Towing performance - F150 vs F250
I am shopping for a new truck. I pull a fifth wheel, around 10,000 pounds including contents. I have a 2009 F150, and I find it marginal on long hills. I would not feel comfortable hauling thro...
Forum Discussion
Assuming it's 10k lb GVWR, expect the pin weight to be 2000-2500lb. Plus another 100-200lb for the hitch, say 300-500lb for passengers along with anything else in the truck.
This puts they load in the truck up around 2400-3200lb plus whatever else is in the truck. Buying a new truck, I would assume it's on the higher end, so look for a payload up around 3500lb or better.
It's the rare 1/2 ton that has a 2400lb payload and to my knowledge, none are up around 3200lb.
Honestly, even with a 3/4 ton, check the payload as some are down in the 2000-2200lb range.
A 1 ton SRW is a nice option if you are buying new.
Having enough horsepower to pull it is less likely to be an issue. Particularly if you go with the 3.5 ecoboost. Up in the mountains naturally aspirated engines lose power the higher you go. At 8000ft, you may be down by 25-30% on power because the air is thin. A turbo negates this to a large degree by force feeding air into the engine.
If you move up to a 3/4 or 1 ton with the new 7.3, you don't get a turbo but you start at 430HP, so even if you lose a good bit at altitude, you will still mostly be north of 300HP available. The ecoboost is around 375HP last I checked, so you can lose a lot before you are down in the range of the ecoboost.
It wasn't that long about that the monster towing diesel engines were down around 300hp, so the modern high HP gas engines are capable (you will need to wind up the RPM but they are designed to do that)
This puts they load in the truck up around 2400-3200lb plus whatever else is in the truck. Buying a new truck, I would assume it's on the higher end, so look for a payload up around 3500lb or better.
It's the rare 1/2 ton that has a 2400lb payload and to my knowledge, none are up around 3200lb.
Honestly, even with a 3/4 ton, check the payload as some are down in the 2000-2200lb range.
A 1 ton SRW is a nice option if you are buying new.
Having enough horsepower to pull it is less likely to be an issue. Particularly if you go with the 3.5 ecoboost. Up in the mountains naturally aspirated engines lose power the higher you go. At 8000ft, you may be down by 25-30% on power because the air is thin. A turbo negates this to a large degree by force feeding air into the engine.
If you move up to a 3/4 or 1 ton with the new 7.3, you don't get a turbo but you start at 430HP, so even if you lose a good bit at altitude, you will still mostly be north of 300HP available. The ecoboost is around 375HP last I checked, so you can lose a lot before you are down in the range of the ecoboost.
It wasn't that long about that the monster towing diesel engines were down around 300hp, so the modern high HP gas engines are capable (you will need to wind up the RPM but they are designed to do that)
