First trip with new TV

Crawfordville wrote:
That is a perfect description. Marginal and adequate. Our 1500 would get pushed by the semis wind force. But the 250 is so much heavier and sturdy that is didn't even budge when a semi wold go buy us.

There are no hard and fast rules, even though we like to believe there are…

If there were, the Excursion I bought with almost twice the tow capacity of my old and reliable van would have been an adequate TV…
but no my marginal van still tows more weight and payload, stops better, steers better, moves around less with passing trucks, and is a comfortable ride… even though it had twice as many miles on it…

so I sold the Excursion and reactivated my van… what the Excursion did better was its V 10 had the power to maintain 65 MPR in the mountains and eat a lot of gas…
I don’t need to top a mountain at 65 and I don’t want or need to pay more for gas all the time for that minor benefit…

People play the adequate/ marginal vehicle card a little too much IMHO… although I think the larger heavier TV can make up for some lack of towing experience sometimes…

That said, I am happy that your F250 preforms and satisfies your needs so well, I have no doubt it does…

goducks10 wrote:

donn0128 wrote:
Isn't it amazing how different marginal and adequate is? It still amazes me how many people resist using the correct tool for the job.

x2

X3, It really is that simple

donn0128 wrote:
Isn't it amazing how different marginal and adequate is? It still amazes me how many people resist using the correct tool for the job.

Exactly. That's the difference between having just enough power and having a cushion.

I kind of backstepped laterally forward. Went from the '12 F150 to the '98 2500 Burb in the sig. Did our first haul with the new combo last weekend and was a bit surprised that the 16 yo truck with nearly blown shocks was more stable going down the road. The weight of the vehicles are comparable to each other, and the Burb has a foot shorter wheelbase. Overhang is about the same too. So it's got to be the beefier springs and E tires making all the difference. :@

Oh well... We'll see better after Memorial Day where I'll be spending ~5 hours on the interstate rather than ~1 hour on the toll road.

I think that is what alot of people miss. The HD trucks are alot heavier and do not get pushed around like the 1500s, 150's etc..

My buddy pulls a 32', 9k trailer with his 150. Yes it is within specs, but his wife will does not like to ride in there any more as she says it is just un-safe. We travel together at times, and it scares me watching...as I know how it feels from experience;) I have been there as well.

NYCgrrl wrote:

Crawfordville wrote:
We drove to Universal Studios from the Tallahassee, Fl area for spring break. Which is about a 4 - 5 hour drive. We upgraded our TV to a Ford 250 from a Chevy 1500. We pull a 32ft Keystone Premier. We drove on I75, Turnpike and I4 without any issues. It was so comforting to know we had the enough power on the interstate. Especially when semis were passing us. We were able to comfortably do 65. We didn't realize what a huge difference it would make. Just wanted to share just in case anyone was considering upgrading.

Guessing you are pulling about 8500 lbs in toto...formerly w/ a vehicle with a 12,000 towing capacity to a vehicle with a 18,500- 24,700 towing capacity. I'm not doubting your better experience just trying to make better sense of this whole towing discussion as an RV newbie. Maybe I should just track down my H.S. physics teacher and not doodle in my notebook the entire semester cuz waiting for the lightbulb to turn on is becoming woefully sad.

Where your math is off is by not calculating the weight of everything into the picture. Our chevy 1500 total weight was 13k. Our tt was around 8k. The extra weight comes into play with all of the other stuff (humans, food, stuff in the trailer, hitch, etc). When all that is added up one quickly ends up just under or over the total capacity of the truck. When one is at capacity then add in real life driving of inclines, declines, speed up, slow down, etc. The tv then really has a hard time having good performance. Which makes for white knuckle driving which is no fun.

That is a perfect description. Marginal and adequate. Our 1500 would get pushed by the semis wind force. But the 250 is so much heavier and sturdy that is didn't even budge when a semi wold go buy us.

Crawfordville wrote:
We drove to Universal Studios from the Tallahassee, Fl area for spring break. Which is about a 4 - 5 hour drive. We upgraded our TV to a Ford 250 from a Chevy 1500. We pull a 32ft Keystone Premier. We drove on I75, Turnpike and I4 without any issues. It was so comforting to know we had the enough power on the interstate. Especially when semis were passing us. We were able to comfortably do 65. We didn't realize what a huge difference it would make. Just wanted to share just in case anyone was considering upgrading.

Guessing you are pulling about 8500 lbs in toto...formerly w/ a vehicle with a 12,000 towing capacity to a vehicle with a 18,500- 24,700 towing capacity. I'm not doubting your better experience just trying to make better sense of this whole towing discussion as an RV newbie. Maybe I should just track down my H.S. physics teacher and not doodle in my notebook the entire semester cuz waiting for the lightbulb to turn on is becoming woefully sad.

donn0128 wrote:
Isn't it amazing how different marginal and adequate is? It still amazes me how many people resist using the correct tool for the job.

x2

Isn't it amazing how different marginal and adequate is? It still amazes me how many people resist using the correct tool for the job.