[Fot] Tow Vehicle Musings

[Bob Kramer]

I have always run GMC 2500HD pickups until my recent F250 purchase. I have
had no issues towing with the last 2 trucks.  Both were sold with about
180,000 miles on the clock and they were on the original brakes. I don't
tow this way alot but I have a 28" box and I have loaded and carried 2
TR's. That puts it over 10,000 lbs, plus I carry a full pickup truck bed.
I have been wondering if I could downsize to one of the newer 1/2 max tow
trucks that are promoted to handle the weight.

I like the 3/4 ton trucks but gas mileage for the rest of the miles I drive
is a big trade off.

Bob Kramer


On Wed, Sep 23, 2020 at 12:32 PM Barr, Scott via Fot <fot at autox.team.net>
wrote:

> Hi all,
>
>
>
> I’ve been towing a 24-foot toy-hauler style trailer for a few years now.
> It’s 14 feet of “garage” space in the back and 10 feet of RV in the front
> (toilet, shower, fridge, kitchen area).  All in, full of water, car loaded,
> it weighs about 9,500 lbs.  I load the trailer so I have about 1,750 pounds
> of tongue weight, which is technically a little over the payload limit of
> the truck, but not too bad.
>
>
>
> I’ve been towing with a 2017 F-150, with a max tow package putting towing
> capacity at about 12,000 lbs. V6 twin turbo EcoBoost with 375hp and 470 ft
> lb torque.  I use a good weight-distributing hitch and a sway control
> strut.  And I added Air Lift air suspension to help with the extra load.
> Generally speaking, the F-150 has been doing just fine.  But when it’s
> windy the trailer gets a little tail-happy, wagging enough sometimes to set
> off the truck’s automatic trailer sway alarm (it’s a big baby…).
>
>
>
> So I’ve been trying to determine whether moving up to an F-250 super duty
> would make an appreciable difference in the towing performance.  An F-250
> is 1000-1500 pounds heavier than my F-150, depending on specs of both
> trucks.  Is that enough to make a noticeable difference?  Are there other
> factors that would make it that much better than an F-150?
>
>
>
> The F-150 with the twin turbo V6 and 10-speed trans makes for a nice
> street car, with reasonable mileage (about 19 average) – and it’s what I
> drive all winter.  The F-250 Super Duty will get considerably crappier
> mileage and will be a less friendly daily driver (I assume).  Not to
> mention that my F-150 is pretty close to paid off and I’d be taking on
> another boatload of debt to move up to the F-250.  Which is all to say that
> the towing performance improvement would need to be considerable before I
> would make the move.
>
>
>
> What say you, towing brain trust?  Is it worth the move?
>
>
>
> Scott (B.)
> _______________________________________________
> fot at autox.team.net
>
> http://www.fot-racing.com
>
> Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html
> Archive: http://autox.team.net/archive http://www.team.net/pipermail/fot
> Unsubscribe/Manage <http://www.team.net/pipermail/fotUnsubscribe/Manage>:
> http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/fot/rkramer56@gmail.com
>
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://autox.team.net/pipermail/fot/attachments/20200923/c3edfe87/attachment-0003.htm>