to me having to hit 3rd gear, hold the pedal to the floor, and struggle to maintain 50 mph is a major problem lol.

 

well sorry i suppose i stand corrected, if he dosnt already have one all of my argument is shot.

 

If your just talking about pulling the trailer a couple of times a year, you should be fine. I pull a 32' travel trailer with my 5.4 no problem. you never know what diesel is going to do. If your not pulling that kind of weight everyday I wouldn't see a need for an f250. F150 would pull that trailer and do better as a daily driver.

 

This is definitely a multifactorial issue that does not have one definitive answer. That said, this is my opinion.

I would not be afraid to tow at 70% of maximum towing capacity (I'm assuming that puts the trailers you were looking at around 6500-7000lbs). That kind of weight is definitely within the capability of an F-150. Sure the diesel Super Duty will handle the load even better, but so would a Freight Liner or a Sherman tank.

Something to consider is how often you plan on towing 7000lbs. If you plan on towing that every week of the year over long distances, you may appreciate the diesel more. If it will be like most recreational trailers that only get used a few weekends a year, an F-150 would be more than up to the task.

I was reluctant to get a half-ton this time around, but I can say that I am very happy with my decision. I only tow loads > 5000lbs occasionally. Also, my truck is my daily driver, and the F-150 has made a much better daily driver than my SD did - rides better, drives better, easier to park, cheaper to maintain, etc.

 

I'd get the F250 diesel, that way you can relax and enjoy the trip insted of thrashing the gas engine.

Also remember the diesel is force fed so it will make power at higher elevations where the NA gas motors will be sucking wind.

I'm biased though, I have only owned two gas cars. When possible I always opt for a diesel.

 

Wife and i have a 06 F150 with a few goodies and we pull a 30 ft toy hauler... with 2-big arctic cat atv's in it. We pulled it from jersey to florida back in jan and had no trouble at all. I have 54k miles on my truck and i bet 30 k are towing miles. I have 35's on my truck and the edge throttle body space 3'exhaust k&N air intake and i'm happy you will be fine. MY Toy hauler empty weighs 5500 empty and with both quads and gear i'm close to 8k. i will post a pic.

Mark

 

the last one is of us hitting the fl boarder you will be fine.

 

i would hope you didnt have any trouble. from jersey to florida is all flat land and interstate at 70mph. thats about a 900 mile trip and 880 miles of it is on I-95 along the coast. bring that up parts of 77, 19, or 79 in west virginia or 26 coming out of asheville into tennessee and youll change your mind real quick. that is a nice camper though. if you want to take me up on my offer of crossing over from asheville to tn youre more than welcome to leave the camper at my house

 

With that said, you can actually get a brand new '08 SD cheaper than you can get an '09 F-150. The rebates on the "08's are very good right now.

If I were pulling anything more substantial than a work trailer or an ATV trailer, then I would want the SD. The SD is born and bred to pull. It's the difference between a well trained mule and a beautiful horse.

Tim

 

Another thing to consider is If You really want to pull 7K+ Your basically stuck with a Reg Cab, SC, or XLT Crew.
09 F150 The Platinum Crew puts Your tongue weight just about at max payload.

 

Hmmmm....good point of discussion. What is considered to be the max tounge weight recommended on a Super Crew 5.4L? I see the payload max at 1760. So weight of whatever I have in the bed is added to the tounge weight, right? If I say I have 760 pounds in the bed, that leaves a 1000 pounds for the tounge weight. That seems in the range of doable for the occaisonal 'tow-er' like me ...even if I get a trailer pushing 8000 pounds?

Need sanity checking on those thoughts though.

 

ok man, dont bother some of these haters. i have a 97, yes a 1997 F-150 with the 4.6 v8, not 5.4 and i tow my 30 foot 5500 lb camper (pictures to prove it in my albums).. my truck has 200,000 miles on it.. your new F-150 will handle it fine. trust me. dont waste money on a diesel when ya dont need it man.

 

Phill,

Actualy the trip was a little over 1000 miles to where we went... I did hit some hills where i was at and yes i felt it... As of now i'm happy with the truck it dose what i want and some... If i need to i will put 4.10's in it. if i need to cross that bridge. Thank you for the complements on the camper... Wife and i love it... Hope to get more use out of it this year. We just got it in Sept... I use to have a 03 with the 4.6... And that motor was good to me as well...

Mark

 

Diesel guys will say "upgrade"

V-10 guys will say "upgrade"

F-150 guys say "Yep" or "maybe"

The 2009+ F-150 will easily handle what you are describing. It will be a very nice daily driver with a multi-purpose.


When you consider only the towing aspect: Will a Superduty be the best vehicle for the job? Absolutely.




if you tow alot, or just need a frickin' huge truck...get a Superduty


If you tow occasionally (couple times a year), and it's within the limits of the F-150...get the F-150. IMO you'll be happier in the end.

I've towed this with my 06. Easily 5,500 lbs and it was nothing. Obviously I felt the load while driving, but the truck was rock solid. I had no problems merging onto the highway with traffic going 60 mph. The 5.4 just buckled down and did it's job...btw, did the towing in the Seattle area. You can bet your butt that I found a few hills/mountains.

btw, the Intercooled RoushCharger adds +145 HP to the 5.4 motor. And no, it does not void your warranty (not exactly anyways). Roush supplants the OEM Ford 3yr/36k warranty with their own. And trust me...the power is amazing



funny part is...I'm such a 1/2 ton proponent...but I'd go to a Superduty in an instant. I just couldnt afford the $10,000 increase in price between the F-150 I bought and the similarly equipped Diesel F-250 that was parked next to mine.

 

My 06 has the 5.4, with 3:73 gears, and is the 7700lb package. I tow 6000lbs and hardly know it's behind me. I'm sure for the 09 model, this would be a walk in the park. I wouldn't hesitate to do it with mine. I think anything under 8k a properly equiped F150 will handle fine, JMO.