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Towing with Ecoboost V6

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jdlong49

RVF Regular
Joined
Aug 5, 2022
Messages
48
RV Year
2022
RV Make
Transcend Xplor
RV Model
200MK
Fulltimer
Yes
I'm on the fence about uprgrading to a 3/4 ton and going with a fifth wheel or keeping my current truck and just getting a travel trailer that I can tow with it. Having no previous RV experience, I just can't see investing an extra $35K in the truck plus and extra $30K bumping up to a fifth wheel until I absolutely know for sure this is going to be something I want to continue doing long term. Plus, I just don't think I'm ready to tow something that size. My current truck is a 2019 Ford F150 4x4 crew cab with 2.7 Ecoboost V6 and 3.55 rear end. The "towing capacity" is 7600lbs with 12900 GCWR. It tows a 4000lb boat with ease, but I know travel trailers are a completely different animal.

So.....the smallest TT that I believe I can make work for what I'm wanting to do is 24'11" and 4800lb dry. The one that I think would be best for what I want is 28'6" and 5900lbs dry. I feel like this may be more that what my truck could consistently handle. So, does anyone have any experience towing with an Ecoboost and have any feedback? With a WDH, can my truck safely handle the larger of these 2 options? I'm fully going into this planning to get 6 months of experience and then possibly upgrade the truck and trailer. I'd rather take a small hit by upgrading in 6 months if I want to keep going vs the big hit of upgrading everything now and then not even wanting to continue full-timing.
 
I think both those are too big for your truck. If you had the 3.5EB, I'd say you'd be fine with the 25'. The 28.5' is starting to get into heavy duty truck territory, in my opinion.
 
Where will the problems come from with the larger one? Is it just a straight weight issue, or length? Is it sway and control? Or is it putting too much strain on the engine? I get same answers from anyone I ask on the truck side "you should have zero problems if you stay under 7000" but I know that pulling a flatbed with 7000lbs is different than a 7000lb camper
 
Also think about wind drag. You could be within your weight limit, but with the front of the trailer being so big the wind will really drag you down.
 
Where will the problems come from with the larger one? Is it just a straight weight issue, or length? Is it sway and control? Or is it putting too much strain on the engine? I get same answers from anyone I ask on the truck side "you should have zero problems if you stay under 7000" but I know that pulling a flatbed with 7000lbs is different than a 7000lb camper
You're towing a giant sail so the extra area due to the extra length will give you more sway and less control.

I'd also be worried about the weight as I don't believe the 2.7EB was intended for towing. Before 2014, Ford had a lot of problems with the 3.5EB due to overheating when working it hard so in 2014 they revamped the cooling system. I believe the max tow package gets extra coolers. If the 2.7 doesn't have all that extra cooling, I'd be hesitant to tow heavy with it. If you live somewhere flat, you might get away with it (I may be slightly biased as I tow in the Rockies) but why risk it?
 
Also forgot to mention payload of your truck with respect to the tongue weight of the trailer. That's what's going to limit you moreso than straight up towing capacity/total weight of the trailer. I don't believe the 2.7 is available with any of the heavy duty payload packages (but I could be wrong on that).
 
My payload is 1672lbs with a GVWR of 6600lbs. I’m going to go get a scale weight this afternoon. It does have a “tow package” but not sure what that entails. I’m still looking into it.

Are there any calculators out there online where you can enter all your numbers and it says “here’s what you can tow”?
 
Forget "dry weight" numbers. They are meaningless and you'll never tow in this configuration. Thus no LP, no water, no food, no clothes, no dishes, holding tanks empty, no battery, etc. in the trailer. One wants to know and use the maximum gross weight rating of the trailer. That number should be less than 80% of the tow rating of the truck. Remember that towing is one part of the problem, STOPPING is next.

For example, if the tow rating of the truck is 9500 lbs the maximum trailer gross weight should be 7600 lbs or less. Figure 10% to 15% for tongue weight which is transferred to the tow vehicle and becomes part of the maximum vehicle cargo weight rating.

In most cases, one will hit the cargo limit of the tow vehicle. That is trailer hitch weight, plus passenger weight, dog, coolers, chairs, and other camping stuff in the truck. That number is found on the drive-side door placard as the maximum cargo weight.

From your original numbers of 7600 towing capacity, the max trailer weight rating should be about 6000 lbs. No way should you tow a 5900 lb dry-weight trailer. The loaded trailer weight will be more like 8000 lbs and the tongue weight will be near 1000 lbs. You don't have enough truck to tow this size trailer.

Bob
 
So if I keep the GVWR around 6000 I should be good? That 4800lb one has a GVWR of 6200.
 
And this is a legitimate question: which is safer, a guy in his normal truck(that he tows 4000lbs with weekly) towing at the maximum that truck is capable of or a guy in a new F250/350 with 12,000lbs of fifth wheel with no experience towing anything that size?
 

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