Anyone towing with an 2011+ ecoboost?

ib516 wrote:

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Great info.

Hey thanks. Funny I'm just now going through your thread "Jumping off the Diesel Bandwagon - UPDATED". It's a long one! Lots of good info there.

Here's a little more about the Eco's Engine Braking. Never had an issue over the last 3 years and 62,000km (half of that towing), out west in the Rockies, down in Appalachia. Worked just fine in Tow/haul mode.

Until just a few weeks ago when I tried going down the West side of the Newfound Gap road in Great Smokey Mountains N.Park, Tennessee. Went up it just fine last fall, lots of fun, many 20mph hair-pin turns, even a 20mph loop-dee-loop where you bridge over your own path (Dunno the average slope but it's steep).

But coming down this Spring in 2nd gear was tough on the brakes. The Eco could use another gear between first and 2nd to help out. First was too low and 2nd too high. So the brakes got used a lot, and I started using the trailer's hand brake controller to save the truck's brakes. Never felt too much fade, but you could smell it.

My GVWR is 7700, not the 7650 stated earlier. That may have changed a hair over model years.

brulaz wrote:
Have the Eco in an FX2 with over 2000# payload (yellow sticker. The catalogue payload is the max not what the actual truck will have).

I pull a 7500# trailer and am well within the GCWR and the truck's Trailer Tow capacity. But at the last CAT scale weighing, I was close to the receiver rating (1130# vs 1150#), 3% over my rear GAWR (4180# vs 4050#, but think I'm under now that I've tightened up the WDH and moved stuff to the rear of the trailer), and ~2% under my GVWR (7300# vs 7500#). So right at the truck's haulage limits.

Love the truck, love the Eco's low-end torque when towing, and good mileage when not.

Two complaints though:

The suspension is too soft when the truck is fully loaded to 7500#. Without the beefed up suspension of the HD Payload option these trucks are really just commuter, occasional tow trucks. If you fully load it a lot, get the better suspension in the HD Payload option (and you'll get a higher rear GAWR as well with the 7 lug axle/wheels).

The 3.5L Eco has lots of low end torque to get you up those hills, but not a lot of Engine Braking to help get you down. The Tow/Haul tranny normally works well with auto-downshifting but on extremely steep 20-35mph descents, you are better off putting it manually in 2nd and setting your trailer brake controller to its max. This type of hill is rare though. EDIT: suspect this is one reason why the ECO 3.5L is not found in the F250.

Great info.

Have the Eco in an FX2 with over 2000# payload (yellow sticker. The catalogue payload is the max not what the actual truck will have).

I pull a 7500# trailer and am well within the GCWR and the truck's Trailer Tow capacity. But at the last CAT scale weighing, I was close to the receiver rating (1130# vs 1150#), 3% over my rear GAWR (4180# vs 4050#, but think I'm under now that I've tightened up the WDH and moved stuff to the rear of the trailer), and ~2% under my GVWR (7300# vs 7500#). So right at the truck's haulage limits.

Love the truck, love the Eco's low-end torque when towing, and good mileage when not.

Two complaints though:

The suspension is too soft when the truck is fully loaded to 7500#. Without the beefed up suspension of the HD Payload option these trucks are really just commuter, occasional tow trucks. If you fully load it a lot, get the better suspension in the HD Payload option (and you'll get a higher rear GAWR as well with the 7 lug axle/wheels).

The 3.5L Eco has lots of low end torque to get you up those hills, but not a lot of Engine Braking to help get you down. The Tow/Haul tranny normally works well with auto-downshifting but on extremely steep 20-35mph descents, you are better off putting it manually in 2nd and setting your trailer brake controller to its max. This type of hill is rare though. EDIT: suspect this is one reason why the ECO 3.5L is not found in the F250.

I don't think you will see an Ecoboost in a 250. The motor is simply not sturdy enough. It is all aluminum.

You would think but the GVWR isn't equal- GVWR on a 5.0 without the hd payload package is 7350 and the ecoboost without hd payload package is 7650. Automatically the payload on the ecoboosts are higher. 300-400lbs difference.

Mvander wrote:
I think given an equal gvwr there is little difference in the payloads between the 5.0 and eco. I believe the eco might actually weight slightly more giving a bit less payload.

I'm looking at a 2011 FX4 GVWR 7650, payload 1600lbs. It has the max tow package and 3.73 gears.

Golden_HVAC wrote:
My sister is very happy with her Ecoboost too. They tow a toyhauler travel trailer. She used to have a Expedition with a 5.4L and then they got a GMC 1/2 ton crewcab, but it really overheated on the hills around Phoenix AZ. So they bought the F-150 Ecoboost. I can't wait for the F-250's to come out with a Ecoboost. I just keep waiting.

I will probably be getting a Ford Transit with the same 3.5L Ecoboost engine in it. Production will start sometime this summer on the full sized Transit vans.

You have to be careful that you are getting the correct payload package when you plan on towing a 8,000 pound + travel trailer. You need the maximum GVWR and max tow package that also usually comes with a 3.73:1 rear axle ratio.

It is possible to get a lower GVWR and lower cargo rating, so that particular truck will not be able to handle 600 pounds of passengers as well as 1,000 pounds of trailer hitch weight in addition to towing a 8,000 - 10,500 pound trailer.

Ford puts huge oil cooler and engine air aftercooler on the larger capacity trucks.

Fred.

My sister is very happy with her Ecoboost too. They tow a toyhauler travel trailer. She used to have a Expedition with a 5.4L and then they got a GMC 1/2 ton crewcab, but it really overheated on the hills around Phoenix AZ. So they bought the F-150 Ecoboost. I can't wait for the F-250's to come out with a Ecoboost. I just keep waiting.

I will probably be getting a Ford Transit with the same 3.5L Ecoboost engine in it. Production will start sometime this summer on the full sized Transit vans.

You have to be careful that you are getting the correct payload package when you plan on towing a 8,000 pound + travel trailer. You need the maximum GVWR and max tow package that also usually comes with a 3.73:1 rear axle ratio.

It is possible to get a lower GVWR and lower cargo rating, so that particular truck will not be able to handle 600 pounds of passengers as well as 1,000 pounds of trailer hitch weight in addition to towing a 8,000 - 10,500 pound trailer.

Ford puts huge oil cooler and engine air aftercooler on the larger capacity trucks.

Fred.

I think given an equal gvwr there is little difference in the payloads between the 5.0 and eco. I believe the eco might actually weight slightly more giving a bit less payload.

5600 kms towing last season, only hick-up was the million dollar highway, tranny hit 230s at low speed, no error codes... avg 12mpg