3.5 eco boost towing

[Krock7360]

Anyone hauled a heavy camper yet with the 3.5 EB max tow ? I’m looking at campers in the 7-8500 lb range. Max towing is 14,000

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[dhrandy]

Anyone hauled a heavy camper yet with the 3.5 EB max tow ? I’m looking at campers in the 7-8500 lb range. Max towing is 14,000

Just be cognizant of your Payload.

 

[GolfR]

Just be cognizant of your Payload.

+1 on the payload. Depending on your options, you might not be able to put anything in the back of the truck. With my 1550 lb payload, I was right at the limit with 3 adults and two kids in the truck and nothing but a couple bikes in the bed. I put a set of sumo springs on and I think they made a big difference for stability and a huge difference for squat.

I had no problem at all towing a ~8k lb 34 ft total length trailer. I was able to set the cruise control up the mountains in West Virginia and hold speed with no issues. You will feel the trailer behind you, especially if there are trucks on the road or cross winds. One thing was that the 3.5EB didn't seem to have the engine braking capability of V8s that I have towed with in the past. Going down the mountains required a lot of breaking.

Plan for for 7-8 mpg and lock out 8-10 gears to keep the engine out of constant boost. Make sure you have a weight distro/sway control hitch.

 

[Krock7360]

+1 on the payload. Depending on your options, you might not be able to put anything in the back of the truck. With my 1550 lb payload, I was right at the limit with 3 adults and two kids in the truck and nothing but a couple bikes in the bed. I put a set of sumo springs on and I think they made a big difference for stability and a huge difference for squat.

I had no problem at all towing a ~8k lb 34 ft total length trailer. I was able to set the cruise control up the mountains in West Virginia and hold speed with no issues. You will feel the trailer behind you, especially if there are trucks on the road or cross winds. One thing was that the 3.5EB didn't seem to have the engine braking capability of V8s that I have towed with in the past. Going down the mountains required a lot of breaking.

Plan for for 7-8 mpg and lock out 8-10 gears to keep the engine out of constant boost. Make sure you have a weight distro/sway control hitch.

Thinking about the road master active suspension also

 

[machz]

Thinking about the road master active suspension also

Just understand that it doesn't change your available payload. I pull a 26'11" rv that weighs 6480 with my gear and has a 831 tongue weight. Add 87 Lbs for the WDH and the weight of gear and passengers and there isn't much payload left. Also understand that you need to look at the max weight not the dry weight of the RV as you will be closer to max after gear, batteries, propane. Another thing to keep in mind is not to go by the tongue weight that the manufacturer lists as the trailer won't be any where near that loaded. To give you an idea my trailer lists a max weight of 7200 and lists the tongue(hitch) weight as 645. I have had mine on the scales and I'm only at 6480 but my Hitch weight is 831. I'm guessing I would be over 900 at max weight.

 

[jmacd]

I have 3.5L EB, XLT 4X4 with the heavy duty payload package (HDPP) and MaxTow, payload is 2,439lbs. My travel trailer scales just at 7,000lbs. with a hitch weight at 1,200lbs. when starting out fully loaded. The 3.5L engine is just a fantastic tow vehicle engine. I recently did a 4,000 mile trip and the “lie-o-meter” as some call it reported 12.4 overall mpg for the trip. I tow at 60 mph. I was happy with those numbers, running premium Top Tier gasoline. The turbos provide amazing power climbing in the Sierras and Rockies. Never used it all which surprised me. I came out of a Ford F-250 diesel and this 3.5L was very comparable climbing grades. But as mentioned previously, a 3.5L V-6 just doesn’t generate the engine braking of a V-8 or my diesel with the exhaust brake which I miss. I just anticipate the downgrade and descend at a lower speed, really not a big deal. The big issue with the F150’s as mentioned is the payload. More options/goodies, less payload. My F150 with the HDPP has slightly more payload than my 2015 F150 XLT diesel! so it is possible to get adequate payload capacity, but you’ll have to probably order a truck to get it. Curiously, dealers don’t stock these HDPP trucks which make a great tow vehicle.

 

[Atlee]

I have 3.5L EB, XLT 4X4 with the heavy duty payload package (HDPP) and MaxTow, payload is 2,439lbs. My travel trailer scales just at 7,000lbs. with a hitch weight at 1,200lbs. when starting out fully loaded. The 3.5L engine is just a fantastic tow vehicle engine. I recently did a 4,000 mile trip and the “lie-o-meter” as some call it reported 12.4 overall mpg for the trip. I tow at 60 mph. I was happy with those numbers, running premium Top Tier gasoline. The turbos provide amazing power climbing in the Sierras and Rockies. Never used it all which surprised me. I came out of a Ford F-250 diesel and this 3.5L was very comparable climbing grades. But as mentioned previously, a 3.5L V-6 just doesn’t generate the engine braking of a V-8 or my diesel with the exhaust brake which I miss. I just anticipate the downgrade and descend at a lower speed, really not a big deal. The big issue with the F150’s as mentioned is the payload. More options/goodies, less payload. My F150 with the HDPP has slightly more payload than my 2015 F150 XLT diesel! so it is possible to get adequate payload capacity, but you’ll have to probably order a truck to get it. Curiously, dealers don’t stock these HDPP trucks which make a great tow vehicle.

I have a similar truck, except it's a 2014, last of the steel bodied trucks, but SCAB with an 8' box. 163" WB. It's payload is 2286#. In it's entire 100,000+ miles it has never seen any tow mpg near 12.4. I've always read in amazement, the reported 11+ mpg. If a tanks ends up at 10.5 or better, I park the truck a happy person.

 

[12Lariat21]

I have a Super Crew, 6.5' box, 4x4, Max Tow package.
My tow rating is at 13,800lbs
I tow a travel trailer that has a GVWR of 7600, total trailer is 30' long.
I think it tows well, haven't tried setting up the backup assist yet, but I may give that try next season. I've been getting 9-11 mpg on my trips this year.

 

[LHoffmanjr22]

I have a 2021 F150 SuperCrew with the 5 1/2' box, and I spent all summer towing a 30' travel trailer and it was fantastic. GVWR of the trailer is 8,000 when loaded with my families stuff (can go up to almost 10,000) with a tongue weight of right around 1,000 lbs. Payload on my truck is 1,750, so I do have to load carefully in the bed of the truck. I put most everything heavy (10x10 tent, cooler, etc) in the trailer in front of the trailer axles so its not putting as much weight on the payload of the truck. With the Equalizer 1,200 lb. hitch the truck sits level, the trailer sits level, and the truck and trailer feel solid on the road. Very little sway and nothing that made me feel uncomfortable or white knuckled. Longest trip this summer was from Chicago suburbs to Orlando, FL. It was a great drive with no issues at all. Gas mileage was 9.8 for the whole summer and fall, which isn't great, but about what I expected. Engine never had trouble maintaining 65-70 mph on expressways. Heat never exceeded what it is without a trailer.

 

[Krock7360]

I have a Super Crew, 6.5' box, 4x4, Max Tow package.
My tow rating is at 13,800lbs
I tow a travel trailer that has a GVWR of 7600, total trailer is 30' long.
I think it tows well, haven't tried setting up the backup assist yet, but I may give that try next season. I've been getting 9-11 mpg on my trips this year.

Thanks, good to know

 

[Krock7360]

I have a 2021 F150 SuperCrew with the 5 1/2' box, and I spent all summer towing a 30' travel trailer and it was fantastic. GVWR of the trailer is 8,000 when loaded with my families stuff (can go up to almost 10,000) with a tongue weight of right around 1,000 lbs. Payload on my truck is 1,750, so I do have to load carefully in the bed of the truck. I put most everything heavy (10x10 tent, cooler, etc) in the trailer in front of the trailer axles so its not putting as much weight on the payload of the truck. With the Equalizer 1,200 lb. hitch the truck sits level, the trailer sits level, and the truck and trailer feel solid on the road. Very little sway and nothing that made me feel uncomfortable or white knuckled. Longest trip this summer was from Chicago suburbs to Orlando, FL. It was a great drive with no issues at all. Gas mileage was 9.8 for the whole summer and fall, which isn't great, but about what I expected. Engine never had trouble maintaining 65-70 mph on expressways. Heat never exceeded what it is without a trailer.

Awesome ! Can’t wait to get my camper

 

[Krock7360]

I have a 2021 F150 SuperCrew with the 5 1/2' box, and I spent all summer towing a 30' travel trailer and it was fantastic. GVWR of the trailer is 8,000 when loaded with my families stuff (can go up to almost 10,000) with a tongue weight of right around 1,000 lbs. Payload on my truck is 1,750, so I do have to load carefully in the bed of the truck. I put most everything heavy (10x10 tent, cooler, etc) in the trailer in front of the trailer axles so its not putting as much weight on the payload of the truck. With the Equalizer 1,200 lb. hitch the truck sits level, the trailer sits level, and the truck and trailer feel solid on the road. Very little sway and nothing that made me feel uncomfortable or white knuckled. Longest trip this summer was from Chicago suburbs to Orlando, FL. It was a great drive with no issues at all. Gas mileage was 9.8 for the whole summer and fall, which isn't great, but about what I expected. Engine never had trouble maintaining 65-70 mph on expressways. Heat never exceeded what it is without a trailer.

Do you have any side shots of truck/camper ?

 

[gtotco]

This weekend had to pick up 3500 pounds of flooring. Rented a trailer (3k pounds) to pick it up. 2 mountain passes for a total of about 120 miles with total elevation gain of around 5k feet. Performed very well, averaging 12 mpg overall with only half of the drive loaded.

My only complaint is the pro trailer backup assist is basically worthless. I’m by no means an expert trailer driver (I haven’t driven one in probably a dozen years) but it was easier backing it up our steep narrow driveway manually. Acceleration was good though and no problems navigating relatively steep winding passes both up and down.

 

[machz]

This weekend has to pick up 3500 pounds of flooring. Rented a trailer (3k pounds) to pick it up. 2 mountain passes for a total of about 120 miles with total elevation gain of around 5k feet. Performed very well, averaging 12 mpg overall with only half of the drive loaded.

My only complaint is the pro trailer backup assist is basically worthless. I’m by no means an expert trailer driver (I haven’t driven one in probably a dozenbut it was easier backing it up our steep narrow driveway manually. Acceleration was good though and no problems navigating relatively steep winding passes both up and down.

I feel the same way about the pro trailer assist. I installed the box on my travel trailer, used it once and now I never connect it. I'm sure it's great for some but I feel the " hand on bottom of steering wheel" method works better IMO.

 

[LHoffmanjr22]

Do you have any side shots of truck/camper ?

I looked through all of my pictures, and I don't. Now that its put away for the season, I won't have one until Spring.

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