Best truck to tow a 30 foot jayco..

[cekkk]

I didn't intend to disagree that a diesel is the better choice in the mountains, but the OP stated they live on the flats and this is a one-time deal. Plus, they own a dealership and this is not a truck they'll have for any length of time. i think that weighs heavily on what they should choose, just my opinion.

On the Ecoboosts, do they come with the tow haul feature? My wife's new Expy has it and it's pretty nice in our mountains for the 3 or 4k she pulls. Also, I'd expect the Ecoboosts should do nicely back east in those mountains. We lived in Maryland and the panhandle has a couple long pulls. But the altitudes are negligible, so gassers have most of their power available.

[Mustang65]

Originally Posted by cekkk

On the Ecoboosts, do they come with the tow haul feature? My wife's new Expy has it and it's pretty nice in our mountains for the 3 or 4k she pulls. Also, I'd expect the Ecoboosts should do nicely back east in those mountains. We lived in Maryland and the panhandle has a couple long pulls. But the altitudes are negligible, so gassers have most of their power available.

Towhaul mode was one of my main requirements after researching the different trucks. It works great, had the truck with "Cruse Control on set to 45" and came to a long grade down and when the truck hit 54mph, the trans dropped down 2 gears for breaking. That is a nice feature. A lot of the other Ecoboost owners (towing) only got the 3:50 rear end and are not very happy campers, in the hills/mountains. I have no clue as to how much power would have been lost above the 10K foot mark, and I know there would a major loss in power, but my lungs do not like it that height, so we avoided any thing above that altitude.

My only question/fear is... how is the EcoBoost going to perform after a few years of wear and tear? We also took out the Ford (top of the line) extended warrantee, just in case of a problem.. Time will tell.
Enjoy your day!
Don

[cekkk]

Mustang65, I share your concern about its durability over time. We'll just have to wait and find out. As for power loss, figure 3 to 4% per thousand feet elevation above sea level. So you 300 hp engine is more in the 200 range at 10k. A huge difference in torque, too.

[ensign]

Hi Lady,

We were supposed to drive from Winnipeg to the Rockies last summer. The floods washed out our plans two weeks before.

We tow our 32 foot Jayco with a 2008 F250. Nothing better than a diesel for towing in the mountains.

Also, if you plan on staying in Banff National Park be sure to book a site the moment the campground goes live for the 2014 season. I booked my site right at 7 a.m., when it went live, by noon, not much left for my size trailer for the days I wanted.

We are planning on going next summer . . . maybe our families can meet up.

Cheers

Ensign

[modmatt]

Originally Posted by cekkk

Mustang65, I share your concern about its durability over time. We'll just have to wait and find out. As for power loss, figure 3 to 4% per thousand feet elevation above sea level. So you 300 hp engine is more in the 200 range at 10k. A huge difference in torque, too.

I believe that is the rule of thumb for N/A, but turbo charged engines might are supposed to be better in higher altitudes. Good plan to get the extended warranty on the engine/trans at least, but from all that I read, it's the engine choice to make in the 1/2 ton size (if it stays reliable) for towing due to the torque. Check out the Fast lane truck on youtube where they take the F-150 ecoboost up and down the Ike gauntlet towing a decently heavy boat. I have nothing anywhere near that steep around here, so that would be worst case scenario for me and it did it no problem.

[gpmilliken]

Eco's just don't have the towing capacity of a HD Diesel. Go big.

[crewmax66]

Toyota tundra with the 5.7 v-8, you will have less headaches in the long run.

[Heady]

I just dumped my 5.7 v-8 Tundra for a F150 FX4 Ecoboost.

I have not towed with it yet, the x20e is napping for the winter and I only have 300 miles on the Ecoboost so far, I to get some more miles on her before I can tow.

[SoTexJeff]

Towed with a Tahoe and now have a Nissan Titan. The difference is night and day. That being said, I think if you were to tow with a diesel instead of a 5.7 (Toyota) or 5.8 (Nissan) you would also feel a difference. I love pulling our 26BH with the Titan, but would have opted for a used diesel if I was sitting on another $15K cash.

[MrKong]

I love my Tundra 5.7. Tows great, and more very comfortable. I just don't trust the Ecoboost for the long run, too many reports of break downs, and trade-in's.

[Jim_in_WA]

Completed two MAJOR trips this year with my 2011 Ecoboost towing my 29QBH. I have absolutely no complaints.

I am Active Duty Military and in July I towed from Fort Lewis WA to Ostego Lake State Park, MI and back via Highway 2 almost all the way. I stopped by a CAT certified weigh station and combined vehicle and trailer weight was right around 15000 lb.

We now have just completed a PCS move to Fort Campbell, KY, currently living in the camper until we can move into a house. Again the truck performed admirably and without weighing again I knew we had more stuff as we had to pack for a medium stay.

MPG here was very dependent on speed and headwinds. Magic number is 60-65 mph. Doing this I would average around 9.5 - 10 mpg. In NE we hit major headwinds and the mileage dropped to the low 7's.

On the trip to MI and back average was around 9.3.

I love my Ecoboost and stand behind it!

JIM