EcoBoost F150

[Fritz]

Hello All,
Very close to purchasing a 2017 F150, 3.5 ecoboost platinum with a 3.55 axle. I’ll be towing a 2018 Jayco 29RE with a dry weight of 7500 lbs. From what I’ve found online, the truck is rated for 11,500 lbs.

Just wondering if anyone out there has something similar that you can share your experience or advice.

Thank you

[Mustang65]

We have a 2012 F150 EcoBoost and we tow a 9000 pound TT, an Eagle 284BHS. It has plenty of power to spare. Went through the Rocky mountains with no problems at all. If you are going to buy, you will want a 3:73 rear axle ratio. This is the ratio that Ford recommends for towing. If I will need to get another truck, it will be the same features as I have now.

Don
My Registry

RVing with SOLAR

[Siamese]

I have that exact truck, and have towed my Jayco 26BH about 8000 miles with it. You're going to get a variety of opinions, but I believe the truck is well suited to a 26BH, and no more.

Remember, the 11,500 pounds tow rating means next to nothing. What matters in sizing a truck to a trailer is payload. You need to know the payload capacity for the truck, and the LOADED weight of the trailer you're going to tow, and then the math becomes very simple.

I have a fiberglass topper on my truck with a weight north of 200 pounds. That's another thing that gets subtracted from my payload spec. Ditto for the 50 pound generator in the bed.

There are those who will recommend you tow above your rating, but not me. Aside from the handling issues, I'd hate to be in an accident and have an injured party's attorney figure out I was overloaded according to Ford's specs. Could that end happily?

Your tongue weight with a loaded trailer is going to be either right up against or above your rated PAYLOAD capacity for that truck. Figure tongue weight to likely be 13% of a loaded trailer.

Within it's abilities, the 2017 F150 is a marvelous truck, made even better with it's 10 speed transmission. I have the 3:55 gears as a compromise for using it as both tow vehicle and every day driver. At my cruising speed of 62 to 63 mph, I'm in 8th gear with occasional 9th with tailwind. Power has never been an issue...it goes.

You'd be wise to shop for an F-250 for this application.

[SkyBound]

I agree. 7500lbs dry is too much for the F-150. My general rule of thumb is that if the trailer has 5 lug wheels, it's half ton towable with the properly equipped truck. If it's 6 lug wheels, 3/4 ton plus. Others may disagree but I give zero F's.

[usmc616]

Four years ago my V-10 Excursion needed to go into the shop literally a few minutes before we were set to pull out of the driveway. I decided to use my 2013 F-150 Ecoboost, tow rating was 11,000lbs, to go the 25 miles to the campground. My TT weighs about 9200lbs loaded up.
Towing was no problem, but stopping was. I felt that 9200lb TT pushing me coming down small hills. The tow experience was bad enough I decided to leave my TT in storage at the CG until my Excursion was fixed.

[Ohiofinlander]

I pull the TT listed below. 6400lbs. dry w/800 lb tongue weight. It does fine, but in your case would look at 3/4 ton honestly.

[nathan3306]

I don't know what your payload is but my sister has an 18 king ranch f150 loaded up 4x4 3.5 eco and all that fun stuff. Her payload was 1400 something if I remember correctly. I don't know how much stuff you will be hauling or who all will be riding with but here is my simple calculations. Lets say it's you and another person, maybe 350 pounds, 100# hitch, various cargo 150#.
350+100+150=600 Taking my sister's payload for example of 1400lbs is 1400-600=800lbs remaining for payload. I'm told the target tongue weight is around 13%.
800 divided by .13= 6153.85.
So as you see, even though they are rated to "tow" much, much more, realistically you're looking at a max towing number of 6153.83 lbs. I would most definitely be looking into a 3/4 ton truck for your trailer or trying to find the unicorn of all F-150s that have the heavy duty payload package. That will net you around 2400 lbs of payload.

[curver900]

Originally Posted by Fritz

Hello All,
Very close to purchasing a 2017 F150, 3.5 ecoboost platinum with a 3.55 axle. I’ll be towing a 2018 Jayco 29RE with a dry weight of 7500 lbs. From what I’ve found online, the truck is rated for 11,500 lbs.

Just wondering if anyone out there has something similar that you can share your experience or advice.

Thank you

What does the yellow sticker say on the door?

As others have stated I would look for one with 3.73's... and a payload around 2000 lbs...

[Debdon Journeys]

Save your self some trouble get a F250. " I need a smaller truck said no man ever"

[ShawnR]

My truck is similar, just a Lariat. My TT is about 8k loaded and I’m maxed on the truck, even with careful loading. The power and braking are sufficient. I’ve added SumoSprings Solo to control the porpoising. I’ll upgrade to load E tires when mine wear out and I’m considering a Hellwig anti-sway bar to improve stability.

I’m comfortable towing a few hours down the coast. I wouldn’t want to take my setup on a long haul.

[nathan3306]

I'll just leave this here.
2017 Ford F-150 Platinum Payload - Airstream Forums

[Siamese]

Ditto on check the yellow sticker on the door. Then do the simple math.

Truck payload minus
- tongue weight of loaded trailer...and don't forget that water in your tanks weighs a little over 8 pounds per gallon, so you'll want to use something close to Jayco's fully loaded trailer spec (times 13%).

- The stuff in and on your truck. Capper, generator, people, dogs, kayaks, weight distribution hitch, kitty litter...everything.

If you come up with a positive number that's really close to your payload number, you'll have to decide how much of a safety margin you want. If you come up with a negative number, the math has decided for you.

My thoughts on gear ratio:
With the 10 speed transmission, I'm happy with the 3.55 gearing. So what if I run in 8th gear at cruising speed instead of 10th? I still have EIGHT gears to get me where I'm going, and better fuel economy when I'm not hooked to the trailer. With a 4 or 5 speed transmission, I'd go with 3.73 gearing.

[Scott_Trailer_Newbe]

Just my opinion, but I would never spend that kind of money for a 1/2 ton truck unless I was always going to be pulling a small trailer. I have an F150 work truck with the 3.5 EB engine. I’ve put 65K miles on it and it is an awesome truck, but I would never pull my 28RL with it.

At the moment we are at Fool Hollow camp site. We had to go through Salt River Canyon to get here. My RAM 2500 Turbo Diesel was awesome. Can’t imagine trying it with a F150 3.5 EB, no thanks

[Fritz]

Dry weight of my TT is 7499 and I’m towing with a Hensley hitch so I have no issues with sway. Thanks for your input.

[Fritz]

Yellow sticker on the door of the camper says 7400lbs. Not sure about the truck.

[curver900]

Originally Posted by Fritz

Yellow sticker on the door of the camper says 7400lbs. Not sure about the truck.

look at the truck one that is the one that matters most... but you would be fine if the max load is 7400lbs...

[ShawnR]

The Hellwig isn’t about trailer sway. That’s what the hitch does. The Hellwig is for calming the truck motion and making it feel more firmly planted.

[Siamese]

t-r-u-c-k p-a-y-l-o-a-d

[SocalSeismic]

From my experiences- the F-150 can do it but the super dutys make for a much more enjoyable, stress free drive. For me it got to the point where I would avoid vacation spots because I’d dread the drive with the trailer. Defeats the whole purpose of going on a vacation in the first place. Adding aftermarket parts help but they are just band-aids in the long run.

Now that I have a more than capable truck for our new to us trailer (2019 f-350 srw), I enjoy the drive again. And thats with a 41ft toy hauler behind me. I’m not saying you need an F-350 diesel, but I personally was going to upgrade my old F-150 for a gas F-250 if I kept my old 27ft bumper pull toy hauler. The new trailer my wife fell in love with forced us to go with the 350 diesel.

I really wish Ford would setup towing test drive events so people could try each truck with different types of trailers and weights within the payload limits.

[Scott_Trailer_Newbe]

Another thing to consider is the 3.5 EB can really suck the fuel down. Spin those turbos up and your fuel tank will start to look really small.