Need advice on a tow vehicle

[jtbentley]

My wife and I just purchased our first Airstream, a 2005 Classic 31’. The GVWR is shown to be at 10,000 pounds and the UVW is shown to be at 7,140 pounds. I currently have a 2013 F-150 with the 3.5L Ecoboost that is shown to tow 12,200 pounds which is more than enough. We are looking at purchasing a new vehicle for my wife and would like to be able to tow with it as well. We were wanting to buy a 2018 Ford Expedition with the Ecoboost and heavy duty towing package. The Expedition is shown to tow 9,300 pounds. This is our first ever trailer and we don’t want to get in a bind. Can anyone offer some advice? Thank you

[Wconley]

We are pulling a 2018 28RBQ Serenity with a 2013 F150 3.5EB. If I were buying a new truck it would be an F250/F350 to get better payload. The only outstanding question is gas or diesel.

[ROBERT CROSS]

"Can anyone offer some advice? Thank you

...what will be proffered here are opinions, here is mine.

After getting what you already have properly set-up, tow with it and decide how much more you may or may not need.

POI...I would NOT go by AS published weights, they are usually well under the real world numbers.🤨

Bob
🇺🇸

[Daquenzer]

You will get a myriad of opinions

1) I agree with the above. Tow it with your present F150 and see what it feels like. Do you have a trailer tow package on the truck?
2) You might want to personal message Andy at Can AM. He's on this forum. He stated that with the right hitch set up etc an Expedition would work fine for my 28' Serenity but you have a 31'.
3) How much are you going to be towing? The more you are towing the more likely you will want a beefier TV for payload purposes since you will want to carry more things.
4) Where are you going to be towing most of the time? If you are towing a lot and mostly in the mountains then you might consider a 3/4 ton diesel with the engine break for safety. Not saying you can't tow with gas 3/4 ton. Many do it just fine. New are very expensive. Good used are hard to find. Affordability?

I tow with an 2017 F150XLT 3.5 Ecoboost Crew cab with max tow haul package. I also have a propride hitch which greatly adds to the stability while towing. Some of the things that can be added to the F150 are better shocks (bistein) and better towing tires. I do know that the new F150's come with a better tow rating. BUT the issue then becomes payload. The more options you add to the F150 the less payload. Just remember that if you order one

Another person on this forum bought the F250 gas. Looked like a very nice truck. The thing about gas is that it is cheaper to fill, cheaper to repair, cheaper to maintain, and cheaper to buy. I've heard the break even point for the diesel is about 200,000 miles (I may be wrong). The bad thing: Not as good a ride; although some contend they have improved.

1) Where are you going to tow?
2) How often are you going to tow?
3) How much can you afford?
4) What else are you going to use the TV? Daily driver?

I don't think there is one right answer, but I do believe the more you tow, the more extreme conditions you tow in etc could possibly tip you to a 3/4 ton. Whether gas or diesel the question now becomes, "how much can you afford?"

My only concern with the 2018 Expedition is payload. But if it's just you and your wife and you are taking mostly short trips etc. I think it would work. PM Andy at Can AM.

Good Luck. My 2 cents.

[winnie1932]

Hello,

We are the owners of a 30ft 2005 As with the bunk beds. We moved up from a 1968 AS 25 ft (we still have) to the 30ft. This move also warranted an exhausting 4month search and test phase for a new TV. We also received many kind suggestions from many AS owners. In short we just recently purchased a 2016 Ford Expedition with the HD package. We are a family of 5 so a P/U was a bit tight especially for long trips so the expedition is our choice. So far we are very happy with the package and CanAm completed the inspection service between the AS and TV. We will keep everyone posted since we will soon be starting our trip from up north to LA, California.

[nryn]

JTBentley,

Not sure if Daquenzer was referring to my threads or not, but I did due diligence on the tow vehicle thing last fall for my family and our 2019 Globetrotter 27 FBT. I weighed everything I thought we would bring, estimated on the heavy side for tongue weight and loaded trailer.

I did not want a truck. But I very quickly found out that at least as far as numbers go, handling my family of four, bikes and other activity gear, and the Globetrotter required one. There were a small number of cargo vans and SUVs that could work but they would be at their limits. The constraining issues were payload and rear axle weight limits. More people = more gear and I think it's a very different story if you're only traveling with two people and opens a lot more options. I abandoned the search for an SUV pretty early, though I know several on this forum and IRL whose critical concerns are different than mine and who tow a 27' class Airstream with multiple people and have no issues. The user Pteck comes to mind.

If you are interested, the two threads in which my research on different classes of pickup truck played out are:

Help spec a new F-150
Help spec a new F-250

I'll echo earlier sentiments--you're going to get a lot of opinions on a very broad question of "which tow vehicle" and those threads usually descend quickly into chestbeating and religion. The threads I linked above remained pretty civil and were very useful to me (and I've heard to others as well).

If you have the patience to wade through those threads, even if you're not interested in either of these vehicles you'll get a sense of what issues are at play and decide for yourself how important they are to you. The issues that were most important to me were safety and comfort. I ended up with an F-250, which will make a great tow vehicle and that's all it will do. If it was just my wife and I traveling, I'd probably have a smaller Airstream and would have gotten an SUV or a van to tow it. With kids and an extended trip, everything got bigger. The kids love the truck and it will have no issues with payload, towing capacity, or axle limits. I have another car I use as a daily driver (a Volvo SUV) and that makes the F-250 work out just fine for me. If I could only have one car, it would not be a large truck based on where I live (a city) and my driving preferences. Everyone's needs and wants are different and the frustrating thing about these tow vehicle (and hitch) threads is some folks' insistence that the way they are doing things is the only right way to do things (and that everyone else is an idiot).

I was starting from scratch both in terms of vehicle and experience. If you already have an F-150 I think testing the waters with that would be an excellent first move. If you find you need something different, my candid advice would be to skim those threads and figure out what's important to you then ask more specific questions to the forum. That's what I did and (by and large) I got more direct and focused answers from some very experienced and helpful people and minimal soapboxing.

[majorairhead]

I belong to the school of tow vehicle walkin' the trailer, vs. trailer walkin' the tow vehicle.

Never was too much of a risk taker, not interested in 'pushing the limits' of a tow vehicle.

In other words, 3/4 ton truck for our 30 foot airstream.

Guaranteed there are other tow vehicles that will tow our airstream. Much depends on how many people are traveling, and how much stuff you are hauling.

We haul lots of stuff. Payload on our truck is 3,111 pounds. I like that.

Just check your numbers, tow capacity and cargo capacity (payload) for sure, and determine how much weight you'll be hauling, and make sure your tow vehicle is rated to do it.

[tjdonahoe]

3/4 ton...we like our 2500 ram...6.7...

[tjdonahoe]

Originally Posted by Wconley

We are pulling a 2018 28RBQ Serenity with a 2013 F150 3.5EB. If I were buying a new truck it would be an F250/F350 to get better payload. The only outstanding question is gas or diesel.

We like our 2500 ram...6.7..shortbox...plenty of power and the exhaust brake is very nice in the hills...coast to coast with our 31’ Classic...

[brick1]

I have a 28 Serenity, weighs in at 6700 lbs loaded, 961 lbs tongue weight. Towed it first with a 2016 Expedition EcoBoost, 9200 lb tow rating. It was OK, but at its 1319 payload with only myself, wife and two cats ( new 2018+ have higher payload). Upgraded to a 2018 F250 diesel. Huge difference. The diesel is simply so good for towing, and seeing 16+ mpg towing@ 70 mph.i will not go back to a lesser tow vehicle.