Best TT for F150 Ecoboost Shortbox?

If I read the current specs right you can gt a Supercrew with a 6'5" bed and have the HD option available. That's the one I'd get if I could do it over again. If I had gone with a shorter bed I could get a small TC. All the 8' TC's weight too much. I don't see an 8' bed option for the SuperCrew.

Honestly, if I had it to do over with again, I would have gotten HD payload, max tow. Of course, I didn't even have a TT at that time. Nor was I planning on getting one. My DW made that decision for us. :-)

The HD payload makes you get the longbed. Plus, if you ever upgrade to a small fiver, you'll be hating yourself for not getting the cargo capacity and the longer bed.

You will have to order the HD payload, as they are very rare on dealer lots.

goducks10 wrote:

Mike Up wrote:

goducks10 wrote:
Mike Up, I have no trouble parking my 169" WB 2500. Only the tightest of parking lots are a hassle and I wouldn't park my 2010 145" WB I used to own in those door dinger lots anyway. Only advantage to a 145" over 169" is backing in a trailer as the 145" turns quicker. But the 169" WB outshines it when towing.

In my urban area, there are some banks where my truck is to wide to even fit in the drive through.

At my aunts condos, I can barely get my truck into her short parking spaces that have their garage right behind. If there are cars on both side of my truck, it takes about a 7 point turn to get out. If my truck was longer, I wouldn't' be able to get out. And that's with a 5.5' Bed! Our YMCA fitness club is the same way. I have to shoehorn my truck in and my bed still sticks out in the roadway of parking lot. A 6.5' bed truck would have to park on a side street blocks away or if lucky enough, in 2 open spots, if I could even get out with cars on both sides.

I've driven all trucks and I have a good feel on what will and what won't fit in. I guess if you live in a smaller town where areas are made for trucks, you won't have troubles. In a Metro area, trucks are frowned upon and parking spots, lots, drive throughs, and parking garages are not made to fit most trucks. Even with my short bed, I've been forced to park far away or on the street (which is always nice getting side swiped by idiots that don't stop) many times. Plus having a long wheelbase, as you pointed out, would make it impossible to get in many campground campsites, and even my single wide driveway off of a narrow 1.5 lane street. ;)

I've actually run into more campsites that posed more troubles with a longer rig than urban areas. I guess if you like the RV parks more, you won't have trouble but I like state parks, reservoirs, and rustic private campgrounds. These aren't friendly to large rigs.

The Crew Cab 8' bed trucks I've driven at work always had to be parked on the street as they wouldn't fit in hardly any parking lots without taking 2 spaces. Even the extended cab 8' bed trucks wouldn't fit in many areas.

I did think about getting a 6.5' bed this round with the new truck. But I thought of all the negatives and not much gains. The 6.5' bed in only 1' longer and if I can't fit it in a 5.5', it's not going to fit in a 6.5' bed. Not much difference in cargo area at all. BUT a lot of difference in parking lot overhang, loss of maneuverability, and with the F150, loss of payload. No gains and only losses, so I went with a 5.5' bed again.

I take my truck anywhere. It's just not that big of a deal to me. If it takes me a couple times backing up, then so be it. I would rather have the 8' bed than be able to park right next to some door dentin car. The OP needs the short WB for off roading and that's perfectly fine. But for towing you just can't beat a CC LB.

CC LB combo is by far the way to go - Amen brother.

Skipnchar regularly tow a 9000lb+ TT with their HD F150 with good results, I've done over 18k km's with my old setup - scaled in @ 7400lbs last time I was through the Cat scales and I've always been extremely comfortable with how it towed - it was 33ft Bumper to tongue for the record. I just purchased a 8100lb Dry TT this weekend, test towed it with the family inside and there was no real difference between this one and the last, I'll be right around 1000-1100lbs TW and pretty close on the max payload posted on my truck. Frankly with the 10 plies and a well adjusted dual cam setup I wouldn't be nervous to tow something that comes close to maxing out your payload a Max tow 157" wheelbase in the 8500-9000lb range as long as the towing equipment, tires and how(where) you load the weight in the trailer are all balanced.

Mike Up wrote:

pappcam wrote:
I have a 2011 F-150 with the tow package and I tow the 27 foot trailer in my signature that weighs around 6000-6200 pounds loaded and it pulls it nicely, even in hilly terrain. I would not go heavier or bigger than that with my current truck.

27'?

Your link shows Forest River's specs and clearly states that the length is 31'11" or nearly 32'. A far cry from a much shorter 27'.

Hek, my trailer is 29' and yours is clearly longer.

The posted link is tip of tongue to tip of back bumper. I called it a 27 footer as that's basically the length of the actual box of the trailer.

Anyway, my truck has no problems with it.

Mike Up wrote:

goducks10 wrote:
Mike Up, I have no trouble parking my 169" WB 2500. Only the tightest of parking lots are a hassle and I wouldn't park my 2010 145" WB I used to own in those door dinger lots anyway. Only advantage to a 145" over 169" is backing in a trailer as the 145" turns quicker. But the 169" WB outshines it when towing.

In my urban area, there are some banks where my truck is to wide to even fit in the drive through.

At my aunts condos, I can barely get my truck into her short parking spaces that have their garage right behind. If there are cars on both side of my truck, it takes about a 7 point turn to get out. If my truck was longer, I wouldn't' be able to get out. And that's with a 5.5' Bed! Our YMCA fitness club is the same way. I have to shoehorn my truck in and my bed still sticks out in the roadway of parking lot. A 6.5' bed truck would have to park on a side street blocks away or if lucky enough, in 2 open spots, if I could even get out with cars on both sides.

I've driven all trucks and I have a good feel on what will and what won't fit in. I guess if you live in a smaller town where areas are made for trucks, you won't have troubles. In a Metro area, trucks are frowned upon and parking spots, lots, drive throughs, and parking garages are not made to fit most trucks. Even with my short bed, I've been forced to park far away or on the street (which is always nice getting side swiped by idiots that don't stop) many times. Plus having a long wheelbase, as you pointed out, would make it impossible to get in many campground campsites, and even my single wide driveway off of a narrow 1.5 lane street. ;)

I've actually run into more campsites that posed more troubles with a longer rig than urban areas. I guess if you like the RV parks more, you won't have trouble but I like state parks, reservoirs, and rustic private campgrounds. These aren't friendly to large rigs.

The Crew Cab 8' bed trucks I've driven at work always had to be parked on the street as they wouldn't fit in hardly any parking lots without taking 2 spaces. Even the extended cab 8' bed trucks wouldn't fit in many areas.

I did think about getting a 6.5' bed this round with the new truck. But I thought of all the negatives and not much gains. The 6.5' bed in only 1' longer and if I can't fit it in a 5.5', it's not going to fit in a 6.5' bed. Not much difference in cargo area at all. BUT a lot of difference in parking lot overhang, loss of maneuverability, and with the F150, loss of payload. No gains and only losses, so I went with a 5.5' bed again.

I take my truck anywhere. It's just not that big of a deal to me. If it takes me a couple times backing up, then so be it. I would rather have the 8' bed than be able to park right next to some door dentin car. The OP needs the short WB for off roading and that's perfectly fine. But for towing you just can't beat a CC LB.

diver110 wrote:
I may be trying to get too much out of one vehicle. I like to offroad and so would prefer the 145 inch f150 wheelbase Ecoboost. I get that it needs the max tow package and HD payload. But based on another thread I came across, the short wheel base could be an issue, though I don't quite understand why (RV newbie). What is the most TT I can tow? On another thread, someone with the EB said he went from a TT to a FW due to towing issues. Would that make more sense? Many thanks.

We have that truck and easily pull a 27' Kodiak ultralight (6,000 lbs). Sway is not a serious problem, even in strong crosswinds over mountain passes.

Thanks for all off the great feedback and especially for the reference to the guide. Over the years I have participated in a number of forums. None beats this one for helpfullness (the whole site, not just ths piece). I live in the mid-atlantic where offroading tends to be narrow and tight, but I will mostly use the rv out west, where things tend to be more open. And out west, the TV will have to be my DD and offroad machine. When I retire, I could end up living in the RV full time some of the time, but will have a house or condo somewhere. Given all that, crazy as it sounds, I think I need to pick a TV that meets my nontowing needs and then back into the RV (no pun intended). I don't think I will want to go over a 145" WB....

goducks10 wrote:
Mike Up, I have no trouble parking my 169" WB 2500. Only the tightest of parking lots are a hassle and I wouldn't park my 2010 145" WB I used to own in those door dinger lots anyway. Only advantage to a 145" over 169" is backing in a trailer as the 145" turns quicker. But the 169" WB outshines it when towing.

In my urban area, there are some banks where my truck is to wide to even fit in the drive through.

At my aunts condos, I can barely get my truck into her short parking spaces that have their garage right behind. If there are cars on both side of my truck, it takes about a 7 point turn to get out. If my truck was longer, I wouldn't' be able to get out. And that's with a 5.5' Bed! Our YMCA fitness club is the same way. I have to shoehorn my truck in and my bed still sticks out in the roadway of parking lot. A 6.5' bed truck would have to park on a side street blocks away or if lucky enough, in 2 open spots, if I could even get out with cars on both sides.

I've driven all trucks and I have a good feel on what will and what won't fit in. I guess if you live in a smaller town where areas are made for trucks, you won't have troubles. In a Metro area, trucks are frowned upon and parking spots, lots, drive throughs, and parking garages are not made to fit most trucks. Even with my short bed, I've been forced to park far away or on the street (which is always nice getting side swiped by idiots that don't stop) many times. Plus having a long wheelbase, as you pointed out, would make it impossible to get in many campground campsites, and even my single wide driveway off of a narrow 1.5 lane street. ;)

I've actually run into more campsites that posed more troubles with a longer rig than urban areas. I guess if you like the RV parks more, you won't have trouble but I like state parks, reservoirs, and rustic private campgrounds. These aren't friendly to large rigs.

The Crew Cab 8' bed trucks I've driven at work always had to be parked on the street as they wouldn't fit in hardly any parking lots without taking 2 spaces. Even the extended cab 8' bed trucks wouldn't fit in many areas.

I did think about getting a 6.5' bed this round with the new truck. But I thought of all the negatives and not much gains. The 6.5' bed in only 1' longer and if I can't fit it in a 5.5', it's not going to fit in a 6.5' bed. Not much difference in cargo area at all. BUT a lot of difference in parking lot overhang, loss of maneuverability, and with the F150, loss of payload. No gains and only losses, so I went with a 5.5' bed again.

Mike Up, I have no trouble parking my 169" WB 2500. Only the tightest of parking lots are a hassle and I wouldn't park my 2010 145" WB I used to own in those door dinger lots anyway. Only advantage to a 145" over 169" is backing in a trailer as the 145" turns quicker. But the 169" WB outshines it when towing.