swflford

I've got a loaded 2013 Super Crew FX4 Ecoboost with 3.73 gears. I am in the planning stages of a cross country move and am trying to decide whether I should make the switch to a Super Duty diesel or if the F150 will do the job.

I'm planning on purchasing a 24' to 27' enclosed trailer, loading up pretty much everything we have into it and towing it from Florida to Minnesota. I may have to make a second trip and haul the rest of our belongings and a 2005 Ford Freestyle (4,000# car)

I'm figuring the curb weight of the trailer will be around 3,500# or so.

So, do you guys think the 150 Eco is up to this task or would I be better served to trade it in on a new SuperDuty to be safe?

Chromeshadow

Wouldn't it be cheaper and easier to have it shipped by a moving company? Btw, are you moving before the weather improves? Towing a trailer in winter up here sucks!! btw, it's minus 9 in Minneapolis today, it'll get down to -21 by Sunday.

swflford

Wouldn't be moving until spring so weather isn't an issue. I was born and raised in MN so I know very well what winter up there is like. I miss it. 80 degrees every day surrounded by old people and traffic (winter in Florida) sucks to me.

Shipping everything with a moving company I'm guessing would run upwards of $6,000-$7,000 so I don't think it would be cheaper. Easier for sure.

BigCountryTexas

A lot more than that unless you don't have much. We are moving from San Antonio to Abilene TX and it's costing us $7500 with insurance. We are driving all 3 cars and loading as much as we can in them as well.

Remember total weight needs to be counted for in the truck as well as people. So if you have 4 passengers, 600-700 lb. And the F150 has a max tow of around 10k. So you need to be careful how much you put in there.

zx12-iowa

I have towed an enclosed trailer just like you are asking about four years ago with my 05 f150. Truck did great at 65-70 the whole way. You will be fine.

My trip was 1200 miles one way loaded and 1200 unloaded. Slightly easier pulling trailer empty but not very much.

swflford

Thanks for the reply. I probably should have posed the question in the title better to get more responses I tried to change it but it won't let me.

xcntrk

You'd be just fine pulling both enclosed cargo trailer and open car hauler. I have towed both without issue. But as the others have mentioned, I'm not sure you're making any big savings doing it yourself. Don't forget to factor in fuel costs. With the same rig as you and 3.73 gears, I get about 17.5mpg empty and 10mpg towing. That's nearly 2k in fuel for two round trips between SWFL and MN.

93Cobra#2771

iTrader: (2)

You probably need to look into a WDH with built in away control. That's a lot of trailer and an unknown tongue weight. Without a weight distribution hitch your hitch is only rated at 500# tongue weight.

swflford

I'm going to look into ABF "you pack" before deciding to haul myself. It would be nice to not have to tow a trailer that far if it isn't too much more expensive.

ducatimechanic

I used to have an F250 with a 24' box trailer, very nice Reese load equalizing hitch (it would put over 1000 pounds onto the front axle when set properly), and used it to move from Maryland to Michigan in four trips.

Lessons learned / Thoughts:

1. If you're going to buy a trailer with any thought of keeping it for any length of time, get a goose neck and not a bumper pull.
2. If you have to get a bumper pull, the money you save will go into an equalizing hitch, so are you really saving any money?
3. If you get a different truck, like an F250, what do you do with it when you get to your destination? Did you really save any money, or was it just an excuse to buy a new truck?
4. What happens to the trailer? You'll need a place to store it, and snow load from the top and rot from the bottom will both be an issue - so does it make sense to even buy it in the first place?

Looking back, I should have done the opposite of what actually happened:

I bought a used F250 and a 24' trailer (that I had plans for).

What I should have done was rent a dumpster at my place in Maryland and gotten real serious about giving away / throwing away / donating all of the old furniture and stuff that I either never use or haven't touched in 10 years.

Instead, I've moved all that junk three times since returning home to Michigan and now have a dumpster in my driveway that I'm filling with that junk that never should have made the trip here in the first place.

Just a thought, but you could travel light and make up the difference on the other end...