Mike Up wrote:
I just can't believe how good this pulled. It pulled much better than my previous 2010 5.4L at all speeds.
It was most noticable how the truck wanted to speed away from a stop with the trailer. It pulled it so effortlessly, it actually suprised me. Down the road, there was always more than enough power and we were driving in a rain storm with wind and medium gusts. Not a lot of downshifting at all, held the gear. It also did go back and forth from 6 to 5 depending on where I was driving. At 55 mph it was in 6th but went to 5th almost immediately when I hit 60 mph, several different times. Seems to be a logic shift in the Tow/haul mode.
Overall, I just can't believe how well this towed, bettering my 5.4L in the same generation F150 but from 2010. Both had the same transmissions but the new 2012 5.0L had the 3.73 axle while the older 5.4L had the 3.55. Figured that would equal them out since the 5.4L supposedly had more torque in the lower rpms. Obviously that didn't hold true as the 5.0L 2012 pulled much stronger down low.
Don't get me wrong, the 5.4L pulled great with more than enough power but the 5.0L is just mind boggling as it was that much stronger.
It pulled so easy I had to hit the brakes a few times as I was just speeding away from a stop. Guess I was just use to giving the older 5.4L more gas to get going and I instinctively did the same with the new truck.
Guess Pickuptrucks.com was right when they said this was a hek of a truck for towing.
*EDIT* I also wanted to add this for another trip I just towed.
I also wanted to add I did a second trip about 5.5 hours each way. Trip there was windy and had a lot of hills. On the way there I got ~11.0 mpg and on the trip back got about 10.5 mpg. The transmission downshifted very smartly on hills. It downshifted to 2nd to keep my speed reasonable while going down hill. I never needed to use the breaks.
The 5.0L got the same mileage towing my 29' tall and wide Jayco Jay Flight 26BH as did my previous 2010 F150 configured nearly the same but with a 5.4L 3 valve and 3.55 axle.
Great drivetrain!! Great power towing, Great mileage, and great engine breaking!
I had my camper loaded with a lot of gear, food, clothes, and 90 gallons of fresh water (@ 8.3lbs/gallon = 747 lbs).
It seems you found out the truth after arguing about how much better the 5.4 was for towing on multiple threads over on f150forum..... I thought it amusing at the time.
