F150 Review; 3,300 Mile Towing Trip; Long
04-25-2012, 11:41 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
F150 Review; 3,300 Mile Towing Trip; Long
This review will attempt to be a comprehensive review of the F150 as it relates to our recent 3,300 towing trip. It IS a glowing review and, as such, might be of most interest to those who are open to the Ford brand.
Truck: F150 FX4, Ecoboost, Max Tow, 3.73s
Trailer: Surveyor SV235RKS; approximately 5,500 pounds loaded
The Tow: Mostly 60 to 62 mph except for 2-lane 55 mph roads. 3,300 miles from St. Paul, MN to Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana and back. Five “big towing” days of 8 hours. Four of those days were into nasty headwinds and crosswinds. One day with some assist from the wind. Significant and numerous grades in NW Arkansas. Lots of big “rollers” through Missouri and Iowa. Easy flat tows in Louisiana.
One Word Summary: Wow!
Five Word Summary: Set it and forget it
Much of forum F150 towing discussion recently has centered around the Ecoboost engine. While it is impressive in use, there is so much more to the F150 that I will try to give my impressions on additional aspects of the truck. Overall, what really is impressive, is how many aspects of the truck are so thoroughly thought out, programmed, and so well integrated. The F150 is a complete package. It really is a “set it and forget it” vehicle. Get to your cruising speed, set the speed control, and the truck does a marvelous job of managing itself with little to no intervention required. It will do anything a sane person asks of it. The only real consideration is speed; safety and fuel use repercussions. So, here we go . .
Ecoboost: Let’s get this out of the way. Tremendous torque curve. Most of the trip was in 6th at 1,600 RPM. It was amazing the hills it would take at this low RPM; staying in 6th with lockup. 5th was 2,000 RPM when needed. Saw 4th gear maybe 3 or 4 times. Overall fuel mileage for the trip was 11.5 mpg. A high of 12.2 and a low of 10.3. I was impressed given the wind we had to contend with; and the hills. IMO, the Ecoboost is about 10% more fuel efficient than my ’05 5.4L FX4; under the same conditions and “expectations” of performance; pulling the same trailer. This IS a powerful engine and, if you use that power, it will take fuel. The engine still has the factory oil in it; 6,700 miles on it; oil is still at the top of the “hatch marks” on the stick; estimate perhaps ½ pint of oil has been consumed at most.
6 Speed Select Shift: Nice; especially compared to my previous 4 speed. Tow/Haul worked nicely. Always torque converter lock in 5th and 6th. Seamless shifts. Descent/braking downshifting worked surprisingly well; rarely fooled. Trans temp managed nicely by the truck; always 195 to 197. 193 is normal for unloaded. Transmission programming is nicely attuned to the Ecoboost torque curve.
Cruise Control: Worked SO nicely with the 6 speed and the Ecoboost. Road speed rarely varied by more than 1 mph; even in the hills. It responded quickly to load; providing downshift appropriately when needed; didn’t over accelerate at the crest of the hill like my previous truck. Just stayed right where I set it. Nice. No driver shifting intervention required. My ’05 drove me crazy by waiting too long to downshift; losing speed, and then over-reacting; so I wound up driving it like a manu-matic. So, this was a lot less tiring. With this better programming, I was a lot happier when DW was the driver.
Suspension/Tires: This truck rides amazingly better than our ’05 did. A LOT less bouncing. I figure that this better ride is due to some combination of the following; the 2,000 payload vs previous 1,600; and the LT tires vs the previous P Metrics; less sidewall flex. There could be other factors of which I am unaware; but the ride was much smoother. Very nice on a long haul like we just did. A lot less tiring.
Integrated Brake Controller: Works very smoothly; a big difference from the Prodigy I used before. I anticipate in my driving so am a “light” user of brakes. I never felt the Prodigy, being inertial, gave me much braking assist from the trailer under light braking. The IBC did a much better job at this. No lockups, no jerking; nice trailer assist.
Electric Steering: Ford’s electric steering compensates for crown of the road, crosswind etc. It took a little getting used to. You know how the vehicle “moves around” a little in heavier crosswinds. But before I could put in a steering input, the truck took care of a lot of it itself. It honestly was a little unnerving for me at first. But after awhile, I realized how relaxing it was to drive and how little corrective steering input was required from me. I’ve grown to like it; but it is different. Makes for a very nice drive. A lot less tiring.
Sync System: There IS a learning curve. Once you get it, it is a marvelous system. I loaded ALL of my music on a 20Gig SanDisk in MP3 form. It would respond to verbal commands for artist etc. My iPhone was linked in by Bluetooth. Any calls were handled verbally. Love this technology.
Odds and Ends:
Loved the 36 gallon gas tank. Drove all the way from just North of Kansas City to St. Paul on one tank! (The tailwind day) No worries when fueling stations were few and far between. On shorter haul days, we could go 2 to 3 days without a fill; and there were more opportunities to fill when the trailer wasn’t attached.
The transmission would sometimes “hang” in 4th gear for awhile when accelerating from a stop; always after slowing and crawling through a town. After about a ½ mile, it would decide to use 5th and 6th again. An oddity that I saw on several occasions. Not sure why this happened but I could have done without it.
I miss the grab handle that they have omitted from the driver side front pillar. What’s up with that?
55mph limits resulted in 1,500 RPM in 6th; not a lot. So in combination with rollers, I would lock out 6th just to keep shifting to a minimum; or I would not use cruise and manipulate the throttle to hold 6th. The faster your towing speed, the better it held 6th.
While the tow/haul provided appropriate engine downshifting, the Ecoboost provides only modest amounts of compression braking. I’ll be taking extra note of this when we do our trip to the Rockies in July. I’m expecting to have to use more brake than I did with the 5.4. Not real happy about that idea.
The Ecoboost is very quiet under normal circumstances. But when pulling a trailer, it is working harder and you know it is a V-6 by the exhaust note. Not unpleasant; just doesn't sounds like a V-8.
IMO, the longer your trips, the lower percentage of your total towing capacity you are going to want to be using. We were at 50%. Very comfortable for a 3,300 mile trip; no struggles.
The Bottom Line: This truck requires very little of you other than to be observant of road conditions and other vehicles. It is a very relaxing, easy, and pleasurable drive. The truck takes care of itself and handles anthing you can sanely/safely throw at it. A lot less tiring!
I hope this was helpful or illuminating to someone!
Truck: F150 FX4, Ecoboost, Max Tow, 3.73s
Trailer: Surveyor SV235RKS; approximately 5,500 pounds loaded
The Tow: Mostly 60 to 62 mph except for 2-lane 55 mph roads. 3,300 miles from St. Paul, MN to Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana and back. Five “big towing” days of 8 hours. Four of those days were into nasty headwinds and crosswinds. One day with some assist from the wind. Significant and numerous grades in NW Arkansas. Lots of big “rollers” through Missouri and Iowa. Easy flat tows in Louisiana.
One Word Summary: Wow!
Five Word Summary: Set it and forget it
Much of forum F150 towing discussion recently has centered around the Ecoboost engine. While it is impressive in use, there is so much more to the F150 that I will try to give my impressions on additional aspects of the truck. Overall, what really is impressive, is how many aspects of the truck are so thoroughly thought out, programmed, and so well integrated. The F150 is a complete package. It really is a “set it and forget it” vehicle. Get to your cruising speed, set the speed control, and the truck does a marvelous job of managing itself with little to no intervention required. It will do anything a sane person asks of it. The only real consideration is speed; safety and fuel use repercussions. So, here we go . .
Ecoboost: Let’s get this out of the way. Tremendous torque curve. Most of the trip was in 6th at 1,600 RPM. It was amazing the hills it would take at this low RPM; staying in 6th with lockup. 5th was 2,000 RPM when needed. Saw 4th gear maybe 3 or 4 times. Overall fuel mileage for the trip was 11.5 mpg. A high of 12.2 and a low of 10.3. I was impressed given the wind we had to contend with; and the hills. IMO, the Ecoboost is about 10% more fuel efficient than my ’05 5.4L FX4; under the same conditions and “expectations” of performance; pulling the same trailer. This IS a powerful engine and, if you use that power, it will take fuel. The engine still has the factory oil in it; 6,700 miles on it; oil is still at the top of the “hatch marks” on the stick; estimate perhaps ½ pint of oil has been consumed at most.
6 Speed Select Shift: Nice; especially compared to my previous 4 speed. Tow/Haul worked nicely. Always torque converter lock in 5th and 6th. Seamless shifts. Descent/braking downshifting worked surprisingly well; rarely fooled. Trans temp managed nicely by the truck; always 195 to 197. 193 is normal for unloaded. Transmission programming is nicely attuned to the Ecoboost torque curve.
Cruise Control: Worked SO nicely with the 6 speed and the Ecoboost. Road speed rarely varied by more than 1 mph; even in the hills. It responded quickly to load; providing downshift appropriately when needed; didn’t over accelerate at the crest of the hill like my previous truck. Just stayed right where I set it. Nice. No driver shifting intervention required. My ’05 drove me crazy by waiting too long to downshift; losing speed, and then over-reacting; so I wound up driving it like a manu-matic. So, this was a lot less tiring. With this better programming, I was a lot happier when DW was the driver.
Suspension/Tires: This truck rides amazingly better than our ’05 did. A LOT less bouncing. I figure that this better ride is due to some combination of the following; the 2,000 payload vs previous 1,600; and the LT tires vs the previous P Metrics; less sidewall flex. There could be other factors of which I am unaware; but the ride was much smoother. Very nice on a long haul like we just did. A lot less tiring.
Integrated Brake Controller: Works very smoothly; a big difference from the Prodigy I used before. I anticipate in my driving so am a “light” user of brakes. I never felt the Prodigy, being inertial, gave me much braking assist from the trailer under light braking. The IBC did a much better job at this. No lockups, no jerking; nice trailer assist.
Electric Steering: Ford’s electric steering compensates for crown of the road, crosswind etc. It took a little getting used to. You know how the vehicle “moves around” a little in heavier crosswinds. But before I could put in a steering input, the truck took care of a lot of it itself. It honestly was a little unnerving for me at first. But after awhile, I realized how relaxing it was to drive and how little corrective steering input was required from me. I’ve grown to like it; but it is different. Makes for a very nice drive. A lot less tiring.
Sync System: There IS a learning curve. Once you get it, it is a marvelous system. I loaded ALL of my music on a 20Gig SanDisk in MP3 form. It would respond to verbal commands for artist etc. My iPhone was linked in by Bluetooth. Any calls were handled verbally. Love this technology.
Odds and Ends:
Loved the 36 gallon gas tank. Drove all the way from just North of Kansas City to St. Paul on one tank! (The tailwind day) No worries when fueling stations were few and far between. On shorter haul days, we could go 2 to 3 days without a fill; and there were more opportunities to fill when the trailer wasn’t attached.
The transmission would sometimes “hang” in 4th gear for awhile when accelerating from a stop; always after slowing and crawling through a town. After about a ½ mile, it would decide to use 5th and 6th again. An oddity that I saw on several occasions. Not sure why this happened but I could have done without it.
I miss the grab handle that they have omitted from the driver side front pillar. What’s up with that?
55mph limits resulted in 1,500 RPM in 6th; not a lot. So in combination with rollers, I would lock out 6th just to keep shifting to a minimum; or I would not use cruise and manipulate the throttle to hold 6th. The faster your towing speed, the better it held 6th.
While the tow/haul provided appropriate engine downshifting, the Ecoboost provides only modest amounts of compression braking. I’ll be taking extra note of this when we do our trip to the Rockies in July. I’m expecting to have to use more brake than I did with the 5.4. Not real happy about that idea.
The Ecoboost is very quiet under normal circumstances. But when pulling a trailer, it is working harder and you know it is a V-6 by the exhaust note. Not unpleasant; just doesn't sounds like a V-8.
IMO, the longer your trips, the lower percentage of your total towing capacity you are going to want to be using. We were at 50%. Very comfortable for a 3,300 mile trip; no struggles.
The Bottom Line: This truck requires very little of you other than to be observant of road conditions and other vehicles. It is a very relaxing, easy, and pleasurable drive. The truck takes care of itself and handles anthing you can sanely/safely throw at it. A lot less tiring!
I hope this was helpful or illuminating to someone!
04-26-2012, 12:41 AM
#2
Inebriated 4 ur safety
Great write up. 
I too had a 05 F150 with 5.4 and 3.73 read end and my 2011 EB will just plain out tow my old truck in every way even with 3.55 gears. This EB and the 6-speed tranny will just hold speed and 6th gear on hills that would have my old truck hunting from 2nd-3rd trying to find the right gear with the same loads. Especially now with my SC heavy tow tune. I also hated my old truck's cruise control as well. It would brake too much going down hill and accerate too much going up hill. This new cruise control system does a hell of a job stay at speed. I can't say enough about the engine though, it definitely can pull way more weight then the truck can handle with the greatest of ease. It can tow 6 pounds better the my friends 2000 Dodge 2500 5.9 Cummins (215hp / 420ft-lb, automatic) especially now with the tow tune. The only reason he can tow more then me is because my truck can't handle it, not the engine.
I too had a 05 F150 with 5.4 and 3.73 read end and my 2011 EB will just plain out tow my old truck in every way even with 3.55 gears. This EB and the 6-speed tranny will just hold speed and 6th gear on hills that would have my old truck hunting from 2nd-3rd trying to find the right gear with the same loads. Especially now with my SC heavy tow tune. I also hated my old truck's cruise control as well. It would brake too much going down hill and accerate too much going up hill. This new cruise control system does a hell of a job stay at speed. I can't say enough about the engine though, it definitely can pull way more weight then the truck can handle with the greatest of ease. It can tow 6 pounds better the my friends 2000 Dodge 2500 5.9 Cummins (215hp / 420ft-lb, automatic) especially now with the tow tune. The only reason he can tow more then me is because my truck can't handle it, not the engine.
04-26-2012, 07:19 AM
#4
Super job on the writeup! I'm planning a 5k trip in the not too distant future with a similar sized trailer (6k#) so this was really helpful. The truck and me are still getting to know one another but I tell you, I was impressed the first time I hitched up and it walked me through the whole checklist. Ford has really thought this through.
04-26-2012, 10:19 AM
#5
Senior Member/Vietnam Vet
Even the short 45 mile trip from the dealer with my first fifth wheel impressed me. The fiver weighs 7700lbs and the EcoBoost handled it with aplomb. I got an unexpected 10.5mpg on that trip. My 2003 Tundra got 8-9 towing 5500lbs of travel trailer and couldn't maintain 60mph on a grade without hitting 4500rpm.
04-26-2012, 10:20 AM
#6
Great write up! I just moved to Bradenton Florida from Waterloo Ontario.
I hauled a 5,000 lb 6x12 uhaul trailer 1400 miles via I-75.
I have a 2011 4x4 5.0 3.73. I must admit I really enjoyed the trip. I averaged 12.5 MPG. Seems reasonable GVWR was 9500 lbs.
I completely agree with you about the truck wanting to hang forth gear, especially hauling up steep grades. I don't really see anything wrong with this other than the truck was working harder and guzzling more than it really needed to. This issues was easily fixed with the manushift feature. It worked really well. I was asking myself on the way down if I will ever own another manual truck.
I hauled a 5,000 lb 6x12 uhaul trailer 1400 miles via I-75.
I have a 2011 4x4 5.0 3.73. I must admit I really enjoyed the trip. I averaged 12.5 MPG. Seems reasonable GVWR was 9500 lbs.
I completely agree with you about the truck wanting to hang forth gear, especially hauling up steep grades. I don't really see anything wrong with this other than the truck was working harder and guzzling more than it really needed to. This issues was easily fixed with the manushift feature. It worked really well. I was asking myself on the way down if I will ever own another manual truck.
04-26-2012, 10:52 AM
#7
Better OUT then IN
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: South Florida (Ft. Lauderdale area)
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Great write up! I just moved to Bradenton Florida from Waterloo Ontario.
I hauled a 5,000 lb 6x12 uhaul trailer 1400 miles via I-75.
I have a 2011 4x4 5.0 3.73. I must admit I really enjoyed the trip. I averaged 12.5 MPG. Seems reasonable GVWR was 9500 lbs.
I completely agree with you about the truck wanting to hang forth gear, especially hauling up steep grades. I don't really see anything wrong with this other than the truck was working harder and guzzling more than it really needed to. This issues was easily fixed with the manushift feature. It worked really well. I was asking myself on the way down if I will ever own another manual truck.
I hauled a 5,000 lb 6x12 uhaul trailer 1400 miles via I-75.
I have a 2011 4x4 5.0 3.73. I must admit I really enjoyed the trip. I averaged 12.5 MPG. Seems reasonable GVWR was 9500 lbs.
I completely agree with you about the truck wanting to hang forth gear, especially hauling up steep grades. I don't really see anything wrong with this other than the truck was working harder and guzzling more than it really needed to. This issues was easily fixed with the manushift feature. It worked really well. I was asking myself on the way down if I will ever own another manual truck.
This combination seems to give me the best all around power range and mpgs.
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04-26-2012, 11:23 AM
#9
To add to that, I have a 5.0 with 3.55. When I tow my 8,000 pound brick, I found that I lock out 6th gear and use cruise. I live in Florida so the hills aren't that bad but I ALWAYS seem to have a head wind - seriously, no kidding. Oh yea, I travel mostly highway at 55-65 mph and my mpgs range from 8.5 to 12.5 (friggin head winds)
This combination seems to give me the best all around power range and mpgs.
This combination seems to give me the best all around power range and mpgs.
04-26-2012, 11:30 AM
#10
Boost :)
Excellent write up and very informative and unbiased too! Rare to find that last part in most people's reviews around here 
You mentioned a lot of wind in your trip. Did the trailer sway enough at any point for the anti-sway system to kick in? That was a HUGE surprise when I needed it and saved my butt!
I was towing an enclosed car hauler on the highway bringing my new toy home about a month ago and got going down a hill on the highway and ended up doing almost 80 by the time I got to the bottom. When I got into that little valley there was a HUGE crosswind that I had no way of anticipating and it started really moving the trailer side to side. Enough so that the rear of the truck was starting to go with it. My first thought was to hit the brakes, but thankfully I didn't. Just as I took my foot off all the pedals, the "Trailer Sway Detected" message came up on the dash and I could feel it applying the brakes to at least one of the wheels of the truck. Within about a second, everything was straight again and we were moving on like nothing had happened. I was amazed at how well that worked.
You mentioned a lot of wind in your trip. Did the trailer sway enough at any point for the anti-sway system to kick in? That was a HUGE surprise when I needed it and saved my butt!
I was towing an enclosed car hauler on the highway bringing my new toy home about a month ago and got going down a hill on the highway and ended up doing almost 80 by the time I got to the bottom. When I got into that little valley there was a HUGE crosswind that I had no way of anticipating and it started really moving the trailer side to side. Enough so that the rear of the truck was starting to go with it. My first thought was to hit the brakes, but thankfully I didn't. Just as I took my foot off all the pedals, the "Trailer Sway Detected" message came up on the dash and I could feel it applying the brakes to at least one of the wheels of the truck. Within about a second, everything was straight again and we were moving on like nothing had happened. I was amazed at how well that worked.
