I just purchased the 3.5 liter F150 Screw ecoboost, 145” wheelbase with 3.73gear & max tow pkg.

Am curious to know anybody elses actual towing experience with this set up. Ford says I can tow up to 11,500lbs. with a max payload of 1930lbs. I’m looking at towing a trailer, with a good weight distribution hitch, of not more than about 9,000 lbs.. In the past, I towed a 30’ trailer but had an F250 diesel Lariat... towed like a dream...

With the 150, is the engine/transmission up to it, even climbing mountains? Has anybody else towed a similar load for any length of time that can share their experience/advice?
TIA
Bill

 

I have been towing my 33' Outback all season with no problems using a Equal-i-zer 4 point sway control hitch. This is by far the best truck i have owned to date. This little V6 is a BEAST!!! On the steepest hills it will never go over 2600 rpm's in 4th gear to maintain speed(cruise set at 65mph)and on the flat roads it cruises along at 1600 rpm's in 6th. I have the same truck as you except i have the 157" wheelbase. Forget about ever towing 11,000+ lbs.. My trailer weighed in at 7500lbs ready to camp but my truck weighed in at 7540lbs with the family, full tank and some gear in the bed. My GVWR is 7700lbs so i have very little wiggle room left and im still not anywhere near the 11,300lb rating. The most important thing is staying under your GVWR and RAWR. I recommend that you load up your truck with everything you would bring on a trip along with the family and a full tank of fuel and hit your local scale. Minus that weight from your GVWR and whatever you have left is used for tongue weight on the trailer. Good luck, Kevin

 

Just curious and getting theoretical. What if you took the roughly 4k lbs split it and placed it an equal distance both in front and behind the wheels of the trailer? Wouldn't that increase the weight you are towing while at the same time not increase you're tongue weight?

 

In theory that would work, however, its reccomended to have slightly more weight forward of the axle of the trailer to prevent the tail wagging the dog. when i tow i prefer a 60/40 split, this gives me the best "feel" for what im pulling.

 

I was basing it on towing a travel trailer. You can load a heavy farm tractor on a 2-3 axle flat trailer with most of its weight on the axles and have not much weight added to the tongue weight.

 

Thanks, Kevin, good info & advice.

 

With a bumper pull trailer, the usual rule of thumb is you want the tongue weight to be between 8% and 15% of the trailer gross weight, with 12% being ideal.

 

Thanks all. I appreciate your information.

Kevin I think you are paying a huge weight penalty for your 4 wheel drive and long bed.

 

When it comes to towing you want the longest wheelbase possible which will give you the most stability. Having 4x4 is a must living here in the northeast.They say if you don't like the weather here in Connecticut wait twenty minutes it will change.It's either hot, cold, raining, or your buried under 3 feet of snow!!

 

I understand where you are coming from, but even your max tow is rated at 11,100 not the 11,300 available to shorter 4x2 trucks. I used to live in the frozen north. That's where I learned to drive and got good at driving in a F-350 4x2 on icy roads in the winter. 4x4 would have been so much nicer, but the boss wouldn't shell out the money for a 4x4. Either that, or he knew more fun than work would have been completed.

 

People have been driving in CT with 2wd ever since cars and trucks were invented.

 

Obviously..... But if you are at the dealership ordering your new truck it's kind of asinine to get it without four wheel drive knowing damn well what the winters are like here in the Northeast. My truck is also used to pull the snowmobiles up north when the snow begins to fly so i can't live without it.

 

Kevin gave some good advice about GVW and RAWR but keep also in mind GCW. All of these numbers do have a factor of safety so you could exceed the recommended weights but I would do so wisely and very seldom. As far as towing there are several things you can do to increase your critical speed (preventing trailer sway). Some can only be used to determine what type of trailer to purchase while others you have control of.

1. decrease the distance from the rear axle to the trailer hitch .ie fifth wheel instead of conventional
2. increase the COG rearward to increase the stability (towards the center of the train; 10% tongue weight is a good target)
3. increase the drawbar length
4. decrease the trailers yaw inertia (keep the weight of whatever you are hauling towards the center of the trailer)

On a side note, tire pressure in the truck and trailer can have a large affect on trailer sway. If your tires are under inflated your Vcrit will decrease.

There are several aftermarket options as well for purchase to stabilize your trailer if you are having issues after these suggestions.

 

As was stated earlier, load it up and hit the scales and then load your Trailer accordingly. In other words, if your close to your GVWR, load your trailer with most of the cargo over the trailer's axles so it limits the amount of weight being added to the tongue.

My father tows a Jayco 322fks with his tundra crewmax, trailer has a front kitchen which adds lots of tongue weight. His hitch weight is around 1100-1200 with all the dishes etc in the kitchen. His payload on that truck is 1555 as far as I know, which means with two adults and gear he is at or alittle over his payload. He has not had issues, but it does sag a good amount goin down the road.

There is always some room left over in the numbers manufacturers rate trailers and vehicles at, now whether that is 5% or 25% over the rating on the sticker we will never know.

Safety wise I would stay under the payload, and shift weight to the trailer axles as the Ecoboost will pull it just fine.

Just as an example, I currently have a 2012 Tundra Crewmax Limited. I'm looking to tow a light fifth wheel with a boat behind it. But with my Tundra I cannot do this safely as I would be about 500-600 pounds over the payload rating, which is why I opted to order a new 2013 f-150 lariat with the heavy duty payload package.

Hope this helps

 

Yes, it does. When we head out, most, if not all the stuff we take with us usually goes into the trailer with the exception of a generator or two (Yamaha’s). With a vintage Airstream, I’m looking at a tongue weight of 5-700lbs. and a towing weight of about 7500lbs. so I’m feeling like I’ve got a few pounds to spare but I’ll always be guessing until I go get it weighed all loaded up.

Sure like the truck and those mirrors! Damn, they’re like wide screen back-ups!