Towing with F150

[CWSWine]

[QUOTE=MidwestCamper;175975 Why is the 3.5 EB not offered in the F250?[/QUOTE]

I asked that very question when our Chamber toured the F150 plant in Kansas City. The answer was "longevity". The guy said that the Ecco Boost engine was a great engine for occasional towing and hauling but they have a commercial business that will hook up a 10,000 to 20,000 cargo trailer and not disconnected it for 250,000 not even to change the oil. The Ecco Boost just won't take that kind of abuse for that 250,000 plus miles

[pilotpip]

There are a couple different routes manufacturers can go to get better fuel efficiency. Ford chose to go smaller displacement, and utilize forced induction to give you power when you need it. It worked so well, GM is following suit but their turbo engines haven't made it to their trucks yet.

So why are they not in the 250? Because they're not designed to have those turbos spooled the entire time. They're little guys, meant to spin up fast to minimize lag, give you the power when you want it, and then the wastegate closes, and they get good fuel efficiency. If I had to guess, they're each about 1/4 the size of the garret made one on my father-in-law's 250, but that one is made for a different purpose. Diesels need the forced air to develop power almost constantly. If they expanded the ecoboost platform to a V8, it would probably work well in a heavier truck, but not in it's current V6 displacement.

When I bought my truck in 15, I almost went with a 5.0. I read all the stuff about the reliability issues. This truck had every feature I wanted, except it had an eco. I drove it, and was blown away. I also did more research, and came to the realization that Ford wouldn't commit to the platform, and keep making them if they were that bad. They stand to lose too much. Also, I never bought into the "complexity" issue. Diesel trucks have been using turbochargers for decades. Read, and you'll also find the coyote platform has about the same failure rate now as the eco. Both are

[MidwestCamper]

I asked that very question when our Chamber toured the F150 plant in Kansas City. The answer was "longevity". The guy said that the Ecco Boost engine was a great engine for occasional towing and hauling but they have a commercial business that will hook up a 10,000 to 20,000 cargo trailer and not disconnected it for 250,000 not even to change the oil. The Ecco Boost just won't take that kind of abuse for that 250,000 plus miles

CWSWine,

This is why I asked the question and I agree. The lighter duty engines will work excellently for the occasional tow even under a heavy load. But for the industrial duty cycle, a industrial powertrain is needed. This is for all brands.

[jw^2 family]

We know that for a given displacement, a diesel has roughly twice as much torque, which is way more important than horsepower for towing.

The comparison should probably take into account naturally aspirated vs. turbocharged rather than gas vs. diesel.

So I think that in 2008 the 6.7L Cummins diesel turbo was rated at 650 lb.-ft. of torque, or just under 100 lb.-ft. per liter of displacement. For comparison, the first-generation 3.5L EcoBoost gas turbo was rated at 420 lb.-ft. of torque, or 120 lb.-ft. per liter of displacement.

[steve gravelle]

Great point, Joe. And for your needs the Eco Boost works just fine. Do the later 4.5s have a lot more torque. I have been told the Cummins 6.7 has much more, depending on other options. The engine brake is supposed to be more effective also. I hope no one has buyer' regret after purchase. Enjoy!

[jw^2 family]

Yes, several of the newer big diesel turbos, small gas turbos, and small diesel turbos (3.0L EcoDiesel, 3.0L Power Stroke, etc.) are in the 130 to 140 lb.-ft. per liter of displacement range.

[RevRon]

I have a 2018 F-150 with the HDPP package. It is a extended cab 4X4 with a 8 foot bed and the 5.0L engine.

See the pic for the payload. I pull a Imagine 2970RL with a ProPride hitch. I had to add aftermarket rear shocks (Fox 2.0) to control the porpoising, and they did, and I have Roadmaster active suspension on the way to help with body roll and the unplanted feeling that come with the light trucks and heavy trailers. I am looking forward to getting them installed.


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[Coop59]

I have a 2018 F-150 with the HDPP package. It is a extended cab 4X4 with a 8 foot bed and the 5.0L engine.

See the pic for the payload. I pull a Imagine 2970RL with a ProPride hitch. I had to add aftermarket rear shocks (Fox 2.0) to control the porpoising, and they did, and I have Roadmaster active suspension on the way to help with body roll and the unplanted feeling that come with the light trucks and heavy trailers. I am looking forward to getting them installed.


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RevRon,

I think you will really like the Roadmaster suspension upgrade, I had them on my F150 and the ride both loaded and unloaded was greatly improved, I have a pair sitting in my garage that I'm going to install on my F250 and I'm hoping for similar results ….just want to "soften" the unloaded ride a little bit. Good luck!

[daemonic3]

I got my Imagine 2800BH last weekend and I have a 2017 F150 3.5L ecoboost with max tow, 4x2, 3.55 axle. It is capable of towing ~12k lbs, and this trailer is ~7.6k GVWR so we are good on GCWR, and I've run the numbers on the payload with family and tongue and such. I got a Reese steadi-flex hitch (the 12k total, 1.2k tongue rated version) and drove 6 hours from the central California coast home to Sacramento for the inaugural voyage. I did not experience any porpoising that I have seen described, which may be due to the over-rated hitch (our hitch trainer at the dealer said I overbought and should have gotten the 10k rated hitch, as this will give a "stiffer" ride for this trailer's weight). I have been very pleased with how easily this thing towed! We only had to go over about 2,500 ft of climbing to get back to the valley interstate, with max of 3 degree slopes up and down. One thing that was interesting was that at these grades, the truck+trailer does not "run away" downhill, the wind resistance seems to keep it maxed at about 60mph without me applying brakes or the computer shifting and applying engine brakes. So I feel I have a little margin yet on future steeper downhills. Also, I am very pleased with the sway control on this hitch! The only issues I had were when passed by a bus or large motorhome I could feel some pull but by holding the wheel straight and not trying to correct, the whole thing corrected quickly without me reacting at all with the wheel or having to manually apply trailer brakes.

My question is: Has anyone had a similar setup (max package F150 with a TT well under the GCWR) and driven to Tahoe from Sacramento? This will take me over 7k feet, and there are 5 degree (10-12% grades) in some points for short distances. It is a very steady climb. On that initial journey, the truck conquered the 3 degree hills I believe while still in 6th gear. I'm just wondering what to expect if anyone has experience so I can prepare myself and not have my wife get worried.

Here is the Sacramento to Tahoe route topology for reference: https://www.flattestroute.com/?from=...mentMode=miles

Oh by the way, since I've seen it discussed in other forums, I got a whopping 9.5mpg on that journey home! I think a lot of it is wind resistance, not just the pure weight. I kept it averaged around 60mph on the interstate. In "tow/haul" mode it stayed comfortably in 7th/8th even on flats, and if I turned off tow/haul, it still would barely reach 9th gear (never 10th).

Thanks!
-T

[jw^2 family]

I got a Reese steadi-flex hitch (the 12k total, 1.2k tongue rated version) and drove 6 hours from the central California coast home to Sacramento for the inaugural voyage. I did not experience any porpoising that I have seen described, which may be due to the over-rated hitch (our hitch trainer at the dealer said I overbought and should have gotten the 10k rated hitch, as this will give a "stiffer" ride for this trailer's weight).

Glad to hear that the trip went well for you. I don't think your hitch is over-rated at all, and it sounds like it's working fine for you. I'm not sure what the GVWR is for your Imagine 2800BH (our 2018 model is 7,495-lbs; website now lists 7,995-lbs.). Let's say you've got the higher rating. For travel trailers the tongue weight is recommended to be 10% to 15% of the trailer's gross weight. If you maxed out the trailer's gross weight and were at 15% on the tongue weight, then you'd be looking at a tongue weight of 1,199-lbs. which would put you over the rating of a 1,000-lb./10,000-lb. hitch. The hitch selection guide in the Reese product catalog shows that a 1,200-lb./12,000-lb. hitch is suitable for tongue weights ranging from 600-lbs. to 1,200-lbs. When we were buying our trailer the salesman tried to set us up with a 1,000-lb./10,000-lb. hitch but I told him we needed the 1,200-lb./12,000-lb. hitch instead.