Ford as a tow vehicle

[wtmtnhiker]

Hi all,
Last summer I bought a 2017 Chevy Silverado with a 5.7l engine and 3.42 gears 36000 miles. I bought it mainly to tow a 7500# travel trailer. I hate the way it runs. It has the Active Fuel management and switches from V4 to V8 mostly on decel. The truck runs rough all the time with a sometimes subtle and sometimes not subtle bucking or misfire on light to medium acceleration which is worse when cold. Dealer says there is nothing wrong and this is the way it is. I'm looking at Fords as I want to take a long trip out west and then south from NH and the way the truck runs unnerves me. I'm looking at late model used maybe 2017 to 2020. They say a 3.5L v6 will tow up to 13,000 lbs. Is that so? Is it a reliable setup? I was leaning more toward the 6.2L V8 as being a little over kill but that makes me more comfortable. Any Ford owners out there with real world towing experience with these engines and model years I would like to hear your thoughts. Thanks.

[jerem0621]

My 2011 Tahoe was one of the early AFM engines and the only time I notice it is when I am driving between 29-35mph and the thing keeps switching all the time. While towing or at any other speed it is totally imperceptible.

I agree. Something is wrong.

The F150 will fix the Chevy problem. Just research the issues. Sometimes the Devil you know….

[kellem]

2 things to consider:

Will you be upgrading trailer in the future? Might be frugal to go 3/4 ton.

My 7600# trailer actually has a 1000# tounge and by the time passengers, bikes, kayaks and other cargo is added, the 1/2 ton class trucks have insufficient payload.

I've owned (2) 5.3 trucks and both engines were very reliable but simply got tired of being marginal on payload.
Check the payload sticker on the door before writing a check.

[Grit_dog]

wtmtnhiker wrote:
Thanks to all for the helpful replies. Going to look at a 2019 F150 3.5 with twin turbo on Friday.

D@mn, what a baller! I don’t know what it’s like to go buy a new vehicle just because the mostly new one has a couple little issues!
On the upside, someone will pay top $ for your “pos” just don’t bend over anywhere near the salesman while buying the new one! Lol

[Grit_dog]

wtmtnhiker wrote:
I'm looking at late model used maybe 2017 to 2020. They say a 3.5L v6 will tow up to 13,000 lbs. Is that so? Is it a reliable setup? I was leaning more toward the 6.2L V8 as being a little over kill but that makes me more comfortable. Any Ford owners out there with real world towing experience with these engines and model years I would like to hear your thoughts. Thanks.

You evidently meant the Ecoboost, not the NA 3.5 V6I presume.
By comparing to the 6.2, you're comparing to a F250. Are you upgrading to a bigger truck?
Also, the Ecoboost is more powerful than the 6.2, FWIW, but you can get deeper gears in the F250.

[wtmtnhiker]

Thanks to all for the helpful replies. Going to look at a 2019 F150 3.5 with twin turbo on Friday.

[APT]

I recommend using Tow/Haul trans mode all the time to disable AFM. 🙂 If that still doe not meet your expectations and want to jump to Ford, then I recommend a 3/4 ton 7.3L if your TT is 7500 pounds dry. If 7500 pounds loaded, then the half ton will handle well. I recommend the 3.5L Ecoboost twin turbo engine, not the regular 3.5L.

[MitchF150]

Yeah, sure.. But the HDPP will give you more payload to handle that (but bet you'll still be really heavy).. 🙂

I've run out of payload with a #7000 TT. Sure, I pack heavy, but not like I can just go out and get an #11,300 TT and call it good... ha, ha... 🙂

Mitch

[goducks10]

MitchF150 wrote:
To get that high tow rating on an F150, you have to have the HDPP and those are not on the used car lots. You might find a MaxTow equipped one and that's better, in that you get a bit more GVWR on the truck, but forget about towing an RV of that 'tow rating' size..

I have a 13 F150 MaxTow Eco with #7700 GVWR and I'm towing a #7000 loaded TT and that's about all I want to tow comfortably with it. It can tow more, has tons of power, but just for the shear comfort level of towing, it's all I want to tow with it.

You will run out of payload long before you reach any 'tow rating'.. So, choose wisely.. The newer Fords all have the auto engine start/stop feature.. No cylinder deactivation, and you can turn off the start/stop, but have to do that every time you start the truck..

To get the old 6.2l in an F150 you have to get the Raptor or a Platinum or higher trim level probably some 5+ years ago.. But, they don't have any payload left, so won't do you any good anyway..

Good luck! Mitch

According to Fords F150 Fleet Guide for 2020 you only need 20" tires, 3.55 gears and the Max Tow to get the 13,200 tow rating. You do need the Super Crew and only 2wd.
https://www.fleet.ford.com/content/dam/aem_fleet/en_us/fleet/towing-guides/2020_Ford_RVandTrailerTow...

[Groover]

MitchF150 wrote:
To get that high tow rating on an F150, you have to have the HDPP and those are not on the used car lots. You might find a MaxTow equipped one and that's better, in that you get a bit more GVWR on the truck, but forget about towing an RV of that 'tow rating' size..

I have a 13 F150 MaxTow Eco with #7700 GVWR and I'm towing a #7000 loaded TT and that's about all I want to tow comfortably with it. It can tow more, has tons of power, but just for the shear comfort level of towing, it's all I want to tow with it.

You will run out of payload long before you reach any 'tow rating'.. So, choose wisely.. The newer Fords all have the auto engine start/stop feature.. No cylinder deactivation, and you can turn off the start/stop, but have to do that every time you start the truck..

To get the old 6.2l in an F150 you have to get the Raptor or a Platinum or higher trim level probably some 5+ years ago.. But, they don't have any payload left, so won't do you any good anyway..

Good luck! Mitch

The auto engine stop is deactivated whenever trailer lights are plugged in so it is a total non-issue when towing. And you can rig up some extra lights to use when not towing if you want a simple defeat mechanism but you really are better off just getting use to it.

The 3.5 turbo has a lot more torque than your 5.3 does and it won't lose torque in the mountains like a naturally aspirated engine does. I think that it address the issues expressed by the op. The 3/4 ton gasses would be a little more solid towing but would actually have less power, especially in the mountains, and would consume a lot more fuel when not towing. I regularly tow over 10,000lbs with my 2016 and think that you would be happy with one if you don't need the payload of a 3/4 ton. 2018 and newer models will have the 10 speed tranny which seems to be a nice improvement while towing.

[MitchF150]

To get that high tow rating on an F150, you have to have the HDPP and those are not on the used car lots. You might find a MaxTow equipped one and that's better, in that you get a bit more GVWR on the truck, but forget about towing an RV of that 'tow rating' size..

I have a 13 F150 MaxTow Eco with #7700 GVWR and I'm towing a #7000 loaded TT and that's about all I want to tow comfortably with it. It can tow more, has tons of power, but just for the shear comfort level of towing, it's all I want to tow with it.

You will run out of payload long before you reach any 'tow rating'.. So, choose wisely.. The newer Fords all have the auto engine start/stop feature.. No cylinder deactivation, and you can turn off the start/stop, but have to do that every time you start the truck..

To get the old 6.2l in an F150 you have to get the Raptor or a Platinum or higher trim level probably some 5+ years ago.. But, they don't have any payload left, so won't do you any good anyway..

Good luck! Mitch

[LowRyter]

wow. I'd check out what KD sez (above). Hopefully you can defeat that cylinder de-activation when towing?

I wouldn't tow 13k with a half ton, perhaps it's ok now?

[KD4UPL]

Your truck has a 5.3L engine, not a 5.7L engine. I mention that so you will have better luck searching for the aftermarket modification to defeat the AFM feature. It can be done and it should solve your problem without trading trucks.
Chevy ONLY put this system on the 5.3L engine. None of the other truck engines have it so you don't need to necessarily avoid a Chevy truck if you choose to trade away from this engine instead of modifying it.
No "1/2 ton" truck can tow a 13,000 pound RV because you won't have enough payload to support the likely 2,000 pounds of tongue weight plus the WDH, passengers, and stuff. If you were towing a 13,000 pound boat or a flatbed load of bricks with a lower percentage of tongue weight than an RV then I see no trouble using a truck at it's rated tow capacity.

[Sjm9911]

Look into mods, I think I read that that system can be bypassed. I had the same feelings with a 2012 gmc similler specs. Took a second before the computer registered you put the pedal to the floor. Lol. I got a 2500 chevey now. No problems, but they dont have to meet emissions standerds. I didnt have bucking and misfireing. Some other minor stuff contributed to the bad towing also, my p rated tires mostly. I had a lot of sidewall slop in the rear tires when towing.

[Grit_dog]

wtmtnhiker, your truck is a 5.3, not 5.7, but that is immaterial.
Importantly, it is NOT normal, and I’m trying to recall, I didn’t think they even went in to V4 mode in tow haul.
Regardless, we have a huge fleet of these exact trucks and I just put 100k miles on mine as well as driving a bunch of the others randomly, and the only way I knew they were in V4 mode was seeing it on the dash. 100% not normal to notice it.

Barring getting a solution from your dealer (if I wasn’t clear, they are brushing you off), you can tune out the cylinder drop mode with various programmers. Cost a few hundred bucks for a tuner.
The rest of the running quality issues are also not normal in the least.
You’re getting jerked around by the dealer it seems.
Yes a new Ford 3.5 Ecoboost will blow the doors off the 5.3 LS motor with 6 speed, but I’ve towed up to around 14klbs with the same truck as yours, over the mountain passes here in WA without issue. And it tows 7-8klbs just fine.

[Diamond_c]

We have a 2020 f250 with the 6.7l turbo diesel and a 10 speed transmission. We tow a 38’ to that weighs just shy of 9000#. We absolutely love it and have not found a hill or mountain that it won’t climb with the cruise set at 70mph. Smooth and comfortable. Last weekend we were getting about 14 mpg on a 3hr 2 lane tour from south to to west ky.