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I've been reading through posts but not finding exactly what I'm looking for, which is anyone with real life experience towing after a tuner has been installed. I have a 2013 F150 Lariat with the 5.0 and 3.73. I absolutely LOVE the truck but am miserable when towing a 23' 5000LB camper, especially if there is any headwind or up hills. It is constantly gear jumping and it's nothing to be screaming in 3rd or 4th gear for long periods to stay at the speed limit on the highway. I've read about people that have switched to the 3.5 ecoboost due to this and now love how they tow thanks to the higher torque. I'd like to avoid the expense of changing out trucks again, so my question is: Has anyone had the same experience towing with the 5.0 but have installed a tuner and are now happy with it? If so, what tuner and how much difference are you feeling while towing in the lower RPM range? OR, to get the towing power I'm looking for do I need to bite the bullet and go to an Eco or diesel?
Thanks in advance!
A tune will give you a little bit more power, but not substantially more torque to make up for the torque difference between the 5.0 and the ecoboost. The torque in lower rpm is what makes it handle towing a bit better.
But honestly, if you get something like a whipple kit, it'll be cheaper overall than buying a new truck, and give you TONS of power.
I tow with the 5.0 and experienced the same thing you described. The transmission mapping leaves a lot to be desired when towing. I've been very happy with my tune purely for what it does with the transmission. Going through upstate VT or NH where it's constantly up and down hills, I will still use manual mode at times, but much less than when it was stock. In stock form, I used manual mode every time I towed. Stock, I found that the truck was waiting too long to jump to 4th so, by the time it did, it couldn't hold that gear either so it went to 3rd, revved the hell out of the engine, got back to speed, went to 5th and repeat. The tune makes it jump to a lower gear sooner and will hold it longer. Not a lot more power out of the tuner, but it really improved the way it drives.
I have the SCT tuner and have tunes from MPT and Oz Tuning. I liked MPT's tunes unloaded but they were absolutely terrible for towing, in my opinion. I really like the Omega tune for both towing and daily driving. There are some quirks I'd like to tweak with it, but it is generally a great tune for daily driving and towing. It's more money than the other tunes, but was well worth it to me.
16 w/ Omega here. Absolutely helps towing. But still the biggest factor is being in the correct gear. 6th should always be locked out. Tune is still not going to turn it into a low rpm stump puller, but the low end torque is definitely improved, and those 3-4 gear higher rpm times really show the power increase. The Omega tune is how the truck should have came from the factory. Also running premium fuel contributes big time. Keep that motor from pulling timing and you'll see much better power as well. @10hp per degree of timing pulled If I've heard correctly. possibly more.
2 things I can suggest are using Manual Mode, or driving with the cruise control as it forces the computer to run the show.
It's perfectly fine for the truck to shift down into 4th or 3rd (as needed) when towing up a hill, into head winds, etc.--it's not going to hurt the truck. The 5.0 makes it's power at higher engine speeds than the Ecoboost motors. Let it run there and be happy, a 5k lb camper really shouldn't give you any trouble.
It's perfectly fine for the truck to shift down into 4th or 3rd (as needed) when towing up a hill, into head winds, etc.--it's not going to hurt the truck. The 5.0 makes it's power at higher engine speeds than the Ecoboost motors. Let it run there and be happy, a 5k lb camper really shouldn't give you any trouble.
It's not that the truck shouldn't kick down to 4th or 3rd, it's the hunting that's annoying. Towing through the mountings, it will hold 5th too long, then jump to 3rd and get the engine screaming, then back to 5th. Wash, rinse, repeat. What it should do is shift to 4th sooner, while you still have speed and momentum (and will be high enough in the RPM range to hold your speed) and stay there longer.
When towing in manual mode, I can generally hold my speed pretty well using 4th and 5th gears towing my camper. If I put it in auto (before tuning) and let the truck do it's thing, it unnecessarily spends a lot of time in 3rd gear with the engine screaming, just to hold the same speeds with the same load.
To me, the biggest benefit I got out of the tunes is the shifting strategy. They are MUCH better than stock. I don't think there was a lot of power gained from the tune as it's a naturally aspirated V8, but it feels a lot better to drive, much more intuitive.
Our 3.55 geared 5.0 pulling a 9000 lb trailer and 3 people with luggage did not hunt at all on hills. It dropped to 5th or even 4th and stayed there till it had enough speed to move up to the next gear. Wonder if the 3.73's have something to do with this?
I tow my 20' 5000 lb camper with my 2015 2.7 Ecoboost easily, and it stays in 6th on level ground and slight inclines. Hills will drop to 5th and VERY steep hills will go to 4th, but it's never dropped down to 3rd.
I think you'd be happy trading up to a 3.5, or even a 2.7. Biggest resistance when I'm towing isn't the weight, it's the wind, because my camper is raised on flipped axles and has a flat front. But I still get about 12 MPG.
Just to give you an idea, here is the dyno charts of stock vs towing tune from 5star tuning. Looks like you pick up maybe 20 ft-lbs below 2500 rpm with the 93 tune, which is nice but not game changing.
Here is a 93 tow tuned ecoboost:
Your looking at nearly 100 ft-lbs extra at 2500 rpm over the 5.0. Its a little hard to see the difference since the two graphs didnt start at the same RPM. I run their 87 octane tow tune and even down at 1500 rpm its running around 14 psi which means its making a good amount of torque. The difference here is that the ecoboost is gunna hold 6th gear much better at freeway speeds in head winds and even up slight grades.
The one thing I will say with 5star, is that they dont make as much power as my unleashed tune(they are more conservative) but they REALLY have their towing tunes dialed in as far as shifting and torque delivery. I towed my 5500 lb trailer up into Idaho with my 91 octane Unleashed tune but had to switch to my 87 5star tune because I couldnt get 91 up there. The 5star tune was much better. Lower RPM throttle response and torque delivery was better and the tow/haul shift patterns were spot on. I assume that the 5star tune on the 5.0 is very similar in that the shifting will be hugely improved and you get the small bump in power.
I would say give it a try, and if you still dont like it and you are still struggling with its performance, look at an ecoboost. The ecoboost doesnt make more peak hp than the 5.0 so its ultimate towing ability isnt better, but its got a ton of low end torque so cruising on the highway will be more casual.
10-19-2017, 12:18 AM
Towing improvement with tuner on 5.0?
