saml

Hi, new to this site and need some advice. We have a Jayco TT about 27' long, dry weight 5455lbs... 6000-6500lbs once loaded. Looking to buy a used F150 but I'm finding a small selection in my area. I believe we need a 3.73 because most of our camping will be in the mountains (CO). Any advice past that? tow package vs max tow package...?

smokeywren

6500 pounds gross weight of a TT is about 845 pounds tongue weight. Your limiter will probably be GVWR and payload capacity of an F-150, so tongue weight is a big factor. You need at least the max tow pkg along with the 3.5L EcoBoost drivetrain if you don't want to be overloaded with that much trailer. Those are not too hard to find, but your dealer will probably have to beat the bushes to find one.


A good used-pickup dealer can search within several hundred miles of your town to find the vehicle that meets your specs.So don't try to DIY.


Best would be if you could find a used 2011 thru 2014 F-150 that has the heavy duty payload pkg (HDPP) with 8,200 GVWR. But those are really rare, and used ones usually are "fleet" trucks with XL trim.

Don't worry too much about the rear axle ratio. Mine is 3.15 and with my EcoBoost drivetrain I can easily pull an 8,000-pound trailer over the Hill Country southwest of Austin with no sweat. But I'm overloaded over the GVWR (and payload capacity) of my F-150. The max tow pkg has about 500 pounds more GVWR (and payload capacity for hitch weight) than the ones with the regular tow pkg. So if I had the max tow pkg I wouldn't be overloaded.

The max tow pkg also included the integrated trailer brake controller (ITBC) which you need. And it included the telescoping trailer tow mirrors which are required if you trailer is taller or wider than your tailgate. I don't have the max tow pkg, but I did opt for the ITBC and I added the trailer tow mirrors after I took delivery of my 2012 F-150. So if you cannot find a 2011 thru 2014 with the max tow pkg, then at lease insist on the EcoBoost drivetrain and regular tow pkg, and have the Ford dealer add the ITBC and tow mirrors. (The 2011 thru 2014 max tow pkg required the EcoBoost drivetrain, and included the tow mirrors and ITBC.)


For a 2011 thru 2014 F-150, you can order the tow mirrors from the accessories catalog for a reasonable price, If you order them from the regular Ford parts catalog, they'll cost about twice as much. Here are the ones I ordered:
https://accessories.ford.com/exterio...ror-10319.html


Note those are XLT mirrors without memory. The same mirrors with memory are $200 more. I didn't think memory was worth the extra $200, so mine don't have memory. That $440 cost is the list price for both mirrors. You can buy then for less from an online Ford discount parts dealer, such as this one:
http://parts.autonationfordwhitebear...er-tow-mirrors

jeffinthebag

A 5.0 with a 3.73 would be fine for that weight.

PerryB

Here's a really wild idea, get a 250.

smokeywren

Fine for pulling the weight of the trailer, but not for hauling the hitch weight of a 6,500-pound TT along with the normal weight of family and stuff in the F-150.


Max trailer tow pkg was not available with the 5.0L engine for the 2011 thru 2015 models. And without at least the max tow pkg with its extra GVWR, he's probably going to be overloaded over the payload capacity of his F-150.

Feathermerchant

My 2011 5.0 3.73:1 will tow 6,500 lb. But it is HDPP.

4B11TX

I dont have max tow and with 700 lbs of tongue weight i still have 1280 lbs of payload!

SixShooter14

Just for full disclosure...what's your stickered payload?

13EBF150

saml, we tow a 5th wheel with a 13' Eco that has a sticker payload of 2172#.

Marcm157

I tow a 28 foot travel trailer weighing in at 6500 dry with my 16 3.5 EB with HD tow. We are light packers so even if we are at 7500 loaded with my 2003 pound payload I still come in OK.