Tom33

Recently bought a Lance trailer. Its 23ft and the GVWR is around 6000 lbs. I've been struggling with buying an F150 with the V8 or spending gobs of money on an F250. I could use some input from anyone and everyone who has an F150 that pulls a trailer similar to what I have. Does the F150 with a V8 do the job. Does it have to work to hard when pulling that kind of weight up elevations like the Sierra's (7000 ft or more) or does it handle it without much strain. Would appreciate input from 4X2 and 4X4 owners.
Thanks, Tom

rjgautin

F150 would easily pull that weight and size of trailer. Make sure to get the max tow package

atwowheelguy

For 2018 with the 5.0L V8, the Max Tow Package is only available WITH the Heavy Duty Payload Package, which is a rare bird indeed.

chimmike

You don't need the Max tow to handle that trailer so long as you don't get a 2.7 ecoboost or 3.3 V6.
If you are going to tow high elevations frequently, you're way better off getting the 3.5 ecoboost.

And if you were to get an F250 and tow high elevations frequently, I'd say get the diesel over the gas. Forced induction's advantages only get more substantial the higher you go, especially when towing.

massspike

Towed my previous 6000lb TT (21 foot internal) with a 2016 Lariat 5L 4x4 w/ Max Tow. The engine is more than enough for that weight. You just need to drive with a "lead foot" and put the engine into 3500-5000 RPM range when you want to accelerate/climb. That is the maximum torgue range for the coyote and it can handle it. It will happily cruise along at 2000 RPM on the flats.

Your problem is going to be the suspension and handling. You will need a good WDH with sway control.

BlackBoost

Towing at elevations; Get an Ecoboost. You'll get much more grunt than the V8. At 6K, even the 2.7 would do the job. My 2.7 easily tows my 5k camper, even hills and going through the rockies is fine. If there's a chance you might get a bigger camper one day, get the 3.5EB.

raisin

I have 24' trailer weighting 6K, pulling it with '14 5.0 scab 3.73. It did well this fall in Utah and Colorado. But if I lived out west and pulled in mountains full time I would get the 3.5 eco.
My truck felt too loose until I added sway bar, e-range tires and heavy duty shocks, now tows perfect.

smokeywren

The Ford 5.0L V8 is an antiquated design that can "handle" a 6k TT in the mountains, but it's not a happy camper when towing at altitude. Much better towing machine is the 3.5L EcoBoost engine.



Agree. The max tow pkg requires the 3.5L EcoBoost engine. That drivetrain will flatten out those mountain passes so they'll be no concern. Towing will be a pleasure.


So no problem with power and torque to PULL your 6k trailer. But the F-150 is a half-ton pickup with limited payload capacity. So trailer tongue weight plus the weight you haul in the F-150 will probably be a problem. My F-150 Lariat SuperCrew is overloaded over the payload capacity with my small TT that weighs less than 5,000 pounds when wet and loaded on the road for an RV trip.


The fix for the limited payload is to order your F-150 with the heavy duty payload pkg (HDPP). Folks call the F-150 with HDPP a unicorn because they are so rare. Dealers rarely stock them, so you have to special order it and wait 6 weeks or longer for delivery. Plus the HDPP is available only with the "long" bed and without the luxury packages available on F-150s that don't have HDPP. On a SuperCrew, the long bed is 6.5', and on a SuperCab it's 8' long. The fanciest trim available is a Lariat with base Lariat trim code 500A.


If I were wanting a new F-150 to tow my TT, I'd order the Max Tow Pkg and the HDPP. Then no more concern about being overloaded or with enough oomph to easily cross the Rockies.


Of course, an F-250 would also work for me. I put 200,000 miles on an F-250 dragging a small 9.k 5er all over the USA for 10 years. Pleasant memories. But as we aged, we decided that a smaller/lighter weight TT was all we needed as an RV, so we matched it with our current F-150 3.5L EcoBoost.

Gladehound

I second Smokeywren that the best set up in an F150 for that trailer would be one with HDPP (which has Max tow included, can't get it without it).

The HDPP is not so rare as it once was. I bought mine off a lot. Yes, I did need to do an internet search and drive 45 miles so it wasn't at my local dealer, but they are out there.

The 5.0 Coyote or 3.5 EB in an HDPP F150 would both do just fine. If you want to see them tow something heavy up a hill at altitude, just check out the Ike gauntlet runs on Youtube. Keep in mind the trucks used in the Ike gauntlet don't have HDPP so they have lighter frames, lighter suspension and shorter wheel bases (they tested a 5.5ft bed truck, a wheelbase that isn't available with HDPP)- but you can see how the drivetrain handles the hill.

massspike

If you watch TFL's towing tests, you will see the 3.5L climbs well but has issues descending -- too many brake applications is their common complaint against it versus all other >5L engines. To be expected given, it has at least 30% less displacement for engine braking.

I don't know about you but I'd want a truck that descends steep grades better than one that climbs at lower RPMs.