2021 Ford F-150 owners thread

[DKB_SATX]

Originally Posted by RVDreamer

Glenn,

I think if you check in the system settings somewhere you can change the idle time. I remember seeing it when I was initially setting mine up. I think it defaults to either 20 or 30 minutes maximum but can be overridden by changing the settings.

The 30 amp ProPwer socket is 240 volts @ 30 amps. If you have a 50 amp connection to your trailer you can buy the proper cables to deliver a full 50 amps 120 volts to your trailer. My trailer is 30 amp so I have an adapter that converts my 30 amp 240 into two 30 amp 120 outlets.

The highlighted/underlined portion is incorrect.

If you buy an appropriate cable, you can get the Powerboost to deliver 2x 30A at 120v to your 50A trailer, which at a campground with 50A service would get 2x50A at 120v. It SHOULD be ample power for all practical intents and purposes but it's not 50A service, which is why the specs define the Powerboost output as 30A.

[RVDreamer]

Originally Posted by DKB_SATX

The highlighted/underlined portion is incorrect.

If you buy an appropriate cable, you can get the Powerboost to deliver 2x 30A at 120v to your 50A trailer, which at a campground with 50A service would get 2x50A at 120v. It SHOULD be ample power for all practical intents and purposes but it's not 50A service, which is why the specs define the Powerboost output as 30A.

Why can't you combine the two 30A 120V circuits with this cable and get a single 120V 50A. I haven't tried it with mine but it should work fine. You have 240V at 30A for 7.2 Kw of power. That is more than enough for a 50A 120V single connection which is only 6 Kw. It may not technically be full 50A service which is 12000 watts but won't it work as the RV is only pulling 120V 50A to run most A/C and appliances.

Here is a link to the proper cabling.

You need this https://www.amazon.com/LeisureCords-...8487162&sr=8-5 to use with a double headed 30 amp 120V cord from the PowerPort 240V 30 amp L-14 outlet

or this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...language=en_US which does the entire thing in one cord.

[DKB_SATX]

The first cable you linked is NOT an appropriate cable for this purpose because you'd require an adapter that splits the NEMA L14-30R on the truck into 2 30A RV plugs, adding resistance and iffy connections along the way. It's to use to take 2 separate 30A 120V supplies and use one for each leg of the service into a 50A trailer. It'll still only deliver 2x30A at 120v on a perfect day, but likely a bit less because of all the adapters it'll need in the middle.

The 2nd one you linked (NEMA L14-30P to 14-50R) IS an appropriate cable for the purpose and will deliver to a 50A trailer just what I described, 2x30A at 120v (the full output of the Powerboost system.) As long as only 1 AC is supplied by each leg of the service, this should work fine and allow one to run both AC units and various other accessories, but you won't have as much excess capacity as a campground's 2x50A at 120v supply.

[CWSWine]

Originally Posted by goldenchase

10% of the the 25' FB max trailer weight is 730 lbs, so that is my goal for tongue weight to deal with the heavy F-150 PowerBoost.

.

We have found that at 10% the towing experience was not good and we were being pushed around by large trucks and even some RVs passing us would cause sway. We have a front living room with very little storage forward of the wheels and found we need to move weight forward to get closer to 13 percent. Your floor plan has lots of storage forward of the axles in the bedroom, bathroom, under the beds, and outside storage compartments. When we had our 2019 33 foot we found that the factory pin weight was off by almost 180 pounds when we weighted before we even hook up to the truck using a Tongue scale at the dealers. On the 33 FB we found the ready-to-camp tongue weight was between 1550 and 1700 pounds. Here is a youtube video showing the effect of too much weight behind the axles.

Hope everything works out for you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mW_gzdh6to

[SailorSam205]

Going with the lower tongue weight makes using a Hensley design hitch, I prefer Propride, more important. Here is a demo similar to the above post using a model of a PPP hitch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1MZoskr46Q

[Glenn Hoskin]

All,

If you are looking to avoid flipping your breaker on the F150 power converter for your Airstream, a recommendation was made to install a soft start on your AC to reduce the power jump. I checked with my Airstream dealer and a soft start installed on an Airstream AC will void out your warranty. FYI.

[Hans627]

Originally Posted by Glenn Hoskin

All,

If you are looking to avoid flipping your breaker on the F150 power converter for your Airstream, a recommendation was made to install a soft start on your AC to reduce the power jump. I checked with my Airstream dealer and a soft start installed on an Airstream AC will void out your warranty. FYI.

Which is then warranted by Micro-Air if you chose their Easy Start.

[Glenn Hoskin]

We purchased the same as you and glad we opted for the larger inverter on the F150. While the 3600 watts is the max output for the RV, it will accommodate other plugs for other appliances like an electric skillet, air pump etc. Our AC does have to be cut off when running the convention oven, microwave, coffee pot, electric skillet,…or it will trip the truck. I inquired about installing a soft start on the AC with my dealer, and this will void out my extended warranty I purchased on the AC. So, at the end of the day…it’s not what it seemed when I purchased my Platinum, however, it is the best of choice for boon docking with the minor inconveniences.

[Glenn Hoskin]

Thank you!

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by Glenn Hoskin

We purchased the same as you and glad we opted for the larger inverter on the F150. While the 3600 watts is the max output for the RV, it will accommodate other plugs for other appliances like an electric skillet, air pump etc. Our AC does have to be cut off when running the convention oven, microwave, coffee pot, electric skillet,…or it will trip the truck. I inquired about installing a soft start on the AC with my dealer, and this will void out my extended warranty I purchased on the AC. So, at the end of the day…it’s not what it seemed when I purchased my Platinum, however, it is the best of choice for boon docking with the minor inconveniences.

FYI- AS Jackson Center installed my Easy Start on my 15000 AC unit. No issues...Not sure why the dealer is ignorant on this topic...some understand and some do not. Your AC is pretty straight forward. Have not ever seen/heard of an issue with installing an Easystart...you should call them if your concerned. Best investment to make your AC start easier with smaller generators also...

[SailorSam205]

Back to F-150's. My saga so far on getting a new truck. I originally put in an order in about June and was told it was a toss up if I would get a 2021 or 2022. Then I heard about the active damping option. So I asked my dealer to add that option. Initially, they couldn't add the option and they had to wait until Job 2 opened up the order process. The option was added about June 21 and my wait continued. As of yesterday, I got a note from my dealer that a VIN/schedule date still hadn't been assigned. So I asked if I would be getting a 2022 or 2023. Reply was that "so far" I will be getting a 2022.

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by SailorSam205

Back to F-150's. My saga so far on getting a new truck. I originally put in an order in about June and was told it was a toss up if I would get a 2021 or 2022. Then I heard about the active damping option. So I asked my dealer to add that option. Initially, they couldn't add the option and they had to wait until Job 2 opened up the order process. The option was added about June 21 and my wait continued. As of yesterday, I got a note from my dealer that a VIN/schedule date still hadn't been assigned. So I asked if I would be getting a 2022 or 2023. Reply was that "so far" I will be getting a 2022.

Think I would push to get the 23' at this point so you get the latest upgrades..no additional cost for your inconvenience, would be my argument also! Let us know how it goes...

[gypsydad]

check out the headlines I just saw...
Married Ford engineers save wedding during power failure with their hybrid.

https://www.foxnews.com/auto/married...e-hybrid-f-150

Great press for Ford!

[wayne b]

I wanted to add my F-150 experience here, as this thread was helpful in the process of considering one. Got the Powerboost hybrid with the 7kw inverter for the obvious reason of powering the 23’ Globetrotter.

Pro Power inverter:
Plugged it in for a test run of AC as that seems like the biggest challenge power wise. As others have noted on this thread, if you have a 30amp trailer, the actual power spec of the inverter is 3.6kw not the 7.2ks as there are two circuits. But if you have one AC that should be enough. I ran the AC / fridge / lights and got bumps from 1700w to 1900w for about 30 minutes. One thing that’s helpful is the Ford app connects to the inverter and you can refresh to see how much power is being used. For a test I attempted to turn everything off and did get to 0 watts, though it would spike up to 100w, which I suspect was the fridge (on propane mode) or the Fusion stereo.

If you are reading this thread and the inverter is what’s tempting you about this truck, here’s a thing that maybe others have noted but makes this a particularly good solution: unlike a regular generator that runs constantly and ramps up when there’s a higher draw, the Ford inverter runs off the hybrid battery, drains the battery and then the car turns on to idle at 1k rpm and charge the battery. What’s so good about this is if you are just using lights and a fan the Ford is off / quiet for most of the time, turning on 1 or 2x an hour to idle for 3 minutes or so. If you are using AC obviously it’s going to run a lot more. But the key is you can keep the car plugged in for hours and, in most campgrounds, during the day it’s not that noticeable. That said, I’d keep it off at night, because it is still a truck turning on.

A few things I didn’t understand: I turned on the TV, which should draw some power but I didn’t see a bump up at all in the app. Is it really only 30-40W? Fusion stereo also didn’t seem to up the usage as well. The other curious thing is after having it plugged in for 5 hours (last hour being the TV watching) and turned off the truck, the battery was at 12.5/12.4, not the 12.6 or 12.7 where it started.

Towing
If you are shopping for one of these and are going to custom build one, keep in mind Lariat and above with a bunch of options (moon roof, power lift, running boards, bed liner) plus the hybrid and inverter greatly reduces payload. If you have 23’ and smaller this might not be an issue, but if you are 25’ and above, it’s wise to do a deep dive into a PDF that’s available and try to build a “slim” truck with higher payload. The F-150 boards have people sharing configurations and payload stickers and that’s also useful information. The optional “smart scale” will even tell you how close you are.

The Ford touchscreen interface and tow mode is great. Handling and power is good, as other describe, which is part of why it’s one of the most popular TVs. With the Powerboost towing at 55mph we got about 14mpg.

We have one very large problem: sometimes it doesn’t recognize the trailer brakes. This happened while towing and is obviously unsafe and makes the truck unreliable as a tow vehicle. There’s a very long thread on the Ford f-150 14 gen board, where I’ll post my experience in detail with that, but obviously huge dealbreaker issue to be resolved.

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by wayne b

I wanted to add my F-150 experience here, as this thread was helpful in the process of considering one. Got the Powerboost hybrid with the 7kw inverter for the obvious reason of powering the 23’ Globetrotter.

Pro Power inverter:
Plugged it in for a test run of AC as that seems like the biggest challenge power wise. As others have noted on this thread, if you have a 30amp trailer, the actual power spec of the inverter is 3.6kw not the 7.2ks as there are two circuits. But if you have one AC that should be enough. I ran the AC / fridge / lights and got bumps from 1700w to 1900w for about 30 minutes. One thing that’s helpful is the Ford app connects to the inverter and you can refresh to see how much power is being used. For a test I attempted to turn everything off and did get to 0 watts, though it would spike up to 100w, which I suspect was the fridge (on propane mode) or the Fusion stereo.

If you are reading this thread and the inverter is what’s tempting you about this truck, here’s a thing that maybe others have noted but makes this a particularly good solution: unlike a regular generator that runs constantly and ramps up when there’s a higher draw, the Ford inverter runs off the hybrid battery, drains the battery and then the car turns on to idle at 1k rpm and charge the battery. What’s so good about this is if you are just using lights and a fan the Ford is off / quiet for most of the time, turning on 1 or 2x an hour to idle for 3 minutes or so. If you are using AC obviously it’s going to run a lot more. But the key is you can keep the car plugged in for hours and, in most campgrounds, during the day it’s not that noticeable. That said, I’d keep it off at night, because it is still a truck turning on.

A few things I didn’t understand: I turned on the TV, which should draw some power but I didn’t see a bump up at all in the app. Is it really only 30-40W? Fusion stereo also didn’t seem to up the usage as well. The other curious thing is after having it plugged in for 5 hours (last hour being the TV watching) and turned off the truck, the battery was at 12.5/12.4, not the 12.6 or 12.7 where it started.

Towing
If you are shopping for one of these and are going to custom build one, keep in mind Lariat and above with a bunch of options (moon roof, power lift, running boards, bed liner) plus the hybrid and inverter greatly reduces payload. If you have 23’ and smaller this might not be an issue, but if you are 25’ and above, it’s wise to do a deep dive into a PDF that’s available and try to build a “slim” truck with higher payload. The F-150 boards have people sharing configurations and payload stickers and that’s also useful information. The optional “smart scale” will even tell you how close you are.

The Ford touchscreen interface and tow mode is great. Handling and power is good, as other describe, which is part of why it’s one of the most popular TVs. With the Powerboost towing at 55mph we got about 14mpg.

We have one very large problem: sometimes it doesn’t recognize the trailer brakes. This happened while towing and is obviously unsafe and makes the truck unreliable as a tow vehicle. There’s a very long thread on the Ford f-150 14 gen board, where I’ll post my experience in detail with that, but obviously huge dealbreaker issue to be resolved.

Thanks for this info! My friend has one with an SOB; I will forward to him...perhaps he will convert to an AS! Anwayy, the comment on the brakes/plug issue could be your pigtail connector? It may be working loose... Several of us have had the connector on our AS's replaced as Ford had/has(?) an issue with this...I used to have to "ducktape" my connector to my TV when this started happening until I was at Jackson Center couple years back, and they replaced the AS pigtail while I was there. No more issues. You might check it out...think there may be other threads on this on the Forum. I have run into a few folks at the Ford dealer while getting service who were chasing down this issue on their trucks with the service guys...

[wayne b]

Originally Posted by gypsydad

Anwayy, the comment on the brakes/plug issue could be your pigtail connector? It may be working loose... Several of us have had the connector on our AS's replaced as Ford had/has(?) an issue with this...I used to have to "ducktape" my connector to my TV when this started happening until I was at Jackson Center couple years back, and they replaced the AS pigtail while I was there. No more issues. You might check it out...think there may be other threads on this on the Forum. I have run into a few folks at the Ford dealer while getting service who were chasing down this issue on their trucks with the service guys...

thanks for the advice, I'll google the forums for past threads on the topic. It's really frustrating, as it's a new truck (and 2020 airstream). Some details:

• when having this problem I test the trailer turn signal lights and they work fine.
• I had a previous TV (using the curt echo brake controller) and never had this issue.
• I turned off the car for 10 minutes, pulled out the 7pin and re-inserted, firmly, which didn't help the truck recognize the brakes.
• it has worked for several hundred miles with no issue

Tangentially, being new to Airstream, it's surprising to me the standard for 7pin connector is it to be held into place by the spring loaded cap on the truck. For such a crucial connection, a connector where in many cases "maybe it needs gorilla tape" is a design problem. For example, the 30amp power cable has that screw on ring, which seems like a good way to be sure it's tight.

[SYC2Vette]

Apologies if this has been covered, but in talking with Ford representative I got the following information and wanted to confirm it is entirely correct. For background I am interested in maximizing payload but OK with almost any reasonable tow rating.

In order to get the true Max Payload option, the only F150 versions are XL 300A and XLT 301A. It is not available with any 122" or 145" cab/bed combo, but is available with 4WD, and any cab/bed combination other than the 122" or 145".

When ordering Max Tow the Max Payload is included and required but only for XL and XLT as above, so apparently if you specify Max Tow with anything other than XL or XLT you do not get (and cannot order) the Max Payload option.

Have I got it right?

[Northerngirl]

Originally Posted by wayne b

Tangentially, being new to Airstream, it's surprising to me the standard for 7pin connector is it to be held into place by the spring loaded cap on the truck. For such a crucial connection, a connector where in many cases "maybe it needs gorilla tape" is a design problem. For example, the 30amp power cable has that screw on ring, which seems like a good way to be sure it's tight.

Have you tow this trailer with any other vehicle before the truck? If not it’s possible the issue is with the trailer and not the truck. Possible loose break wire or a wire in the harness. Had that issue on my last trailer, some times it worked sometimes not, connection at the brake was poorly done.

I have a fairly new F150 and do not need to use anything to keep the plug connected even when traveling on rough roads. I did when the truck was brand new to me have it show up on a the screen as a disconnect once after a big bump. It was still in place but the plug had come particularly out, I bent two of the plug blades out just a tiny bit and while it takes a bit more force to connect have never had another issue with it.

Wondering if your trailers plug was dropped into dirt and possible has something down in the brake blade hole that is preventing a solid connection. Or perhaps bending the blade on truck side a tiny bit in ir out might fix your issue.

[wayne b]

Originally Posted by Northerngirl

Have you tow this trailer with any other vehicle before the truck? If not it’s possible the issue is with the trailer and not the truck. Possible loose break wire or a wire in the harness. Had that issue on my last trailer, some times it worked sometimes not, connection at the brake was poorly done.

I have a fairly new F150 and do not need to use anything to keep the plug connected even when traveling on rough roads. I did when the truck was brand new to me have it show up on a the screen as a disconnect once after a big bump. It was still in place but the plug had come particularly out, I bent two of the plug blades out just a tiny bit and while it takes a bit more force to connect have never had another issue with it.

Wondering if your trailers plug was dropped into dirt and possible has something down in the brake blade hole that is preventing a solid connection. Or perhaps bending the blade on truck side a tiny bit in ir out might fix your issue.

Yes, have towed it with another vehicle, never lost the brakes, but I'm going to carefully inspect to see if there are bent pins or dirt. The lights are working, so of course if it's 1 out of 7 that goes bad, it's the brakes. Going to invest in something to hold and cap the plug in the future. Similar to previous comment about holding the connector in place with duct tape, the idea that you might lose your brakes traveling down a steep grade because a blade needs to be slightly wiggled is . Looking at replacements, it seems airstream installs $5 connectors and the better quality ones are maybe $15? (Apologies for taking this thread a bit off the F-150 topic...)

[TKerns]

In order to get the true Max Payload option, the only F150 versions are XL 300A and XLT 301A. It is not available with any 122" or 145" cab/bed combo, but is available with 4WD, and any cab/bed combination other than the 122" or 145".

When ordering Max Tow the Max Payload is included and required but only for XL and XLT as above, so apparently if you specify Max Tow with anything other than XL or XLT you do not get (and cannot order) the Max Payload option.

Have I got it right?[/QUOTE]

Yes, max payload is only available on XL and XLT long wheelbase as noted above