Advice on Ford F150 Ecoboost

[seekingsummits]

Today I have a 1/2 ton Yukon XL Denali AWD. It does ok with my 6000lb lightweight TT here in the midwest but I dont really trust it across country and my tranny is getting close to needing replaced. Have heard a lot of good things about the V6 Ecoboost and it looks like the 2012 F150 with the 3.73 is even rated between 11000-12000lbs. Just curious what folks think about this vehicle and if its up for the challenge. I dont need an every day work truck by any means as Im in IT sales. We get out about 6 times a yr and 99% of the time its 2-7 hours away from our home and relatively flat, but I would like to hit Yellowstone next year and there are some good passes out that way. Any thoughts would be great.
Thanks
Adam

[disallow]

JAC1982 wrote:
Funny you know that without seeing everyone's set up. We thought the same thing, and so we had the father in law, who tows large trailers for a living (he owns a hot shot company, servicing oil fields), look at it, and he said we were set up correctly. We also added airbags, new tires, and did everything else we could to try to make it work. It just wasn't a comfortable pull, at all, especially in the wind (which is a regular occurrence around here).

Everybody has a different tolerance for what is 'acceptable'. If you are within the legal limits, I say go for it unless you don't feel safe.

You did the right thing for you. And that is a good thing! 🙂

[FishOnOne]

Here's a EcoBoost towing for your viewing entertainment.

Link

[Atlee]

I have no problems with my 3.5L EB. However, I do have a light trailer, 24' and 4950# GVWR and the truck has the Max Tow and Heavy Duty Pkg, with a 163" wheel base. But even with this set up, I would stop short of a 30' trailer.

[boomersooner198]

I have a 2016 F150 4X4 with the 3.5L Ecoboost. Just got back from Myrtle Beach (240 miles one way) and it towed with no problem (27 feet, 7500lbs loaded). Even my wife commented it pulled much better than my 2010 4.6L V8. Use weight distribution hitch and anti sway bar. Only thing I noticed was the new truck got about 1MPG less than my 2010 (9MPG vs. 10). I love this truck for daily driving and it pulls with no effort, max towing is 10,700 (with the 3.55).

[seekingsummits]

**** it seems like folks are straight down the middle. My current set up gets blown around a little but not too bad however I can certainly tell when a semi is passing without even looking as I start to get sucked over the line. My guess is that the Ford EB is adequate for what Ill be doing and as long as Im ok with the driving experience, I guess I just want to make sure a 6000lb trailer with say 1000 lb of gear and a family of 4 isn't going to kill this thing with wear and tear like the tranny, susp and all else that goes along with towing too. My Yukon XL Denali has had the auto leveling susp compressor replaced twice, tranny starting to slip etc. Basically I don't feel my current truck can handle the towing life, although its meets the towing task from A to B and again we go maybe half a dozen trips a yr that are 2-8 hours in length

[itguy08]

Dr Quick wrote:
My only comment is that the Ford 3.5 V-6 engine have an internal water pump, which if it goes, will be very expensive to replace. Like $1000 to $2000. Could also damage engine and engine would have to be replaced, as when pump goes, coolant can get into oil.
Have read on the internet of one engine failing at 61,000 miles due to pump failure.:(

Bzzt, wrong. The FWD applications (Taurus, Explorer, Flex) do have the internal water pump. The RWD (F150, Expedition) have an external water pump. Don't believe me? Look it up on fordparts.com

To the OP - we tow a 35', 9900lb trailer with our Max Tow Ecoboost. It does great. Make sure you get a good WD/Anti Sway hitch. We use the Equalizer.

[badercubed]

I had a 2013 F-150 Max Tow when we bought our trailer which is almost 35'-0" bumper to ball and 9,500lbs +/- when loaded up. My thoughts on it as follows:

The truck had plenty of power to pull the weight, that was a non-factor.
The trailer is high profile and about 11'-6" tall, the wind on open highways would tend to push the lighter truck around.
On secondary roads and roads with little to no wind, it towed like a dream.
Upgraded to the truck in my signature and have not regretted it with my trailer.
A foreman of mine got the hand-me-down truck and uses it to tow a 7,000lb enclosed utility trailer around and loves it.

I might still be using it if I had a lower profile, less brick wall of a trailer.

[Community Alumni]

BenK wrote:
Ford advertises approx 700 lbs lighter

On a typical half ton and it's ~7K GVWR...that is about 10 lighter...and more if that half ton is UNDER GVWR

Boils down to the day Mr Murphy crosses your path either it can manhandle the setup or not...weight is one component of a TV's ability to manhandle the situation..

While the new F150s are lighter than they used to be, they're still not 4,000 lbs short wheelbase SUVs either. A lot of these 3.5L crew cabs truck are rolling across the scales pretty close 5,000 lbs empty. Equivalent RAMS and GM twins are running around 5,300 -5,500 lbs so really they're not that far from the rest of pack.

Adverse towing situations and manhandling is a recipe for disaster. The equipment(brake controller, hitch, sway control, etc) should all be doing the majority of the work for you so that you can get back under control smoothly and safely. Getting into a wrestling match with the steering wheel will only makes things worse. Not saying that weight isn't important, but realistically it only takes a relatively small amount of out of control weight to put any truck in the ditch including duallys. As it was said before, there's plenty of guys and gals out there towing decent sized trailers with these new lighter trucks without stability issues.

[BenK]

Thanks and will keep an eye out for more info, as the internet searches to date
have contrary info...yes it is inside the front cover, nope it isn't...etc

Am also resigned that all OEMs will 'highly integrate' EVERYTHING to have the
whole ICE a throw-away someday soon...

[riven1950]

Hey guys, just wanted to clarify a couple of things. The 3.5L ecoboost in the trucks uses an external water pump. The 3.5L that is used in the front wheel drives(Flex etc) uses an internal water pump that can leak and cause major engine damage. Just changed timing chains on a Flex and the water pump was replaced as a precaution.

That's good to know. I have a 2013 ECO and have heard both stories on the water pump. Very confusing. Even looked on a Ford forum and got more confused.

I hope you are right, although in 50 years of driving all kinds of vehicles I think I have had maybe 2-3 water pump failures, and some of those vehicles were real dogs 🙂

[Canadianxplorer]

Dr Quick wrote:
My only comment is that the Ford 3.5 V-6 engine have an internal water pump, which if it goes, will be very expensive to replace. Like $1000 to $2000. Could also damage engine and engine would have to be replaced, as when pump goes, coolant can get into oil.
Have read on the internet of one engine failing at 61,000 miles due to pump failure.:(

Hey guys, just wanted to clarify a couple of things. The 3.5L ecoboost in the trucks uses an external water pump. The 3.5L that is used in the front wheel drives(Flex etc) uses an internal water pump that can leak and cause major engine damage. Just changed timing chains on a Flex and the water pump was replaced as a precaution.

I had a 2012 F150 supercab max trailer tow and now have a 2016 Crew, max payload, max trailer tow. The 2014 and older max payload or HD trucks had 7 lug axles/wheels. The 15/16 max payload/HD's have only 6 lugs.

Cya

[kw_00]

So far I have heard great things about that truck. I'm sure you will be fine, the F150 with the ecoboost should have zero issues pulling that 6K behind it. If it was me and I had the smaller camper I would look at that series of truck. You don't need anymore truck to tow a 6K trailer. Lt tires are good, and regular service. They offered several packages for extra payload to chose from. Good luck getting the truck you want. I really like the Ford Cooper color they offered on there trucks. One of our family members bought a Copper colored F150 4x4 with 3.5 ecoboost and they love it.

[riven1950]

Love my ECO. Only towing a 25' ( 22' box ) overall TT weighing about 5200 lbs loaded. Using a WD hitch with sway control. Original P tires, although when I replace them I will likely go to LT tires and Bilisten shocks. Plenty of power. Hardly know it is back there unless there is a really strong crosswind, but even then there is no sway. I can tell a little movement when I get sandwiched between two 18 wheelers on the interstate but I think that is pretty normal for a TT. Payload is an issue. We are close even though there are only two of us and we travel pretty light.

[Need-A-Vacation]

Summits,

Power wise the F150 will yank that 6k lbs around without any issues with the proper gearing. But to answer the question completely, we need more info due to possible payload issues of any 150/1500 tv.

How much is the total family weight?
How much cargo do you currently load in the Yukon: coolers, firewood, etc?
How much is your tw? For a 6k lb loaded trailer, could be ~720-900lbs.

As you are shopping, once a possible truck has been selected, look in the drivers door jamb for the yellow payload sticker. Will state "All occupants and cargo not to exceed XXXXlbs". Is the stated payload amount more than the total of the weights above?

If you buy a F150 with the Max Tow AND the HD Payload, you should be all set. But if you can't find the HD Payload package on a truck, then you may possibly have a payload issue depending on how the truck is optioned. Reason being is some members (here and on JOF) have posted about barely having 1200lbs of payload for their 150/1500. Just depends on each individual truck, and your needed available payload.

Good luck shopping!!!