michaelrhodes1954

I plan to buy a new F 150 around Christmas, right after I pay off my wife's car in November. It's been years since I've had a pickup (inherited my dad's 74 F-150 when he passed away in 1990, and someone ran a ran light, T-boned me, and totaled my pickup about three years later.

My hope is, after knee replacement surgery next spring, is to start taking my camera out into the hills, woods, and general outdoors, and would like to pull, at a minimum, a pop-up camper with me (I hate tents!). May even graduate up to a small RV if it works out.

That said, I'm looking at a .pdf version of a list of towing capacities for 2019 F 150s I downloaded from the Ford web site. So many choices! I'm convince the smallest option (3.3L Ti-VCT V6, 7,700 max towing, will work for a pop-up, but what about a small RV? The rest of this .pdf list shows, in this order, max towing capacities of 9,000 (2.7L EcoBoost V6), 13,200 (3.5L EcoBoost V6), 11,500 (5.0L Ti-VCT V8), 11,500 (3.0L Tubo Diesel V6), and 8,000/11,100 (3.5L EcoBoost H.O. V6.

I've read the EcoBoost (2 and 3 on the list) would be better on gas mileage than any of the others, but what's the real-world experience?

Finally, do the F-150 towing packages come bumper mounted or frame mounted, and if there's a choice, which mounting do these stats apply to?

Thanks in advance. This is probably the last new vehicle I'll be buying for me, and I want it to be right (and one that I can afford payments on!) 😎

TerryD64

If you are planning on towing anything and then "upgrading" that towed item then my advice is to get as much truck as you possibly can afford. Get the Max Tow option right out of the gate so you're not trying to figure out how to make the truck tow better.

Less trim and luxury and more capability. Admittedly, I have a Lariat but it does have the HDPP. If you are doing any high altitude towing go with the ecoboost. I just got back from a 400 mile trip towing through the Rockies up to 11,000+ ft. The eco boost never missed a beat. fuel average was a bit better than 9 MPG for the round trip. The more frontal area and the faster you go you the lower the MPG will be it's just physics. With a pop-up your mileage should be great.

marshallr

You could probably make the 3.3 work if you choose carefully, but I'd move on up to the 2.7. Those are the MAX tow weights listed, actually finding a truck properly equipped to meet the max aren't common. In the real world expect to be able to tow less than those numbers. My 2014 truck with a 5.0 V8 technically could be rated to tow over 9000 lbs with the right equipment, but it is only rated for 7700 lbs and in the real world I wouldn't pull over 6000 with it.

And payload is what limits most people. That is the issue with my truck. In addition to how much weight the truck will PULL, you have to consider how much weight the trucks suspension can CARRY. If I get a trailer much 6000 lbs the tongue weight of the trailer severely limits the amount of weight I can carry in the truck. After I account for my weight and my wife's weight we'd only be able to carry 200-300 lbs of cargo in the truck with a 6000 lb trailer. Part of that is the 200 lb cap on my truck which does limit my payload some.

I don't know as much about the 3.3,but the 2.7 seems to get 2-3mpg better than the 3.5 or 5.0 which get the same fuel mileage in the real world. It is also a lot less expensive The 3.5 is a good choice for pulling heavier loads. The 5.0 is adequate for most drivers and is a V8 which means a lot to a lot of guys.

Most pop-ups can come in at or under 3000 lbs. There are lots of pretty decent sized travel trailers in the 4000-5000 lb range that a 2.7 would pull. You'd still need to be careful about which options it has and pay attention to the payload sticker on the drivers door. Ford trucks are all over the place. Some have payloads under 1200 lbs, others over 2000 depending on how the truck is equipped. Most are in the 1600-1800 lb range and would work for you. But if you aren't careful and buy a truck with an 1100 lb payload you really limit what you can tow.

I wouldn't want a diesel anymore. The engines are expensive, fuel costs are too high, maintenance costs are too high, you need to use DEF, and with todays smog controls you don't gain enough performance for it to pay off for most recreational users. I can see one in trucks used commercially that are earning money for their owners. They are 20 years too late offering them in light duty vehicles.

Wicked ace

If I were looking with your plans in mind, I would get an XLT super cab with a 2.7L Eco and the tow package that is offered with it. If you plan to explore off road 4x4 would be a good choice too. The bed size is your call but don't shortchange yourself on storage or carrying capacity if you go pop up. Plenty of tow and payload capacity with room to expand in the future.

Ricktwuhk

Read Marshallr's post twice.

Do not trust car or trailer salespeople. READ THE PAYLOAD STICKER AND DO YOUR OWN MATH.

ManO'War

I looked at the yellow payload sticker just about first thing before buying mine. You might want a pop up now but down the road you may want a 30 footer. Tow packages come with frame mounted receiver hitches these days.

There are more and more small TT's being made that have decent floorplans that the 3.3L could handle, like Jayco Hummingbird and R-Pod among others. Popups can weigh almost as much and are a pain to put up in the dark and cost almost as much as a small TT.

smokeywren

Ignore the tow ratings. They are extremely misleading. They indicate the max weight your drivetrain can pull with an empty truck, but ignore payload capacity, so they are almost useless.

Instead, GVWR and payload capacity is almost always the limiter as to how heavy a trailer you can tow without being overloaded. For the last several years Ford includes the max payload capacity on a yellow sticker in the driver's doorframe. Use that payload number as your base number, then subtract the weight of everybody and everything that will be in the truck when towing. The unused payload capacity is available for hitch weight.

For towing a travel trailer, cargo trailer, livestock trailer or utility trailer with GVWR over 3,850 pounds, subtract 100 pounds from the payload capacity available for hitch weight, to get payload capacity available for tongue weight (TW). Divide the payload capacity available for TW by 13% to determine the max weight of any trailer you want to tie onto.

I put 200.000 miles on a '99.5 F-250 turbo-diesel, so when I ordered my 2012 F-150 3.5L EcoBoost I had no doubt that Ford knew turbos, My hunch was proved correct - that engine was a marvel of power and reliability. I loved it, so I ordered another one in my 2019.

All F-150s have a standard weight-carrying ball mount in the rear step bumper, i.e., a "bumper hitch". Limited to 500 pounds max TW or 5,000 pounds max trailer weight, whichever occurs first. The towing packages add a frame-mounted receiver that can be used with a weight-distributing hitch for heavier trailers.

all3lemmons

Go RV shopping first and decide what you want so you have an idea of the weight you are going to be pulling and truck shop from there. I have seen a number of people buy too little truck and end up having to either settle on an RV or trade for a truck with a higher towing capacity. I prefer to have more truck than I need so if weigh to the truck or trailer in accessories I don't have to worry about overloading the truck.

I have a 4x4 3.5 ecoboost with 3.55 gears and get 20+ on the highway when empty, 17 or less in town and about 12 pulling a 6,500 lb RV.

The fuel mileage isn't going to be a lot different between the various engines. You driving habits and the conditions you are driving in will have a huge effect on what you actually get. It really ins't worth looking at the 1-2 MPG difference between the different engines.

acdii

Best answer yet. If you have Neither, shop the trailer first, when you find what you like, then shop the truck that can tow it. You may find out you will want to go with a full on trailer over a popup once you realize how much work is involved and how out in nature you will always be with a popup vs a travel trailer. Or you may find a Hybrid which combines both because you want the tent like sleeping. Once you find one, then based on that trailers GVWR, you can shop for a truck that can tow it as well as haul your passengers and other equipment around at the same time.

dmatt13

I agree, shop trailer first. We did and ordered a Lance 2375 with a GVWR of 7000 lbs, and a fairly heavy tongue. Thus, we ended up going with the 3.5EB engine with max tow, etc. and I'm glad we did. It pulls great, especially in the mountains. However, had we decided to stay with a smaller/lighter trailer, I would have bought the 2.7LEB in a heartbeat. My buddy has one and it gets highway mileage in the low 20s and it can tow anything you are looking to get., especially in the mountains.

Just be mind full of the payload capacity as stated above. Good luck