Currently have a 2016 F150 Platinum 3.5 Ecoboost, Max Tow, FX4, etc. We just bought a 7200lb (dry) 31' TT (36.5' end to end). The truck pulls it fine. I bought a Pro Pride hitch expecting that to solve the main thing I was worried about - sway. It worked as advertised. Zero sway, even with all of that length. However, coming south out of GA to FL, I hit several hundred miles of mild cross winds which were pushing the front end of the truck, and I could feel the vacuum when an 18 wheeler would pass me. It didn't feel good, and was not enjoyable; especially with the family. Slowed down, and wouldn't go above 55-60 comfortably. As much as I himmed and hawed, and in the back of my mind, I didn't want to upgrade the truck (because I love how the F-150 is as a daily driver)...I think it might be time to go to a 17 Lariat diesel SD.

The question I'm seeing mixed things on, is...how much is the Super Duty going to minimize those cross winds vs the F150? If I'm going to do this, I want to make sure the towing experience is going to be night and day better.

Also - I imagine I'll get used to the stiffer ride, and little more effort in parking?

 

I have a '17 F-350 and last weekend I pulled my toy hauler in what I consider some strong cross winds for Colorado (but moderate if I was in Wyoming). I still got pushed around a bit but I bet it would have been a nerve wracking in a 1/2 ton truck. I don't have as nice a hitch as you do but I am using a WDH and it did help with the sway. In fact, sway was one of those things that never really crossed my mind during the trip. Oncoming or passing traffic wasn't much of an issue, it was just the cross wind on narrow two lane roads with no shoulder and a good drop down the sides.

This is my first diesel and I'm not sure I would ever go back to a gas engine now.

I don't drive my F-350 daily. I've negotiated a few parking lots on the weekends and it takes a bit more planning but the 360 degree cameras I added do make the whole parking task easier.

 

I was towing my 7500 lb 30 ft box Travel Trailer with a 2015 F-150 super crew 4X4 3.5 L eco-boost max tow.
Windy conditions were a white knuckle. Gusty high winds was unstable and dangerous. On one occasion a heavy wind gust sent the truck into a violent sway that was stopped by the automatic sway control. I am certain that we would have rolled if not for the ASC.
I was using a round bar WDH and was set up dead level with 900 to 1000 lbs tongue weight. Also has the standard friction sway bar. No Sway and a smooth tow with no wind.

Because of the stability issue I got rid of the F-150, and now tow with a 2017 F-350 CCLB. (See my signature) I now have an Anderson No Sway WDH.
Two weeks ago I towed the same trailer approx 100 miles in heavy wind and thunder storms.
What a difference !!! The gusts did push me around some, but never did I feel any hint of the instability that was always there with the F-150 in wind. I was relaxed and just driving instead of a nervous wreck fighting a battle.

I attribute the difference to 2500 lbs more truck, longer wheelbase, and most of all a heavy suspension that is not flexed by forces coming from the trailer.
I think the relatively weak independent front suspension of the F-150 is a major problem when pulling large box Travel Trailers.
The solid front axle of the F-350 with the stiff springs of the plow prep ends all that.

I am so happy I made the switch to Super Duty.

 

First question: Is that the actual weight of the trailer, or are you going by the sticker or paperwork? The manufacturer's dry weight is usually a few hundred pounds less than actual. They might weigh it without the beds or appliances installed. With a tank of water, half-full black and grey water tanks, food, beer, etc. you are probably closer to 8200-8300 lbs.

My first observation is you are at the very, very upper limits of what an F-150 is capable of pulling.

I went through the very same analysis when I bought my truck and trailer (which is a very similar in size to yours) and had it down to an ecoboost F-150 and an older SD diesel. I ended up going with an Excursion with a 7.3L and haven't regretted it one bit. It tows great and I've been coast to coast with it. With a new 6.7L SD, you might forget it's back there.

You can't avoid that suction generated when a truck passes you. If you're close enough, it's going to happen. Mine doesn't sway either and I use a WD hitch with 1k bars and a friction bar anti-sway device. I was prepared to go with a pro-pride, but with all the towing I've done and the results, I don't think it's necessary. But there isn't a way to eliminate getting dragged into the truck next to you a little bit.

I also stick to 60 MPH when towing so I get passed a lot by trucks. I find that if there's room to do so, moving over to the right, usually into the rumble strips is far enough, gives enough space in between to reduce it or eliminate it altogether. If you don't have room, just be prepared to correct it. I find driving the truck and trailer to be much more taxing and tiring than just plain driving.

The added weight up front of a SD, especially with a diesel, helps to keep the front end a lot more grounded. Remember you only have a V6 with two tiny little turbos. There is really not a lot of weight on the front end.

I think that you would feel a world of difference in towing ability between your truck and a SD. Especially so with a diesel.

The newer trucks are a lot better in those areas than they used to be. If you have the budget, definitely go for it. I don't think your F-150 is going to last as long towing that much weight to be honest.

 

Great info...thanks for all of the feedback!

 

Heavier truck and duallies will always win the crosswind battle - but at what cost?
Before you jump off the deep end - look at your hitch configuration, your weight distribution and make double darned sure you air up the tires on the truck to the max pressure on the sidewall.
All trucks will be moved around by the busses and semis on the road because they are pushing such a huge wave of air.

 

Ive been doing alot of research on TT and 5ers in the towing dept. One thing that is consistant...1/2 tons really arent meant for huge towing...unless properly set up. Which, alot of people dont.

Main reason I went from a Dakota to my F350 was my options for towing. Even as a gasser, my options are way better than anything a 150 can do on its best day.

250 would get my pick for any towing thats over the size of medium fishing boats.

 

I had the 2015 EB 3.5 with the hensley hitch that I towed my 28BHBE with similar weights to yours. In good conditions towing was fine. In cross winds not so much. I sold the F150 and got a diesel F250 which is probably overkill as far as the motor is but I got it incase I wanted to upgrade. The thing to look out for on the F250 is the gross max weight is limited to 10000 lb so if you take the diesel with 4x4 and add options you end up with ~2200lb payload. Since we see very little snow and ice I dropped the 4x4 to get my payload over 2800 lb still nicely equipped which will leave room for the small to mid size 5th wheelers if I want to later on

 

And to add my F250 rides better than the F150 did. Much smoother even empty

 

It's hard to quantify the difference that a heavier vehicle will make, but it's clear that it WILL improve things in a cross-wind situation.
The thing I'd wonder about is the fact that with a thirty six and a half foot long trailer, that's a massive amount of sail area, and in strong cross-winds, will even a Super Duty Diesel be enough?
Around here we have semi-trailer tip over pretty regularly from strong gusts, and those weight a lot more, so at some point, nature wins.

Can't help much more than that, you have had a lot of good advice above.

 

I'm sure the Super Duty will be a nicer towing vehicle but I doubt it will be a night and day difference. A few tweaks to the F150 & you might get what you are looking for.
The factory shocks leave something to be desired, I would upgrade to a set of Bilsteins 5100's or something similar. I would also look at the tires, I usually upgrade to Michelin LTX MS2 or Good Year Wrangler Adventurer w/ Kevlar. Even in P series tires these have much stiffer sidewalls than what may be on your truck now.

 

While it does make a difference to a stock F150, it is not comparable to going to a superduty. I had bilstein5100's, airbags and BFG KO2's. it stil does not make up for the extra weight the superduty has. As I said before towing was great when the wind was not blowing.

 

I have a similar setup with a 2010 F150, Propride hitch and Trailer at 8200 lbs loaded for camping. Just got back from a return trip Canada to Florida and my setup was solid as a rock despite a couple of days of crosswinds which were moving semis all over the place on the interstate.


Have you hit the scales to get your Propride hitch dialed in ? If the front of the truck is moving around, you may not have transferred enough weight to your front axle. I also added air bags to the rear to stiffen up the rear and I went with LT tires which I air up when towing. If you get it dialed in, you'll be happy with the stability, but you can't beat an extra 400 ft/lbs of torque with the PSD !

 

In my case it is not the front of the truck moving around. The Hensley/ProPride kind of makes the truck/camper act like a single unit. The truck with camper was being moved/blown sideways on the road. I was not experiencing any movement when semi's etc blew past, mainly just crosswinds blowing the truck with trailer to the sides. I felt the F150 was not heavy/ planted enough. No such issues with the SD. When there was no sidewind or just a light breeze the F150 did great. I was very please most of the time with it after the changes I did (airbags, shocks, LT tires and Hensley hitch), but those times the wind actually blew from the side does not make for comfortable driving. Never had any sway though.

 

Max psi in the trucks tires? Wouldn't that be too much? Example: my tires are rated at 2756# @ max 51psi, so we're looking at combined, 11,024# @ 51psi the tires could handle. Trucks curb wt. is 4696#, loaded wt. (including TW), is approx. 6500#. That's 4524# below the max the tires could carry at max psi, so shouldn't I reduce the psi appropriately? Currently I run 45psi, 10psi over the standard cold psi since I'll be going 65+ mph. I do max the trailers tires, since they're carrying combined wt. of about 8K.

I constantly keep an eye out for passing semi's and try to move to the right but not onto rumble strips. I too find that helpful and hate it when I get caught not looking. Interesting too, I find certain semi cabs are worst than others, some I feel nothing. I was using a Reese WDH with Friction Anti-Sway bars for years. Heard about the Blue Ox, bought one last year and have found it to be much better. Don't need the Anti-Sway bars anymore and they were a PITA, since I used 2 due to the wt. of trailer and cargo. With the Blue Ox, all I really feel now are the semi's and as you pointed out, there's no cure for that except spacing.