Moundman16

Got a quick question for ya. I'm looking at buying a 2019 F150. My question is 99% of the time the 2.7 would be perfect but maybe 2-3 times a year I'll need to pull an excavator that weighs 10k lbs or so plus trailer. Only need to pull it 10-15 miles. Would the 2.7 be ok for that or should I just get the 3.5?

Thanks for any advice.

Flamingtaco

I think your bigger issue is can the chassis handle the weight. MAYBE an HDPP package F150 can handle the tongue weight, but usually not. What is the tongue weight for this excavator?

As far as the 2.7 pulling that weight, depends. The 2.7 has plenty of power, but not as much cooling as the 3.5. If you have to any hills that are more than a minute or two long to climb, might want both the additional cooling and a nice, juicy rear end gearing.

Jeff1024

Let me rant real quick. Ford publishes towing limits for all their trucks. That is the number that Ford, the company that built the truck, says it can pull without overheating, breaking anything on the drive train, or bottoming out the suspension.

Seems Ford would have a pretty good idea what the trucks max towing would be, you know since they engineered and designed it. There is little to no incentive for Ford to underrate these trucks. They are in a sales war /w Dodge, and maybe GM if GM could design a truck that wasnt butt ugly, and towing numbers count.

I dont know the 2.7 Towing limits off the top of my head, but lets say its 7,200lbs. Why in the world are you even asking if you can tow 3,000lbs over that?

Do you expect someone to reply with "Sure yea Ford are a bunch of idiots I towed 11k w/ my F150 no problem.". Ford spent time money and effort to get the truck J2807 certified to tow a certain amount. Bob on the F150 Forums hooked up his 11,000lb RV eyeballed it said "looks good I can pull that". Which number would you trust?

Sorry haven't had my caffeine yet this am, but come on, lets use our smarts.

Jeff1024

Double post, like I said no caffeine this AM.

clarkbre

Agreed! Well said. I'm constantly amazed/astonished at how clearly GVWR, GAWR, GCWR & Payloads are defined by the manufacturer and then knowingly exceeded or fudged on here and other RV/towing forums.

johnRC

Get the 2.7, and rent a 250/350 from Enterprise the 2-3 times per year when you need it. Saves you money in the long run on gas, purchase price, etc.

Jeff1024

Agree, we have done that in the past, worked great. Enterprise will happily rent you a F250 /w a PowerStroke for the weekend. Rates are actually pretty reasonable as well.

Moundman16

Thx for the advice. Sounds like a good way to go.

Jeff1024

I didn't notice that the 10k number was only the excavator and not the trailer. So you are looking at around what 13,000lbs all in? You are not going to want to put that behind any 1/2 Ton Truck regardless of engine. Here is a link to the Ford F150 Towing Selector, it will give you max towing numbers for all truck/engine/rear end combo's.

Remember this does not account for the GVWR of the truck, this is only what you can pull assuming you have the payload capacity for the associated tongue weight: https://www.ford.com/cmslibs/content...F150_Oct25.pdf