I don't know what to say except......awesome. My 2012 F150 HD 5.0 pulls my trailer SO MUCH BETTER than my F250 it's like night and day. 1200 mile trip from Michigan to Florida and it pulled strong and comfortable. Much stronger than my F250 and even squats less with the 670 lbs of tounge weight. Trailer weighs in at 6500-6700 lbs.
Gas mileage was pretty good considering a STRONG headwind all through Ohio, Kentucky and much of Tennesee. Ended up at 9.2 mpg for the 1200 mi. after being as low as 8.5 mpg average with the headwinds. She pulled the average back up after the wind let up. Could likely see 10 mpg without wind. First two tanks were hand calculated and were within .1-.2 so I quit. Guess it ain't a lie-o-meter anymore.
The 5.0 pulls real strong and has no trouble keeping up with traffic or passing etc. Holds cruise well and just drops down a gear or two to pull all hills encountered with no problems. The trans shifted smoothly and ran no hotter than 202*. On the biggest grades encountered she dropped down to 3rd gear and then powered up the hill shifting as she climbed. It didn't sound bad like it was over reving at all. This engine is sweet.
The factory trailer brake conroller is so good awesome doesn't go far enough to describe it. No more jerky stops like my Tekonsha in my F250.
Over all I think I ordered exactly what I needed for a tow vehicle. Great truck.

 

I am very glad to hear that, and thanks for posting!
I'll put our truck to the tow test in April on our first camping trip. Hope to have the same experience, but I am pretty sure it'll be good!

 

With all the good things I've seen about the Ecoboost, I'm sure you be just as pleased as I.

 

Glad to hear your trucks working good for you!

I've only towed once with my FX4 SCAB 5.0L...But it towed the 5500lbs like a dream...Didn't even know it was back there.

 

Am I the only one bothered by the shifting?

You say it dropped down a gear or two to pull the hills ... i'm afraid that would frustrate me to no end.

maybe i just need to learn to get over it?

 

Just my opinion but I think the more gears it has the more it's going to shift to try and keep the engine in the proper power band. My 5 speed V10 likes to shift quite a bit in Tow/Haul mode; I imagine the new Chrysler 8 speed will be constantly changing gears.

Mike

 

How is the ride with the HD models? Just curious if the ride suffers as compared to the standard Screws.

 

I understand where you're comming from...My old 1990 F-150 I had back in highschool with the old pushrod 5.0L EFI and AOD 4-Speed auto (3-Speed with Overdrive really) didn't shift as much as my 2011 does. But the difference is that my old 1990 would pretty much require full throttle to hold even the speed limit on small grades (and pulling the same weight) that my 2011 5.0L 6-Speed can walk right up in 5th or 6th gear doing less than 2,500RPM's.

The shifting does take some getting used to...This 2011 F-150 is my first brand new vehicle ''3rd overall'' and the first one with a 6-Speed auto. But after the 8800 miles I've put on the truck since I got her, I've gotten well used to the 6-Speeds shifting habits and honestly don't even think about it anymore.

 

The purpose of having six speeds is to stay in the power band of the engine. It takes a big hill for the trans to drop to third and then it's for a short time. It's very smooth and doesn't bother me at all. You can lock out 5th and 6th if you wanted to and stay in 4th all day and then it wouldn't shift as much. Of course you would negate any fuel savings of having a 6 speed with 2 overdrive gears.
I pulled my trailer 15 1/2 hours Tuesday and although a long day the F150 was what made it doable.

 

I haven't been in a standard Screw so I can't compare, but my truck rides very good. IMO

 

If you really wanted to, you could use the select shift (put it in M) and leave it there until you are over the top of the hill, no? That would avoid the shifting.

 

It rides good, I agree.
But I do feel the consequences of the HD payload springs. It does tend to bounce over uneven road surfaces a little more than a regular F-150 would. It just doesn't bother me much, it was expected.

 

That's the beauty of these transmissions. You can manually shift them if you want, you can lock out gears, or you can let them shift. I prefer to let the trans do the shifting.

 

I get what you are saying, i guess i must just be thin skinned. I've got about that many miles on my 2010 at work, and the shifting habits still annoy the crap out of me. it just shifts constantly. Sure, they are pretty smooth, but you still feel it.

I guess i don't like the way it is always trying to grab the highest gear possible, because then it has to downshift caus it can't pull any kind of hill.

i dunno .. i guess that's why i asked ... must just be me.

if my 2010 had select shift, i could see myself locking out all the OD gears all the time ... that way it wouldnt have to shift.

I think it would be fun to drive it for a month locking out 6th alltogether, and just see what the mileage difference is. I'm betting it woulnt be as much as lead to believe.

 

I've been driving trucks for over 40 years and these new trucks ride like Lincolns did back in the day. If one doesn't need the HD package and is concerned about the ride they shouldn't get HD. For me I wanted a good payload and realized it wasn't going to ride like a car.
That being said it rides lots better than my F250 and I've had people comment " this truck rides good, not what I expected from a 3/4 ton" about it.