Hello Gentlemen,
I have a few questions concerning 'real world' towing with my new Ford. In the past I owned a 2002 Dodge Ram Cummins Turbo Diesel to tow a 30' 6,500lb(empty) travel trailer. That Dodge 3/4 ton truck was awesome at towing my travel trailer. We have since sold the travel trailer and Dodge pickup(traded the Dodge in on my new Ford).

My new Ford's towing guide reflects 9,200lbs with a gross combined weight rating of 15,100lbs.

My questions are concerning 'real world' towing.
1. My Ford's 420lbs. of torque is the same as my 2002 Cummins. In towing mode, how does the Ford 'really' take off from a stop.

2. How is the towing stability at highway speeds... tractor trailers passing, windy conditions, rain, etc.?

3. Braking while towing loads.

Any input you guys have would be greatly appreciated.

 

IME the F150 is the most comfortable truck I've ever owned.

I mostly tow in the winter, so I've been in blizzard conditions in it. Never felt like I was compromising anything towing with it at all with the weight I tow. Truck handles everything just fine. Take off and braking. As a matter of fact, I get carried away sometimes and lose track of my speed.. 80mph is easy to do when towing with this truck. Too easy. My only complaint is the MPG's when towing. Then again, my last truck was a diesel.

How much weight are you towing?

 

I'm looking at a travel trailer about 5,500lbs(empty).

 

your new truck will pull that fine! the only thing I cant get used to is when a big truck over takes you it seems to pull you in to it more so than I remember but its probly just me felling it in the electric steering!

 

I tow about 8000# with a 2012 max tow fx4, this truck tows way better than my old 5.4 3 valve fx4 no comparison mileage while towing is a little better, but its a big brick in the wind, I think with your 3.31 gear and that light of a trailer, you will be surprised at how well it tows, the torque is there, in stop and go traffic with the travel trailer you will be able to keep up with no fuss or drama, it just pulls!

 

Hi Jonesy,

I think you're going to be really impressed with how your truck tows. I had as much as 12,000 lbs behind me for regular towing:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...new-truck.html

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-one-home.html

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...heavy-tow.html

And over 15,000 lbs at the OH meet last year:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...o-the-max.html

My little F150 was faster up the hill than any of the Super Duties present.

 

I have had two 3/4 ton's and four half tons. A half ton will never have the stability of a 3/4 ton. Having said that I much prefer the half ton for the comfortable ride.

I tow everything from cattle to 12k lbs of fertilizer/trailer to 10-15k lbs of hay and or farm equipment to 10k lbs of pipe and steel. I also have a 30' travel trailer that weighs in around 7k loaded.

I have a few mods to mine since I tow heavy and frequently: air bags, Wagner CAC, tow tune from 5 star tuning, Bilstein struts and shocks. With an additional 75+ hp and 100+ ft lbs of torque I don't miss my 05 diesel at all as far as power goes. I do miss the stability though. When the cows move around in my trailer the truck moves too- the 3/4 ton was lots more stable. With the travel trailer I have an Equalizer hitch so most sway is stopped. My heavy hauling is done on a gooseneck trailer and they don't have much in the way of sway issues anyway.

The only thing that you can expect is for your truck to downshift quite a bit since you went with 3.31 instead of 3.73. If you don't tow often you are probably better off with that gear as you will probably beat me by 2 mpg. The stock hp and torque maybe adequate for some but I prefer to have enough power to pass somebody or get out of somebody's way quickly.

Braking depends more upon your trailer brakes. Lots of trailers only have brakes on one axle. I have them on both axles on all of my trailers. My King Ranch does have the "hill descent control which works good but only up to speeds of 20 mph.

I typically get 8-9.5 mpg when towing. The travel trailer at 60 mph will give me about 9 mpg. My 24' 4000 lb bumper pull equipment hauler with two Polaris RZR's on it will give me 8 mpg- that's running at 75mph. Empty I get about 18 @ 60 mph and 16 @ 70 mph.

I had a '13 F250 with the 6.7 for about 6 month. Pulling the same trailer with the RZR's on it, I only got 11 mpg. 3 mpg is not worth the added cost of the diesel

 

Gentlemen,
Thanks for all the towing information. This info is exactly what I was looking to find. Appreciate attaching the links from previous 'towing' posts. Adios.