Moving Cross Country with a F150 Ecoboost
01-12-2014, 05:01 PM
#11
Moving to a Super Duty for a one time thing, no way! The Eco is a heck of a towing vehicle, it will handle it. Even if you had the V8 I would still do it and just baby it. It's not worth the inconvenience of the Super Duty for the rest of ownership.
01-13-2014, 09:41 AM
#12
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...
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...
Living on a farm in Minnesota, I can always use the capability of a Super Duty truck. Also, my fancy, loaded FX4 might be a little too nice for farm life. I was considering going to a far less loaded Super Duty like an XL or an XLT. Something that could get tracked full of pasture muck, animal hair and dirt. The more I consider it though, the more I like the idea of keeping my remote start and heated seats for the cold winter mornings. The diesel can be a bear when it's super cold and cabs take a long time to heat up. In the end, I could live without the amenities but boy, they sure are nice!
I will have plenty of room to store the trailer inside of a machine shed to protect it from the elements. It would end up being put to use as an ATV, snowmobile, hunting trailer ect. so it wouldn't be a one use proposition.
I hadn't really considered the goose neck option but it might be a good idea if I do decide to buy a trailer and haul a load up.
As of now I'm leaning more toward using Upack to move the necessities. And purging all of the stuff that isn't worth the cost to move. Skipping the trailer all together and just keeping my truck and seeing how it works once we get there.
01-13-2014, 10:33 AM
#13
One way to have your cake and eat it too would maybe be to do the following:
1. Purge everything that you've honestly just had for too long / no reason before you move.
2. Keep the F150 (it sounds like you've got one that's loaded out, and those seem to get hit the worst on depreciation).
3. Move what makes sense in the way that makes sense. You'll have to figure out what that means to you, but used trailers can often be found for really good prices needing only routine maintenance.
4. Buy a farm truck for farm truck stuff. My F250 was an 4x4 XL with roll-up windows, vinyl floor, vinyl seats, crew cab, and a manual transmission. I ended up getting rid of it for my F150 XLT that's really only a minor upgrade in comfort options (I really wanted the vinyl floor in my truck), but gets much better gas mileage. Of all places, I bought it from Florida with 52K miles on a V10 (I have no idea what they ever used it for, it had no wear). The price was $12K back about 4 years ago.
Either way, best of luck.
1. Purge everything that you've honestly just had for too long / no reason before you move.
2. Keep the F150 (it sounds like you've got one that's loaded out, and those seem to get hit the worst on depreciation).
3. Move what makes sense in the way that makes sense. You'll have to figure out what that means to you, but used trailers can often be found for really good prices needing only routine maintenance.
4. Buy a farm truck for farm truck stuff. My F250 was an 4x4 XL with roll-up windows, vinyl floor, vinyl seats, crew cab, and a manual transmission. I ended up getting rid of it for my F150 XLT that's really only a minor upgrade in comfort options (I really wanted the vinyl floor in my truck), but gets much better gas mileage. Of all places, I bought it from Florida with 52K miles on a V10 (I have no idea what they ever used it for, it had no wear). The price was $12K back about 4 years ago.
Either way, best of luck.
01-14-2014, 09:13 AM
#14
One way to have your cake and eat it too would maybe be to do the following:
1. Purge everything that you've honestly just had for too long / no reason before you move.
2. Keep the F150 (it sounds like you've got one that's loaded out, and those seem to get hit the worst on depreciation).
3. Move what makes sense in the way that makes sense. You'll have to figure out what that means to you, but used trailers can often be found for really good prices needing only routine maintenance.
4. Buy a farm truck for farm truck stuff. My F250 was an 4x4 XL with roll-up windows, vinyl floor, vinyl seats, crew cab, and a manual transmission. I ended up getting rid of it for my F150 XLT that's really only a minor upgrade in comfort options (I really wanted the vinyl floor in my truck), but gets much better gas mileage. Of all places, I bought it from Florida with 52K miles on a V10 (I have no idea what they ever used it for, it had no wear). The price was $12K back about 4 years ago.
Either way, best of luck.
1. Purge everything that you've honestly just had for too long / no reason before you move.
2. Keep the F150 (it sounds like you've got one that's loaded out, and those seem to get hit the worst on depreciation).
3. Move what makes sense in the way that makes sense. You'll have to figure out what that means to you, but used trailers can often be found for really good prices needing only routine maintenance.
4. Buy a farm truck for farm truck stuff. My F250 was an 4x4 XL with roll-up windows, vinyl floor, vinyl seats, crew cab, and a manual transmission. I ended up getting rid of it for my F150 XLT that's really only a minor upgrade in comfort options (I really wanted the vinyl floor in my truck), but gets much better gas mileage. Of all places, I bought it from Florida with 52K miles on a V10 (I have no idea what they ever used it for, it had no wear). The price was $12K back about 4 years ago.
Either way, best of luck.
OTOH, cargo trailers can be had for fairly cheap down here and are quite a bit more expensive up North. I could probably buy a used one here, haul it north and sell it for more than I paid for it when I get up there. Decisions, decisions
01-14-2014, 05:58 PM
#15
I think you're heading in the right direction thinking used, especially with all of the people who buy trailers to move to Florida and then never used them again (or big trucks for show and just drive around in the sun).
Next time I'm heading to Florida, I might keep my eyes open for a lightly used work truck and flat trailer: they do sell cheap down there since they last so long.
Next time I'm heading to Florida, I might keep my eyes open for a lightly used work truck and flat trailer: they do sell cheap down there since they last so long.
01-15-2014, 11:53 AM
#16
Last year I pulled an 8 X 20 enclosed, weighing 7k lbs. From Phoenix to Charleston, some 2300 miles. I have a 2013 Platty with Eco and 3.55 gears. The high trim level subtracts from available payload, and I don't think there's any way possible you could pull more without overloading the truck.
I weighed my rig 4 times, and the best I could get it to be comfortable, was 100 lbs over on the rear axle.
For a long trip, I wasn't going to stretch things.
I used an equalizer hitch, which was excellent.
You mentioned using a 24 or 28 ft trailer. You're belongings better be pretty light for you to fill that up. My 8 X 20 weighed right at 4000 lbs empty, so I got 3000 lbs of stuff in it.
I don't think anyone can say definitively that you can pull a 24 or 28 ft trailer without knowing it's weight.
I weighed my rig 4 times, and the best I could get it to be comfortable, was 100 lbs over on the rear axle.
For a long trip, I wasn't going to stretch things.
I used an equalizer hitch, which was excellent.
You mentioned using a 24 or 28 ft trailer. You're belongings better be pretty light for you to fill that up. My 8 X 20 weighed right at 4000 lbs empty, so I got 3000 lbs of stuff in it.
I don't think anyone can say definitively that you can pull a 24 or 28 ft trailer without knowing it's weight.
01-16-2014, 09:25 AM
#17
Last year I pulled an 8 X 20 enclosed, weighing 7k lbs. From Phoenix to Charleston, some 2300 miles. I have a 2013 Platty with Eco and 3.55 gears. The high trim level subtracts from available payload, and I don't think there's any way possible you could pull more without overloading the truck.
I weighed my rig 4 times, and the best I could get it to be comfortable, was 100 lbs over on the rear axle.
For a long trip, I wasn't going to stretch things.
I used an equalizer hitch, which was excellent.
You mentioned using a 24 or 28 ft trailer. You're belongings better be pretty light for you to fill that up. My 8 X 20 weighed right at 4000 lbs empty, so I got 3000 lbs of stuff in it.
I don't think anyone can say definitively that you can pull a 24 or 28 ft trailer without knowing it's weight.
I weighed my rig 4 times, and the best I could get it to be comfortable, was 100 lbs over on the rear axle.
For a long trip, I wasn't going to stretch things.
I used an equalizer hitch, which was excellent.
You mentioned using a 24 or 28 ft trailer. You're belongings better be pretty light for you to fill that up. My 8 X 20 weighed right at 4000 lbs empty, so I got 3000 lbs of stuff in it.
I don't think anyone can say definitively that you can pull a 24 or 28 ft trailer without knowing it's weight.
I have no doubt that the truck will easily drag a trailer this size and that it will be within my towing capacities. I am more wondering about the "seat of the pants" feel towing with these new F150s'.
Last edited by swflford; 01-16-2014 at 09:32 AM.
05-23-2014, 01:34 PM
#18
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