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Old 06-06-2016, 06:46 AM   #1
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Towing with Ford F150

I have a 30' Airstream Flying Cloud and looking for someone who might have experience towing with Ford F150. It appears that you can configure an F150 with a tow capacity of almost 12,000 lbs towing capacity, does anyone have experience with something like this in the mountains?

Base weight is 6,442 lbs
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating is 8,880 lbs
Hitch Weight is 885 lbs

Thanks in advance,
Greg
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Old 06-06-2016, 08:42 AM   #2
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Hi from AZ. . . we tow a FC28 with our '11 F150 FX4 supercrew, with Ecoboost V6. . .it's been a great truck ! 14k mile last Summer to Alaska & back, without problems. . . I added Banks cold air box, 4" cat back exhaust, & Ride Rite air bags on rear. It has 90k on the clock, & I'll buy another one day. . .regards, Craig
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Old 06-06-2016, 09:11 AM   #3
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Watch for Payload overload on the truck

While the truck may have 12,000# towing capacity, anything you put in the truck takes away from that. Also, be sure the truck you are looking at has that capacity. Manufacturers towing guide list the maximum towing capacity that can be available from a particular truck model, but doesn't take into account things like 4WD, interior options, tonneau cover, etc.

Check the door sticker. There will be a limit for "passengers and cargo". Whatever that number is, subtract the loaded tongue weight of your trailer. In all likelihood this is not the number published by Airstream. In the case you mentioned, the hitch weight is around 10% of the GVWR. That is the lower limit of safe and may not be achievable. 12% to 15% is more like it. I try to run at around 12%.

My older F-150 had a payload of 1242#. Subtracting my hitch weight left me just enough capacity for myself and my wife. No dogs, no luggage, nothing else. The towing capacity was 8900#. I had plenty of reserve on the towing capacity but was limited by payload.

Al
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Old 06-06-2016, 09:15 AM   #4
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We have a 2016 F 150 with the Ecoboost engine and a flying cloud 27 foot. We just towed all the way through Colorado east to west on I 70 from Denver to Utah and back and it worked great, plenty of power. You really have to worry more about the payload than the towing capacity with that vehicle in my experience .


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Old 06-06-2016, 10:14 AM   #5
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I tow a 22 footer with an F-150 5.0L 4WD. It struggles here in Colorado, but manages. To be honest though, uphill is less of a problem than downhill. It can scream in 3rd gear at over 5,000 rpm on some of the descents. I don't like the rpm's that high, and I especially don't like riding the brakes to keep the rpm's down. If I ever buy another tow vehicle, I'll probably look closely at the F-250 or something else entirely, and study up on which vehicle handles downhill control best.
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Old 06-06-2016, 10:24 AM   #6
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We have a 30' International Serenity and started with a Ford F150 Ecoboost, Max Tow with a payload of about 1700. After about 6 months on the road, we finally weighed and we were well over on rear axel weight and payload. The truck towed awesome but since we're full time, we didn't want that strain on the axel and truck for safety.

We bought an F250.

If it were just for weekends or a week here and there, our payload in both the airstream and truck would be way lighter and I would have felt comfortable sticking with the F150.
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Old 06-06-2016, 10:29 AM   #7
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We have a 2016 F150 King Ranch 4x4 towing a 2016 AS Flying Cloud 30FB Bunk. We recently took a trip to West Texas over to Big Bend National Park and the Davis Mountains. We had no trouble hauling our trailer in these mountains. They are not the Rockies but I don't anticipate any issues driving in higher mountains.

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Old 06-06-2016, 10:29 AM   #8
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Its pretty easy to stay under the stated towing limit of 12K. But the problem i've had with half tons is exceeding payload. Once you hook the trailer up, the tongue weight, along with my family and belongings put me well over payload capacity on my half ton. The other area where i struggled was rear Axle weight rating. I worked very hard to dial in the WD hitch and i was consistently over the axle weight rating. If total towing figure was the only number to worry about, I would have it licked. I have a 27 and I literally couldn't put anything in the bed of my truck after I hooked up my trailer. I got tired of stressing out about it and went to a 3/4 ton. I am not one of those who thinks bigger is better. But I am one of those who reasonably attempts to follow the stated capabilities of the vehicle I drive and tow with. Most people look at towing capacity and check the box and move on. I wish it were that easy in reality.
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Old 06-06-2016, 01:03 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ghaag View Post
I have a 30' Airstream Flying Cloud and looking for someone who might have experience towing with Ford F150. It appears that you can configure an F150 with a tow capacity of almost 12,000 lbs towing capacity, does anyone have experience with something like this in the mountains?

Base weight is 6,442 lbs
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating is 8,880 lbs
Hitch Weight is 885 lbs

Thanks in advance,
Greg
What's the payload capacity of the F150?
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Old 06-06-2016, 01:03 PM   #10
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No issue

We have a 2011 with ecoboost and have pulled our 30' FC to all but 11 states including Seattle, Maine, and Key West plus several trips to the Smokies, all from our home in Alabama. No issues whatsoever and I'm glad I didn't buy the larger diesel I had originally planned to buy.
Only modification is I've added a shell for hauling extra items in the bed...
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Old 06-06-2016, 01:22 PM   #11
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2015 F-150 Eco. I haven't done mountains yet but I have a steep hill kicking out of town. I can go from 20mph up to 50 with 3200 rpm with plenty in reserve. The payload is limited, but with just my wife and me, and a modest amount of tools and equipment it's well within bounds - tongue, GCVW, payload. The new F150 is much lighter and that allows a much greater payload than you might expect. The new Alu F250 is just hitting the market too.

I have a Pro-Pride and the weights balance out well.

Don't be tempted to load up the rear of the trailer just to 'make numbers work'. Rear weight can cause fishtailing. Calculate everything and be sure the numbers really work.

I've just been to a talk by Andy Thompson of CANAM who regularly sets people up with cars smaller than a truck - for the larger Airstreams. He'd go as far to suggest a well set up car will be more nimble than a big truck and can swerve to avoid collisions far better. I'd rather have a 4x4 that can get out of a muddy field and tow a car out of a ditch!

http://www.canamrv.ca/ (some good videos too).
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Old 06-06-2016, 01:42 PM   #12
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I have a 2014 F150 EB extended cab 4x4 6.5'bed . Max tow and 2000# payload.
I have a 2016 28w FC and put 800# 0f motorcycle and lift in the bed.
Have forklift stableloads on the rear springs with EQ 1400 4p hitch.
A very good set up !
I have towed in the mountains and twisties with out any issues, lots of power
And yes I have been to the scales many times to get the set up right.
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Old 06-06-2016, 01:58 PM   #13
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I used to pull my 25' Safari with an F-150, worked fine. I traded for a 30' and felt the F-150 was just not enough truck. The new F-150 eco boost V-6 is highly rated. I recently bought a Ram 1500 EcoDiesel, no pulling yet but I hope it does a good job.
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Old 06-06-2016, 05:09 PM   #14
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Rivet The Scales tell the true story.

Same song as many others. I have a 14 F150, Eco-boost, 4x4, 3.73 rear, HD Tow and HD payload (7700# GVWR). With a 27 foot Classic I just weighed in at 13.560# for the combo ~ with the truck EMPTY. AS is 7060# with a tongue weight of 1020#. I am now working on re-setting the WD hitch to transfer more weight to the front. F150 only is 3520 F / 2940 R (full tank/ empty cargo).
W/ AS attached 3360F / 3920 R. Front was unloaded by 160#. Even after WD adjustments I will have a very small payload number to work with.

Motor and trans worked well on our one trip to Colorado. The new 6 speed trans w/ Tow Haul mode controlled the speed well on downhills. Plenty of power for uphills. I was very happy with the set-up....UNTIL I hit the CAT scales and saw the real numbers.

The half ton's are just shy on payload. Like most, I will go to the F250 soon.
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Old 06-06-2016, 10:45 PM   #15
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I am extremely impressed with the 3.5L Ecoboost!

We just got back from a 5000 mile trip to the Southwest. This was the first chance that I had to tow our rather heavy 2007 25ft. Classic Limited with our new 2015 F150 3.5L Ecoboost. We towed the Airstream through many mountain passes as high as 11,000 ft. Some grades were as steep as 16%. The truck was amazing! It never seemed strained or out of breath.
The engine maintains 90% of it's peak torque from 1700 to 5000 rpm according to F150 Hub.com. Most the time it cruises along at 1700 to 2500 rpm. This is quite different from my experience with V8's that will scream at you trying to pull you up the mountain passes. In a lot of ways the engine is very diesel-like in it's low rpm performance. Those twin turbos do an incredible job in any altitude settings.
I also found that the F150 does a great job when you use the tow mode with cruise control. Hills were no problem. The low end torque is incredible. The Ecoboost handles all this with aplom.
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Old 06-06-2016, 11:19 PM   #16
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As stated above payload will be the limiting issue. I tried pulling my 30' Cloud with a F150 Lariat and ended up with not enough payload. Also at times I felt a little pushed around. I decided to upgrade to a F250 diesel and no regrets. Plenty of power and payload. Fuel economy also increased when pulling my now 30' Classic. Complete confidence when pulling the trailer.
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Old 06-07-2016, 08:42 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Al and Missy View Post
While the truck may have 12,000# towing capacity, anything you put in the truck takes away from that. Also, be sure the truck you are looking at has that capacity. Manufacturers towing guide list the maximum towing capacity that can be available from a particular truck model, but doesn't take into account things like 4WD, interior options, tonneau cover, etc.

Check the door sticker. There will be a limit for "passengers and cargo". Whatever that number is, subtract the loaded tongue weight of your trailer. In all likelihood this is not the number published by Airstream. In the case you mentioned, the hitch weight is around 10% of the GVWR. That is the lower limit of safe and may not be achievable. 12% to 15% is more like it. I try to run at around 12%.

My older F-150 had a payload of 1242#. Subtracting my hitch weight left me just enough capacity for myself and my wife. No dogs, no luggage, nothing else. The towing capacity was 8900#. I had plenty of reserve on the towing capacity but was limited by payload.

Al

Do you and your wife weigh 1042 #s?
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Old 06-07-2016, 08:53 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FCStreamer View Post
What's the payload capacity of the F150?
How the heck did you get a tongue weight of 885 lbs???
I have a brand new 2016 30' FC that I had weighed absolutely empty at 3000 KG. (6600 lbs.) Full 30# propane tanks, empty water, empty everything else, Spring bars removed to the side.
My tongue weight measured 1100 lbs. using a "Surelight" TW scale. at the screwjack.

According to some previous 'threads' here. almost NOBody reports tongue weights matching the 'Official' book value.

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Old 06-08-2016, 03:03 PM   #19
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The best way to get payload out of a F150EB is a XLT max tow , Max payload .
Reg cab 8' bed is over 3000#
Super cab 8' Bed is over 2700#
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Old 06-08-2016, 03:04 PM   #20
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That is a 4x4 !
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