Upgrade 150 to 250 for TT towing?
 

Hello -

I have a 33' / 7,600 GW TT that I'm towing with my 150. It tows fine on back roads but as soon as I hit the interstate i'm very squirmy. I drove the parkway on a windy day and it was so bad I had to reduce my speed from 60 to 50 and even then I was white knuckled all the way down. I'm currently using a blue ox swaypro hitch.

I'm coming to the conclusion that even though i'm within weight (according to the CAT scales) the length of my TT is a big draw back.

I'm considering upgrading to a 250 gas SD. I found one at my local dealer which has everything i'm looking for option wise (3,200 lbs of payload!), but I'm curious if this upgrade should yield me a much safer, more comfortable ride? I have two small kids and safety is a big concern for me.

I would get a 350 SRW if I was you. The price is really no different than a 250. The ride is also about the same. I would also look at the 6.7 diesel, my 2016 6.7 DRW gets about 14 around town/short highway trips combined. It gets about 9.5 to 10.5 towing my 19 to 20k horse trailer at 70mph on the highway.

Yes, a 250 is a better tow rig for the trailer you describe. I would get a SRW 350 with a 6.2 and 4.30 gearing.

I have a 2018 250 SRW pulling 25 gooseneck loaded with 10-12k. Pulls fine, however with the weight and sag I'm getting ready to add air bags.

I'm in the same position as you. The F150 seemed a bit light for the 7500 pound (loaded) trailer.

Lots of research on forums and YouTube made me go bigger. Here is a pretty normal guy's thoughts on switching from a 150 to 250:


Everything I found was convincing enough for me....here's our new trailer tugger:

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...592a803d11.jpg

That looks sweet! I just ordered a Magnetic Gray F250 Lariat with FX4 package, 4.30 ratio and 6.2L gas engine. Will trade in a 2015 F150 XLT with FX4 package and 2.7L EB engine. We tow a Winnebago 2451BHS measuring 26' 9" with a dry weight of 4,880 lbs. I guess we come in closer to 6,000 lbs fully loaded and were pushing the F150 to it's limit.

From the videos I've seen, the squirmy trailer (or rather trailer sway) is due to improper loading, specifically, too little weight on the hitch. Here's a good one with demonstration. Optimally, there should be 10% of the total trailer weight on the hitch.

Yes and partly. The "squirmy" feeling could very well be caused by the trailer being improperly loaded and not enough tongue weight on the tow vehicle. This can easily cause the scenario shown in the video. However, a light weight tow vehicle like an F150 compared to a massive trailer may not feel stable no matter how much tongue weight is on the hitch. This will feel as though the trailer is pushing and controlling the tow vehicle.

Or more. Anywhere between 10% to 15% will be in a safe zone. At least with the tongue weight in that range, it is more unlikely to sway as opposed to a lower tongue weight. But, a light weight tow vehicle will still be light weight and may not have great control over the trailer.

My 2011 F150 towed great and the trailer never swayed but it never felt like it was totally planted on the road.