jesusquintana

Looking to tow a 30 foot tt (6200# dry) with my truck and the above specs. Load capacity is 1831# and gvwr is 6800. Manual says it can tow 10,700 with the gcwr at 15,800. Most trips will be writhin 100 miles of house in central Texas hill country but on the off chance I wanted to make a run to Colorado how much would this read end hinder me at elevation?

Thanks

smokeywren

Elevation is not much of a problem with the twin-turbocharged EcoBoost engine. Like a turbo-charged diesel, don't worry about altitude as much as other things.


Power to tow a 6,800 pound TT with the 3.5L EcoBoost engine and 3.15 rear axle of a 4x2 SuperCrew is not a problem. My tow rating is 8,400, and I know it can pull 6,800 without breaking a sweat.


I towed a gooseneck trailer loaded with a full-size backhoe from Midland to Blanco through the Hill Country with no problems. That trailer grossed over 20,000 pounds. The F-150 definitely knew the trailer was back there, but it just kept on keeping on when climbing hills between Brady and Blanco.


The problem was not power and torque to pull the load with a gross combined weight of 27,500 pounds, but the payload capacity to haul the hitch weight of that trailer. My GVWR is 7,100 and my GVW was 8,460, or over 1,300 pounds overloaded on the axles of the pickup. The only real problem was 6.5 MPG on premium gas.


On another trip, I had to tow Darling Daughter's full-timer 5er from Austin to Midland County, again through the Hill Country. Austin to Llano to Brady to San Angelo to my home in sticks of rural Midland County. The 5er grossed close to 8,000 pounds. CAT scale ticket shows 3,300 pounds on the front axle, 4,680 on the drive axle for GVW of 7980 compared to my 7,100 GVWR. 14,780 GCW compared to 14,000 GCWR. Overloaded but no problems at all other than 8.5 MPG on premium gas.


Oh, and all that overloaded towing was on the stock P-Series 18" tires, pumped up to 44 PSI cold. No tire problems on those two trips.


But don't kid yourself. Towing a trailer that grosses 6,800 pounds will probably overload your F-150's 6,800 GVWR. It's not smart to plan on towing overloaded.


My TT has GVWR of 5,600 pounds and actual wet and loaded weight of 4,780 pounds, and it overloads my F-150 by 100 pounds over the 7,100 GVWR.


Delivering that backhoe to my son in Blanco was a one-time good deal, that I don't plan on repeating. Dragging DD's 5er home from Austin was also a one-time good deal that I don't plan on repeating. So I'll just tow my 19.5' TT that barely overloads my tow vehicle and be a happy camper.

jesusquintana

I thought it was the 1831# payload max I had to worry about? I figured wet the trailer will be 7200# which at 13% will put 936 on the tongue + 100 for wb hitch and 500 for the family and I am at 1536# giving me a few hundred for food, beer and gear. I was thinking my real concern would be getting blown around by rigs and west Texas wind with a 30 foot on a half ton truck??

11screw50

While I cannot speak to getting blown around, run the numbers, check payload, GCVWR and RAWR.

While Smokeywren often has valid points, I think he sometimes overstates things. His example using his truck and how much trailer he can tow before exceeding payload is great...for his truck (but he has one of the heavier trim levels and a cap on the bed so are his numbers really typical?). The other thing to consider is that the 2015+ trucks have a lot more available payload (so long as you have the 3.5EB or 5.0). An 1800lb payload goes a lot farther than 1400lb does, that 400lb allows 3000lb more trailer weight assuming 13% tongue weight.

Also, why are you putting beer and food in the truck? Put it in the trailer and pay the 13% penalty instead of 100%.

jesusquintana

Thanks! More than likely I would just buy the beer and food when I got there especially if I were making a long run to Colorado (plus they have better beer) to keep things as light as possible. Will get the trailer out next weekend and get everything weighed to make sure I am good. Just seem to hear some folks really dog the 3.15 rear end but all I can come up with is that it will likely downshift into 5th more than the 3.55/3.73 which is no big deal for making 1 long haul a year.

smokeywren

Someone has mislead you. I lived in Colorado for over 20 years, and averaged several beers every day. The problem with Colorado beer is all beer sold in truck stops, convenience stores, and supermarkets must have a max of 3.2% alcohol. If you are used to Texas beer, then you have to pay attention to where you buy your beer in Colorado. If you buy it at a liquor store, then it will be real beer. But if you buy it anywhere else it will be that watered-down 3.2 "girls" beer.


Liquor stores are not hard to find, but they are not as convenient as 7-Eleven, King Soopers, or Petro truck stops.

acadianbob

With a 3.15 rear end, you aren't going to be towing in 6th gear. Then you effectively with be towing with a 5 speed transmission.

smokeywren

Depends on the load, wind direction, and grade.


When going eastfrom Midland County towards Dallas on I-20 with the normal 20-MPH southwest breese behind me and towing 5,000 pounds @ 65 MPH, my F-150 EcoBoost with 3.15 axle ratio is in 6th gear at least 60% of the time. That's a slight downhill run which loses about 2,000 feet altitude in 350 miles. Going back west on the same road, probably less than 40% of the time will it be in 6th gear.


My drivetrain computer is a lot smarter than I am when it comes to deciding which gear it needs to be in, so I put it in drive, turn on tow/haul, and cruise.

Nickanto

Any other tire options I should be considering?

smokeywren

You lost me. No one in this thread has mentioned tires. Is this the thread you thought you were posting in?