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Old 01-12-2021, 10:39 PM   #1
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2021 Ford F-150 owners thread

I just purchased a 2021 F-150 platinum to use to tow my Airstream and also as a gear hauler and Labrador transportation vehicle.

My former tow vehicle was a 2011 Mercedes GL350, and I have probably used it to tow the airstream 25,000 miles over the last 10 years. With 110,000 miles it is starting to die.

I was ready to buy a Mercedes GLS 580, but production delays were taking forever on the build that I ordered, and there was still no firm delivery date, so I decided to cut and run and go to plan b.

Next I looked at a ram 1500 diesel, but once but once I learned about the new hybrid engine coupled with the ProPower 7200 watt outlet in the back of the F-150 I was sold. The F-150 can actually power two airstreams at once! You can split the 240 volt outlet in the back into two 120 v 30 amp circuits. I was just sold on the idea of having a large quiet mobile generator built into the truck, and I plan to add a front power inlet to the Airstream so I can have it plugged in to AC power both when it's being towed as well as when we are camping.

I used Costco pricing and was able to get a custom ordered platinum edition that's pretty much fully loaded for $350 under invoice price, less any dealer or factory incentives available at the time of delivery. That's the Costco deal for hybrid f-150s. If I have chosen different motor, the Costco pricing was $1,250 under invoice for the platinum F-150. The non Costco Ford dealers in my area were trying very hard to stick to MSRP for custom ordered f-150s right now. Demand appears to be very high.

We looked at a bunch of colors and chose Kodiak Brown for the exterior, which comes with a caramel colored leather on the interior that we thought was a great color combination. We got the ultra super mega cab, plus a 6.5 ft bed, with four-wheel drive, and the max tow package, also with towing mirrors.

Can you tell I'm excited! I'm looking forward to dry camping if the boonies at Joshua tree with a nice cool Airstream to come back to!

My overall automobile fleet plan is the new F-150 for towing and hauling, my convertible Porsche for nice weather days only with the top down, and probably a new electric sedan as a daily driver. I test drove a a Tesla model S performance last week and was very unimpressed; I'm watching the upcoming Mercedes EQS very closely...
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Old 01-13-2021, 01:31 PM   #2
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please report back after first trip with new truck
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Old 01-13-2021, 05:12 PM   #3
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Can you post the payload sticker? Real curious to know what a build like that can handle...
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Old 01-13-2021, 07:20 PM   #4
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Can you post the payload sticker? Real curious to know what a build like that can handle...
I'd be interested to know payload as well.

Sounds like an interesting TV with previously unavailable options.
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Old 01-13-2021, 11:25 PM   #5
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For my build, towing capacity is 12,400 lbs and payload capacity is 1840 pounds.

Here is a link to the build

https://shop.ford.com/build/f150/#/config/Config%5B%7CFord%7CF-150%7C2021%7C1%7C1.%7C701A.W1E..J1...PLA.54W.AWD.9 9D.CCAB.96W.96L.47R.60P.43V.477.50M.RETAIL.53C.CUL .89B.SS6.%5D
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Old 01-14-2021, 05:14 AM   #6
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Thank you for posting this- did you consider optioning with the Max towing, and the Max Payload package?

Im very curious to see what a Max Payload (nicely optioned, ie. Lariat, Platinum truck) will offer in terms of available payload. Thanks for your thoughts!
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Old 01-14-2021, 11:49 AM   #7
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Thank you for posting this- did you consider optioning with the Max towing, and the Max Payload package?

Im very curious to see what a Max Payload (nicely optioned, ie. Lariat, Platinum truck) will offer in terms of available payload. Thanks for your thoughts!

I did configure with the Max Towing package. It looks like the Max Payload package is automatically included with the Max Towing Package...



Detailed towing and cargo capacity is listed on the specifications section of the ford website - here it is for the Platinum trip... https://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/models/f150-platinum/
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Old 01-14-2021, 11:54 AM   #8
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Here is the almost exact config I purchased, with MSRP and invoice pricing, for your reference - it's a highly optioned 4WD Platinum edition configured for max towing. I also added the flat work surface to my final build...

Ford F-150
2021 — Platinum 4WD SuperCrew 6.5' Box
This isn’t the price you’ll pay. Every eligible vehicle has Costco pricing exclusively for you.

MSRP: Invoice:
Base $62,835 $58,752
Options $10,190 $9,275
Destination $1,695 $1,695
Total $74,720 * $69,722

Options Invoice MSRP
Vehicle Price BASE $58,752 $62,835
DESTINATION CHARGE $1,695 $1,695
Engine: 3.5L PowerBoost Full-Hybrid V6 $2,275 $2,500
Transmission: Hybrid Electronic 10-Speed Automatic $0 $0
Equipment Group 701A High $2,444 $2,685
Electronic Locking w/3.73 Axle Ratio $518 $570
Tires: 275/60R20 BSW AT $0 $0
Kodiak Brown Metallic $0 $0
Black/Carmelo, Unique Multi-Contour Leather Bucket Seats $0 $0
Ford Co-Pilot360 Active 2.0 $906 $995
Tow Technology Package $801 $880
Max Trailer Tow Package $1,656 $1,820
GVWR: 7,350 lbs Payload Package $0 $0
Twin Panel Moonroof $1,361 $1,495
Telescoping Power Glass Trailer Tow Mirrors w/Heat $228 $250
Tough Bed Spray-In Bedliner $542 $595
Wheel Well Liner $164 $180
Radio: B&O Sound System Unleashed by Bang & Olufsen $0 $0
Tray Style Floor Liner $182 $200
Partitioned Lockable Fold-Flat Storage $195 $215
Power Tailgate $633 $695
Pro Power Onboard - 7.2KW $683 $750
360 Degree Camera $696 $765
Equipment Group 701A High savings $-455 $-500
Total $69,722 $74,720
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Old 01-14-2021, 12:05 PM   #9
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once I learned about the new hybrid engine coupled with the ProPower 7200 watt outlet in the back of the F-150 I was sold. The F-150 can actually power two airstreams at once! You can split the 240 volt outlet in the back into two 120 v 30 amp circuits. I was just sold on the idea of having a large quiet mobile generator built into the truck, and I plan to add a front power inlet to the Airstream so I can have it plugged in to AC power both when it's being towed as well as when we are camping.
I'm quite interested in these power capabilities and have a few questions.

If you opt for the 7200W version, does the splitter come with the Ford F-150? Or is that an easy purchase? I saw that video that's going around of the F-150 powering two RVs and the guy didn't go into detail about the electrical cords he had going on, but it looked like it was split and then of course some adapters in the mix too.

So, if you split the 240 volt 30 amp output into two 120 volt 30 amp outlets, each one will have 3600W of output capacity.

Is 3600W felt to be enough for a single RV? I'm thinking Basecamp size here, so the A/C isn't huge. By my calculations, the AC and regular use of other electricity (fans, lights, pumps) would fit within 3600W. The microwave might require you to shut off A/C (one or the other). Not a big deal.

If you have no need of a splitter (not like I'm towing two RVs), I think you could use a 240v to 120v converter. They seem to go for $15. Would keep it simpler, I suppose.

The "downside" (if you can call it that) is you're buying 7200W of power, but are only going to use half of it for the RV hookup. Yet the 2400W version would be too small (I think?) Of course, having the regular 120V outlets for other uses (pumping up tubes or running extension cords to other stuff) is nice and the 7200W gives tons of headroom for that when you need it.

I'm wondering what others have thought/calculated in this regard...
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Old 01-14-2021, 12:13 PM   #10
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Here is pre-approved Costco discounting off of invoice for 2021 Ford Trucks, current as of Jan 2021. Note that when you order / purchase your vehicle, make sure to get agreement in writing that you will agree to pay $XXX under invoice, less any dealer or manufacturer incentives available at time of delivery plus taxes. You may also want to try to pre-negotiate dealer and doc fees and also get that in writing. Unlike Mercedes, where I have much more negotiating experience, Ford dealers appear to rely heavily on manufacturer incentives at time of delivery.



In my area, my closest dealers were reluctant to negotiate any discount off of MSRP for a custom-ordered F-150. The Costco program dealership is about an hour drive, but was absolutely willing to offer the Costco negotiated price, which for my Hybrid F150 was $325 below invoice = about $5,300 below MSRP.



F-150 Diesel 2021 $1,175 Under Invoice
F-150 Hybrid 2021 $325 Under Invoice
F-150 King Ranch 2021 $975 Under Invoice
F-150 Lariat 2021 Pending
F-150 Limited 2021 $1,075 Under Invoice
F-150 Platinum 2021 $1,025 Under Invoice
F-150 XL 2021 $1,075 Under Invoice
F-150 XLT 2021 $1,125 Under Invoice
F-250 Diesel 2021 Excluded
F-250 King Ranch Excluded
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Old 01-14-2021, 12:46 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by djbreslin View Post
I'm quite interested in these power capabilities and have a few questions.

If you opt for the 7200W version, does the splitter come with the Ford F-150? Or is that an easy purchase? I saw that video that's going around of the F-150 powering two RVs and the guy didn't go into detail about the electrical cords he had going on, but it looked like it was split and then of course some adapters in the mix too.

So, if you split the 240 volt 30 amp output into two 120 volt 30 amp outlets, each one will have 3600W of output capacity.

Is 3600W felt to be enough for a single RV? I'm thinking Basecamp size here, so the A/C isn't huge. By my calculations, the AC and regular use of other electricity (fans, lights, pumps) would fit within 3600W. The microwave might require you to shut off A/C (one or the other). Not a big deal.

If you have no need of a splitter (not like I'm towing two RVs), I think you could use a 240v to 120v converter. They seem to go for $15. Would keep it simpler, I suppose.

The "downside" (if you can call it that) is you're buying 7200W of power, but are only going to use half of it for the RV hookup. Yet the 2400W version would be too small (I think?) Of course, having the regular 120V outlets for other uses (pumping up tubes or running extension cords to other stuff) is nice and the 7200W gives tons of headroom for that when you need it.

I'm wondering what others have thought/calculated in this regard...

It's an easy purchase...


My older Airstream is designed to run off of a 3 wire 120 volt / 30 amp circuit.



Newer Airstreams with two air conditioners are wired to run off of a 4 wire 50 amp service that can supply both 120 and 240 volts simultaneously at up to 50 amps.



Trying to keep things super simple - you can think of a 240 V circuit being made of up 2 120V circuits that are added together. Internally, there are two hot wires, each carrying 120 Volts. If you connect either of these hot wires to the neutral wire, you get a 120 volt circuit, that will deliver up to 30 amps. So as you noted above, the F150 can supply up to two 120 Volt circuits at 30 amps each. If you connect both hot wires together, you will get a single 240 volt circuit that will deliver up to 30 amps.

Hence you don't need a voltage converter or anything fancy or expensive to plug either kind of airstream into the back of the new F150. You just need an appropriate adapter for your plug to make it fit into the socket in the back of the F-150. Internally, the plug will connect either one or both of the hot wires from the F-150 to one or both of the hot wires used by your airstream.


The socket in the back of the F150 is a NEMA L14-30 locking socket. Sockets are also known as female connectors. This type of socket uses two hot wires, a neutral wire, and a ground wire.


My airstream power cord has a NEMA TT-30 plug. Plugs are also known as male connectors. This type of plug uses one hot wire, one neutral wire and a ground.



The newer 50AMP airstream power cords have a NEMA 14-50 plug. These use two hot wires, a neutral wire, and a ground wire, just like the socket in the F150.


So for my Airstream, I need a NEMA L14-30 Female to TT-30 Male adapter. Internally, this will connect one of the hot wires from the F-150 to my Airstream hot wire, and it will also connect neutral to neutral and ground to ground. One of the hot wires from the F150 is not used - and you are correct, this unused power is available for other uses from the other sockets in the rear of the F150.

Here is one such adapter-> https://www.homedepot.com/p/Conntek-...309278616-_-N&



For a newer Airstream, you need a NEMA L14-30 Female to NEMA 14-50 Male adapter, that will connect each of the four wires coming from your F150 to their counterpart in your Airstream.

When looking for an adapter, ask questions here or read the instructions carefully to make sure the adapter you choose meets your requirements - for example the one I linked to above that specifies adapting a 240V generator to a 120 Volt trailer plug, and it has a capacity of 30 amps or greater.

So an adapter is all you need and you are good to go. The only other thing to be aware of is that for a newer airstream with a 50 amp service, you will trip the circuit breaker on the F150 if you turn on so much stuff in your Airstream that you exceed 30 amps of demand on either of the two circuits. So try not to run your welder and your air conditioners at the same time...


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Old 01-14-2021, 07:49 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ddruker View Post
For my build, towing capacity is 12,400 lbs and payload capacity is 1840 pounds.

Here is a link to the build

https://shop.ford.com/build/f150/#/c...UL.89B.SS6.%5D

Great looking truck! 1800lb payload is huge for a platinum 150. Please share the load sticker, on the door jamb, when your truck comes in if you could.
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Old 01-14-2021, 08:54 PM   #13
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Congrats! Just curious: what is Ford’s guidance on idle time limitations, if any, while running the gen?
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Old 01-14-2021, 10:56 PM   #14
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Congrats! Just curious: what is Ford’s guidance on idle time limitations, if any, while running the gen?
The hybrid engine comes with a large rechargeable battery pack. The 7200 watt inverter runs off of this battery pack, not directly off of your engine. When the voltage of the battery pack drops down below a preset level, the truck automatically restarts the engine to recharge the battery pack. All of this is automatic, and on the Ford forums where owners have been discussing this, the conclusion is there are no restrictions or limitations on use - you can let it cycle until your 30 gallon fuel tank runs dry.

What's also kind of cool is that the inverter of course also is active while driving and towing. So you can keep your Airstream plugged into the equivalent of shore power while you are towing it to your destination, as long as you already have or can add a plug in the front of your Airstream. No more controversy about leaving the refrigerator on while towing! The Ford marketing literature even talks about running a slow cooker in the RV while towing to your campsite, but I think I'm more likely to turn the air conditioner on when towing to a hot campsite.

At least in the current version of the Ford software, you don't have much control over how the system operates - for instance I can imagine it would be very useful to have a setting that automatically brought the battery to 100% charge to coincide with the end of generator allowed hours at your campsite, or it would be useful to tell it to let the battery run down to its minimum safe point until you are allowed to turn the engine back on again in the morning. I'm sure they will get this kind of feedback and it's for sure something they could do in a software update if enough people ask for it.

I also think this feature will require campsites to update their generator rules. Many don't allow vehicles to idle while camped, but they do allow gen sets to run during generator hours. They are clearly going to need a new rule for when the gen set is the tow vehicle, and I'm pretty sure that the truck is going to be a lot quieter than a loud rattly generator...
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Old 01-15-2021, 12:39 AM   #15
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2021 Ford F-150 owners thread

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Great looking truck! 1800lb payload is huge for a platinum 150. Please share the load sticker, on the door jamb, when your truck comes in if you could.


Yes, it does seem too high. I hope 1800lb payload is correct, but I am skeptical. I ordered an F150 King Ranch a few years ago and the dealer figured the payload incorrectly. Long story short, they ended up ordering me a different truck to increase the payload.
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Old 01-15-2021, 04:00 AM   #16
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My sister-in-law just purchase an F150 limited and it only had 1100 lbs of payload. The more options you get the lower the payload.
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Old 01-15-2021, 08:40 AM   #17
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I have a 2021 F-150 Lariat on order and have done a fair amount of research into the payload capability of the truck. 1840 lbs you mention is the max available payload of an F-150 with the PowerBoost engine, 4x4, SuperCrew body and 145' wheelbase and standard features only. Once you add all of the options you've specified the payload goes WAY down. The power tailgate alone takes away 50 lbs. The moonroof costs another 64 lbs.

There is a forum I've been following specific to the new F-150. There are multiple threads where people have posted their window and payload stickers. Here is a link to the Platinum thread:

https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/thre...er-thread.962/

Also, these docs are very helpful:

F150 eSourceBook Specs.pdf
This shows more detail on the weighs of the non-standard options.

2021_Ford_RVandTrailerTowingGuide.pdf
Details on towing, payload, etc. for the 2021 models.

My best guess at what my Lariat will carry is about 1850. I had to drop the power tailgate and a couple of other things we wanted to get down to that number. But since we'll be towing a 27' GT I wanted to reserve as much tow vehicle payload as possible.
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Old 01-15-2021, 01:59 PM   #18
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Yes, it does seem too high. I hope 1800lb payload is correct, but I am skeptical. I ordered an F150 King Ranch a few years ago and the dealer figured the payload incorrectly. Long story short, they ended up ordering me a different truck to increase the payload.

Makes sense - the number I quoted above was from Ford's literature, so it makes sense that it will decrease with more options. I will post the plaque from the truck once I take delivery.



It's funny I'm very trained from my prior tow vehicle, a Mercedes GL, to carry NOTHING in the TV other than people and dogs - I didn't even think about payload capacity when configuring the F-150.
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Old 01-16-2021, 02:05 PM   #19
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If you want to know the correct payload before you commit to ordering a new truck their are a couple of ways that I am aware of to do this. The easiest we have found, is to build the truck you want with the options you want online. Then take that information to your Ford dealership and ask them to locate a truck at another dealership that has the same options that you want. (Even if that dealer is far away). My dealer then called the dealership with the similar truck and had them check the payload sticker on the door jam of the similar truck. Even if it is not an exact twin, you can add or subtract the weights of the options that are different. (Ford offers the weights of all available options in a separate publication.). This will avoid any payload surprises when you take delivery.
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Old 01-16-2021, 02:25 PM   #20
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I built a 2020 F150 super crew cab with max tow and 36 gallon tank. The payload came in at 1670lbs. My previous F150 was about 1800lbs. The two things I added was the tail gate step and the 2 side steps. That’s why it came down a bit. My guess that 1840lbs on that Platinum is going to be around 1300 to 1400lbs.
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