Towing ~8000 with new F150.. fun or scary?

jake2250 wrote:

smkettner wrote:

jake2250 wrote:
I wouldn't tow it with anything less than a3/4 ton, I don't care if that F150 has a blown or super charged 427 in it, its still a 1/2..
I had a 2004 F150 Screw 5.4 HD, I tow a 23' trailer just shy of 5000lbs loaded closer to 6000lbs, Towed it with that F150 for two years,, It progressively got worse and worse. It was actually wearing that truck out,, let alone wearing me out!!
The 5.4 was advertised at 300 HP,,and I can tell you my foot was in that thing ALLOT!!!

After a transmission flush and new Bilstien shocks it was still a handful!! Last trip was the proverbial Last Trip!! Towed in a head wind of 25 to 30 mph, I could barely keep it at 60mph, And god forbid I got passed by a semi,, I was blown all over!!
Got to the camp ground and the wife even admitted,, "Need a bigger truck"

Seems odd to me. My truck is older (260hp) and my trailer weighs more. Wind and passing semis are never an issue. I just set the cruise and wander on down the road.

Amazing how the perception is so different.

Do believe I answered Dirtpigs question with my own experience. Learned the lesson and now have a 2500HD with all I need to get from point A to point B with out worry,, My F150 experience differs from yours. I any other poster asks the same question I would answer the same. Also,, I drive over the road trucks,,80,000 lbs, wouldn't do it in a half ton either,, but thats just my perception!!

I agree with you. My "perception" was that, while my 13' F150 had plenty of power to tow my 10k gvw toy hauler, it absolutely got rocked in the crosswinds of the Gorge and pushed downhill. I don't have those problems anymore with my 3500. Some people are comfortable with it. That's fine. I'm not one of them and that's why I traded. OP is asking for experiences. So to answer OP, it was fun on a clear day with no wind or traffic. Scary otherwise. Now it's not scary, period.

I just upgraded from a 2013 F150 super crew. to a 250. The 150 had plenty of power and pulled great. Where I ran into trouble was coming down the Big Horn Mt range last summer. The engine braking of the v6 was not enough to hold or slow my rig. I was breaking heavy and white knuckling it all the way down. Thought I was going to smoke my brakes. Stopping was my biggest concern. Much more comfortable in the F250. Only pulled it about 45 miles so far but what a difference. Headed to Maine in month. Cant wait to pull it with the new truck.

Side note: My 150 averaged 11.5 mpg from Indiana to Yellowstone and back. Curious the difference in mpg with the F250. We will see soon.

smkettner wrote:

jake2250 wrote:
I wouldn't tow it with anything less than a3/4 ton, I don't care if that F150 has a blown or super charged 427 in it, its still a 1/2..
I had a 2004 F150 Screw 5.4 HD, I tow a 23' trailer just shy of 5000lbs loaded closer to 6000lbs, Towed it with that F150 for two years,, It progressively got worse and worse. It was actually wearing that truck out,, let alone wearing me out!!
The 5.4 was advertised at 300 HP,,and I can tell you my foot was in that thing ALLOT!!!

After a transmission flush and new Bilstien shocks it was still a handful!! Last trip was the proverbial Last Trip!! Towed in a head wind of 25 to 30 mph, I could barely keep it at 60mph, And god forbid I got passed by a semi,, I was blown all over!!
Got to the camp ground and the wife even admitted,, "Need a bigger truck"

Seems odd to me. My truck is older (260hp) and my trailer weighs more. Wind and passing semis are never an issue. I just set the cruise and wander on down the road.

Amazing how the perception is so different.

Do believe I answered Dirtpigs question with my own experience. Learned the lesson and now have a 2500HD with all I need to get from point A to point B with out worry,, My F150 experience differs from yours. I any other poster asks the same question I would answer the same. Also,, I drive over the road trucks,,80,000 lbs, wouldn't do it in a half ton either,, but thats just my perception!!

jake2250 wrote:
I wouldn't tow it with anything less than a3/4 ton, I don't care if that F150 has a blown or super charged 427 in it, its still a 1/2..
I had a 2004 F150 Screw 5.4 HD, I tow a 23' trailer just shy of 5000lbs loaded closer to 6000lbs, Towed it with that F150 for two years,, It progressively got worse and worse. It was actually wearing that truck out,, let alone wearing me out!!
The 5.4 was advertised at 300 HP,,and I can tell you my foot was in that thing ALLOT!!!

After a transmission flush and new Bilstien shocks it was still a handful!! Last trip was the proverbial Last Trip!! Towed in a head wind of 25 to 30 mph, I could barely keep it at 60mph, And god forbid I got passed by a semi,, I was blown all over!!
Got to the camp ground and the wife even admitted,, "Need a bigger truck"

Seems odd to me. My truck is older (260hp) and my trailer weighs more. Wind and passing semis are never an issue. I just set the cruise and wander on down the road.

Amazing how the perception is so different.

I tow about #7000 loaded. There is absolutely nothing stressful about the tow. At the two year point, my jaw still drops at how easy it tows every time I hookup. I know a larger truck would be better, but I chose the truck that was better at the other 15k miles a year that I drive. Again...I haven't seen anything about the towing experience that I would care to improve. I don't even make payload compromises, as the trailer itself has a cargo weight of #2500.

I pulled a 31.5 Ft TT with my 97 F150 and it weighed in about 7,000 lbs loaded to camp...

i never had an issue with it..it was a good experience. "Upgraded" to a 99 F350 CC Dually and missed my F150 the entire time.

Yea it was a little slow pulling hard grades while pulling heavy but it never failed to get me where I was going.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

There are two guys in my office with aluminum body F150s. One is a Supercrew short box with the 2.7, the other is a Supercab 6.5' box with the 3.5, and both have 4wd. We have similar types of commutes and my mileage is smack between the two - not as good as the 2.7, but better than the 3.5. My truck rides and drives a bit truckier than the F150s, but it's much more capable and has much stouter components. If you're not towing anything significant I can see how a guy could pick the F150, but if you're towing much of trailer the Cummins is a no brainer, imo.

I am finding the same thing. Also, the tradesman with the chrome and popular packages have about the same level of options as my 2006 xlt. My work commute is 11 miles with most of it 60 mph in the country. Sad thing is I went to a travel trailer from a 34' 5th in order to down size to the HD F150. My travel trailer dry weight is 7450 lbs. We camp about 30 nights a year but most of it is local with one 2000+ mile trip in the summer.

4BIGAL wrote:
I have been contemplating a F150 max tow for my next truck too. For the last 8 years I have parked my F350 and drove a Focus. I am ready to drive a truck again every day but don't like the 11 mpg. No plans to change until next year so I have time and I plan to get my rig weighted to open my options. 3500 tradesman diesel is an option too. Better daily mileage and lots of towing grunt for about the same cost as an F150 XLT with max tow. Wish Ford would put the 450 ftlb ecoboost in the super duty.

I am very thankful I went with a CTD Ram as I was also considering max tow and heavy payload F150s. When you compare pricing the lower trim diesels aren't any more expensive than the heavy spec'd F150s, or at least not materially more expensive considering what these trucks cost. I have no issues at all with mine as a daily driver, and I average just over 17 in my standard city/suburban commute with lots of stoplights and traffic. Obviously that's not as good as a focus, but it's pretty good considering it's a heavy duty 4wd truck that also pulls around my fifth wheel with ease.

I wouldn't tow it with anything less than a3/4 ton, I don't care if that F150 has a blown or super charged 427 in it, its still a 1/2..
I had a 2004 F150 Screw 5.4 HD, I tow a 23' trailer just shy of 5000lbs loaded closer to 6000lbs, Towed it with that F150 for two years,, It progressively got worse and worse. It was actually wearing that truck out,, let alone wearing me out!!
The 5.4 was advertised at 300 HP,,and I can tell you my foot was in that thing ALLOT!!!

After a transmission flush and new Bilstien shocks it was still a handful!! Last trip was the proverbial Last Trip!! Towed in a head wind of 25 to 30 mph, I could barely keep it at 60mph, And god forbid I got passed by a semi,, I was blown all over!!
Got to the camp ground and the wife even admitted,, "Need a bigger truck"