SeatGuru

Well I had the chance to rent a camper for the weekend. It was a Puma 31KBHSS with dry weight of 7996 lbs. I had fresh tank full for around 400 lbs worth of extra weight. It came pre-loaded fm with plates and such so not sure total weight but maybe 9k.

So I pulled it in Tow/Haul mode the whole time. The goal was 55 mph and not much time spent over that speed. I noticed the transmission spent a lot of time in 4th and I spent a lot of time in boost (I am totally fine with that as I bought 3.5L ecoboost for a reason)

So how did the truck do?
-had enough power to tow
-with a cross wind I had to fight a lot (sway control made it worse)
-lots of 4th gear
-engine braking seemed good
-didn't want to up shift after engine braking
-brake controller worked awesome
-even with distribution hitch truck seemed to sag a lot
-just overall seemed soft in the rear
-7.8 mpg

So I don't think I would never tow anything that big again with this truck. It was a rental camper for a weekend and I knew it was at the max (for my preference) with this 1/2 ton. I am calling the BS card on the 12,000 lbs towing with this truck as honestly I think it would wear me out having to fight that big of a load with this truck.

Have I towed other things with this truck or my identical 2012? Yep I have and they do great but the length combined with weight on this setup seemed like too much.

I just wanted to give my opinion for others to see. If you have had better luck or worse luck please speak up. I am in SD where we have wind and hills.

jcat

Yeah, where's the guy who said he was getting 19mpg pulling 10k lbs all the time? I'd love to see him again.

It seems the weight reduction is a double edged sword for these trucks. Thankfully I don't tow hardly at all, but if I did I wouldn't want to be much over 7-8k, as the truck's rated for 9800 I think.

That 12k rating I think personally is under ideal conditions, closed flat road no wind and just at the limit of what the truck can do. Don't forget that's also rated with 2wd, stripper truck and none of the goodies like yours has.

GearheadGeek

As far as the rear sag goes, do you know what the tongue weight of that trailer (as loaded) was? There are lots of variables with most weight-distributing hitches, too... the capacity of the bars, angle of the hitch head, etc. LOTS of trailer sales and rental places don't do a very good job of setting up a hitch.

Tires make a big difference in how a truck feels with a trailer in the wind, on winding roads and/or with big trucks passing. Most of the tires any of the half-tons come with are focused a bit too much toward ride quality when using it like a car rather than capabilities toward the upper limit of hauling and/or towing.

All of that said, towing near a truck's limits is a lot of work, whether it's a SuperDuty towing some big 5th wheel or an F150 towing a big flat-nosed camper. My Airstream grosses a bit less than the dry weight of that trailer and I can tell the difference in my workload between a lightly-loaded trip on a calm day and heading out for boondocking with generator, grill and extra water in the bed of the truck and the trailer's fresh tank full on a gusty day, and an Airstream's behavior in windy conditions is WAY nicer than a square trailer.

RyanCZiegler

I have a 3.5Eb 3.55 SCab and I noticed much of what you said. I personally think the sag in the rear is ridiculous. I guess they make it that soft for comfort unloaded but if you try to do what the truck says it can do which is haul and tow it sags below the front which is unsafe. Makes steering and braking difficult and even shines your headlights higher because of the reversed take, potentially blinding on coming traffic. I'm looking into air bags or a Timbren kit for my rear to maintain the height while towing.

AbitaPro

Tim good tow report. For my comfort too many have had complaints towing with the 2015s, especially comparing to their previous F150s. I take all they tow great and tow bad reports with a grain of salt. But when you have Ford F-150 owners comparing to their 2010-2014s, and the older model towed better, more comfortably, felt more stable, got to be something there.

Not sure what happened with the new trucks, perhaps it's just the weight reduction, I don't know; but it seems they made them grocery getters. And for towing you need to now move up to F250s.

I think your right regarding the L & W combo, I also think the boxed surface areas didn't help. What you've found out is what some find out after they hooked up their camper for their first tow. All that stuff you read in the manuals is not quite the same on the road. Not saying that was the case with yours, but if you go by the book and get your proper trailer, tongue and vehicle loads correct, you still may find a heavier tow vehicle is necessary to feel safe and comfortable towing. After all when you finally reach your destination, you don't want to feel like you just put in 16 hours of hard labor.

I know we've towed some 31' offshore fishing boats with the previous years F150s, CCLB 5.0 4x4 and had easy 3-4 hour trips one way. They didn't have the surface area you had and we didn't have the terrain you faced.

Anyways good report and we'll see how far this thread goes. Hope y'all all had a good time?

kendive

Install airbags. I had them in my 14 and now in the 15 with the airlift wireless one system. Love them would not tow the camper without.

MattN03

So twakefield, if I understand you correctly, you've towed a similar length & wait camper with your 2012 and it towed it better? I wonder if it's also the truck's weight reduction?

Deerchaser

Lighter truck equals lighter springs rates?

SeatGuru

Honestly it is hard to say as I don't pull hard that often. I don't remember my 12 feeling so soft in the rear. The 15 does have the bigger 20" factory wheels...

Falcon359

I have to second that on towing my 2012 Eco handled my 29 foot a lot better also seems like gearing is different, the 2012 would ride in 6th gear the 2015 rides in 4th and 5th gear. The rear end gearing was 3.73 in the 2012 where the 2015 is 3.55 mileage stayed about the same 7.5 to 8.2 mpg more rear sag in the 2015 also same weight distributing hitch used for both both, and both have max towing