I was going to stay out of this one but I will chime in. If it were me I would go with the 6.7 and the Super Duty or the 6.2 F-150 if you really wanted to be in a F-150. One of my best friends has a '12 F-350 CC/SB and pulls a 32' 5th wheel toy hauler he is just shy of 22K lbs truck and trailer loaded for a weekend and gets 10-12 MPG depending on wind and speed (65-70 is what he likes to run). There is just no comparing a 8,200 lbs vehicle pulling a 9,000 lb trailer vs a 5,800 lb vehicle pulling a 9,000 lbs trailer, the laws of physics have not changed in well...ever.

 

Just for the record, I would invite anyone that lives close enough to come out and take a test drive with my truck and trailer. We'd load up the wife's van and go for a spin.

 

Same here Tom, if your ever in central florida this time of the year when the cool fronts (can't say cold because that would just be a lie) come thru in waves and its very common to get 25-45mph cross winds. I'll let you drive my truck by itself and with a 26' enclosed trailer with 8' interior height and see what you think under those conditions. It's not fun and I don't care what kind of steering you have your going to feel it. It may not bother some people while others could probably make a diamond out of coal if put in the right place.

Seriously the only way that would be fair is if the person had a Superduty to drive the same day and with the same conditions. Anybody could come drive your truck on a mild day with no wind and say it was the best, i'm definately not disputting that the truck wouldn't pull it hell these trucks surprise me everyday with how much *** they have. Thats not the question, the question is under what conditions will what truck pull it the best. See thats another thing different climates and weather all have to come into play, what works in Your neck of the woods might not work in someone elses.

 

If you tow that much weight 7-8K miles a year I'd go some form of SuperDuty truck! Only you & your finances will dictate what form of SuperDuty!

 

I think Tom has proven that a properly equipped F-150 is up to the task.

 

I pull over 8,000 lbs. about 7 times a year with my Eco, and it has plenty of power and I get between 8-10 MPG, depending on my speed and hills. The Superduty will be a better truck over a 150, however, a properly equipped F-150 will handle the job. One thing that would benefit the 150 would be the option of LT tires, as I think the stock tires are the weakest link.

 

Not only have I driven one, I've driven probably 20 of them. They are OVERRATED. I hope you are not implying your F-150 handles the trailer the same as a F-250/350 CC/SB diesel.

I'd like to see him get on the skyway with that on a windy day or even head down the alley. Heck, let's put him on SR60 between Vero and Tampa and watch him white knuckle his truck as semis and super duties blow past with a close speed of 140 to 150 mph and this isn't even the west, wait till you get to Utah, Wyoming or similar where there are 60 to 70 plus mile per hour cross winds.

A 5,800 lb truck is not going to pull a load the same as a 8,200 lb truck it is just simply physics.

 

What's is the reason you want to get rid of your 7.3 X? That should be the ultimate vehicle towing an enclosed trailer.

I have a 6,500 lb boat that I towed with my 2003 F150 with a 5.4L. I took the boat and truck to the scale and was well within the specs of the vehicle. I also have a 2004 Dodge 2500 diesel that I now tow the boat with. After towing all day I arrive at my destination much more relaxed as I hardly feel the boat back there.

8-9k miles a years is a lot of towing, my suggestion would be to go with a diesel.

 

I really shouldn't even respond to this. You can talk all the trash you like, but as a CDL holder and former professional driver I can tell you there is a whole lot more than tow vehicle weight that matters when it comes to control. If weight was all there was to it then my Excursion would have done a vastly better job towing this same trailer.

But it didn't. It's not even close. In the wind, on the highway, in town, in the mountains, loaded to 15,000 lbs or dead empty, didn't matter. My F150 has better control than the 2,000 lb heavier Excursion did. Longer wheelbase, much more precise steering, and lots of other factors make this possible.

I'm not trying to say that an F150 is the BEST vehicle for this kind of work, but it most certainly can do the job safely and comfortably.

 

I hooked up my 2011 26ft Travel trailer to a 2011 F150 FX4 Ecoboost with 3.73s and we got 8-9 mpg on the flat level ground at 55-65mph. Thats is what the truck in my signature gets towing. Ecoboost get great mileage when not towing heavy. The anti-sway feature was nice. I like the tough, heavy feel of the Super Duty trucks when towing several thousand lbs.

Unloaded and not towing the F150 feel like a sports car compared to the Super Duty platform. Phenomenal acceleration and super nice ride compared to the SD trucks.

 

Also consider 10-15% of 9000 would possibly put you at 1350 for tongue weight depending on how your trailer is built and loaded, which is a safe percentage to keep it under control. Now if it does happen to be 1350 that is putting you over the limit for most f150's for payload. My 11 FX4 had about a 960lb left for tongue weight after you subtract passengers and other things from the maximum payload. I just purchased a camper that has a 980 tongue weight dry and GVRW of 9800, and the seller swore up and down any half ton could tow it safely but I did not feel safe knowing that I would most likely be at least 200lb over payload and 500 over max towing. That is why I just traded in on a 2013 F350. I might have been ok with it if it were just a few miles a summer but we are going to be doing easily 6-7k miles on the camper each summer and the roads up here are terrible with frostheaves and all other kinds of things to make towing harder. I'm not a weight **** but I like the peace of mind knowing I have room to spare.

 

I had a 2011 eco with max tow and I traded for a 2013 6.7 with the 3.31.
The diesel got from 1-3 mpg better than my ecoboost depending upon the load. Towing lighter loads the 6.7 would beat the eco by 2-3 mpg. On the heavier loads by about 1-2mpg.
I got rid of the 2013 6.7 because of the sorry rough ride.

My new 2013 eco with max tow gets 9.9mpg pulling a 6000 lb gooseneck @60mph with nothing on it. The 6.7 got 12.5mpg.
If I load up some hay on that gooseneck fuel economy drops to 8mpg with the eco.

With two Polaris RZR's on the gooseneck and driving 65mph I got only 11 mpg for a 276 mile trip with the 6.7 (about 9k lbs)

Pulling a 6x12 trailer with a Polaris RZR I get 11-13 mpg. I am not at all impressed with the fuel economy of my ecoboost and wasn't impressed with what the diesel got either.
I expected 14-15 mpg towing with the 6.7 and only got that if I was towing the empty 6x12 rzr trailer which only weighs 1500 lbs.

 

Really great point Butl85, this needs to be kept in mind. Here are a couple of example Max Tow trucks:





The top one is my truck, which is a Max Tow-equipped XLT crew cab. The bottom is my uncle's Max Tow-equipped Platinum crew cab with the 6.2L V8. His payload is nearly 500 lbs less than mine! So my lowly XLT can comfortably tow the OP's 9,000 lb trailer while my uncle's expensive Platinum would be put over GVWR.