I have a 6.0L now and am considering going to the V-10 with an 09 or 2010 F-250. My question is to those who tow trailers, will this tow my 12,500 pound loaded fifth wheel? My 6.0L does an admiral job at towing but I am thinking of going back to gas, after some problems with the diesel and the extra expenses incurred with it. The new 6.4L gets worse mileage than the 6.0L does so that wasn't an option. Just wondering what you owners of the V-10 think about your experiences towing, any comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

My old 99' handles my 10k car hauler just fine.
However, my buddies 05 seems to pull his 12k 5th wheel a lot better than his 99' did.
I would go for the newer coil sprung truck.
You may use more fuel but your maintenance costs will be nothing with the V10. Just a $20 oil change and your good to go.
I also went from a 6.0 to a V10 over 3 years ago. I loved the diesel but apparently it wasn't loving me back.

 

I say yes it will handle the load just fine. We currently have a 05 3v v10 that we use to pull our 36' 5er and it does the job has good if not better than our 7.3L we used to have. But 7.3l was no 6.0 though... Our 5er weight is approx 10,000 lbs and we normally pull about 10-15 times a year.


Mike

 

You will not run up hills at 1600 RPM's but it will get you up.

 

I've towed 13,000# behind my 13,000# F550 V10, (26,000 total) and it pulled good. It maintained the speed set on the cruise on a mile long hill, so you should be fine. Just order the better (higher numerically) gears. I traded my 05 6.0 and don't regret one minute of it.

 

That's all I use my V10 for is pulling my 11500# 5th-wheel and I live in the Great Pacific Northwest that is not known for it's flat terrain. Be sure to get it with at least 4.30 gearing.

Rob

 

I traded a Dmax for the V10.

Does a V10 pull like a warmed up diesel? Nope, but I didn't expect it to.

Last year I pulled a 30' fiver with a second trailer with quads and dirt bikes, estimated at 12k. This year will be a toy hauler slightly heavier. The big V10 actually pulls better than I thought it would. On long hills at lower elevations (4k) it is about 10 mph slower than my diesel with chip and pipe. So about what a stock '02 diesel would do. As you gain elevation power drops off some but that is to be expected.

Would I go back to a diesel? Nope. Not now at least. I only tow heavy about 10-20% of the miles this rig gets. If it was 80% I would look at a diesel again.

I'm lovin most things about the gasser. Quicker warm up when it's cold, no jelling fuel worries, no standing in stinking fuel at the pump, and more. Only drawbacks are the slight decrease in pulling power and it does like lots of fuel.

 

Mine tows fine until I get into the thin mountain air. My crappy 6.5L 98 Chevy diesel out pulled my V10 by a wide margin. That was the weak engine before the switch to Duramax. The passes in Colorado are brutal on my V10. First gear auto doing 25 is all it will do. 2nd gear, foot to the floor and it looses speed. Thats with a Jeep on an 18' flat trailer. Nothing beats a turbo diesel for pulling in the mountains. I say BS to those that say a V10 will pull as good as a diesel. At sea level it will pull fine but as soon as the air gets thin the comparison is over. I run stock small tire size and 3.73 gears in an 02 E 350. Sure the new ones and 4.10 gears are better but mine is so weak that I recommend a diesel for anybody thats going to see much elevation while pulling. For every other use and driving condition I like the V10 better.

 

Stumpalump, that combination of trailer and jeep can't weight more than 6-7k lbs does it??? If that's the case you're V10 sure sounds pathetic. Although I'm only at 1700ft elevation, my 2003 2 valve V10 with the 4R100, 3.73s gears, and 285 tires pulls decent and thats grossing around 22k lbs with my fifthwheel and boat in tandem. I find it hard to believe that flat on the floor the max is 25mph in 1st and it won't do anything in 2nd! Seems to me you have issues or one seriously weak engine!

As to the OP, an 09 3V with 4.30s will get the job done. You won't do it at 1800 rpms and it'll like to be fed pretty regularly but I wouldn't worry about the power when you put your foot into it!

 

I pull a 31' TT and went from a 6.0L to a v-10, and very pleased with my decision. This will do everything the 6.0 will do except one thing. The 6.0l was nice to pass someone in while loaded with a trailer. Just get into the next lane over and wave bye! That is the only thing I miss about the diesel. I didn't pass too much so I guess it's a moot point

 

I've got a different rig than yours, and while I can feel the elevation differences I wouldn't say it tanks the performance. It may be the differences in the 3V vs. 2V, I dunno. But I'll give a few data points of my higher elevation towing experience in my 2005 V10 4.10.

1. I-80, east bound, climbing Telegraph Hill outside of Laramie: 7500ft to about 8800ft. 5-6% grades. Towing a CAT-scaled 10K horse trailer, hammer down in 3rd gear, about 4500 RPM and 65-70MPH.

Same load, further west in eastern Oregon, same grade on Cabbage Hill on I-84, lower elevation 1500ft to 4500ft and I had more hammer left. So while I felt the effect of the altitude, the higher altitude performance was not a problem for me.

2. Colorado's I-25, Monument Hill, 7500ft, 5%. Towing my Kubota on a hydraulic dump trailer, 11.5K load. Hammer down, 3rd gear, 68MPH.

I don't have any I-70 data points yet, so I'm lacking some of the real high country (>9000ft) experience. Only about 40 miles of that highway are over that elevation though. And given what I've seen and read here, I don't think I'll be disappointed.

Ord.

 

Your right about the weight. In second I floor it as long as I can stand it but it drops from 50 to 40 to 30 and it sounds hard on it so I shift to first and let off the gas some. I keep it at 25 as to not over rev it. My van has no tach. Any idea what RPM I may be turning at 25mph in first? I don't think the engine is weak but at 10000 feet plus I'm down at least 30% power. It's only got 55k on it but I'm pulling over Vail pass. A turbo motor senses the atmospheric pressure and pumps in extra air so the power loss is less. Somthing to do with the wastegate I think.

 

Monument hill I can do OK on but the big boys west on 70 are a lot harder on it than I ever expected. East bound is the killer but Westbound I can hold second if I concentrate at the beginning of the climb and have no traffic to make me lose momentum.

 

10,000ft elevation gets the air pretty thin, and sense I've never experienced I guess I probably don't understand the full concequence of this altitude.

 

I just towed 11k last weekend 160 miles one-way through the White Mountains of New Hampshire with my 05V10 with 4.10+Torqshift. There was a not a single hill that I had a problem climbing. It downshifts to make the hill but I am able to climb it and maintain speed. Some of the big hills the engine screams along at 4,500RPM+ but that is what it was designed to do. Let the transmission w/ TowHaul and engine do its thing and it will be a pleasurable tow.

I averaged 7.4MPG.


---Aaron