Another Tired TV Post - Towing an Classic - F-150 3.5L EcoBoost, Limited

[Woolecox]

Originally Posted by JeffRadford

Hey folks -

Bought a 26 foot Airstream pre-covid and have towed just fine w my current Ford. I'm rated for a max tow of 10,700 lb. No problems towing at roughly 7,500 lb.

Currently considering moving into a Classic 33' Airstream Q1 this year, and that's sitting at a GCVR of 10,000 lbs. When I add the hitch weight of 1,175 lb - well you're starting to see the math conundrum. Start adding myself and additional payload and we're topping out my max tow and it's getting hairy.

I know a lot of folks are gonna say, go buy a 250, but my question is, does anyone have experience and can speak to tuning up an F150 3.5L, 6 cylinder like mine and what the improved towing capacity may be?

My options I'm seeing are this -

1. Tune - increase tow capacity.
2. Buy a used 250.
3. Buy a new F150 that's rated at 13,900 lb. max tow.

Curious to see what the thoughts are.

PS my 2019 FC is for sale if anyone's interested.

Thanks!

For a 33 Classic I would definitely go to an F-250. And just curious, what F-150 has a 13,000# max tow? Mine is rated at 14,400 GCVWR. That is truck and trailer combined. It will not safely pull a 14,400# trailer.

[starkruzr]

Originally Posted by BayouBiker

It's funny but not even remotely accurate. Most overloaded combinations (those that exceed one or more of the OEM guidelines) tow just fine 99+ percent of the time so even overloaded, an accident is not inevitable and those who advise sensible towing combinations don't describe it that way. Overloaded combinations are twice as likely to be involved in serious accidents though. Those who tow over limits are clearly accepting additional risks as the crash numbers clearly demonstrate. They end up with combinations with narrow stability and performance profiles so if they happen to get out of those profiles they tend to have difficulties. If the driver never lets that happen, they the do just fine.

In crashes the police does cite drivers and in court liability does get assigned to drivers who are clearly towing over limits, so it is hardly a joking matter.

I just wanted to add to this that my max-tow 2017 F-150 3.5L EB (11500 lb capacity) handles my 25' Flying Cloud (6800 lb GVWR) with essentially zero problems (other than I think I need to do some weight redistribution thanks to porpoising on some really bad roads). I've frankly been amazed at how well it stops when I need it to do so in a hurry.

[amschind]

I have more limited experience towing an Airstream, but pulling a 1978 25' International in hills and rain was barely noticeable in a '21 Powerboost. I'm getting the trailer totally redone, so I haven't had a chance to pull it since getting a Powerstop brake kit and Fox shocks added, but I assume that it won't be any worse (and should be better).

I think that with many of these threads, the devil is in the details, and possibly not the details that attract the most attention. Payload numbers from door stickers seem to be the most frequently posted item followed closely by quoted trailer and tongue weights, but actual measurements are borderline impossible to find. My strong suspicion is that much of the fighting on these threads arises from the fact that people are treating trailers of similar length as similar in overall/tongue weight when they are not. Towing a 7500# trailer with an 800# tongue weight is exactly what a 1/2 ton was built to do; towing the same trailer which actually weighs 10000# in practice will be a challenge. Furthermore, a 10000# load that a 1/2 ton could pull safely in the form of a utility trailer loaded with bags of cement will handle quite differently in the form of a giant aluminum sail with a basically fixed tongue weight.

I believe that these threads would benefit greatly from actual loaded weights for tow vehicles and trailers, and that we would likely see a pattern emerge in terms subjective experiences relative to the actual load/capacity ratios. I fully intend to get AND publish actual loaded weights for my truck and trailer, and I hope that other folks do that as well.

[Warpath]

We've bought 2 AS from BT. Great experience. We have a 2022 6.7l F350 Tremor with an equalizer wd hitch that we currently use to tow our 28' PB RBT without drama or fail. I have used a 1/2 ton on the 25' GT FBT and had no issue. The towing experience is worlds apart IMHO. I love the F350.

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by amschind

I have more limited experience towing an Airstream, but pulling a 1978 25' International in hills and rain was barely noticeable in a '21 Powerboost. I'm getting the trailer totally redone, so I haven't had a chance to pull it since getting a Powerstop brake kit and Fox shocks added, but I assume that it won't be any worse (and should be better).

I think that with many of these threads, the devil is in the details, and possibly not the details that attract the most attention. Payload numbers from door stickers seem to be the most frequently posted item followed closely by quoted trailer and tongue weights, but actual measurements are borderline impossible to find. My strong suspicion is that much of the fighting on these threads arises from the fact that people are treating trailers of similar length as similar in overall/tongue weight when they are not. Towing a 7500# trailer with an 800# tongue weight is exactly what a 1/2 ton was built to do; towing the same trailer which actually weighs 10000# in practice will be a challenge. Furthermore, a 10000# load that a 1/2 ton could pull safely in the form of a utility trailer loaded with bags of cement will handle quite differently in the form of a giant aluminum sail with a basically fixed tongue weight.

I believe that these threads would benefit greatly from actual loaded weights for tow vehicles and trailers, and that we would likely see a pattern emerge in terms subjective experiences relative to the actual load/capacity ratios. I fully intend to get AND publish actual loaded weights for my truck and trailer, and I hope that other folks do that as well.

Well, guess many of us here are wondering; "where you been"? Take some time, and look back thru many years of threads here, and you will see many/most of us who have been towing for 15-25 years or so, weigh our Airstream trailers (AS), our tongues on our AS's, our Tow Vehicles (TV's), and post the information including pictures for us to see, right here in those threads. The "payload" max weight number comes up often also, so we include pictures of the door sticker. We even argue "sometimes", about TV's, Weight Distributing Hitches (WDH) with Anti Sway bars, tires, and generators vs solar panels and Li batteries! (Heck, there are even folks here who don't own AS's, and try to pass themselves off as potential owners with the phrase "Looking" for an AS, when actually, they just like to show how smart they think they are!) But it's all good. As to your comments about discussion including actual "weights and measures"; note my Max Payload sticker from my F250 and my actual "loaded" scale weights on my 28' AS...FYI- tongue weight per AS Specs for a new 28 say it should be 850lbs; actual is 1100lbs...so pays to understand/know actual vs specs...but some folks here don't seem to care, you will learn...

Fun bunch of very knowledgeable folks here for the most part....or you might think it's sometimes like a circus! Welcome!

[Slimpockets]

Just one more door sticker. It’s my 22’ f150 4x4 so it’s unsafe at any speed.

[TNOutback]

Originally Posted by Slimpockets

Just one more door sticker. It’s my 22’ f150 4x4 so it’s unsafe at any speed.

What is your F-150’s configuration? Folks who want to tow a larger trailer with an F-150 might like to know. That’s considerably higher than my 2016 F-150 XLT Crew 3.5 EB 4x4 with Max Tow Pkg (which was 1767 lbs on the sticker).

[Slimpockets]

I ordered a 2022 F150XLT crew cab 6.5 bed 4x4 3.5EB max tow with heavy duty payload package. I thought about the 7.3 in a F250 but the 150 fits in the garage and is a good daily driver.

I had a diesel and no doubt it was nice. They are expensive to maintain and I wouldn’t buy another diesel but I understand what people like about them.

[amschind]

The HDPP is an amazing addition to the F150, and I continue to maintain that it should be the ONLY frame and suspension made for that truck. If I had my wish from the available Ford "menu", I would get an F150 XLT 302A with a PowerSTROKE diesel connected the PowerBOOST hybrid system with the HDPP frame and suspension. Of course, Ford killed the 3.0L Powerstroke, is trying to quietly kill the HDPP and will never put any TWO of those things together in the same truck, but it would be a beast.