upgrading tow vehicle and travel trailer

[Zossamer]

The husband and I are looking to upgrade our camper and tow vehicle.
We are looking at the Open Range JT340FLR.I think the full capacity weight is 9030 fully loaded.
For a tow vehicle, we are looking at the Ford F150 ecoboost crew cab.
I am wondering if anyone has the truck and the pro's and con's with it. We also want to bring the motorcycle with us on some trips so this will go in the bed of the truck. This also will be my main transportation tooling around town.
And if anyone has this type of camper and where they got it. We live in the Northeast and having a hard time finding a dealer with this particular camper.

Zossamer's wife

[campigloo]

No NO NOOOO! That's a big trailer. The F150 is a nice truck for some things, but this is way past its ability. Go with at least a 3/4 ton and preferably diesel. The safety, comfort, longevity is way higher in a truck that is not constantly struggling. Some people will swear by 1/2 tons, but if you have ever towed with both, chances are you would never go back to a 1/2 ton. Keep in mind that long mountain grades are not the only place you will be towing. A good size diesel will be able to get you out of your own way in city traffic, pull straighter and stop straighter and quicker. You won't have to fight it all day long to keep it between the ditches. Al least this has been my experience over the last 15 or so years of TT's. Hope you enjoy your rig as much as we enjoy ours!

[MontanaCamper]

I hooked up my trailer to my brothers F150 just to see how much it would squat...my tongue weight is approx 1100 pounds, weighted at a truck stop scale...it squished the rearend. We didn't even put all the weight on it. His truck travels nice, but I would think 450-500 pounds would be real world max...

[capsfloyd]

wow you are getting close to overlimit... but the 3/4 ton
1/2 ton paper says max towing 11, 000 but you need to be under that a lot

[Doug33]

My TT is about 6,000 lbs loaded and it is pushing the limit with my 1/2 ton.

[usmc616]

I tow my Jayco 32BHDS, which ways 9500lbs ready to camp, with my V-10 Excursion. My work vehicle is a 2013 F-150 with the Ecoboost. It is rated to tow 11,000lbs. I tried towing it with the F-150 and found out the suspension was too soft.

[APT]

There is no half ton that has a receiver strong enough for that TT. Think single rear wheel 1-ton if you want to haul a motorcycle too.

[tomkaren13]

Nice truck but not what you want it for. Bigger truck needed or a much ligher load!

[EcoBullet]

Zossamer wrote:
I think the full capacity weight is 9030 fully loaded.
For a tow vehicle, we are looking at the Ford F150 ecoboost crew cab.
I am wondering if anyone has the truck and the pro's and con's with it. We also want to bring the motorcycle with us on some trips so this will go in the bed of the truck.

Zossamer's wife

I love my Ecoboost, but as others have said, you are looking at too much trailer for it. It makes a great daily driver, gets up to 21 mpg for gentle (<60mph) highway driving, 15-17 around town, 10mpg towing trailer in my signature (about 6500 loaded).

[Wishin]

From what I see, 9030 lbs is the unloaded vehicle weight. It looks like it could have a GVWR of 12-13,000 lbs. They use some odd terminology that makes it less than clear, I'd guess it could be a max of 13k lbs. Definitely need a 3/4 or 1 ton for that kind of weight, size, and tongue weight.

[Nutinelse2do]

R38??? In a TT? Yeah, ok, in their wildest dreams maybe. That would be like a adobe home in New Mexico!

And as far as the truck, the more the better. Go with at least a 3/4 but in case you change your coach in the future, consider a 1 ton.

[BillB800si]

To start with the JT340FLR Open Range has a hitch weight of 1455 Lbs DRY!!! That's not including the battery- filled propane tanks etc...
That's one of the heaviest hitch weights in the trailer industry.
Next don't believe their claim to R-38 insulation values. That figure is based on a foiled lined bubble wrap that's about 3/8 inch thick. NO ONE can obtain a R-38 value with that thin of a material.

Finally, we also looked the Open Range line over extensively last Spring. Drove to various dealers to check their units out. We ended up buying a 2014 Keystone Cougar High Country 321RES, and it was a few thousand $$ cheaper and lighter.
Here's a video of that unit if you're interested.
Cougar H.C. 321RES
BTW, any trailer in that 35 to 38 foot class should have a 3/4 ton pick-up truck hauling it, not a 1/2 ton..
Happy trails,

[westend]

I was looking at the new Fords, online, and from what I'm seeing, if you want to haul the heavier rigs, just move right up to a an F350. By the time you get all the upgrades to the suspension with a F250, the price of the F350 is comparable and you're getting a somewhat better truck.
As others have stated, trying to make the loads work with an Ecoboost F150, is probably not a good choice. You would be marginal with payload, if even possible, and there is no fuel savings to be had while towing.

[Lowsuv]

That length of trailer is too much of a LEVER for any 1 /2 ton pickup.
Your choice for a pickup is a good one but to be comfortable and safe while towing a shorter length trailer is best .
A 24 foot TT has the same bathroom , tanks ,bed , propane as the long one .
Because the trailer axles are near the center of the TT all of the weight behind the axles are uncontrolled weight and work as a lever against the lighter 1 /2 ton pickup .
With a 3 /4 ton you have the ability to load the trailer tongue heavily and this is controlled weight .
I would choose which of your choices you absolutely need and then modify my choice for the other to suit that .
There are lots of threads of previous 1 /2 ton owners that were sure their TV was gonna work with their dream trailer . In the end they went to the 3 /4 ton .
If you go to a tire store you will see that a 3 /4 ton has significantly larger brakes than the 1 /2 ton .
When the wheels are off you will also notice the heavier axle , driveline , suspension as well as the brakes .

[MarkTwain]

As others have suggested, go with at least a 3/4 but preferable a 1 ton. The only thing worse than buying a truck that ends up not having the ability to handle your RV towing needs is buying a 1/2 ton and then having to sell it to buy a bigger truck:):):)