklyfrank View Post
Based on my experience pulling a 30' international for three years with a 2012 F-150 Platinum Ecoboost heavy duty tow package, 3.79 rear axle you would be fine going anywhere with a 27' AS. My truck with all the bells and whistles still had a respectable 1,560 lbs payload.
Ecoboost with 3.73 gears is a night and day difference with the 5.0 and 3.55 that the OP has.
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Old 07-03-2017, 09:45 PM   #24
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ford f150 5.0l v8 with 3.55

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Originally Posted by AnnArborBob View Post
If you resist the urge to drive like a "bat out of hell" and you stay in relatively flat areas you will be fine. It's once you get into hill country that you will have to be extra careful. And it's not only "out west" the Appalachians out east have some pretty long grades. You will need to gear down and take it slow on the uphills. You might also have to turn off the air conditioner when going up a steep grade.

If your travels are only occasional and close to home you'll be OK with that engine. But if you plan to travel extensively including some cross country trips, you will probably want to get a new tow vehicle. The F-150 with the 3.5 liter Ecoboost is a very popular tow vehicle for larger Airstreams.
Stick with the one you have.. the 5L is the old 302 engine... good work horse... and you should not have any problems with it... I used to pull a 31 ft AS with a E350 ford van with the 302 in it and it did a good job... so long as your not in a hurry... the weakest part is the transmission... but so long as you don't push it with the 3.55 rear end.. it should work just fine...

If you wanted to improve the towing... you might want to think about a 3.73 or 4.10 rear gear set... but if your not towing every week... the 3.55 is good enough...

the 3.5 L echoboost is a piece of junk... and prone to expensive replacement parts... about the only thing going for it is the 6 speed trans that they had to put behind it... but, oh my listen to the little engine that thinks it could wind up in RPM... you'll be glad that you have your 5L v8... believe me...

just get the right hitch and don't over hitch the airstream... PUs are a lot rougher ride... andy at inland RV has lots of good advise on which hitch to get... as well... the airstream likes a softer ride... so to speak...

by the way... Ford is going back to the 5L 302 engine in their more expensive PU trucks... go figure

Good luck and welcome to RV'n
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Old 07-03-2017, 09:53 PM   #25
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Originally Posted by GM Airstream View Post
Stick with the one you have.. the 5L is the old 302 engine... good work horse... and you should not have any problems with it... I used to pull a 31 ft AS with a E350 ford van with the 302 in it and it did a good job... so long as your not in a hurry... the weakest part is the transmission... but so long as you don't push it with the 3.55 rear end.. it should work just fine...

If you wanted to improve the towing... you might want to think about a 3.73 or 4.10 rear gear set... but if your not towing every week... the 3.55 is good enough...

the 3.5 L echoboost is a piece of junk... and prone to expensive replacement parts... about the only thing going for it is the 6 speed trans that they had to put behind it... but, oh my listen to the little engine that thinks it could wind up in RPM... you'll be glad that you have your 5L v8... believe me...

just get the right hitch and don't over hitch the airstream... PUs are a lot rougher ride... andy at inland RV has lots of good advise on which hitch to get... as well... the airstream likes a softer ride... so to speak...

Good luck and welcome to RV'n
The 5.0 in a recent F150 is unequivocally NOT the "old 302." You don't seem to know much about the Coyote *or* the Ecoboost, old or new. The Coyote and the pre-2017 Ecoboost have the very same 6R80 transmission, and while the 3.5 Ecoboost is not a perfect engine (any more than any other) it's a *LONG* way from "a piece of junk" and does quite a good job towing close to sea level, and will walk away and leave a 5.0 (or GM's 5.3) gasping for air climbing a grade at any sort of altitude.

The 5.0 is a good engine. If I were buying a truck to tow staying below 3000 ft or to drive to the mall I might've bought one. If I'd already had one when I bought an Airstream I would've kept it until time to replace it, and just caned it mercilessly like I did my 5.4 when it was time to cross Raton or the Continental Divide.
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Old 07-04-2017, 09:39 AM   #26
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Never push the limits of your tow vehicle. You will never be satisfied with the results.
I am speaking from experience.
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Old 07-04-2017, 10:20 AM   #27
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Never push the limits of your tow vehicle. You will never be satisfied with the results.

I am speaking from experience.

You mean never push or never exceed? Limits are there for a reason.
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Old 07-04-2017, 10:35 AM   #28
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All the comments about gearing, turbocharged at high rpm all great information.
Problem is the truck is close to maxed out. You load water, camping / cooking gear, black tank and gray tanks full (in certain situations) along with the stored items in the truck bed you are well over the limit. Place this setup in a high altitude, steep grades then you can max out your brakes along with the suspension. My F-250 is daily truck for me and have felt twice the safety pulling our Airstream in the mountains. The setup I mentioned is not unusual out on the road on a extended trip especially leaving a camping area without facilities to dump your tanks. I haven't even mentioned weather as another factor. It sure is nice to have a larger truck when put in difficult situations on the road. When you're at the limits of your tow vehicle and you are aware of it, the overall trip is more stressful.
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Old 07-04-2017, 10:36 AM   #29
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The trouble is the limits of one tow vehicle/hitch/trailer combination are often entirely different the than limits of another.

Tow and weight ratings are a basic starting point, after that it's up to you. You have to consider and set up the entire combination for safest results.
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Old 07-04-2017, 12:50 PM   #30
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I am interested in the 27FB AS and have a 2013 Ford F150 with a 5.0 V8 (3.55 Axle). The Ford specs say it can tow 7800 lbs. and the 27FB AS has a GVWR 7600 lbs. Since this is so close to the limit, I am curious is anyone has tried this combination or can shed some light.
Maybe get a 25' to tow with that? See how it goes and upgrade to a F250 at some point? Where you live you may need some extra horsepower to keep up. Really depends on your towing experience and expectations. I personally would go with a bigger truck, and would consider a diesel for that weight.
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Old 07-04-2017, 01:17 PM   #31
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We brought the 2013 25FB International Serenity home from Los Angles on I-10, up the steep climb out of Palm Springs and ending up on the East side of Phoenix towing with a 2007 Mercedes ML320 CDI that has a 3.0L V6 turbocharged diesel. That engine had more torque than the 5.5L V8 gas that model year. We had a Hensley Arrow hitch and there was never a sway issue.

After loading the 25FB to 6,900 pounds with all off our stuff, the load created some noises in the car that it was not happy. We upgraded to a 2012 Ram 2500HD Cummins which we kept and tow the 2014 31' Classic that scales 9,200 pounds camping ready. For us, that combination works well with the 6 and 7% grades we have to traverse coming and going out of the Phoenix area north bound. The Classic has a ProPride hitch.

We still have the Mercedes ML320 CDI and it is towing our 2015 23D International Serenity with no issues and the 23D scales 6,068 pounds fully loaded and reusing the Hensley Arrow I retained from the 25FB when it was traded in for the Classic.

Sizing the trailer and the tow vehicle and setting your expectations to that marriage makes life easier.
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Old 07-04-2017, 01:46 PM   #32
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Originally Posted by franklyfrank View Post
Now I heard it all when it comes to hitches.
A Pro-Pride will take the place of a 3/4 ton pick up. Awesome, you might want to impart that bit of wisdom to all the truck sales people in your town.

I have posted a great number of remarks about this subject relating my actual experience in towing a 30' with my 1/2 ton for three years and eventually throwing in the towel and upgrading to a 3/4 ton. And there are hundreds of others who made the same decision based on the same experience.
Frankly Frank.....no one said you were dumb for purchasing a diesel. I had a diesel and loved it but with the newer technology you can pull more weight with a smaller lighter weight truck.

My 2000 Dodge was rated to pull 13,000 pounds, my ECU Boost with 3.55 gears is rated to pull 11,300. The 2016 Ford has better and bigger brakes and with Ford's 6 speed automatic it acts like a jake brake. My Dodge's brakes sucked, I had to install a jake brake to slow do my 5th wheel in the VA mountains.

The Dodge was rock solid towing, I ordered it with HD everything, it was designed to tow.

What I didn't like about the F150 was when a big rig would pass me or uneven pavement would cause a hobby horsing or I got pushed around. With the Pro Pride hitch my Ford pulls my AS 30' FC just as good as the 2000 Dodge diesel.

If I was a full timer or a Snow Bird I might rethink my decision, but with 2 years before retirement and only 2 weeks vacation a year and a few long weekends the F150 does just fine.
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Old 07-04-2017, 02:11 PM   #33
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If the gearing is the problem can you just change the gearing out to 3.73?
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Old 07-04-2017, 04:14 PM   #34
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If the gearing is the problem can you just change the gearing out to 3.73?
Or replace the tires with one having a little smaller diameter/lower profile. We did this with our 4.7 V8 Tundra pulling our FC25FB when the truck's tires were damaged, it has the same effect as lower gears. Gained a little more power with a little less downshifting on hilly grades, which slightly improved towing gas mileage. Less sidewall flex also helped with towing stability quite a bit.

But the 5.0 V8 should have plenty of torque for the job with 3.73, I certainly wouldn't change anything without seeing how it performs as is.
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Old 07-04-2017, 10:30 PM   #35
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If the gearing is the problem can you just change the gearing out to 3.73?
It's an expensive proposition. I was quoted around $2k by two local shops.
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Old 07-04-2017, 11:37 PM   #36
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I don't understand the logic of considering changing out the differentials.

In the days of 3 speed transmissions, final drive ratios mattered a lot.

This is a six speed 6R80 transmission. The step from 4th to 5th is 24%. The step from 5th to 6th is 20%. The difference between the OP's 3.55 and the optional 3.73 is 5%. Anything you can achieve by changing out the differentials can be more than accomplished by shifting gears when appropriate. And this retains the benefit of the higher (lower numerically) final drive ratios for better fuel economy when not towing.
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Old 07-05-2017, 04:34 AM   #37
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DJZ-

Here is our experience described in detail in going from an F150 5.0 just like yours to a 2015 F150 EcoBoost with MaxTow.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f463...le-141137.html

The change was significant in many, many ways as to comfort and confidence in towing our 2014 27fb. We just did a 10 day, 4 state park loop from central Florida up through the East side of Alabama up to their lookout mountain, into NW Georgia up to Cloudland Canyon, and back down towards home. Plenty of "grades" (don't laugh you folks that travel out West ), and lots of switchback roads. Our '15 F150 (properly spec'd for the job at hand) handles our Pete very well.

Hope this helps.
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Old 07-06-2017, 10:26 PM   #38
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5.0 f150

To the OP, try the truck first. You may be happy with the right load, hitch and terrain you travel on. I have a 2015 SuperCab Lariat 4X4 with the 5.0, 3.31 gears and have been pretty happy. I pull a 25FC and it may only be a few hundred pounds lighter than a 27. This newer generation 5.0 has a little more torque and hp and the newer aluminum body makes for better payloads. Mine has a 2031 payload according to the door sticker.

The newer trucks are very comfortable, quiet and capable, but you will pay for all these improvements. If your truck runs well and with solid brakes and transmission, why not give it a shot? Mine did great last year in the Rockies on a 7,000 mile loop hitting many of the high passes with no issues other than going slow and steady. The EcoBoost version, I understand will handle these passes much better with the turbos ,but yours should be able to the job as well.

Shiny Pete, you were just a few miles from us at Cloudland Canyon and hope you enjoyed your visit to Lookout Mountain!

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Old 07-07-2017, 02:46 PM   #39
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You got it. Maybe some of us dont have a small house to dump into a truck not to mention maintenance.
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Old 07-07-2017, 03:57 PM   #40
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We had a 2010 F150 SuperCrew 4X4 with 5.4 V8 and 3:55 axle and it could pull our 28ft International.
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