When I was living in my RV in Portland OR, back in 2008, the fifth wheel next to me had a F-350 SRW diesel parked near it for a while. One day I noticed that they had two cars, instead of one car and the truck.
They had sold the pickup because they where living in the RV, and had no plans on moving it soon. Even if they needed to move the RV, they could use a towing company to place it on another site. The $700 a month payment was just not in their budget.
I am really happy that I bought a gas motorhome. While the mileage is not nearly as good as some diesel motorhomes, it is much lighter, and the mileage is not all that bad. I do have a higher HP to weight ratio than my buddy in a Country Coach DP that is 40' long and 27,000 GVW. Mine is 30' and 17,000 GVWR, about 16,000 GVW.
The gas cost is not all that bad, considering that in the 16 years I drove it around, I only put on about 50,000 miles, or about 3,000 miles per year, with most of that while it was newer, and cost of gas was less than $2 a gallon. Once in the $4 range, I basically stopped moving it around, except for some shorter trips, or while moving from one state to another to look for work.
I would keep looking at the F-150 Ecoboost. Make sure that you are looking at Max tow packages. If you don't have full grown children (or expect to have 5'5" tall or taller passengers in the rear seat) then the Supercab version with a 7' (or 8') bed would offer a great payload (with the optional max cargo rating) and decent payload ability.
You can find a lot out by reading the towing guide. If you look at the page for 'camper loading' it will give the 'base weight' by subtracting the max cargo rating from the GVWR. But remember if you get the optioned up pickup, it will be heavier than the base models.
http://www.fleet.ford.com/towing-guides/You can look up various years trucks as well.
You might find that a 2011 and later 6.2L F-250 will take on just about any trailer load that you could put on it. It should have around 2,000 pounds of cargo rating, more than enough for any travel trailer out there. But if you pick a fifth wheel, then the F-350 would be a better pick with a 2,800 - 3,000 pound cargo rating.
If you look at a F-350 in 2005, you will find it can have a 11,500 GVWR with single rear wheels, while the 2004 and earlier would only have 9,900 pound GVWR. So they did not carry nearly as much cargo.
The ecoboost has plenty of power. That was reported by one owner of a 10,000 pound trailer, a brand new 2011 F-150 Ecoboost, and he had traded in a slightly older F-150 with a 5.4L and a problematic 6L F-250. The older F-150 had never let him down, but the F-250 with the International 6L had problems, that have been discussed at length for many years on this site.
My sister also bought a 2012 F-150 with 3.5L Ecoboost engine. She has been very happy with it, however her husband thought it was to quiet. Even her dog did not hear him drive up to the house anymore. So he 'improved' the exhaust system to make it louder. Not for me, but anyway it is his truck. ..
Good luck,
Fred.
Money can't buy happiness but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a
Porsche or Country Coach!
If there's a WILL, I want to be in it!
I havn't been everywhere, but it's on my list.
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