I yank my RV's all over the country. Coast to coast. I'm pretty sure your weights aren't going to really tax that ecoboost. But me personally? Somewhere around 30' I start thinking heavier truck. That's a pretty big windsail back there.
However, I tow for 30-45 days at a time. (or more) And I really appreciate an underburdened tow vehicle. It's a confidence thing.

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No 30-45 days for me, just weekends. I am gonna ask about a test tow, we'll see what they say.


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That's great to hear! Thank you. I installed Load lifter 5000 ultimate bags about 2 years ago to prepare for towing one day. Sounds like they will really pay off now.

 

You need WDH on a trailer that large. You also need to be careful using air bags in conjunction with WDH. If you fill the air bags after setting up the wdh it will raise the back of the truck and reduce the tension on the spring bars. This reduces the weigh distributing effect which is not what you want.

 

You’ll be more than ok power wise. That is my 7600lb “dry” 32’ tt setup. Trailer is just under 36’ tongue to tail weighs in about 9100 how I usually tug it around. Just under 1000lb tongue weight. My truck is very similar to yours, 3.5eco,3.55 rear, 10 speed. I use a centre line hitch that has the wd and sway built in and love it. I wouldn’t hesitate to put more weight or a longer trailer behind it. My best advice to you would be to not even consider anything that is outside your comfort zone towing wise. Set up your hitch right, and almost most importantly set your brake controller up right. For me that’s the trailer tugging on the truck just a bit. Other than that, enjoy yourself and don’t rush to get anywhere.


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With these trucks, you usually run out of GVWR(Payload capacity) well before the trailer exceeds the maximum trailer weight. Can you look at your yellow door sticker and tell us the Payload listed? That is specific to your truck and will give an idea of what YOUR truck is capable of. Also, how many adults/kids/dogs/cats(and how much do each weight) and how much weight do you expect to put in the truck itself?

Also, are you sure the max tongue weight is 1000? I thought it was around 1100lbs for non-max tow package trucks and 1220 lbs for max tow package trucks. Look at the sticker on your hitch.

 

See post #4 here.
http://www.f150ecoboost.net/forum/1...um/17-f150-ecoboost-towing/59881-3-5l-eb-10-speed-3-55-35s-towing-capacity.html

 

Mass-hole, you are correct the max tongue is 1,100. I miss typed that. The door sticker says 1,801. Weight in the truck would probably be anywhere from 600-800 depending on who goes and what we bring.

 

Oh you are in really good shape then. I think you could go with the 7800 lb trailer and be fine even with a full load in the truck.


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Noodles, I went through that towing guide with the dealer when we bought the truck and have been going back to it ever since. That is what they are using to say that I can tow up to 10,700. My truck is 3.55 16,100 and 10,700 per Ford. I used a site called RV Camping & RV Lifestyle - Changin' Gears that I found in the RV forum. When I plug all the truck numbers in there it comes up with 7,333 for max trailer weight. The RV dealer feels the truck can handle it with no problem.

Reading the posts and looking at the pictures, guys are all over the place from fifth wheels to pop ups. I want to get a trailer that's not too small right from the start but also is not a major headache to tow and ruins the experience. That's why I have been trying to stat under 7,000 dry, but I am not sure that is enough.

 

Dry weight means nothing. You should never start with that number. 7800 lbs (if that is truly what it ends up weighing) will put you at just over 1000lbs of tongue weight.

Changin Gears uses some ridiculous padding in their numbers. Engineers actually calculated the truck's towing ability. The dealers (both truck and RV) will say anything to get you hooked up and out of their parking lot. That said, at some point you are looking at your comfort level driving the combo you have. It sounds like you have plenty of experience to know your level. How far/often are you towing? Are you full timing, crosss-country, weekend local getaway, seasonal? These things should be into account because you will be dealing with your comfort level. The Eco will flat out tow. Some upgrades can be made to make life more comfortable. 30'-35' would be above my limit, but YMMV.

 

We will mostly be doing under 400 mile trips the first few years. Lot of long weekend stuff with a week here or there somewhere. There is a lot to explore within that range from our home base. Maybe in a few years I would like to do Disney or a cross country trip. But those bigger runs will be at least 2-3 years off and one time trips. I'd like to eventually find a place we like and park it (hence the bigger trailer).

I just don't want to be all over the road with sway etc and have a nightmare each time we tow.


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We tow a ~6,500 lb (trip loaded), 31’ overall travel trailer with a ‘13 F150 Platinum Screw 4x4, 3.5 Ecoboost with Max Tow and 3.73 rear using a Blue Ox Sway Pro WDH. We’ve towed it all over the West and even up to Alaska and back this past summer. Like said above, it’s a big sail back there and while our rig handles very well, I would not want to pull anything longer (more sail area). It is not a power issue; the 3.5 EB has more than enough power and torque.


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To try and limit the sway, I am assuming you would advise to stay around the 30-33ft length as opposed to 35ft. Did you find that the WDH dealt with the majority of the sway issues or did you have to do any other mods?

I see guys with rear sway bars, different shocks, tires etc. I am trying to figure out what types of mods I'll need to incorporate beside the equalizer WDH.


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My primary sway prevention is hardware, of course. But my most important anti-sway insurance is my decision making.
If weather conditions or road conditions introduce a certain level of sway, I choose not to participate.
I've stopped, or delayed departure, as a result of wind conditions. I'm not willing to wrestle with it. Takes the joy outta the lifestyle

 

That's good info. I have the same question about capacity. After 5 yrs with my 2012 F150 I'm finally pulling the hook and buying a TT.
GVWR 7100
Max Towing rate 9800
GCWR 15,300
Hitch weight 975

TT dry 6620
TT carrying max 2200
full water 498
propane 60

I've been working the numbers so long it makes me dizzy, just concerned I'm going have too much to tow.....

 

I was the same way.

Since I made this post, I purchased a 32 coachmen Apex 289tbss. The dry weight was 5,980, GVWR 7,500 and hitch weight of 715.

I purchased an equalizer 4 point WDH and installed stable loads on the rear leaf springs of the truck to help with squatting. I also bumped the tire pressure to 45 psi for towing.

I had a 150 mile ride to get back to my house with the new trailer on both highway and rural roads. I can tell you that the truck absolutely has the power to tow the trailer, I had no issues there at all. I averaged 9.5 miles per gallon. The stable loads really helped with the squat of the truck and made me feel level so I don't have to worry about my headlights pointing to the moon.

My personal feeling is WDH hitch is a must for a trailer that long and with that weight. While on the highway, I could definitely feel a pull when a tractor trailer or other large vehicle went by. But there was also plenty of time that I could not even tell the trailer was behind.

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What is the payload off of the door sticker on your truck?

 

What equalizer did you get? That will also have a max weight and max tongue weight.