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I just purchased a used 2016 2.7 Screw with the 3.73 rear end to pull our fibreglass RV trailer, it will be 21' feet long bumper to bumper and have a dry weight of 3500#.
Watching this thread to see what people suggest for lighter trailers and getting the smaller F-150 set up. Seems a common upgrade is rear shocks. I will be using a WDH as well. I am assuming that most trailers at this size are running tandem axles which help with stability.
You shouldn't have to upgrade anything. My previous TT was 21ft 3000# dry, tandem axle that I pulled with a 2010 screw (original LT tires), round bar hitch and friction sway control. No sway whatsoever although I never exceeded 75mph (which I consider ultimate upper limit with a trailer). Original tires were diagonal bias, I ran them till they cracked. Replaced with radial. No sway with either types.
I have a 15 ecoboost and I tow a 24 inTech enclosed car hauler all over Utah and the west. The best investment I have made to help with towing is buying a Weight Safe Hitch. It has a built in scale in the hitch. I know what my trailer weights and I know the weights of the cars I haul so I can get my tongue weight perfect.
Last edited by ruff rider; 05-30-2018 at 08:20 PM.
I have a 2016 XLT SCREW w/ the 2.7EB and tow package. I bought this truck to tow a small travel trailer last summer and the experience has sucked. My trailer is only 19’, about 3200 lbs dry and has a tongue weight of 360lbs.
I expected that the truck should pull it like it’s not even there but that has not been the case. My first trip scared the crap out of me. It was about 200 miles and anything over 50 or so MPH, there was a lot of sway. I honestly wasn’t sure I would make it home OK. After that experience I got an Anderson WDH and that helped quite a bit. Now pulling the thing at up to 55MPH is great, 60MPH is OK, but 65 it’s getting squirrely again. When a truck passes me, I still get quite a bit of sway at 60 or above and it just doesn't feel safe. I'm not liking it with my wife and 3 kids riding along.
I was considering adding a sway bar, some LT tires (I’m still running my stock P rated tires that came with the truck), and maybe a Roadmaster RAS. However, after having poured over a number of forums, it looks like a number of people with similar issues have concluded that this generation of F150 just can’t tow safely. Yet, it looks like some guys are happy with their rigs.
So I’m happy to buy the mods mentioned above, but I don’t want to do that if it’s not going to solve my problem. Any thoughts on this? Other mods I should consider? Could my truck be fine but my trailer just be flawed somehow? Something wrong with my truck?
I’m planning a cross country road trip that might be happening in a few months and I want it to be enjoyable, not something that causes me cardiac issues every minute I am behind the wheel, and I'd rather not kill off my family in the process either. Any input here would be greatly appreciated.
There is something wrong with the way you are setting up your rig. With the right trailer balance, weight distribution and suspension enhancements (only if needed), your F150 should laugh at that trailer. Alternatively, there have been a few trucks that seem to have an issue with the electronic stability control or the steering.
Some of the 2.7 trucks have very light suspension and you likely have far more tongue weight than you think. Weigh everything, post your door stickers and post a picture of the rig how you have it set up. This information will help us to give you relevant suggestions on how to improve your towing performance.
I towed a 27 foot TT across the country with a Jeep and could go as fast as I wanted (and faster than I'll admit to here) with no sway with a basic round bar hitch and without the added friction bar most of the time. The point is, if a 115" WB Jeep can be totally stable with a much larger trailer, your situation should be fixable.
With my current F150, I could easily pull the same trailer with a weight carrying hitch but use weigh distribution because it is recommended and adds a margin of safety. The point is, you can do much better but we need more information to help.
Both of these towed very well once dialed in. The Jeep was much harder to dial in. The F150 tows well with or without an extra 1,000 pounds in the bed but in most cases adding weight to the bed won't improve your tow experience - it's just more likely to overwhelm your suspension. Post the stuff I suggested above and we'll see if we can't figure this out.
Reading this thread and I'm so glad I got a gooseneck trailer. It's a 24' 6500# wet. Flipped axles for more ground clearance. I tow it with my 2000 Tundra 4x4. Its only upgrade is a 5-leaf vs the stock 3-leaf rear spring. None of the wiggle waggle the OP described at 70 mph, on curves or being passed by semi's. It's the only trailer I've ever pulled.
Read a lot of posts about bumper pulls and WDH's and trailer sway. YouTube is full of dash cam videos of bumper pulls flipping over. I had a blown tire at 65 mph on the gooseneck, aside from a lot of tire shrapnel, pulled over and changed the tire. Had a second flat at 25 mph, wouldn't have known except the TPMS keep beeping, again pulled over and changed the tire.
Now the Tundra with its 4-speed transmission is worthless pulling that much weight in the mountains. I'm on this forum because I want to get a 10-speed and a torquey ecoboost as my next prime mover.
I had a 2016 2.7 XLT sport S Crew. We bought a jayco 28 foot TT that weighs 6200 pounds dry, around 7k loaded.
The little 2.7 pulled it amazingly well. Plenty of power. With it fully loaded, the gcwr was pretty close to the 12500 max.
The suspension in the back was very light. Had a lot of seesawing and bounce. I put a set of Timbrens on which helped immensely.
First trip went well. No huge problems. Some sway, not bad.
Second trip was a white knuckles hellish ride. Lots of sway. Wind was coming in from the 11 oclock position at 5-10. Felt like I was floating. Lots of semi suck as I call it. The ride home wasn't bad at first but with a 20 mph broadside wind we were being tossed.
Went that day and traded for a 2018 F250 with the 6.2 gas. It tows so amazingly well and effortlessly, we couldn't be happier . Max Gcwr rating on this one is 19500 and with the actual Gcwr of our set up is about 14k now with the heavier truck.
Loved the 150 and I've owned several. But it was just too light for the tt we have.
Love the Ecoboost engines but the trucks just don't have enough *** to handle the weight ..
I had a 2016 2.7 XLT sport S Crew. We bought a jayco 28 foot TT that weighs 6200 pounds dry, around 7k loaded.
The little 2.7 pulled it amazingly well. Plenty of power. With it fully loaded, the gcwr was pretty close to the 12500 max.
The suspension in the back was very light. Had a lot of seesawing and bounce. I put a set of Timbrens on which helped immensely.
First trip went well. No huge problems. Some sway, not bad.
Second trip was a white knuckles hellish ride. Lots of sway. Wind was coming in from the 11 oclock position at 5-10. Felt like I was floating. Lots of semi suck as I call it. The ride home wasn't bad at first but with a 20 mph broadside wind we were being tossed.
Went that day and traded for a 2018 F250 with the 6.2 gas. It tows so amazingly well and effortlessly, we couldn't be happier . Max Gcwr rating on this one is 19500 and with the actual Gcwr of our set up is about 14k now with the heavier truck.
Loved the 150 and I've owned several. But it was just too light for the tt we have.
Love the Ecoboost engines but the trucks just don't have enough *** to handle the weight ..
Yes, the chassis that ford put around the 2.7EB was designed to be a daily driver / grocery getter. The F250 is a great choice for what you're towing. An appropriately spec'd F150 would tow it fine as well.
05-28-2018, 01:48 PM
