When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
We took our 2018 F250 for it's first trip with the 2018 Grand Design Reflection 315 RLTS.Truck is a crew cab 4x4 ,6.2L with 3.73 gears With Air Lift bags.275/70/18 tires.TT is around 10,500 lbs +/-.
Our trip was about 160 miles total.First half of the trip was on 2 lane country highway in west central Missouri.Hilly and curvy lots of on and off of the throttle.Some very steep grades but not very long maybe 1/2 mile long or so.Lots of hills coming out of 20 and 30 mph curves.It was a good test for how the truck was going to perform.I thought it did ok,performed about like I thought it would.It pretty much held 55-60 mph in the hills.Coming out of the curves into a hill it never really failed to pick up speed relatively quickly.
Second leg of the trip was pretty flat interstate with a few longer grades but not as steep.Truck had no problem maintaining 70 mph .It mostly stayed in 5th gear on the flat portions never saw it go to 6th.
If you get the rpm and shifting out of your head I thought it pulled better than my 99 7.3 psd at this weight.I thought it pulled better than the Vortec 454s I've had and they had 4.10 and 4.56 gears.It pulled better than the 460s I've had.
We averaged right at 8 mpg hand figured,dash said 8.5.I saw it down as low as 6 in the real hilly curvy stuff.
Overall I'm satisfied with the truck.It handled the weight nicely most of the time.Had a couple minor sway problems on the interstate,may need to tweak my WDH a bit.Truck was comfortable and drove good,stopped good.Transmission temp stayed normal but it was only 80 degrees.I think I'm gonna be happy with this truck for many years to come.
We took our 2018 F250 for it's first trip with the 2018 Grand Design Reflection 315 RLTS.Truck is a crew cab 4x4 ,6.2L with 3.73 gears With Air Lift bags.275/70/18 tires.TT is around 10,500 lbs +/-.
Our trip was about 160 miles total.First half of the trip was on 2 lane country highway in west central Missouri.Hilly and curvy lots of on and off of the throttle.Some very steep grades but not very long maybe 1/2 mile long or so.Lots of hills coming out of 20 and 30 mph curves.It was a good test for how the truck was going to perform.I thought it did ok,performed about like I thought it would.It pretty much held 55-60 mph in the hills.Coming out of the curves into a hill it never really failed to pick up speed relatively quickly.
Second leg of the trip was pretty flat interstate with a few longer grades but not as steep.Truck had no problem maintaining 70 mph .It mostly stayed in 5th gear on the flat portions never saw it go to 6th.
If you get the rpm and shifting out of your head I thought it pulled better than my 99 7.3 ODD at this weight.I thought it pulled better than the Vortec 454s I've had and they had 4.10 and 4.56 gears.It pulled better than the 460s I've had.
We averaged right at 8 mpg hand figured,dash said 8.5.I saw it down as low as 6 in the real hilly curvy stuff.
Overall I'm satisfied with the truck.It handled the weight nicely most of the time.Had a couple minor sway problems on the interstate,may need to tweak my WDH a bit.Truck was comfortable and drove good,stopped good.Transmission temp stayed normal but it was only 80 degrees.I think I'm gonna be happy with this truck for many years to come.
Glad to hear! We are making our maiden voyage tomorrow with our 2018 Screw 6.2, 3.73 towing a Puma 32BHKS which is right around the same weight (8,700 dry, 10,500 gross). Only thing different is we don't have air bags. What ones are you using? Do you think they are necessary with the WDH on the F250?
I'm using the Air Lift 5000 Ultimates.Im sure it all depends on tongue weight if they are needed or not.I set mine down on the truck last week with just a normal hitch and I didn't like it.The WDH made some difference but not enough for my liking.I don't know for sure what my tongue weight is ,factory says 1280 but I've seen a lot of people say that is low for a 315.
I'm using the Air Lift 5000 Ultimates.Im sure it all depends on tongue weight if they are needed or not.I set mine down on the truck last week with just a normal hitch and I didn't like it.The WDH made some difference but not enough for my liking.I don't know for sure what my tongue weight is ,factory says 1280 but I've seen a lot of people say that is low for a 315.
Factory says mine is 980. I will report back next week! I did tow it dry but only to my house, so this will be the loaded test.
Our 36' 2012 Jayco Eagle has a tongue weight of 1395lbs scaled and towing with a '17 F-250 6.2l. Truck rear suspension is stock with no enhancements. When setting up the WDH you want a slightly nose down configuration. My WDH is a Reese rated at 1500lbs with a Titan 2.5'' shank. I had to lower the ball height to it's lowest position on the shank since these trucks sit so high. The truck definitely knows it's back there but with very little sway and that's only with 20+ crosswinds. IMO these trucks don't need any suspension enhancements with a properly set up WDH.
I have towed my 10k TT with my 2012 F250 6.2L/3.73 for over 15K miles now - satisfied in every way. Use an Equal-I-zer hitch and Stable Loads on the truck to pre-engage the overload springs to help with the heavy tongue weight on my TT.
At first I was disappointed with the 6.2 as it seemed sluggish but learned to let it spin - that's where the power really comes on.
Well we just got back from our trip. We towed our Puma 32BHKS which was probably around 10K lbs with weight with our 3.73. Only used a WDH and didn't really see a need for for air bags. Overall, it did great and averaged about 7 / 7.5 mpg for the tow and had no issues holding speed on the grades. I was getting higher mileage on the highway, but when we got into traffic there was a lot of stop and go (plus kids bathroom stops). Overall, very happy I decided to opt for the 6.2 F250 instead of another 3.5 ecoboost. The 3.5 could probably tow it, but it felt more secure and stable behind the 250.
To me the new 17 trucks seem way more difficult to dial in then the last generation and are more prone to sway since setting up the wdh is more difficult. My old 2011 250 was super easy to setup with wdh and never swayed. My 17 I’m still trying to dial it in and has had a few issues with sway
To me the new 17 trucks seem way more difficult to dial in then the last generation and are more prone to sway since setting up the wdh is more difficult. My old 2011 250 was super easy to setup with wdh and never swayed. My 17 I’m still trying to dial it in and has had a few issues with sway
I moved up from a half ton truck and my F-350 dialed in without too much effort. I did try using no WDH but that definitely allowed sway. I had a Blue Ox with 2" shank that came with the trailer. That worked well but I subsequently upgraded to the 3" Andersen WDH. I have no sway with that either as long as I get the WDH cranked down.
Getting scale weights can help you figure out where the problem is with the WDH setup.
I'm using the Air Lift 5000 Ultimates.Im sure it all depends on tongue weight if they are needed or not.I set mine down on the truck last week with just a normal hitch and I didn't like it.The WDH made some difference but not enough for my liking.I don't know for sure what my tongue weight is ,factory says 1280 but I've seen a lot of people say that is low for a 315.
Are your overload springs engaged when towing? I hear this helps w sway alot.
Are your overload springs engaged when towing? I hear this helps w sway alot.
I opted for the Stableloads over airbags just for simplicity. I purchased the upper Stableloads and then used the original stock rubber pads to effectively make lower Stableloads by trimming off the mounting tab, drilling a hole in the middle and attaching them to the lower overloads using wire ties through the preexisting hole in the lower overload spring - I figured it was an easy way to try it out; they haven't come loose and work just fine. They can't be hinged out of the way like the real ones but the truck is towing 90% of the time anyway so not needed. The picture was taken without the trailer hitched up. The tongue weight is 1600 lbs and the truck only drops 3/4 inch when hitched up. I can't compare to air bags but I have had no sway problems at all.
I opted for the Stableloads over airbags just for simplicity. I purchased the upper Stableloads and then used the original stock rubber pads to effectively make lower Stableloads by trimming off the mounting tab, drilling a hole in the middle and attaching them to the lower overloads using wire ties through the preexisting hole in the lower overload spring - I figured it was an easy way to try it out; they haven't come loose and work just fine. They can't be hinged out of the way like the real ones but the truck is towing 90% of the time anyway so not needed. The picture was taken without the trailer hitched up. The tongue weight is 1600 lbs and the truck only drops 3/4 inch when hitched up. I can't compare to air bags but I have had no sway problems at all.
Good idea with the old spring pads. I just cut mine off last night to make my own "stableloads". I have airbags for my truck camper, but still had a little bit of sway so I figured I would see what engaging the overloads would do. If I like how it works, I might invest in the real Stableloads in the future. I have a 3k mile trip hauling the TC over the next 10 days so that should be a good test.
The old spring pads have a natural curve to them so I mounted them on the lower overloads such that the leaf pack contacts the pad at the edges and not on the wire ties. I used two wire ties for each pad with one on each side of the pad and going thru the hole. They have been on the truck for well over a year now and have held up just fine.
07-30-2018, 08:07 AM
