Towing with a 2022 Ford F250 7.3L

I run waze from my phone and garmin while towing.

Two numbers you need to be concerned with, payload and tow wt. 250 should be fine for the trailer... however, you might consider high capacity tow package or 350 to tow everything except monster trailers

Apple Maps work well for me when on paved roads. Off highway I use Forest Maps app.

^^^ The F350 SRW is about $300 more than the F250 with high capacity tow package .... Although the two trucks will be identical other than badging, the f350 will give you considerably more payload, if you are at all concerned about the number on the door sticker.

mdcamping wrote:
Hello everyone,

Now looking more into the 250

I was looking into the independent touch screen Navigation that comes with the XLT Pkg. Also with the Pkg comes camera pro trailer backup camera. Getting the pkg along with a few other minor things would set me back almost another 5K. No monthly cost from ford for the navigation.

Now on the XL and 5k less I was told the Navigation screen will work off my phone GPS via bluetooth

any pro's & con's on the 2 navigations?

Truck I'm looking at now would have a 6' bed or 148" wheel base. I did a online search, says for 148" wheel base truck, trailer should be no more than a 30'. I'm looking at now is a 25' trailer but in future wondering would be an acceptable max trailer length

Thank you for your replies/opinions
Mike

From what I am seeing. the 7.3 gas engine. They call it Godzilla. Is a monster. Every test I see the truck guys do. The 7.3 shins like the sun.

As for that 30' trailer mythical rule of thumb. Not really true. the tow capacities say nothing about trailer length. and with a 250. 30' would be nothing. It much more depends on the rear over hang than the Wheel base. Meaning how far the hitch point is from the rear axle. In truth there are many more things to consider than just the Wheelbase. Like how well the TT is balanced, and how well the WDH is setup.

I towed a 31' TT with a 145"WB F150. Absolutely 0 sway.

As for the navigation working off the phone. Remember the phone navigation works off cell towers, and not satellite. If you get into an area with poor cell service. you will lose your navigation. In other words. The cell phone navigation has a poor chance of working in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and many areas around the NC, and SC coast. Anywhere, where there are few cell towers, it will be challenged.

I travel for work, renting cars weekly. And all 4 of my personal vehicles have Nav. I never use the built in Nav, always use Waze or google maps. Real time traffic reports, accident alerts, up to date maps and road conditions, and will tell you about police activity.

Yes, you need phone service when you begin your journey, but never after that. In traveling everything west of the Mississippi the only place I’ve had any trouble was Alaska. For me, lack of cell service has been a non issue.

I agree with Bionic -

My wife's 2018 Explorer. my 2019 F150 and 2020 F350 ALL have Navigation and we use Waze when travelling... And sometimes Google Maps.. Since Waze came out a few years back, we have NOT even turned the screen in the truck to Nav....

I keep my vehicles a long time, so when OnStar dropped me in a few years and Ford stopped updates for the in dash systems they are something I don't want to pay serious money for anymore. If you are buying for more than a few years, look carefully at how they may obsolete the expensive junk.

All built in navigation systems are sometimes several years behind. In fact my F350 was almost 4 years behind showing new roads when it was brand new.

The pros and cons are the same as any other built in navigation system.

Pro: It's convenient.

Cons: You can't take it with you to another vehicle that doesn't have navigation. There is likely a monthly subscription fee, and likely a double-whammy there because you also need to subscribe to the data package as well.

I opted out of all that on my truck when I bought it in 2015. By the time I was done with the phone service, navigation, data, and satellite radio, it was another $100+ a month to the payment! That was an additoinal 20% a month on my truck!

The Pros for built in Nav are that it is satellite based and not cellular based, so it works everywhere unlike cellular. I live on the west coast and no cellular in the mountains, my Nav system works but my Verizon cell does not. I do use Waze more than anything when traveling or needing to know where traffic is, but for general nav, I use the vehicle nav. When towing if I don't know where I am going I use the truck Nav. The other problem with a cellular nav, if you are using the phone for something else, you lose the nav to some extent. It used to be with Verizon data stopped when you were using the phone, but now that has changed so a map does continue to update, but it wasn't always that way and may or may not be with your cell service, and the area you are in.

The other main pro is resale value, an XLT is worth more than $5K more than an XL on resale given all other factors are the same. The upgrade is more than just Nav typically, upgraded radio, maybe leather, etc.

As for subscriptions, I have had XM radios in 2 of my 3 cars since 2011. I have never paid more than $50-$100 per year. I travel a lot in my work car and XM is great as I can listen to the same radio station regardless of where I am. In my 3rd car I just use the app to stream to the car radio, if I have cell service, sucks when we go to the mountains and I have to listen to the old songs I have saved on my phone. I have a Chev so I stopped paying for OnStar a long time ago.