Travel Trailer Tow Vehicle

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