I have a 2011 ecoboost crew cab 4x4. I am looking to buy a travel trailer with a dry weight of about 8,000 pounds. Has anyone towed a camper and what are there feeling about how the truck does? I know it has plenty of power, I am more concerned about the truck handling the weight of the trailer

 

link>>> http://www.f150online.com/forums/tow...-opinions.html

 

Your going to be close. IDK what you have but I have the same truck with max tow and I have a 11,300 tow and 7700 Towing capacity. Assuming truck weighs around 5700, my payload is 2000lbs as the door says. If you have this, too figure 500lb tongue weight, 4 passengers at 180lb avarege your at 1200lb and some change just on the truck, leaves you with an 800lbs gap for gear in the truck which you should be fine. Now go on to your load, 8000lbs dry is quite reasonable to say your going to throw 1000lbs into that trailer. And could be more like 2000lbs which makes a 10k load. Now this is where manufactures get squirelly in their numbers. The max GCWR which is everything combined is 17,100, wel you cant really tow a 11,000lb load as Ford would like to tell you with a loaded truck at 7700lbs which would make that GCWR be almost 19k lbs. In your situation if keep that trailer under 10 youll probably be fine unless you tow it yourself then you could max the 11k lbs. Hopefully this makes sense. But if your towing say 9k loaded you could probably max out the truck. I tow a 9500lb boat loaded. Just wife and I so were at about 15,500GCWR . Doestn leave a ton of room. Either way I get 10mpg towing and it tows pretty well. Dont fool yourself your going to feel it and your MPG is going to suck. But it will do it if you manage it right. But be careful. What kind of trailer you are talking, I got a 32 and I think it only weighs around 6 dry?

Either way you are at the weight where the EB can do it, but has to be managed and you can not just throw everything in there. I suggest if you do not want to manage it get a diesel.

 

i want to see this ecoboost do what ford says it can do in a REAL WORLD scenario!

 

At that weight I would look into a diesel. Your not leaving your self much wiggle room. Just because you can tow the max tow doesnt mean you want to tow it all the time. Good luck.

 

Read above, I tow that 9500lb boat in real world and it does just fine

 

I would agree that trailer is going to weigh 9-10k before you take off. To top it off that trailer is like sail not like a boat. And with my boat and it just being my wife I can control the added the weight more. With a trailer it might be tougher to control the extra weight and if you have a family it might be even tougher. Personally I would look at a different trailer, to me that seems awful heavy. talked to a buddy last night and he has a 29 no slide out and his weighs 5500. Reccomend different trailer or a diesel.

 

TSE71- I have a 2011 EB-Screw FX4 with Max Trailer Tow Pkg. 2 1/2" leveling kit and a 1.5" real add-a-leaf and LT305/65R18 10 Ply BFG A/T's. I used to tow a 27ft Keystone Springdale 4300lbs dry. When I towed that TT it was like there wasnt even a trailer behind it and I live in WV which has plenty of long steep hills to tackle and test the truck and I had no issues. Well I traded that TT off for a 2012 Keystone Sprinter 34ft with a 12ft slide and dry weight of 7300lbs. The truck does just fine with it. Yes I can tell I have something behind me, but there is no lack of power. Make sure you get the weight distribution hitch set up, makes the world of difference with any truck you are using to pull a TT with whether it be a half ton , 3/4, or 1 ton truck.

 

keep in mind what you are doing. Are you just pulling it then dropping it once or twice a year. Is your camp spots within an hour. All things to factor. But one thing you want to be consious of in the GVCW. Dont have a 10k load and a truck max payload and be over the 17,100 number if thats the model truck you have if you dont have the EB and max tow your GCWV is like 15 or 16. Reason I say this is one for one it becomes unsafe, and two if you get into an accidents insurance might **** you or if you hurt and kill somebody thats an easy law suit

 

Agreed, I would be looking at a smaller/lighter trailer for that truck.

 

Boat tongue weights aren't figured the same as travel trailers. The OP better look at a Heavy Duty Payload Package XLT, which will net about 2200 pounds of payload. An 8000 pound TT will generate most likely 1000 to 1200 pounds of tongue weight alone if properly loaded. A standard truck even with the Max Tow will not be a match. Max trailer weight means nothing today unless your truck is empty and only the average weight driver is in the seat. Nothing in the bed, no passengers, no sandwich, either. Today, it's all about payload.

 

I got a 09, 5.4L with max tow. I only a tow 6,000lbs travel trailer, but I'd run out of payload long before I'd run out of towing capacity. So the max tow is moot to me.

I'll show you what I mean.
I got 1,700 lb. for cargo and luggage capacity (see driver's side door sticker). I weigh 250lbs, my wife weighs approx. 130lbs, I got a dog that weighs 65lbs, and two kids that weigh about 50lbs combined.
That's about 500lbs right there.
Then I add the hitch weight of 500lbs and that brings me to 1000lbs (that means I got 700 to play with). I carry 10 gallons of drinking water in the bed of the truck all the time (for emergency). That's basically another 100lbs off the top (600 to play with). I also carry about 50lbs of emergency gear (a BOB with spare kit in it). That's 550lbs to play with. Then I carry my Honda EU2000i Generator and 5 gallons of extra fuel, which is basically another 100lbs off the top. Now I'm left with 450 lbs to play with. We'll be bringing a cooler along with sodas and lunch, with ice, ect. That knocks off another 50 lbs. Don't forget the bikes, another 50lbs. So all I'm left with 350lbs. Everything you bring in the cab or the bed of the truck adds up against your payload rating.
So if your hitch weight is 600lbs (lets say with a bigger trailer) and your kids are in High School instead of elementary school you're screwed as far as payload goes. It doesn't matter if you can tow 11,000 lbs if you exceed your payload rating.

Just wanted to share -- that's all. If it were me, I'd go with a bigger truck or smaller trailer. My 20 foot Jayco does us just fine (IMHO).

 

Another thing that you may want to consider is where you are going to tow the TT to. Any mountain travel? Gasoline motors usally drop in performance the higher you go. It would be interesting to hear exoboost owners' experiences in going to high(er) altitudes.

For what it's worth, we had to tow a travel trailer that was well within the the E-150's capacity. The E150 had a tough time in the hills, etc. We did get a diesel 6.0 '03 F250 and the difference was night and day. We ended up getting a new TT that weighed 50% more, and the SD handles it well.

 

The people driving with there EB up in the higher altitudes arent having any problems, thats whats nice about forced induction. The only complaints ive read about here were some people towing in the higher altitudes with temps above 100 degrees. My personal opinion is if you are going to tow a lot your better off with a diesel. I dont tow with my EB but I did with an 2000 7.3 and I never had a problem.

 

The issue is not the engine - the EB is a towing beast. The issue is max payload. If you are pushing 10k with a loaded trailer, the tongue weight is gonna be in the 1200# range, which counts against the max payload. Load up the cab and bed and you are probably gonna be well over the max payload.

That is a very valid concern. I would not do it unless you have the max tow package, and I'd load everything in the trailer that you can, and distribute the weight carefully to properly adjust the tongue weight. Weight distribution hitch is mandatory and factory brake controller highly recommended.