F150 Eco-Boost

[Da Breeze]

Hi Michael,

If you get the weight up over the axle (5th wheel) and stay below the 17,000 lb GCWR of the HDPP F150, you are within the specs of the truck. At its limits . . . but, within what it has been validated to do. We have hauled our 10,000 lb Reflection with our 6,000 lb F150 for thousands of miles. The turbocharged Ecoboost has the same power at 10,000 ft as it has at sea level (according to Ford). There are posts on this forum that confirm this. We have never been much above 2000 ft (in the Appalachians) but our HDPP F150 handles the extended 6% up-grades and down-grades with no problems.

Rob

Rob,
Thank You for your input.
Very interesting premise about the weights. Had no idea an F150 would ever be capable of this, (as in all my travels out West), I've never seen it ?
My pin weight is 1605 # empty and I'll have to check on what the truck's rear axle rating is before I could consider this as a viable option.
My F-250 wt the 7.3 runs and looks great BUT, ya never know what else can influence a necessary change as she's pushing 18 ! Luckily, never seen snow or freezing temps and salt, so rust is of little concern, but everything gets old and needs replacing, so playing it by ear.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

[Cate&Rob]

Rob,
Thank You for your input.
Very interesting premise about the weights. Had no idea an F150 would ever be capable of this, (as in all my travels out West), I've never seen it ?
My pin weight is 1605 # empty and I'll have to check on what the truck's rear axle rating is before I could consider this as a viable option.
My F-250 wt the 7.3 runs and looks great BUT, ya never know what else can influence a necessary change as she's pushing 18 ! Luckily, never seen snow or freezing temps and salt, so rust is of little concern, but everything gets old and needs replacing, so playing it by ear.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

Hi Michael,

GM (and probably Ford will follow) is "stepping up their game" with a more powerful gasoline engine for the 2020 3/4 ton. See this thread https://www.mygrandrv.com/fo...IDI-Gas-Engine This is the one that I have my eye on for "next truck".

It was the anemic gasoline engines that got me looking at the Ecoboost and this led me to the HDPP F150. As it is, this all new 6.6 V8 will not have the same towing torque curve as the current Ecoboost. If Ford were to ever apply their Ecoboost turbo knowledge to a V8 for the 250 . . . now that would be the perfect tow vehicle! I am not a diesel fan, for a lot of reasons.

Rob

[WhittleBurner]

ALWAYS look at the GVWR for the trailer, and multiply that by 13%. In your case, that would be 1,429. With hitch, probably 1,530. WAY over capacity for your receiver.
Sure, that is the max number, and you may not ever get to that...but since the wildly optimistic hitch weight published is already close, just adding a battery, propane and hitch will likely put you over the mark.

As for towing, I did 11,500 miles to all three coasts and several trips into and over the Rockies/Sierras with a fifth that weighed the same as my current trailer. I could always pass semi's going up the long grades, even at very high altitudes. With the fifth, mpg was 10.5 over the life.
With the travel trailer I have now, mpg is about 8-8.5 after 4500 miles. I blame aerodynamic drag due to have several feet more sticking out behind than I had before.

I think the distance between the truck and the trailer between the TT and the 5th wheel has something to do with the difference in mileage also.

[sande005]

I think the distance between the truck and the trailer between the TT and the 5th wheel has something to do with the difference in mileage also.

Definitely - probably lots of swirling air over the truck bed and in the gap between the tailgate and the front of the trailer. I would have assumed the big air dam of the front of the fifth sticking way up would be an even bigger mileage killer. But there is a reason engineers use wind tunnels for testing, rather than making an assumption sitting at a desk!

[Lloyd S]

Hi Lloyd,

If you look on the underside of your hitch frame, you will find a label like the attached (maybe . . . exactly like the attached ) As you can see, Ford has already calculated the WDH limit vs the "weight carrying" limit. This is the "nominal 1200 lb" (or 1150 lb in this case) WDH limit of the Class IV hitch.

Rob

Darn! That's the same label mine has.
I think I'm going to have to give up on this tt.

[Steve7]

Hi Lloyd, Steve7 here. Maybe I’m missing something, but can you upgrade to a class V hitch on your truck in the place of the IV?

[Cate&Rob]

Hi Lloyd, Steve7 here. Maybe I’m missing something, but can you upgrade to a class V hitch on your truck in the place of the IV?

Hi Steve7 & Lloyd,

This would definitely be getting into a grey area. Curt (and others) make what they call a "Class 5 HD" receiver, but it is still a 2". They claim that this hitch is tested to higher numbers, but the fine print says that you are still limited to the truck manufacturer's specs. I have never seen a commercial Class V (2 1/2") receiver for a half ton truck. Of course . . . you can have anything custom made. I don't think any half ton (HDPP or otherwise) is made to hang more than 1200 lbs off the back end of the frame rails. (Just my opinion)

Rob

[ncitro]

Hi Lloyd, Steve7 here. Maybe I’m missing something, but can you upgrade to a class V hitch on your truck in the place of the IV?

I was going to suggest the same. I do not think a class V is not that expensive vs having to go with a bigger truck.

[Steve7]

Hi Steve7 & Lloyd,

This would definitely be getting into a grey area. Curt (and others) make what they call a "Class 5 HD" receiver, but it is still a 2". They claim that this hitch is tested to higher numbers, but the fine print says that you are still limited to the truck manufacturer's specs. I have never seen a commercial Class V (2 1/2") receiver for a half ton truck. Of course . . . you can have anything custom made. I don't think any half ton (HDPP or otherwise) is made to hang more than 1200 lbs off the back end of the frame rails. (Just my opinion)

Rob

Hi Rob,

I figured that might be the response to my question. Was hoping to figure a way that might help Lloyd. He’s helped a lot of others on another website, not unlike you and frequent others. I believe switching trucks is a no go for him. Oh well, I tried.

[ncitro]

Hi Steve7 & Lloyd,

This would definitely be getting into a grey area. Curt (and others) make what they call a "Class 5 HD" receiver, but it is still a 2". They claim that this hitch is tested to higher numbers, but the fine print says that you are still limited to the truck manufacturer's specs. I have never seen a commercial Class V (2 1/2") receiver for a half ton truck. Of course . . . you can have anything custom made. I don't think any half ton (HDPP or otherwise) is made to hang more than 1200 lbs off the back end of the frame rails. (Just my opinion)

Rob

Fair point, I definitely would not want to exceed the truck specs. Was thinking if there hitch was the weak link.