Travel Trailer Tow Vehicle

[willg]

This is surly not the first post like this and probably not the last, but I am a newbie looking at purchasing a Rockwood mini lite 2304s dry wt. 5654, GVW 7660. I have never towed before. Finding the right tow vehicle is down right confusing so i”m looking for some advise from the experts! I don’t feel comfortable taking advice from car and rv sales people. Don’t want to overkill it, but also don’t to want to be underpowered driving in the mountains which will be a minimum of once a year up to the North Carolina mountains (Linville area). I’m assuming a 1/2 ton is sufficient. Looked mainly at the Ford F 150 2.7 and 3.5 EcoBoost engines so far. Thinking the 2.7 is too small. I would like any and all advice on any of the big 3 pickups but mainly advice on the appropriate pickup engine for the weight of the trailer. Thanks

[camparound]

I was in a sort of similar situation as you. When I purchased my solaire I had a 2010 F150 supercrew 4x4 with the 4.6L 3 valve v8. It pulled the trailer weight just fine on flat ground but mountains would have been hard on it. The ride was what made me white knuckle on occasion. The springs are lighter in the smaller truck to give you a smoother ride. This caused alot of bouncing and the truck feeling like it wanted to shimmy when cresting a hill. My trailer is of similar weight to the one you have. I quickly upgraded to a 6.2l F250 supercrew 4x4 and experience a much better ride when towing. Granted my F150 did not have the turbos nor the horsepower of what you are looking at but ride alone would do it for me. I also have the luxury of the truck not being my everyday driver. Another thing to consider is will you ever want to bring a golf cart along? I never even gave that a minutes thought but a golf cart will weight around 1000 lbs. If you are close on payload that could be an issue. Not to mention not enough bed length.

[IdaD]

MitchF150 wrote:

donn0128 wrote:
The bighest problem with a 150 ecoboost is cost. You can actually buy a nicely equipped 250/2500 for the same money and have a truck that you can grow into and have better resale value down the road. A 2500 will also allow you to grow when you decide its time for more trailer.

Sure, if you are comparing a Platinum Eco F150 to say an XL F250 with the 6.2 gas engine...

I have to admit, I have not been on a dealers lot since 2014... Have no need for a new truck at this point in MY life... 🙂

But, when I bought my little F150 in 2014, I DID look at the F250's and they were a lot more $$ unless you were looking at an XL 6.2 reg cab F250....

I still have the first TT I bought back in 2002 and I know most folks get bigger and bigger rigs as their family grows.. I get that..

To the OP, in the end, you just need what you need today and without any past towing or RV experience, I can't say one way or the other what to tell you... Until you have towed overweight, or anything for that matter, you are going to learn just like I did when I was 16 years old and worked on a farm and towed more overweight stuff than I can remember.. I'm 55 now, so been doing this stuff for some time, but nothing like the experience of others on here, so we are are all in the same boat in the end..

Good luck!

Mitch

I'm pushing 4 years out from my new truck search but when I bought mine a gas HD was pretty close to a comparably equipped half ton. Diesel obviously bumps the HD up some but you can mitigate that by going easy on the trim level versus the half ton.

I think most half tons would work for OPs trailer, certainly the heavier GVWR versions would. But personally I'd opt for the HD. You have to deal with a little rougher ride but you get way more truck for about the same money. No brainer as far as I'm concerned.

[Atlee]

Towing Mileage is about the same as any other gasser, no matter the size. It's not like the 3.5L is horrid and big block gassers are not.

trail-explorer wrote:
Ecoboost 3.5 gets decent mileage empty, but horrid mileage towing.

[berniedes]

trail-explorer wrote:
Ecoboost 3.5 gets decent mileage empty, but horrid mileage towing.

Depends what you mean by horrid. it has been my experience that no matter what your tow vehicle is, the average is around 10 mpg .
I am talking about gas engine, no diesel

[trail-explorer]

Ecoboost 3.5 gets decent mileage empty, but horrid mileage towing.

[ppine]

donn0128 wrote:
The bighest problem with a 150 ecoboost is cost. You can actually buy a nicely equipped 250/2500 for the same money and have a truck that you can grow into and have better resale value down the road. A 2500 will also allow you to grow when you decide its time for more trailer.

Bingo.

[berniedes]

willg wrote:
This is surly not the first post like this and probably not the last, but I am a newbie looking at purchasing a Rockwood mini lite 2304s dry wt. 5654, GVW 7660. I have never towed before. Finding the right tow vehicle is down right confusing so i”m looking for some advise from the experts! I don’t feel comfortable taking advice from car and rv sales people. Don’t want to overkill it, but also don’t to want to be underpowered driving in the mountains which will be a minimum of once a year up to the North Carolina mountains (Linville area). I’m assuming a 1/2 ton is sufficient. Looked mainly at the Ford F 150 2.7 and 3.5 EcoBoost engines so far. Thinking the 2.7 is too small. I would like any and all advice on any of the big 3 pickups but mainly advice on the appropriate pickup engine for the weight of the trailer. Thanks

HI willg. you will do fine with any of those two engines. If getting the 3.5 make sure the rear end is NOT the 3.31. If you get the 2.7,make sure the rear end is 3.73 but it might be more difficult to find.

As for towing with the 2.7 ecoboost , mine has the 3.73 rear end and I can tell you that I have no problem . Used to have a 4.6 and 5.3 v8 and I can tell you the 2.7 will out tow them. I live in nova scotia and seems like I am always going up a hill and some of them are pretty steep. (Check out Mount Thom) My RV is a 2013 Startcraft Autumn Ridge 266RKS . The dry weight is around 6000 lbs but I figure after it is loaded, etc, it is probably around 6500 lbs. The only thing that I did is get a half decent WDH (curt trutrack) and replaced rear shocks on the F150 with some Bilstein B6 4600 shocks.

Hope this helps

[Ride_S40T]

A lot of wisdom here. Should have visited before we bought. Have the new half ton for all the comfort reasons. Then started looking.

We sort of lucked out when purchasing our new TT, a 2019 Keystone 250URS. Weekend warriors right now. Full time in a year or two.

Knew I wanted something about half the dry weight of our tow capacity. Have hauled heavy stuff close to tow capacity before and it's no fun. As mentioned, so many things to consider beyond "pulling capacity". Dealer ran the numbers before we purchased but we verified with a Tow Capacity Worksheet found on a reputable site. Also purchased a Sherline tongue scale for good measure. Found out the tongue is about 100lbs more than advertised. Could be the packing but that's important info right there.

The TT is 58% of our tow (pulling) capacity. However, the tongue weight, GCVW, wheel base and other specs put us right at MY safe limits for 1/2 ton. Wheelbase is the only factor showing a bit close..

We have about 900lbs spare for the tow vehicle after factoring full tank, me, wife and dogs - per certified scales. Our TT loaded is right at 6000lbs (66% of tow capacity) and we still have another 1,500lbs for the trailer...that we'll never use. Truck is 5,120 per scales.

All that said, when it's time to hit the road for good we'll invest in a 3/4 ton. The larger truck is just not practical right now and we're willing to concede the cost of the upgrade when the time comes.

[KC10Chief]

I bought a half ton 2018 F-150 with the intention of using it to pull a travel trailer. I chose the 3.5L Ecoboost motor as it is the most powerful motor you can get in ANY half ton truck other than the F-150 Raptor. It outperforms the V8s and the diesel motors that are in half tons now. I absolutely LOVE my F-150.

That being said, Ford inflates their numbers on a lot of things. Tow ratings and gas mileage are the big two. My truck can tow 13,200 pounds according to Ford! If I were to tow a trailer that big though, I'd easily be over my payload capacity. Make sure you check for that. I have no doubt that this truck has the power to pull that much weight. I'd definitely be overloaded though. I used to have a 2002 F-250 with the 7.3L Powerstroke diesel. My new F-150 has almost as much power as that truck had.

The gas mileage is advertised at 17/23. You might be able to get 23 mpg on the highway if you are going 55 mph the whole time. I just took an 850 mile trip in mine and was taking it easy at 70 mph most of the way. I averaged 18 mpg. I knew all of this going in to buying this truck.

I could have bought any truck I wanted. I looked at the F-250s and F-350s. But I won't be towing my trailer all the time. I commute 25 miles each way to work. The super duty trucks just don't ride as nice. They're still very good though. My F-150 is by far the most comfortable and the quietest vehicle I've ever owned. Lots of creature comforts in it. I have the Lariat. The higher trim packages will reduce your payload capacity as well. Stuff to keep in mind. When you are looking at truck on the lot, the payload capacity is on a sticker on the driver's door jamb. That is the main number that matters. It also takes into account something like two passengers at 150 pounds each or something like that. It figures in 300+ pounds in people and stuff and the leftover number is the additional weight you can carry. That includes additional people and your hitch weight. Figure in 15% of the total trailer weight plus the hitch.

Like I said, I knew all of this going in. I'm going to buy a 7,000 pound trailer soon. I'm also getting a ProPride hitch to help but I'm not worried about it. Half tons are pretty much the new 3/4 tons. The F-150 is a great all around vehicle. Especially for driving around when you're not towing! Parking a 3/4 or 1 ton is like docking a cruise ship in comparison.

[drsteve]

The short version of all this is that the size trailer you are contemplating puts you squarely on the edge between a 1/2 ton and a 3/4 ton truck. I would go with a 3/4 ton because one, you won't have to worry about how many people or how much extra junk you take along, and two, you can go bigger on the TT later without having to replace your truck.

[prichardson]

While a 3/4 ton will generally out perform a 1/2 ton of the same era, todays full size 1/2 tons will easily perform on par or better than yesterdays 3/4 ton.

[Atlee]

I will testify to the fact my little ole 3.5L F150 w/ HDPP pulled my 6500# trailer all over the Rockies, from NM to CO, to ID, to WY, to MT, and to SD Black Hills with no problems what so ever. And I never felt unsafe nor on an unpleasant drive.

Some of the mountain passes, and steep grades and hair pin turns made me unpleasant at time, but that would have happened even if in a F250/F350.

marcsbigfoot20b27 wrote:
In my personal opinion if your trailer is at or over about 6000lbs and you only tow on the flats under 3000ft elevation then a properly equipped max tow 1/2 ton should be “ok”.

If you tow in the mountains and over 6K then a 250/2500 or 350/3500 would be the safer option and a more pleasurable drive.

[T18skyguy]

You don't need to split hairs on spec's. The most expensive mistake is needing to buy a different truck in the future. Get a 3/4 ton and you won't have any regrets on those mountainous days.

[goducks10]

marcsbigfoot20b27 wrote:
In my personal opinion if your trailer is at or over about 6000lbs and you only tow on the flats under 3000ft elevation then a properly equipped max tow 1/2 ton should be “ok”.

If you tow in the mountains and over 6K then a 250/2500 or 350/3500 would be the safer option and a more pleasurable drive.

Actually the 3.5 EB will pull better than the 6.4, 6.2 or 6.0 in 3/4 tons.