I own a 09 Scab 4x4,5.4,with the max towing package. The only parts I have added are LT tires and ride rite air bags. I tow a 07 Jayco fifth wheel loaded it weights about 8600lbs.I went from Rochester NY to Myrtle beach.850 miles each way.towed like a dream .6 speed trans works great allot better than my 05 F150. Ave. 10.4 MPG. low was 9.9 high was 11.2. wasn't much diff with or without ac on.Avg. speed was 65-70mph.Of coarse for all you negative people. It does slow down going up hills but I let the trans do its job and it down shifted to the appropriate gear. rpms did go to 3500 a couple of times on big grades but the engine is made to handle it for short periods of time.Just a note my friend I traveled with has a 2008 GM 2500 diesel. he pulls a 1100lb trailer. he ave. 10.6.he also slowed on big grades. This 09 F150 is one great 1/2 ton truck. More than capable for long hauls towing a 9000lb trailer for the 2 or 3 time a year vac. Maby not a every day thing but great for a good riding truck that can tow a lot of weight.IMO of course

 

These F150's are very capable tow rigs within their limits. Your 09 gets about the same mileage as my 06 pulling my 7000LB enclosed car hauler in the 62-65MPH range. Your 5'er is higher and heavier than my car trailer, so that speaks volumes on the transmissions in the 09 and newer F150's.

 

We just took a long (maybe last) trip with our 25ft Coachman up north (day out with Thomas for the toddler). Again it towed very very well. We would like to upgrade.. Maybe not to a 5ther (short box) but certainly a little bigger with a slide out. Maybe 6-8K range.. Good to here the heavier trailers are towing well. Now all I need is some money!

 

please tell me this is a typo.... surely you mean 11,000 and not 1,100..... with the power the duramax has he shouldnt be slowing down with 11k lbs either. unless he was slowing down to wait on you seriously though, towing 11k lbs with 660 lbs of tq(at 1600 rpm) and a 6 speed allison and hes slowing down as much as you towing 9k lbs with 365 lbs of tq and a 6 speed? not trying to start an argument, but that just doesnt sound right. 11k lbs doesnt even work my old 7.3 and ive pulled 14k with an 03 duramax and it didnt slow down at all on 8-10% grades. if hes slowing down with 11k then something may be wrong with his engine and he should probably get it checked out. d-maxes are known for having some problems that could result in extreme power loss(mainly fuel injector failure)

 

That's great news and I'm very happy to hear it. The F-150 with all of it's new found capabilities will be as much truck as I'll ever need but those Superduties sure are the cat's meow.

Tim

 

I also just made my first tow this weekend, however I was not overly impressed. I pulled a friend's boat(19-21ft?, 305ci, ~5000lbs maybe?) to a mountain lake in Utah. My truck was at 5000rpm constantly and just could not go any faster. Reaching the 55mph speed limit was impossible.

Now I realize that I have just about the largest F150 you can get and it's own weight was a huge detriment, not to mention my 35" tires, but I really expected more from 310hp/365lb-ft. Altitude and steep grades were also a factor.

The rest of the truck handeled great. The truck controlled the boat like a dream. Brakes were more than adequate. All of the max trailer tow features made the the hookup and pull a breeze. The mirrors and backup camera made me feel very confident. The tranny worked great. I used tow haul mode and was impressed with the tap-the-brake-to-downshift feature. Up grades it held a low gear until I really backed out of the throttle or until I got back onto flat land.

So in conclusion, the F150 is great tow vehicle, however, the 5.4 just doesn't have enough go for the mountain towing I did. If you pull more than a few thousand pounds regularly in a rocky mountain state you may be happier waiting for the 6.2 or a diesel. Since I rarely tow I will continue to enjoy my truck, but if my needs grow I may decide to rejoin the diesel crowd.

 

Do your bigger tires really make that much difference to towing?

 

Well I figure they put my rear end gearing at ~3.41 effectively, down from 3.73. Also the greater rotating mass and higher rolling resistance surely have an effect. I don't know if these factors are huge or not I was just trying to put everything in perspective so as not to mislead anyone.

 

The tires are a HUGE factor...

 

in his case the tires wouldnt be that big of a factor. he figured out his rear end ratio to be about a 3.41, which isnt that far off from a truck with stock tires and a 3.55 rear end. some of the 09's even come with a 3.15 or a 3.31, which is worse than what he has with his bigger tires. if he had ~8-9" lift and running 38-40's with a stock rear end, then it would make a huge difference because he would be cutting his rear end ratio down into the 2.6 range.

 

It is not the diameter that is the big killer here... its the much larger rotating mass, combined with the much larger footprint (footprint = increase in drag). It is exponentially worsened with something in tow.

 

Sounds great. You are right these trucks are great for few heavy loads people need to move but everyday work hauling big loads is what the 250-350 are for. Sounds like thes 09 f150 is really an awesome truck.

 

I would say your main reason for lack of power is the size of tires you have. 35's are big tires even if you have the 3.73 gears. Needs to be in the 4.30 gear range if not lower to get back to stock running. The tires do look awesome though so if you dont really tow much then its something I'm sure you can live with. I know in the 4wheel magazines they always say the max size you should run to keep from breaking axles and stuff is 35" just because of the IFS front ends are not strong enough to really go over that. 35 is pushing it too.

 

Before I read your post I too said the tires are the main reason for slow performance, but I did a calculation and if his truck had 31" stock tires and jumped up to 35's and his gears are 3.73 the new gears if you were to put them in to get back to stock range would be 4.22 so really 4.30 because I dont think there are 4.22 gears. That would make a night and day difference in pulling a trailer.

 

I cant believe that tires really affect the towing so much. I can tow my 7000lb trailer around all day long up the mountains witout even hitting 4000rpm. Mostly stay at 2500-3000 around the mountain roads here and at times will hit 3500rpm.