what should and shouldnt be ok for a v6 to tow?

businessonly805 wrote:
from what I've seen so far on the market, I'm thinking 20-23 foot is my desired range, but I don't know what a v6 can and cant handle. please fill me in.

much depends on the V6 .... Ford rates its twin turbo charged ECO Boost F150's to tow over 11,000 lbs .... with such a truck you can pick from a wide rage of campers and stay within what Ford rates the trucks to do .... the down side is they have a small fuel tank which results in frequent fuel stops when towing

Jim

With the rig you are contemplating, it comes down to how often, how far, how fast, and in what terrain you want to tow the trailer. For occasional short (couple hour) trips at 55 or 60 mph in the flatlands, you should be fine. But if you want to go 70, or want to take long distance vacations, or plan to visit the mountains, you'll find the experience quite dissatisfying and you may burn up your transmission.

I tow a 16 foot travel trailer about 2700 lbs loaded, and for work a similar size cargo trailer up to 3500 lbs loaded, with a 270HP V6 2008 Toyota Highlander. I have used the Highlander to tow for over 125,000 miles (there's 158k on the odometer). I've gone through the Rocky Mountains on three trips. The Highlander has done the job pretty well. But I have to tell you, I would not want to tow anything bigger or heavier on these trips. And I am getting really weary of slow travel speeds and 'just enough' power, so I'm looking to replace the Highlander soon with a Jeep Grand Cherokee diesel. Put me in the "been there, done that, ready to move on" category.

Yes, I used to design and manufacture ag and commercial trailers so I designed and had a friend install the hitch since I no longer do it. It pulls fine but does make the v6 work on the 3/4mile 18% slope getting to the site the picture was taken.

I want to move the chock back one or two holes (haven't calculated it out yet) on the bike trailer as it does unload the weight on the 5th hitch a little plenty in my opinion when pulling the 18% slope with a switch back I can spin the rear wheels slightly on the pavement. Reducing the tongue weight from approx 15% closer to 10% should do the trick. The bike and trailer add approx 1000lbs but unless the slope is steep it is hard to tell that it pulls any harder. I just set the cruise and let it roll.

DSteiner51 , are you double towing? It looks like in that second picture you are towing a motorcycle, or something, behind your trailer? If so, It seems you have a hitch attached to your frame, and I am curious about the drag, etc. when double towing. That seems to be a lot for a V6?

I took my 26 ft 5th wheel out west with a V6 powered tv. The highest passes were over 8,000 ft. Most of the time I just set the cruise control and let it roll. On the steep downhills I'd manually shift down and still use the cruise control so I needed very little brakes.



Now that I'm towing mostly Ohio the last two years I decided it could do more. 118,000miles and so far, so good.




Yes, I've been told by the experts it can't be done but the only crash burn I saw was two trucks at a filling station. One with a crash burnt full size Chevy and the other with the crash burnt trailer.

I towed a 5er with a (large block) 4-cyl. OK, so it weight 1800 lbs loaded and was all of 18 ft long. But it wasn't happy with hills/grades.

But you are talking a toy-hauler. I'm not aware of any toy-hauler that is small/light enough for a V6. They tend to be large (30+ ft) and heavy (12,000+ lbs). Which puts them right out of a V6, or a small V8, or anything but a large V8, a V10 or a good strong diesel.

I have a 2012 Ford F-150 XLT with 3.5L Ecoboost V6 engine and the max-towing package that has a towing capacity of 11,400 lbs. I am a full-time RV’er and have been towing my 30-ft. 2012 Heartland Prowler 5th Wheel, GVWR 11,000 lbs., with my F-150 for about 2-years now with absolutely no problems whatsoever.

My F-150 has an automatic transmission and runs on unleaded gas. It is great towing over mountain passes, etc. I can tow at 75-mph on flat surfaces if I wanted to, but I don’t, further my gas mileage is about 11-mpg when I tow at 55-mph; which is the towing speed limit in California. When I’m not towing my F-150 gets about 23-mpg highway and about 17-mpg city.

I am really satisfied with this truck and a lot of people have come over to my camping site and asked me about it; most say “can this small truck really pull that 5th wheel trailer” and they are surprised when they see me leave the camp group comfortably towing my 5th wheel.

If you don't have the truck yet, you might consider getting a V8 instead. There are a lot of very strong opinions out there. Especially from folks who want to tow at 70MPH or faster. I have found that 65MPH is a much more comfortable speed and I stay aware of my surroundings to ensure courtesy to fellow drivers. Having said that, vehicle manufacturers are very conservative in the tow ratings they give their products. As long as you comply with those, you should have a significant safety margin. Happy hunting!

Welcome to the forum! A v6 is going to limit what you can tow. You might be in the right neighborhood lengthwise, but there are other factors to consider too. For one, where do you plan to tow? Flatland? Hills? Mountains? What toys and what is the weight?

You only need to make 1 post.