Ford F150 and 25'-28' Trailer

[jherhusky]

I am going to get into "streaming" and am wondering about what truck to link with a 25-28' (7300-7600 lb) trailer...the Ford dealer tells me that the F150 w/Ecoboost can haul up to 11000 lbs...my buddy, who pulls a big fifth wheel with a Chevy 3500 diesel is trying to convince me that I need a F250 or F350...I do not want a big truck unless I have to...I am inclined to go with the F150 with max towing package...can anyone tell me what they have experienced with the same combination I am considering?

[Condoluminum]

Welcome.. Use search tab above ( in blue bar) and search for word "ecoboost"... There are several posts from owners pulling 25 and 27' Airstreams with F-150's with towing pkgs... You need to remember that people and luggage in truck count against the Gross Weight towing limits, but it can work OK...

[jm2]

we pull a 2002 Safari 25C (6,300 GVWR) without any particular issue here in the northeast / east coast range. it's rated to pull up to 11,300.

we're currently pulling with a 2011 F150 Lariat 4wd 145"wb Supercab that is factory equipped with the Ecoboost engine + the 'heavy duty towing package'. the heavy duty towing package required a particular rear end gear ratio, and includes the manually extending towing mirrors. we love the factory towing mirrors.

some ecoboost owners have been having an issue with their engine performance that appears to be somewhat climate related.

I'd encourage you to interview the Service Director, or maybe even the General Manager of the dealership about this issue before buying. it's my observation that some dealership service departments are higher performing than others; you want them to be the best, just in case.

if you're going to be doing a lot of mountains all the time, the F250 might make sense; an F350 would be overkill, imho, in almost any case.

[n2916s]

The question of what tow vehicle to use is one of the great contentious issues of this forum. Opinions on the subject are like belly buttons -- everybody has one.

I have towed my 31' Sovereign (about 4 tons) about 50,000 miles over the past 7 years with a 1/2 ton Nissan Titan rated to tow 9500#. Without any problems, ever.

Would it be nice to have a big old 3/4 or 1 ton diesel so I could roar up passes in the Rockies at 65? Be able to slap on a jake brake so I could coast down the the other side? Well, you bet! But, could I justify another 10 grand for those few moments? No, not really.

I get around 11 mpg towing, burning 87 octane regular. The Titan now has 148000 miles on it and this week will be the first time it has been in the shop (cracked exhaust manifold). So I cannot complain and this combination has worked very, very well for me.

The Ecoboost sounds like a great idea and I plan to look at it really closely when the Titan goes to that big wrecking yard in the sky. Hopefully by then there will be lots of field experience with it and we'll see how it holds up.

Good Luck,

Mike

[SandraB]

We have a 30' 2012 Flying Cloud and a 2011 Ford F 150 Ecoboost. We have had no problems. We camp 3 months out of the year and we have towed the trailer through mountain passes in California with no problems.

[Wazbro]

I would recommend getting the heavy duty payload package along with the heavy duty towing package. 800-1200lb tongue weight is a huge chunk of the available payload (witch includes passengers, most of the tongue weight and anything else in the truck) without the heavy duty payload package.

[MaxTow]

We pull our 30' Safari (6250lbs Dry / 8400 GVWR) with a 2012 F-150 Ecoboost, Lariat 4x4, 6.5' box, Max Tow and HD Payload (as the packages were called in Canada for the 2012).

No issues pulling our trailer. The Ecoboost has significant torque at the low end, peaking at 420ft-lbs at 2500 RPM. It's only topped by the diesel engines.

You will need the Max Tow package. This increases GVWR by 500lbs over the base model. Consider the HD Payload package. This increases GVWR by another 500lbs. Payload is usually the limiting factor in what you can pull rather than listed tow capacity. With this combination of packages, even when loaded to the max with 2150lbs of people, cargo, trailer hitch and tongue weight, the truck is rated to pull 8900lbs.

Downside of the HD Payload package is that it's hard to find, and it's only available in the 6.5' box. I wanted the longer box - but some find the truck too long.

If you need more payload capacity, then consider the F250. But because of the extra weight of the F250, if it's fully loaded, you cannot pull as much as the fully equipped F150 unless you get the diesel.

[MaxTow]

Originally Posted by jm2

...includes the manually extending towing mirrors. we love the factory towing mirrors.

We have the factory mirrors as well. I purchased online after purchasing the truck and installed myself. Very easy install and much cheaper then at the dealer. Love the size and the large wide angle section for excellent visibility. It would be great if they could pull out a little further for the widebody AS however.

The 2013 has power telescoping / power fold tow mirrors. I would love this option! (Also the HID headlights)

[lws1]

i own a 25 ft airstream towed since 2000 with a f250 ford diesel just bought a 2013 f150 ecoboost with 3.55 rear idont believe this truck is strong enought for this trailer the trailer wt.6800 lbs lws1

[pappy19]

A 3.73 rear would have done the trick on the Ecoboost. Also, the 5.0 V-8 has more torque and doesn't need to wind up the turbo to get power. The 6.2 V-8 in the F-250 is a great setup and will pull any AS easy and save you many dollars over a diesel.

[MaxTow]

Originally Posted by pappy19

A 3.73 rear would have done the trick on the Ecoboost. Also, the 5.0 V-8 has more torque and doesn't need to wind up the turbo to get power. The 6.2 V-8 in the F-250 is a great setup and will pull any AS easy and save you many dollars over a diesel.

The EB develops more HP and Torque than that 5.0L. Max HP and Torque are also at lower RPM which saves fuel.

EB:
HP 365@5000 RPM
T 420 ft-lbs@2500 RPM

5.0L:
HP: 360@5500 RPM
T 380 ft-lbs@4500 RPM

With the HD Payload package the truck is equiped with a 3.73 Limited Slip rear.

The EB uses two small turbos which have very little lag. There's no sense of power lag - at least not to me...

The EB compares well with the 6.2L as found in the F-250. The 6.2L develops 20 more HP (386HP@5500 RPM) but less torque and at higher RPM (405 ft-lbs@4500). Given the extra weight of the F250, there is more performance available on the F150 EB for towing assuming an identical payload in the truck.

The 6.7L Diesel wins hand down for performance of course...405HP@4500 RPM and 800ft-lb@1600 RPM.

[pappy19]

While the Ecoboost (EB)is fast becoming the popular new 1/2 ton Ford engine, it is common knowledge in the Ford Truck Forum, that the EB has some dangerous issues. The most common issue is the sputtering engine and poor mileage. The current "fix" is to place a block on the bottom intercooler and a reflash. Ford has no real permanent fix for this condensation problem that builds up in the intercooler. When you put your foot to the floor, the turbo sucks the accumulated moisture into the turbo and cylinders, fouling the plugs and this moisture can't add much life to the turbos.

I am a die-hard Ford fan, but for me, the EB is a PC engine and with 2 turbos, the engine lasting for 200-300,000 miles, will be a miracle. A standard V-8 or V-10 has a history of a high percentage of long life and inexpensive maintenance costs, along with below average replacement costs. The same holds true with modern diesel engines, too many EPA driven parts, sensors, carbon collectors, urea tanks, twin turbos, etc. I am a firm believer in the KISS engineering, and for me, twin turbos is an accident waiting to happen.

Pap

[Budget M3]

Originally Posted by pappy19

.... it is common knowledge in the Ford Truck Forum, that the EB has some dangerous issues. The most common issue is the sputtering engine and poor mileage. The current "fix" is to place a block on the bottom intercooler and a reflash. Ford has no real permanent fix for this condensation problem that builds up in the intercooler. When you put your foot to the floor, the turbo sucks the accumulated moisture into the turbo and cylinders, fouling the plugs and this moisture can't add much life to the turbos.

This is very interesting. Water entering the combustion chamber will kill an engine (or a turbo) faster than anything other than a catastrophic loss of oil pressure. Ford engineers should be embarrassed that they have no fix for this problem (or maybe they do, but the bean counters are preventing them from taking it to market due to cost concerns?).

I am a big fan of forced induction--turbo or supercharging--both of which which provide big power increases on lower displacement engines with a reasonable effect on fuel economy. If you go with FI, it's better to go with a manufacturer that has a lot of experience with such technology. European manufacturers have been using FI for decades and seem to have the bugs worked out, routinely getting 200k and more from their hi-performance FI engines.

To the OP: You don't "need" a full size truck to tow your 25' AS. If you choose one for personal reasons, that's great. However, if like many of us your TV is also used as daily transportation, it is much more comfortable to use a well-executed SUV for both purposes. My 2006 Cayenne Turbo (450hp/450ft-lb) tows our 22' with rock solid performance and in comfort.

Just my $.02...

[MaxTow]

Originally Posted by pappy19

I am a firm believer in the KISS engineering, and for me, twin turbos is an accident waiting to happen.

Pap

I'll admit that is was a leap of faith to go for the EB engine. It doesn't have a long track record, so I'll not begrude anybody who is taking a cautious approach.

Outside of North America, there has been much more focus on economy and emissions. Smaller twin turbo engines are much more common (as in BMWs). But it's certainly not as common in a work truck.

As for KISS - again, I generally agree with this principal. However it's hard to argue that today's engines (even the simplest) are far more complicated than the engines of 40 years ago - yet are far far more reliable.

[Budget M3]

Originally Posted by MaxTow

I'll admit that is was a leap of faith to go for the EB engine. It doesn't have a long track record, so I'll not begrude anybody who is taking a cautious approach.

Outside of North America, there has been much more focus on economy and emissions. Smaller twin turbo engines are much more common (as in BMWs). But it's certainly not as common in a work truck.

As for KISS - again, I generally agree with this principal. However it's hard to argue that today's engines (even the simplest) are far more complicated than the engines of 40 years ago - yet are far far more reliable.

+1...excellent points!

[MaxTow]

Originally Posted by Budget M3

To the OP: You don't "need" a full size truck to tow your 25' AS. If you choose one for personal reasons, that's great. However, if like many of us your TV is also used as daily transportation, it is much more comfortable to use a well executed SUV for both purposes.

Just my $.02...

Calculate your payload requirements - this is what pushed us to a full size truck over a SUV or some other vehicle.

To be able to haul the entire family, plus canoes, plus hitch, plus tongue weight plus the other gear that we take that cannot fit in the trailer the only vechicle that fit the bill was the F150 with HD Payload, or a move to an F250, etc.

If there were only two of us, and we didn't need/want to haul as much gear in the TV, we would certainly have gone for a vehicle that's easier to drive around towns. Which is an important point for not just daily drive chores, but for exploring travel destinations as well. Which is one of the reasons we buy RVs.

[Budget M3]

Originally Posted by MaxTow

Calculate your payload requirements - this is what pushed us to a full size truck over a SUV or some other vehicle.

To be able to haul the entire family, plus canoes, plus hitch, plus tongue weight plus the other gear that we take that cannot fit in the trailer the only vechicle that fit the bill was the F150 with HD Payload, or a move to an F250, etc.

If there were only two of us, and we didn't need/want to haul as much gear in the TV, we would certainly have gone for a vehicle that's easier to drive around towns. Which is an important point for not just daily drive chores, but for exploring travel destinations as well. Which is one of the reasons we buy RVs.

You are 2 for 2, Max. If you have a bunch of stuff to haul in addition to the AS, then a full size truck may make sense for you. For folks like us--two adults, 25 lbs worth of dog (we have chihuahuas , bicycles, typical camping gear, a generator, gas, etc, even fully loaded we have tongue weight less than the 770lb factory maximum, and the WD hitch and self leveling suspension take care of the rest. . Oh, and there is the added benefit that once we are unhitched and set up at a campsite, the SUV drives like a sports car :evilgrin:

[barrettjl]

We tow a 2012 25FB Flying Cloud with a 2012 Ford F150 FX2 SuperCrew with an EcoBoost and the Max Trailer towing package. We are happy with the performance while towing; the truck has always had plenty of power. Even towing in the mountains out West, the truck had the power to pull as fast as I wanted to go.

That said, a few things you should consider:
1) We always go 65mph or less, so going up a mountain at 80mph isn't anything we cared to do
2) The MaxPayload is (was?) only available on the long bed. If a long bed would have fit in our garage, I probably would have gotten that because ...
3) The thing you will run up against is the not the max trailer weight (which is a function of the Gross Combined Vehicle Weight Rating - GCWR). You probably *WILL* get close to the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating - GVWR and/or the Gross Rear Axle Weight Rating - GRAWR.

I did a *bunch* of research, and with a weight distribution hitch, the tongue weight of the trailer, 2 adults, 2 100-pound dogs, the truck accessories (running boards, tonneau cover), and our camping stuff, I think we come to within 500-700 pounds of the GVWR and/or the GRAWR. We have to be mindful of what we put in the truck bed. However, we have always been able to take what we need.

If you went with a 250, you wouldn't have the payload issue.

Here are some posts and threads with details
Thread with me asking about a F150 towing a 25FB
Details and links to Ford 2012 specs, towing guide, and payload workbook

Hope that helps.