johnRC

I currently have a 2015 F150 Platinum with Max Tow, and use it for towing my TT. The payload on my truck is only 1492 (7000 GVWR), and when I have the TT hooked up with my wife and 8 year old son in the truck and the few things we keep in the cab with us, we weigh in at 6860. I can’t safely carry things like firewood, or the cooler, or another person without getting over that GVWR. I’m looking to buy a new truck, and will go lower trim level to increase the payload. My question: F250 or F150? I would love any opinions. Here’s the numbers:

• Curb Weight of Current Truck (with gas/passengers/ limited cargo): 6080
• Curb Weight of Current Truck when hooked up to travel trailer: 6860 (7000 GVWR)
• Loaded weight of travel trailer: 6200 (typical, but could be slightly higher/lower)
• Tongue weight of travel trailer with WDH: 780 (~12.5% of total weight)
• Total combined weight of truck/trailer: 12160
• Length of travel trailer: 27’ (31’ with the a-frame and bumper)

I drive the truck daily when not towing, but my commute is only 12 miles round trip. I’m going to hit the scales in the next few weeks and try adjusting the WDH to get that weight down a little on the tongue, but I’d still like a little more buffer in the GVWR in case we travel with an extra passenger or my 8 year old happens to grow.

Would you get a newer F150 at a lower trim level (XLT)…or just go up to an F250 gas/diesel? Towability is a big consideration…I want to feel solid on the road, and haven’t towed with an F250. Everything I hear/read suggests it’ll tow better particularly in windy situations. But is it worth it for the 10-12 times a year I tow?

The TT is a 2019 we just bought, so I don’t plan to get a different one for a loooong time.

Edit: I should mention there are times (seldomly) that i have to tow with full tanks when we camp somewhere that doesn't have dumping. When both are full, add another ~600 pounds to that TT weight...pushing closer to 7000 pounds at that point.

Jeff1024

Weird, my 2015 Platinum without MaxTow has a payload of 1545. Wonder what the extra 50lbs is? Anyway....

Let's use 7000lbs as the trailer weight, so you are looking at 1,000lbs or so on the tongue. Still within F150 territory. Would a F250 tow it better, of course, but you would also be giving up things like unloaded ride comfort, driveability around town, fuel economy, and the big one for me, the ability to fit the truck in the garage. Something about parking a $50k truck outside just makes me sad.

I have said my next truck will be an STX. The platinum is nice, but I spend too much time worrying about keeping it looking nice and not enough time using it as a truck.

johnRC

My guess is the 36 gallon fuel tank on the max tow causes me to have a lower overall payload. Unless you have that too, in which case I'm stumped. Great points, and the parking is also a really good point. I *think* the F250 will fit in my garage based on measurements (it'll be within inches), but need to actually test that theory out. I keep waffling between the two, but lean towards F250 because it does give me quite a bit more wiggle room and in theory better towability through hills/mountains.

Jeff1024

Yup I have the 36 Gallon tank, I bought mine used and its a bit strange it has all the components of MaxTow (36 Gal Tank, 3:55 E Locker, Brake Controller) but does not have the actual MaxTow package. No idea why it was optioned that way.

We bought our boat before we bought a truck so we had to rent a F250 to tow the boat to the lake, about 200 miles. The boat is 6750 - 7000lbs depending on gas and how much beer is in the coolers. The F250 was a PowerStroke and it barely knew the boat was back there. The exhaust brake was awesome for the rolling Kentucky hills, and we were able to pass people going up hill /w the boat hooked up.

Pulling the boat with the EcoBoost isn't that much different, crazy to say it, but the 3.5 doesn't seem to be working that hard to pull the boat up and out of the marina. Second gear 2,250RPM no problem. Where you notice a huge difference is in suspension stability. We are lucky, the boat is only 525lbs on the tongue, but it will still push the back end of the truck around a little bit.

The F250 we rented rode terrible unloaded. If I was going to daily drive it I would put 500lbs in the bed just to soften up the suspension a bit. We only tow about 10 miles to and from the marina so for me the unloaded ride comfort and fuel economy of the F150 is worth a little bounce when the trailer is hooked up.

ManO'War

I looked at a F250 and it had 16lbs less payload than my F150. The F250 will be a better tow vehicle being heavier, but always check payload numbers. You tow a lot so if it were me I'd go with a lower trim F250 especially since you commute only 12 miles per day.

i2oadi2unnei2

IMHO:

-Get an XLT or a Lariat with HDPP
-or get F250 diesel (you'll get the same or a bit more payload w/ a 150 HDPP)
-or get a F250 gas and you'll get a nice whopping payload
-and if you got deep pockets go fo broke and get the 350

I personally love my 150 HDPP and if I ever decide to upgrade, its either a gas 250 or diesel 350. Best of luck.

danlexani

F250 ! there will NOT be ONE day that you will regret it - The End

Dutchmanxtr

IMO, since you only tow 10 times a year, and the rest will be a daily driver, I would get the F150, as long as it can handle the load.
We run F150's here at work to haul light loads, or people. So one of the newest trucks is an F250, 6.2L gasser, 2WD, which we bought cause it was a "great deal". That thing is a lumber wagon. Yep it's heavy duty, tons of power and good for towing, but when empty, the ride is terrible. Plus the old gas gauge drops pretty fast. If you can put up with the comfort level, it might be ok. Definitely do some longer test drives to get a proper feel.

marshallr

I'd look hard at used 2017+ F250 gassers. Used prices are surprisingly low, especially if you go with an XL and you'll get the capacity you need with room to spare. Ride is all about how much air is in the tires. Most people inflate them like they are planning to use all of the 3000 lb+ payload. Drop the PSI down for every day driving and the ride ain't bad. Air 'em up when hauling heavy.

True enough. The diesel engines weigh 800 lbs more than gas, and high end trim packages along with 4X4 really eat into F250 payloads. The diesel will move the loads easier, but real world payload and towing is often better with the 6.2 gas engine due to less vehicle weight. The F250 will burn more gas, but the money saved by going with a used XL truck will pay for a small commuter car for when you don't need the truck. You'll actually spend less on gas in the long run and have a better tow vehicle when you need it.

ModularFord

F-450