F150 EB owners who have moved to F250/F350?

[SilverEagle6]

Went from a 2013 F 150 Lariet crew cab towing an SOB. Bought a 2013 FC. The 150 pulled well but the travel bug hit and we starting camping a lot. Payload in the 150 did it in as well as future travel plans to Alaska in 2014 and Newfoundland in 2015.

Two things I really miss in the 150, great comfortable ride and the back seat area was flat for our dog, Jake. Had to get used to the rougher ride of the 2014 250 super crew diesel. Had to build a platform for Jake and a ramp. BUT, will never look back...love the 250 even though it had a puney 26 gal tank which I immediately changed out to a Titan 50 gal. We are now planning a year plus long journey in our new to us 2008 Classic 30, two kayaks, two bikes on front, and with some luck, Jake will still be with us. 53,000 plus miles on t he 250 in 22 months. Love the truck

[Joohntooth]

Our first TV was a F150 with a 3.5 Ecoboost and. 3.73 rear axle to tow a 28'FC. The truck performed well even in the low hills of the Smokies. But once I took it to the scales I realized We were over the payload. I now have a F250 Diesel and love it. Towing could not be easier and the gas mileage is pretty much the same. Weight distribution is not so much an issue. Now I have plenty of payload. The only issue is that the F250 is not an easy truck to take into town. Parking can be challenging.

[Billyg]

Well we had to move from a F150 so we went to a F250 4x4 diesel because the 150 was just not cutting it. The F250 can pull like a dozer in any terrain. We are really pleased with the move. Plus I did move from a 5th wheel to a bumper pull and in just that decision went from 11,000 lbs. of weight to pull down to 7,900 lbs. Happy with both of those decisions.

Good luck and Happy Camping !

[Wolf Alaska]

I pull a Winnebago ONE 26 trailer, 7700#, with Ford Excursion 4X4; 425 Hp V10 - no problems at all. Also 34' Featherlite, 8800#, when OHV & 2 Kawa dual sports are on board. I also pull both trailers with E250 HD based Coach House running a roller cam 285 Hp 5.8L V8.
These TVs weigh in range of 7,500 to 8,800 #.
Both are very stable on the open road.
I u/s running a small displacement light weight TV is elegant and can lower fuel burn. Heavy large displacement TVs have their use, also.
Let's Roll !
Wolf. 🐾

[Wanna EB]

Lots of great input. Again, thank you.

[dkottum]

We have never, ever felt pushed around with two different 1/2 ton Ram trucks and ProPride hitch. Are Fords that bad?

Or are the tire sidewalls on your truck too squishy? Air up the truck tires to maximum sidewall stated pressure and try it. What tire size do you have now? Tall sidewall P-rated tires can be squishy.

[canyonduck]

Does everyone's preference for the 3/4 ton trucks change if this vehicle is also your daily driver? We have had our first AS for a year now and I always thought we would go with a 3/4 ton truck as our tow vehicle. However, this is also my commuting vehicle and after driving a friend's very nice (and very expensive) GMC Sierra 2500 diesel I reconsidered our options. It is a VERY nice truck but it felt really heavy driving around town especially accelerating. Even with 800 lb ft of torque and 400 hp it was slow to get all that mass moving. We ultimately ended up going with a new aluminum F150 EB 6.5 bed. Payload is just over 1700 which is certainly plenty for our 19" International. We would someday like to trade up to a 27' and I suspect the F150 could do well with this size and weight of trailer. The EB engine in the lighter aluminum body truck really moves when not towing and has proven to have plenty of power crossing the Sierras. If we ever step up to a Classic I am sure we would benefit from a 3/4 ton, but the new F150 seems like a great TV for just about everything else.

[Crabpot]

We are in the same boat, looking at 3/4 tons....
Thanks for all the info and thanks for making this post.....Andy

[Loden]

This is slightly off what you asked, but I had a F150 King Ranch with a towing package a few years ago and pulled a boat and trailer that grossed almost exactly what our AS 27' Eddie Bauer does today. I actually test drove a Chevy 1/2 ton and then 3/4 ton as a Tow Vehicle. I also tried out a Toyota. All did the job, but the strain I felt when pulling with the 1/2 ton was notable. I felt myself tensing up. Yes, all the numbers were withing limitations, but nonetheless I tensed up. With the 3/4 4x4 diesel, I was just driving. While I never ceased to be aware that there was an extra 4 tons of aluminum back there and 27 feet of extra length, my body was just driving.

As we have driven the several thousand miles since then, we come to the end of the day relaxed and comfortably tired. There is a distinct difference in the way my wife and I feel after a day in the Sierra 2500, High Country 4x4 as a tow vehicle. All that is subjective. I can also tell you that several times the extra braking, torque, and turning authority of the heavier, larger vehicle has made a very significant difference.

As a last item, we get ab 20-24 MPG at highway speeds (70-75 mph) when not towing the AS. We get around 12 MPG towing at 65-70 mph.

[Wanna EB]

Originally Posted by canyonduck

Does everyone's preference for the 3/4 ton trucks change if this vehicle is also your daily driver? We have had our first AS for a year now and I always thought we would go with a 3/4 ton truck as our tow vehicle. However, this is also my commuting vehicle and after driving a friend's very nice (and very expensive) GMC Sierra 2500 diesel I reconsidered our options. It is a VERY nice truck but it felt really heavy driving around town especially accelerating. Even with 800 lb ft of torque and 400 hp it was slow to get all that mass moving. We ultimately ended up going with a new aluminum F150 EB 6.5 bed. Payload is just over 1700 which is certainly plenty for our 19" International. We would someday like to trade up to a 27' and I suspect the F150 could do well with this size and weight of trailer. The EB engine in the lighter aluminum body truck really moves when not towing and has proven to have plenty of power crossing the Sierras. If we ever step up to a Classic I am sure we would benefit from a 3/4 ton, but the new F150 seems like a great TV for just about everything else.

That's a good question. Our 2011 F150 EB is great to drive around on a daily basis and I can imagine that a new one is even nicer. Given that ours is a 157" wheel base, it can get long, but the handling and acceleration are very nice.

[Riverdrifter]

I don't see any mention of going from a 3/4 ton to a 1/2 ton. Airstream Life Spring 2013 had an excellent article on horsepower vs gearing vs air resistance. I actually have two tow vehicles, a 2007 GMC 3500 Duramax 8' box, crew cab and a 2015 RAM 5.7 crew cab, 6'4" box. Both 4wd. I'm pulling a 30' international 8800 gvw but we load it to around 7800 lbs. both due a great job of pulling the trailer. I prefer the RAM because it has a much better ride when we unhook and go sightseeing. I get 1 mpg better with the RAM while pulling and 3 mpg better empty. I use the big truck for my 3600 lb slide in camper. I use cruise control at 65 and I have yet to meet a hill the RAM can't maintain that speed. We have travelled all over the western half of the country. It might shift down to 6th gear occasionally. Transmission temp never budges. On the subject of exhaust brakes, a gas engine has compression braking without an exhaust brake which is why race car drivers downshift coming into a curve. The gear selector on the RAM gives me great engine braking.

[dbcolimon]

Thank you everyone for the great information. I am about to suck it up and trade-in my 2015 EB F150 for either a diesel or gas F250. Pulling our 2016 23D with the F150 just doesn't "feel" right. The EB motor has plenty of power but the 150's suspension and ride (especially at speed) is squishy. As others have noted it the "tail wagging the dog".
Any thoughts on the Ford 6.2L V8 versus the Ford 6.8L Diesel would be appreciated.

[dkottum]

You can totally eliminate the tail wagging the dog issue with a Hensley/ProPride hitch, which will save you many, many thousands of dollars. Our Ram 1500's go down the road stable as a rock, two fingers on the wheel in all weather and traffic conditions is all that is needed (an example not a recommendation).

You cannot totally eliminate the tail wagging the dog issue with an F250.

[switz]

We tow our 2015 23D International Serenity (scales at 6,068 pounds fully loaded for camping) behind our 2007 Mercedes ML320 CDI diesel with a Hensley Arrow weight distribution hitch. Absolutely no issues even when passed by semi-trucks running 25 MPH faster than I drive when towing. No issues when in cross winds as well. We have a converted to Propane only Honda 2000 watt generator, a 30 pound spare propane tank, grill, air compressor, a couple of ZipDee chairs, a jack and tire ramp all in the back of the car. The scales report no axle ratings are exceeded.

I used that same car and Hensley Arrow in October 2012 to bring a new 2013 25FB International Serenity home to the Phoenix area from Los Angles dealership and had no issues even climbing the mountain out of Palm Springs east bound. There were no issues with the trucks passing at 25 faster speeds or cross winds. We had to change tow vehicles with the larger trailer as when it was fully loaded, my wife now in the car plus a few items in the back,the axle numbers did to work per the scales. The 25FB scaled 6,800 pounds camping ready.

I drove/drive at 55 mph with these two trailer combinations and arrive relaxed. I set no acceleration speed records. Defensive driving is paramount for us. Taking its easy, the Mercedes gets around 16mpg towing the 23D down the road.

I inflate the Mercedes Michelin tires to 44 psi and the 23D has been converted from the stock 14" tires and wheels to 15" SenDel T03-56545T wheels with 15" Michelin LTX (P) 235/75R15 XL tires inflated to 44 psi. These same model tires were also installed on the 25FB as well as an upgrade from the stock GYM tires.

One may find inflating the stock tires on a Ford 150 to a higher pressure (even the maximum listed on the sidewall of the tire) will stiffen the sidewalls enough to get rid of the squishing feeling.

A Hensley or ProPride (second generation Jim Hensley design) will eliminate the sway issues. We have a ProPride on the 2012 Ram 2500HD that tows our 2014 31' Classic that weighs 9,200 pounds camping ready and the rig with all the stuff is at 19,200 pounds going down the road. Max speed we tow at is 63 to 65 mph or the lower posted speed limits with this setup.

[rbs]

We pulled a 25' Classic with a 2011 F150 SBCC Ecoboost, 3:73, HD Towing pkg, ProPride, the only thing that we changed was to install E rated tires, to much sidewall flex with the OE tires. The truck did an excellent job, absolutely loved everything about it. The only reason we bought the F250 was to gain the extra load capacity, with the 150 loaded we were within 200 of being grossed out on the scales, and we really needed to pack more for our longer trips. We looked at ordering the 150 with the HD payload option, but many of the other options we wanted could not be ordered with that truckso we went with the F250 with Power Stroke and it has done a great job also, but we really loved the F150 EcoBoost

[paiceman]

We had a 25' AS, and a F150 EB crew cab 6.6 bed set up for towing. We towed it fine and had no issues. We sold that trailer and went to a 30' FC. The EB towed fine, but I did not like the handling nor the ability to brake, so we sold the EB to our neighbor and bought an F250 Diesel. Loved it. Sold both, LONG story, went with a MoHo, seven months later sold the MoHo and bought another 30' AS FC and this time an F350 Diesel, just because my wife said no to an F450. Not sure I would tow anything again without a 3/4 Ton or more Diesel and for me Ford Platinum. We did install a replacement fuel tank as the stock tank was only 26 gallons, we now have a 50 gallon Titan replacement tank. Did 10,000 miles last summer from Pittsburgh to Oregon and Washington Coast and back all over Rockies and Cascades, nothing - NO issues with power or braking. For us, its the way to go.

Good luck

Bud

[Moflash]

Originally Posted by dkottum

You can totally eliminate the tail wagging the dog issue with a Hensley/ProPride hitch, which will save you many, many thousands of dollars. Our Ram 1500's go down the road stable as a rock, two fingers on the wheel in all weather and traffic conditions is all that is needed (an example not a recommendation).

You cannot totally eliminate the tail wagging the dog issue with an F250.

Doug,sometimes you amaze me(and others)with these comments that you make.Not everyone wants a Ram 1500 (now a Eco diesel)nor do they want a Hensley/Propride hitch that you continually sell.
We are not all like you or have the same ideas on travel.Chill

Some people prefer and or need a 3/4 or 1 ton Ford or Chevrolet and that's OK

For there is life after a minivan,1/2 ton or Tundra......................

[SilverEagle6]

Moflash,

Bravo!
Dkottum is spreading some pure BS. I have never felt the tail wagging the dog on my F 250 and 30' Classic.

Maybe doug needs to change the last line in his signature....No experience is better than the truth of facts.

[aftermath]

To each his own. If you want to get a new truck, go get one. I certainly understand. But, if you are not planning on getting a bigger trailer or carrying more "stuff" in your truck I think you have gotten some good advice about fixing your "bad feeling" when pulling the 25FB.

I have the same trailer and tow with my Tundra. I also felt a little wobble, or squishy response but found out that it was from the OE tires. I upgraded to a more sturdy LT tire and have not had a problem. I have an Equalizer and don't feel the tail wagging the dog. Hey, it is a half ton without a Hensley OR a Propride and everything is good.

Again, if you want a new truck, go get one. If you are looking for someone to support your decision you will always find those who think you need a diesel to pull a 23 but if you listen you will also hear that many of us are very satisfied with our half tons. Again, to each his own.

I have a bad case of 2 footitis and when the day comes I will most likely part with the Tundra. Carrying capacity will then become an issue.

[pappy19]

You don't need a diesel, you want one. Save yoursel $8000 and gt a 6.2 V-8 with a 3.73 rear end and you will be thrilled, and, you will love the $19.95 oil change and no diesel perfume.