2010 F150 FX4 real-world towing advice from towing pros
 

First some background:

My truck is a 2010 FX4 screw with 5.5 foot bed (145" wheelbase) and factory trailer brake controller but without the max towing package. From the Ford towing site I see the following specifications for this truck:

Maximum tow rating is 9,600 pounds.
Maximum payload is 1,510 pounds.
GCWR = 15,500 pounds

So, last weekend we were at a large RV show in Green Bay looking at various 25-30 foot long travel trailers to use for short-ish trips (< 300 miles). The trailers we're looking at have a tongue weight between 700-800 pounds, total dry weight between 5,500-6,000 pounds and a GVWR between 8,500-9,500 pounds. We intend on pulling with the fresh, grey and black water tanks empty but most likely the two propane tanks full. The weight for the four of us and our dog is about 500 pounds (I'm about 220 lbs but I'd better not break it down any further between my wife and two girls :)).

My kids loved a 35 foot 5th wheel we saw that had a loft above the kid's bedroom. Of course it weighed about 12,000 pounds and cost more than $60,000. Uh, no thanks.

We had one dealer there trying to sell us on a trailer that had a dry weight of 8,000 pounds by itself and he said as long as we put no more than 1,600 pounds in it we'd be fine. Hmmmm, really?

Another dealer was pushing us towards a 27 foot or so 5th wheel that weighed about 6,500 pounds and had a dry hitch weight of almost 1,400 pounds. This dealer also said although the short bed was definitely not ideal if would be ok because of the special shape of the front of the trailer and also as long as I used something like the Pullrite SuperGlide hitch. I'm really not comfortable with the idea of trying to tow even a relatively small 5th wheel with this truck so I think that can be taken off the table. Anyone here tow a small 5th wheel with a short bed truck?

I don't want a white-knuckle experience every time we go away for a weekend trip but I do want to utilize the truck's capacity as the main reason we bought it was for eventually towing a travel trailer. Part of me regrets not getting the max towing package when I ordered the truck but what can you do?

Do you think towing a trailer with a dry weight of about 6,500 pounds, tongue weight of 750 pounds and a GVWR of 9,000 pounds is too much for this truck?

Are there any aftermarket parts you've used that would help with the towing? Any specific weight distribution products you'd recommend?

Thanks in advance.

If the truck is rated for it then you will be fine. I would think about adding another leaf spring just for peace of mind. The only issue you should have is gas, be prepared to spend alot on it!! This truck makes tons of torque down low and the 3:73 will help alot with that. Goodluck.

I'm not a pro,but we were also looking at travel trailers a couple of weeks ago just for a future upgrade. Currently we have a 2010 tent camper that weighs 2000lbs at the most.When I asked about pulling the travel trailer with my truck they said I would need a tow stabilizing bar for the trailer...otherwise I was well equipped to pull a trailer that size.

With something like this, you will be fine.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-p...on-systems.htm

You might also want to post on the towing topic to get it in front of pros like pmason and others on there.

Sigh, I did not scroll down far enough in the list of discussion forums to see the Towing and Hauling one in the Special Interest area. I'll head over there...

Maybe a kind moderator will move this thread to the towing forum.

Thanks.

wind drag and profile is a concern for highway towing. I tried to pull my 24ft car hauler with the 09 FX4. It was fine in town I could barely feel it with the 6spd and brake controller. But once I got on the highway or even the service road over 45mph it was outright underpowered and scary. I had to flog the engine to get to highway speeds. I tripped the trailer sway twice. The computer caught the load before it put me in the wall. The trailer was about empty 5k lbs and 600 tongue with a complete WD hitch and anti sway bar. I kept the F250 for hauling the toy box.. Now, if you got the new 6.2L the power may be better, the long 6.5ft bed would also help. The max tow pkg doesn't increase the #'s significantly over a truck with 20" wheels. There is a line of special light campers for half tons. I would drive one first.
Remember max loads are not considering fuel and passengers. So you can take 5-700 lbs off that 1,550lb cargo number with 4 people and luggage, that leaves you 6-700lbs max payload, not much... The 09 I drove had a max cargo of 1,180.
http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/...2/CIMG1883.JPG
http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/...rd_max_tow.JPG

thats weird I tow my 27 ft TT(24 ft box) with a weight of 5500-6200lbs (depends what I have in etc..) and I've never had a problem cruising at about 1800rpm at 90kmph(5omiles)I find it has tonnes of power in the mtns and on several pulls held 80kmph while only dropping one gear I use one friction sway and weight dist. bars I did one long trip fully loaded last year about 1500 kms round trip and got excellent mileage.. I'm 30 and have a heavy foot and I find the power while towing just fine.. we actually plan on upgrading to a 27-29ft bunkbed model next winter or spring ..

https://www.f150online.com/forums/me...26011-001.html

That sounds encouraging as it's pretty close to the size of the trailers we've been looking at.

I just have to remind myself that the trailer sales person may not always have my best interest in mind when they are telling me of course my truck will pull a 30 foot, 8000 pound dry weight trailer without a problem because the truck has a trailer brake controller, sway control, a V8, etc, etc.

Hmmm, I saw Edelbrock is releasing a supercharger kit for the 2009-10 F150 at the end of March. Bumping the horsepower up to 420 or so should help, no?

We're going to look at a few more trailers tomorrow so we'll see what happens.

Thanks for all the feedback.

This you first f150? I ask b/c my 01 toewed an 8k lb enclosed trailer 1600 miles just fine. That was only 4 gears and less hp......

I see trucks a lot less equipped than the 09/10 pulling trailers like yours every day. My trailer weights more than yours and i have no problem pulling it with mine day in day out. Perhaps you need to take a driving course on trailer control :thumbsup:


But really what your towing is not a big deal really. Fully loaded going up hill maybe a TD might help you but for normal highway driving the f150 will do that with ease.

I pull my 30' Chapparal boat with my 2009 F-150 down the road all the time. No problems on my end!!

First truck of any kind. We have a V8 Mercury Mountaineer AWD and a Mustang GT. I tow a 3K pound utility trailer with the Mountaineer.

I'm just hearing and reading a lot of conflicting information and am trying to establish a safe trailer size for my F150 to tow before I pony up the dough for the travel trailer.

I haven't actually bought a trailer yet. Before I buy I'm learning what my new F150 can safely handle out in the real world (i.e. outside of the claims by Ford and the trailer sales staff). The consensus so far seems to be that 7500 lbs or so is really the max I should look at pulling as the truck sits, especially if the trip will be anything more than a few hours.

And although I've towed smaller stuff before a lot, I'm all for learning better and safer ways to tow a larger trailer. Especially with the family with me! We plan on starting out with shorter (< 1 hour) weekend trips while we build up our experience and confidence. May not work for everyone but that's our plan A. Actually our kids just want to start off with the trailer parked in the back yard. :) Of course today when we were out they said they wanted to get another boat instead of a trailer so they could go tubing again. :rolleyes:

don't throw out the small 5th wheel. it could be your best option. the truck will take all 4 of you and 8000 lbs. of trailer anywhere your family wants to go. just take your time and make a good, clear and safe choice and injoy the family time.

Need some help from y'all...
 

Befer I pull the trigger on a new truck, will I be able to pull my boat safely?

Them coolers will be full...

http://www.lovelandnet.com/toms-plac...ck%20yacht.jpg

Thanks :)

Wasn't trying to give ya a hard time. Just saying that I have experience with a lesser F150 going well over 1K miles with a large enlcosed trailer (similar to a TT) and truck didnt miss a beat. Even got ok mpg. 11-13 going 65depending on wind. Also it didnt shift down and held O/D much of the time - surprised me.... That truck also towed 10k lbs 50 or so miles a pop at hwy speeds...again no issues. So 8k or 8500 lbs should be just fine to also cover any extra gear and your people cargo... Maybe the place you are looking will let you "test tow" a similar sized trailer so you can see for yourself how well your truck will tow. Best of luck and Go Pack.:beers:

Strongly not advised with a 5.5 foot bed.

Racefan99,

I have a 2009 F-150 Lariat 4x4 with the Max Tow Package and I pull my 30' Keystone Travel Trailer just fine. It weighs around 6500 lbs loaded and on flat highway I can run 65-70 mph and get 11-12.5 MPG and have plenty of power. On the steeper hills it drops down to 55-60 mph and the mileage drops to anywhere between 9.5-11.5 MPG. I came out of a 2008 F-250 with the diesel and this truck pulls this camper just as well as the F-250 (although I do not have much respect for the new 6.4 liter diesel but that's another story for another day). I can say that if you are looking for a diesel that the Ford diesels are not what I would recommend right now. The newer one coming out later this year should be much better but the 6.0 and 6.4 liters have been less than appealing to me and, yes, I have had experience with both. We have a 2004 with the 6.0 that we use around the farm that has had numerous issues and then the 6.4 that I bought 2 years ago was a piece of crap that I got rid of after 53,000 miles.

As for L8 APEX's comments regarding his experience with the 09 FX4 that he drove, these newer trucks with the "drive by wire" or "adaptive shift strategy" computer systems need some time to learn your driving habits. When I first hookup my trailer the truck does seem to be a little sluggish for the first few miles but once the computer senses that the truck is loaded it makes changes to the fuel delivery and shift patterns and then you can really tell a difference. I don't know if he gave it time to adapt but it sounds as though he just ran it for a test run. Also, these trucks don't show their real strength until they have had a chance to break in. I bought mine in May 2009 and now have over 30,000 miles on it and it did seem to run much better after about 3000 miles.

However, with all of that being said, I would not buy more camper than you can comfortably or safely tow. My truck with the Max Tow Package is rated for 11,300 lbs. I can tell you that I would not consider pulling close to that number. For the 1/2 ton trucks with the 3.73 rearend I would not go above 8000 lbs if you plan to tow in any hilly terrain. Anything below that and you will be fine. You may be a little slower on the hills and the new 6 speed trans does downshift quite a bit but you get used to it and you learn how to feather the gas pedal and control alot of that. As for the 5th wheels, I know there are a lot of lightweight "half-ton towables" being marketed out there but I would not feel comfortable towing a fifth wheel with my truck even with it being equipped with the 3.73 gears and the extra leaf spring in the rear. That's just my opinion.

Good luck with your purchase and just get out and enjoy whatever you end up buying.

I have been towing large trailers too long with F250's to feel secure doing so in a half ton grocery getter. I have hauled regularly at 12-14k through the Rockies, it took all the F250 had to maintain the load on steep grades over 12k feet elev where gas motors have one third their rated HP. You guys thinking of hauling 30ft 5'ers with your F150's have been watching too many Ford commercials. It is a great commuter or city truck, it is not an over the road work horse. The tires aren't rated for it, the rear differential is not a full floater, it is a little C clip axle, not designed for heavy weights. It is a free country if you feel secure doing such towing in a half ton pickup that is your right. As for me I will keep the F250 for the heavy towing. I would never put a 5'er in a 5ft bed or in a half ton truck...

I'm trying to set up an appointment to look at a Keystone Passport 2910BH this weekend. It has a listed dry weight of 5542 lbs, GVWR of 7200 lbs and hitch weight of 725 lbs. It has a four bunk layout that should work for us and I think the weight seems to be ok (based on the feedback I've received from knowledgeable folks that are not trying to sell me a trailer :))

If that one doesn't work out there is also the Keystone Passport 2590BH that has a listed dry weight of 4893lbs, GVWR of 7200 lbs and hitch weight of 590 lbs. Biggest con is it only has two bunks but tradeoffs are quite likely in the cards. And I don't know where one is locally to see in person. Such is life.

The problem is not that the truck wasn't up to that wimpy little task, it's that you setup is all wrong. Looking at the photo it's pretty obvious your ball is at least an inch or two low which greatly increases the low pressure area behind the trailer, increases the weight on the forward axle of the trailer and contributes to dangerous sway.

Two axle trailers are actually quite sensitive to proper hitch height. You want the aft axle of the trailer to have at least as much weight on it as the forward axle. Don't blame the truck when you are the one responsible.

I so wish they'd offer a HD payload Screw F150 with a full floater.

That still doesn't fix the gutless 5.4l issue. The hitch was set for my F250 I just did a 5 mile test pull, I wasn't going to reconfigure my hitch for it. Besides with an empty trailer it shouldn't matter, I double the weight when camping racing. I used the weight bars which the F250 doesn't need unless fully loaded. It was unsatisfactory empty, it would surely fail loaded. F150's are meant for trips to the hardware store and hauling a bass boat. Not pulling 8-12k boxes around. Like I said if you want to pull 10K with your F150 go ahead, I feel better using an F250.

It's not a valid test pull if you have it set up improperly!

And the setup on a box trailer like that that hugs the ground can have a HUGE effect on percieved power. The low pressure area that forms behind the trailer at speed is greatly expanded by the tongue-low attitude you used. No wonder you couldn't get out of your own way.

But if you prefer to use brute force over the type of towing wisdom and knowledge that most experienced tow'ers use, that is your right as an American.

Just don't come into forums like this and claim it is the truck that is inadequate to pull 5000 lbs.:rolleyes:

racefan99,

:coffee: What I find interesting is my 2009 “Ford” Towing Guide states the following on page 17:

“While F-150 Supercrew (154” WB) and SuperCab (132.5” WB) 5 ½’ box will accept a fifth-wheel hitch, current fifth-wheel trailer designs are not compatible with these models.”

ie..the box is too short and the front of the fifth-wheel will hit the cab. I know they make special fifth-wheel hitches that are designed to push the fifth-wheel away from the cab when turning to prevent contact, but they are rather expensive.

Note: I could not find the same statement posted in Ford’s 2010 Towing guide, but you still might want to be asking questions regarding this issue before you purchase that new 5th wheel.

\

Puling a 5,000lb empty trailer does me no good. It has to be full of toys to be of any use. Raising the ball 2" isn't going to make much difference. Like I said, you tow your 10-12k lb box with your mighty F150, I'll be doing it with my F250 getting 14mpg with plenty o' power and no worries.

Where did you get the idea that I tow a 10,000-12,000 lb. box? I was addressing your claim that the F-150 was inadequate to tow a 5,000 lb. box safely. That is clearly false and your bad experience was due entirely to an improper tow setup. The photo shows that. Don't try to change the subject from whether it can tow a big 5,000 lb box safely to whether it can tow a big 10-12,000 lb. box.

And your belief that raising the ball to the proper level is not going to make much difference at freeway speeds just highlights that you don't know what your talking about. I can't tell from the photo whether it needs 2", 3" or even 4" but, when properly setup, an F-150 has no trouble towing a 5,000 lb. box of that size and you are greatly under-estimating the aerodynamic effect that proper trailer attitude has on a long, low slung box. The low pressure area under the back half of the trailer and behind the trailer wreaks havoc with the drag coefficient at highway speeds.

Of course if you don't know how to set it up properly you might need an F-250 to tow it comfortably, LOL! :lol:

I dont tow anything bigger than my 14ft and 16ft trailers but my 14 is loaded to the brim with tools and materials and it's about 7000-7500gvrw and my F150 tows it no problem. I was also warned about making sure i used the correct height hitch when i bought my trailer but i was lucky and the hitch is the correct height for my trailer. Even when towing 7500lbs it's in no way unsafe or a handful. Infact it's more comfortable than towing it with our F250. Yeah the F250 has more power but to be honest im not racing with a trailer in tow. I can keep with all traffic even around the mountain roads with zero problem.

You're not racing when towing 7500 lbs? I thought everyone raced when they had a big load.:lol:

Just kidding but I get a kick out of watching other tow'ers show-off when I'm towing the horse trailer. I'll be putting along at 60 mph, getting good fuel range when I'll see another pick-up in my side-view mirror. They are obviously going about the same speed as I because they are not approaching very quickly. Then, they usually wait for a grade and gas it up so they can fly by me with their big trailer at 75 mph, engine roaring. Absolutely hilarious! They are usually younger guys with a loaded work trailer. The RV folks are generally pretty conservative.

If I was younger and less mature I might show them what that 3V 4.6L will do when opened up!:devil:

That happens a lot around here because of all the mountains. The TD's have no problem pulling past me going 60+ mph but im happy staying at 50-60 going up hills with a loaded trailer. I dont think i would want to risk going any faster even with RSC and TSC.

I am saying even if it could move the empty trailer that is useless to me. I need it full of quads or race cars to take anywhere which is 10-12k for me. I am sure we could all get by in a little truck, I just chose not to. My main concerns are the folks here talking about strapping 28-32ft goosenecks into their F150's and hitting the mountains. It sounds a little ridiculous. I see your points on setup etc. Be safe with those goosenecks guys.:thumbsup:

I'm glad to see you have changed your message. Because your original point was that an F-150 couldn't move the 5,000 lb trailer safely.

That is highly misleading to someone shopping for a truck for that purpose.

Maybe the person who is doing the pulling needs a few lessons in how to drive something that weighs less than the load they are pulling. I drove 18-wheelers for a long time and never let trailer push me around. I did the pulling, and as I said in an earlier post on this subject, I pull my 30' Chapparal with my F-150 and have no problems with control or power.

You have to pull VERY defensively with a big box and F150. Once I was up to 40-45mph I had almost no acceleration, low tongue or not. I was melting down the 5.4 to merge onto the highway. Here in the mertroplex the on ramps are short and all three lanes of traffic does 75+mph. It took a LONG time to get the load up to highway speeds. If I wanted over and people did not yield I did not have the power to jerk the load up another 10 15mph to move over. I know there are guys that are perfectly happy hauling 60mph and hoping traffic yields to them. I like to have enough grunt to merge on short ramps and get over when traffic is flowing heavy and fast like it does in the big cities.

I tell you this though, I would never even consider pulling my enclosed with my 01 Sivlerado. So I do know the 09-up has significantly more frame, trans, brakes, electronics than other half tons. I just wouldn't pull a large enclosed or camper with it. The 5.4 needs another 100hp, maybe the 6.2 will fix that. My brother's 6.2 Denali gets up like a truck should. The F150 is the heaviest half ton around, it needs another 100hp to make me smile. After three F150 Lightnings and three F250's I am hooked on the torque and power that Ford can make...

More power can be beneficial but it can't substitute for lack of towing skills.

I would listen to the pro's. They know how to move the loads safely even though most of them only have 500-600 hp or so which isn't a lot considering the frontal area of their trailers and the huge weights they haul. Safe towing is not all about power, it's about knowing how to use what you have properly.

And the fact that Ford's are built heavier and with more rigidity than other trucks in their class is actually an advantage when it comes to towing. You continually prove that you know very little about towing by complaining that the F-150 is disadvantaged by weighing two or three hundred lbs. more. It might feel manly to have 450 hp at your disposal in a light truck to jerk that big trailer up to 70 mph in record time but it has little to do with safe towing. Ask the pro's, it's much more about control, braking ability and situational awareness. Leave speed to the NASCAR guys and the rice boys.:rolleyes:

I'm actually surprised someone with your mindset spends any time on the Ford forum. You should be out seeing how many Dodge engines you can self-destruct.:lol:

It still amazes me that people still complain about lack of power. They done it in 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005 and now 2010. The trucks get faster and faster and more and more power but people are never happy. Tell a 18 wheeler driver that he cant drive with that size load because he only has 500-600hp and that he cant tow that load because he cant overtake people or do 0-60 in 8 secs with a full load. They will laugh in your face. I can pull away faster on my mountain bike than what a 18 wheeler can but just because it's slow it don't make it dangerous. We will hear the same thing again when the 6.2 comes out that it needs more power. It never ends. Power does not equal safe towing.

I couldn't agree more. My 09 has the 9600lb towing capacity so I know not to push my luck, but I pulled a buddies 26ft enclosed trailer loaded with his 79 Trans Am race car. His son borrowed his truck help a buddy move and my friend needed to drop his car off to have some paint work done. He told me the setup weighed 8000lb, but I told him there was no way because the truck pulled great. Not one single white knuckle moment. I am no towing noob, I pull a 40ft enclosed trailer for work all over the country that weighs in at 15,500 with a 2008 Dodge diesel. I was very impressed with how well my F-150 did, no lack of acceleration, braking was great, and the truck didn't look like the rear bumper was gonna drag the pavement. My only complaint is that I didn't have the tow mirrors which would have been great since the trailer was so long.

I dont have an 09 or 10, but my 05 does pretty well towing. I was a little bit concerned about it when i was towing my ranger through the mountains it was working super hard after 13 hours of towing and i was loosing speed on a pretty steep incline but it made it fine. It runs like a top and I can run 70mph towing 7500lbs all day long. I wont trade it for anything.

Racefan99

I just bought the Passport 292BH. Its very nice and hopefully will meet our needs. I did as much pre calculations as I could bear and my math said I would be good. GVWR is going to be close after loading. RAWR is going to be close after loading. I will have the final numbers when I have it weighed. I know where you are coming from when thinking safety first. It pulled OK. I have to work on setting up my equalizer hitch better. I had too much weight on the rear of the truck. Made the bumpy roads terrible and the front a little light. Once I get that balanced I will feel much better. Don't worry, even my little 4.6 had enough power for me to reach 70 up the WV hills. I did not need that much speed but she just kept on winding up. Cruising 55-65 is what I did most of the way and the smooth roads were comfortable. The 6 spd in tow haul mode works well. The brake controller functioned as it should. I'm adding up the damage now. I will fill up in the morning and get the mpg for this last tank and I will try and write up a nice summary. Nothing as nice as Real's mid winter tow extravaganza, but I will post something that may or may not be of use to you.

MGD Fan, that is the best pic I have seen in a while.

Are you really serious? Hey, a simple pull test is fine, but to make any assumptions on your part based upon pulling your trailer with it's WDH configured for your 350 is pure ignorance. IF, and it's only an IF, your WDH was properly configured for a loaded 24ft car hauler for your F-250, it in no way comes close to what your F-150 would be configured for. Just the pitch on the WDH head alone probably tainted your results. The WDH properly configured for your F-250 should have had a fair amount of weight transferred to the front axle on you 250. That, with no weight in the trailer (as you said), had way too much weight on the front axle of your 150, which lightened the rear end and created sway. No wonder you has the anti-sway kicking in. The empty trailer actually made it worse.