Size of truck

When the question is:

Will my 150 ecoboost be enough.

The answer is always:

No

This has been an interesting thread to follow, please allow me to add my .02. No one has mentioned the emergency stop or the emergency lane change that we never expect. My family and I were victoms of a gentlemen who was operating on the edge and never gave a second thought how the half ton truck with a trailer (5er) at max GVWR would respond when standing on the brakes and changing lanes in a hurry due to unknown traffic conditions, the result is the truck could not handle it and he wasn't prepared to handle the situation and my family and I got creamed by him.
As a person who has towed with half tons and heavy duty truck, there is absolutely a difference in the handling, braking and maneuvering characteristics of a heavy duty truck. Please don't underestimate the weight and moment force of a moving truck and trailer and buy a truck that will easily handle the weight. A half ton truck is not equipped to handle an 11K 5er at 70 MPH in winds and shifting lanes, it feels squishy and it pushes you around.
It's not just about you, but it is your responsibility not to be a hazard to those folks around you when out on the road ways.

Just my .02, thanks for letting me say my peace

jerem0621 wrote:

ol Bombero-JC wrote:

agesilaus wrote:
No, you need a HD/SD truck either 3/4 ton or one ton...

Ditto the above.

A salesman will tell you a Toyota will do just fine.....it towed the Space Shuttle to the museum in CA .....and he/she *knows* - 'cause he/she camped on the space station.:R

~

The following is the rambling of an insomniac... take it for whats its worth.

Jeremiah

Lol...

Funny stuff.

I have to say that as much as we hit the road I really don't notice a whole lot of under-qualified tow vehicles around here.
There's a few...most are heavier trucks and a high number of motor homes here.
Could be folks have realized the mountainous locations need some beef to get up to.

ol Bombero-JC wrote:

agesilaus wrote:
No, you need a HD/SD truck either 3/4 ton or one ton. The price difference between 3/4 and 1 is only a few hundred dollars so you may as well get a one ton.

If you are going to stick to the flatlands then a gas engine may work for you, otherwise get a diesel.

And do not listen to the 5ver salesmen on what kind of truck you need, they lie a lot. They'll say anything to get a unit sold.

BK

Ditto the above.

A salesman will tell you a Toyota will do just fine.....it towed the Space Shuttle to the museum in CA .....and he/she *knows* - 'cause he/she camped on the space station.:R

~

The following is the rambling of an insomniac... take it for whats its worth.

Funny... a modern Tundra probably would be "just fine". It has bigger brakes, better motor, better handling, better cooling, better nearly everything than HD trucks in the not too distant past did... and they pulled some monster trailers with those old trucks.... but a newer half ton can't? Cheap Timbrens plus affordable LT tires and the weak spot with this half ton is resolved. People call them "band-aids", thats ok.. I see HD truck owners using the same techniques to pull heavy loads.. (but thats ok.. its an HD truck)

I saw a bit of everything on my 600 mile drive home yesterday from Florida. Half-Tons towing fivers... at 55-65 mph... 3/4 tons towing 35 ft plus fivers with a utility trailer/golf cart double towing... Dually's towing 8 ft box pop up's (lol)... I even saw a 97 ish Ram 4x4 1500 quad cab pulling a LOADED 4 horse gooseneck.... :E HE WAS PERFECTLY LEVEL... I thought that he must have had airbags or Timbrens.. The ones that were really scary... I mean.. REALLY SCARY... were some of the fivers with dually's (newer "latests generation" ones BTW) with the headlights pointing at the sky... I saw two of them yesterday... Modern duallys, one was a F350 one was a modern Ram Dually... both of them had saggy butt syndrome so bad that It got my attention. The fivers were HUGE HUGE HUGE... But... its ok because its an HD truck.

I would NOT have felt confident in those combo's...

The half tons I saw pulling along looked stable, no squashed tires, no saggy bottom, and moderately sized fivers were in tow.

A monster fiver... is still a monster fiver regardless of the size of the truck.. THAT is scary IMHO. (talking personal comfort levels here) I would feel very confident in a 7500-8500 lb fiver with a properly equipped half ton. Drop 14-20k on the back of any truck and my confidence will go way way down.. 14-20k is 14-20k I don't care what truck is under the pin box.

I have never understood the math that people use on comfort level overloading...the math is not proportional.. Overloading a half ton by a few hundred lbs 2-6 times a year (Ok maybe more than a few hundred) is the END OF THE WORLD as we all know it... but overloading a 3/4 ton by... say 1500 lbs.. no biggie... business as usual.. should have got a diesel.. etc etc etc.

IMHO... the time based brake controller attached to what seems like most of the trucks that were not factory equipped are much more of an issue... but thats for another thread.

Good Lord willing, my next truck will "Probably" be an EcoBoost HD SuperCrew F150 XLT 4wd with the MaxTow and Max Payload package... Probably be around 1900 ish lbs of payload. That will be plenty for our next rig (fiver or TT)

Thanks!

Jeremiah

agesilaus wrote:
No, you need a HD/SD truck either 3/4 ton or one ton. The price difference between 3/4 and 1 is only a few hundred dollars so you may as well get a one ton.

If you are going to stick to the flatlands then a gas engine may work for you, otherwise get a diesel.

And do not listen to the 5ver salesmen on what kind of truck you need, they lie a lot. They'll say anything to get a unit sold.

BK

Ditto the above.

A salesman will tell you a Toyota will do just fine.....it towed the Space Shuttle to the museum in CA .....and he/she *knows* - 'cause he/she camped on the space station.:R

~

I have posted before and I will post again...

If you don't have one you just don't know.

To the OP...Do your homework, then buy and drive with confidence...if pin weight or total weight is too much for 150 then go for a bigger truck. Mine works for me...you may need bigger truck for 32'er.



I take mine anywhere and everywhere these guys go just as well and they are both 3500s...

Dayle1 wrote:

rhagfo wrote:
When looking at towing 9,000 to 11,000# as rated for some F150, think about this, would you feel safe driving this main state highway? These are some pictures my DW took on our return from the North Coast of Oregon on Highway 26. Those of you from the Portland area know this road well. This is the route from Portland to the North Coast area, speed limit 55, most do 60+.

I'm missing your point, towing is risky regardless of rig or road. If towing stable is a concern, then a 1/2 T with a fiver (within ratings) is going to be more stable than the majority of TTs. If stopping stability is the issue, it is the trailer brakes that stop the trailer and having well maintained trailer brakes and a good controller is more important than the vehicle in front of the trailer (again within ratings). If stopping distance is the concern, then loading the truck's rear axle to it's maximum should be a good thing since it results in a higher coefficient of friction between the tires and the road and delays ABS activation.

The point being that there are many TV/5er combinations that are within the "numbers" but not stable, or need suspension add on to get them to a point that they feel somewhat stable. Then there those that are over GVWR, without enhancements that are more stable.

The 8,200 GVWR F150 are light trucks, so the likelihood of the 5er pushing the TV does increase. That said an 8,200 GVWR F150 is more about the ride empty than when towing. Soft springs lead to a mushy driving experience towing.
Many with an F150 and near the limit 5er usually state, I will go slow, I will load light, I took it out on the interstate and we did fine. I see any statement like that saying that the rig is less than stable.

rhagfo wrote:
When looking at towing 9,000 to 11,000# as rated for some F150, think about this, would you feel safe driving this main state highway? These are some pictures my DW took on our return from the North Coast of Oregon on Highway 26. Those of you from the Portland area know this road well. This is the route from Portland to the North Coast area, speed limit 55, most do 60+.

I'm missing your point, towing is risky regardless of rig or road. If towing stable is a concern, then a 1/2 T with a fiver (within ratings) is going to be more stable than the majority of TTs. If stopping stability is the issue, it is the trailer brakes that stop the trailer and having well maintained trailer brakes and a good controller is more important than the vehicle in front of the trailer (again within ratings). If stopping distance is the concern, then loading the truck's rear axle to it's maximum should be a good thing since it results in a higher coefficient of friction between the tires and the road and delays ABS activation.

If those pictures do not convince the OP of the value of a well set up rig, nothing we say will.

Double post Sorry.