Towing with 3.5 eco boost

[wapitibob]

I have the exact specs of the op vehicle but a 2020 and the tow rating is 11,300. GVWR is 7050. The 2025 has a max tow rear axle option.

 

[Weldor]

There's a formula out there about derating your towing capacity for altitude, temp, weight , etc. you get the idea. usually about 30 percent. depending on where your driving. Flat Midwest at 70 degrees or over 110 degrees crawling western grades.
Like someone early in the post , it's the heat that gets them.

 

[SDHNTR]

And keep in mind, it’s not usually the heat in the motor, it’s the heat in the transmission! Monitor your tow gauges to include trans temps. These newer 10 speed trannys generate a ton of heat! And because trucks are designed by bean counters and sold to soccer moms and dads, they are no longer equipped for real work and don’t have auxiliary trans coolers. They have heat exchangers that are often insufficient. I promise you, if you do a lot of off road hill climbing or slow speed towing (winding mountain roads) that will include lots of gear shifting with the torque converter unlocked, you are going to see shockingly high transmission temps. Keep a close eye on your gauges, and consider more frequent transmission fluid changes at a minimum.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

I have a 6500lb 29' hitch to bumper trailer that I've towed with a expedition 3.5ecoboost (not far off the F150) and a 7.3l superduty.

Ecoboost 3.5 - has the power to tow it, turbo works hard pulling up moutains (ie silverthorn CO to eisenhower tunnel climb for example) and trans/engine heat climbs but it's doable. Was always up against payload rating. It gets thirsty. But the major aspect folks ignore when talking about "tow ratings" but in the context of campers isn't the weight but handling, you're towing a billboard that wind pushes around. That part there is a huge difference (even with good hitches) between 1/2T chassis and heavy duty chassis.

7.3L superduty - has the power. Spins 4k rpm to pulling up moutains (ie silverthorn CO to eisenhower tunnel climb for example). Trans/engine heat seems to maintain better than the ecoboost. Plenty of payload. It gets thirsty. Is MUCH more stable against the trailer being pushed around by wind.

 

[fisherman983]

I have a 2021 f150 with the same setup.. and I wouldn't wanna tow much more than my sxs with it. I found that it lacked power and fuel mileage was about 9-11 mpg. If your gonna tow something get a diesel. I got mine thinking it would be okay to tow with. It sucks

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[BCsteve]

I have a 2021 f150 with the same setup.. and I wouldn't wanna tow much more than my sxs with it. I found that it lacked power and fuel mileage was about 9-11 mpg. If your gonna tow something get a diesel. I got mine thinking it would be okay to tow with. It sucks

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Yours must be broken if it feels underpowered towing a side by side.

 

[Sacrvrrat72]

Yours must be broken if it feels underpowered towing a side by side.

That is what I was thinking.

 

[Brushcreekbill]

Just got thru towing an enclosed trailer across the country. 9k pounds.
Pulls fine. But got about 6mpg going 75

 

[Brushcreekbill]

And that’s a 23 3.5 eco

 

[BCsteve]

Towing with my ‘14, ‘18 and ‘23 over the years. Same 16’x7’ tandem cargo trailer. There’s two full size quads, 100 L of water, wall tent, wood stove, coolers, cooking gears, moose recovery gear, chainsaws, winch, etc… in there. In the bed of the truck is my moose recovery trailer and 4-5 25 L gas cans.

 

[Choupique]

They're awesome engines and easily capable of pulling the weight, but I doubt you could ever actually hook 13k to it without greatly exceeding payload capacity. It'd take something very small and heavy like a mini excavator on a long triple axle trailer to actually get that weight hooked to it and within all the limits.

I certainly wouldn't do it if I didn't have to. A 5k lb travel trailer - yep I'd drag that from Florida to Alaska if I had to with that truck. An 8k lb tractor on a 5k pound 38' gooseneck trailer - absolutely not, numbers be damned. I don't care if you can keep it within all limits.

 

[fisherman983]

Yours must be broken if it feels underpowered towing a side by side.

Its not broken but if im gonna get the same milage as a diesel with less power, might as well get a diesel.
Id rather not have my truck trying to work so hard towing. Also, towing a trailer in heavy winds down the freeway their is a real difference between towing with a half ton and towing with a 3/4 or 1 ton diesel. You dont get wind sailed all over the place with a real truck built to tow.

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[ThorM465]

Yours must be broken if it feels underpowered towing a side by side.

It's only not going to feel under powered if you've never used the proper tool. I've got a '15 F350 6.7L Powerstroke and a '25 Raptor 3.5l ecoboost. The F350 is a tank and the Raptor is a sports car in a trucks body. It's got all the low end HP you'll ever want out of a truck to get around town and play in. However, the torque and high end power isn't in the same solar system as the Powerstroke. I'm sure the Raptor would get a reasonable sized load across town, occasionally, just fine. However it's going to do a really poor job of hauling a sail at speed and its life will get cut exponentially shorter if you make that a regular practice.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

I have a 2015 3.5Eco on 33" Falken 10-plys.
With a canopy and modest load, I get around 16mpg.
Same configuration towing a UTV trailer with my son's raft and the beavertail gate up, it drops to 13.
Drive it at 80mph, and it gets worse.
Re tow ratings, only Toyota drivers believe their cars are capable of using all of the tow rating.

I get 15-16 in my 7.3 F250 on the interstate if I keep it below 80. Tremor with 35s and winch, bed full of whatever...based on dump runs I am usually about 7900s empty....pulling an skid steer on 20' trailer...13ish....dont know why anyone would go eco boost if you gonna tow anything, but groceries, over any distance.

 

[Choupique]

dont know why anyone would go eco boost if you gonna tow anything, but groceries, over any distance.

It's fine if it meets your weight needs and is only going to tow occasionally. The fuel mileage hit on the occasional towing trips is well worth the price vs the price of a big diesel truck when it's only going to tow occasionally. It sounds like your truck is probably part of making a living and for that, sure. It makes good sense to have a diesel 3/4 or 1 ton truck. Having a big diesel truck as a daily driver for rare towing really sucks if you care about money/value at all. That's a very expensive vehicle to buy and own if you don't NEED the extra capability it offers.

 

[Weldor]

my daily driver averages 18-22 cummins 6.7 Megacab 4x4. I can live with that.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

It's fine if it meets your weight needs and is only going to tow occasionally. The fuel mileage hit on the occasional towing trips is well worth the price vs the price of a big diesel truck when it's only going to tow occasionally. It sounds like your truck is probably part of making a living and for that, sure. It makes good sense to have a diesel 3/4 or 1 ton truck. Having a big diesel truck as a daily driver for rare towing really sucks if you care about money/value at all. That's a very expensive vehicle to buy and own if you don't NEED the extra capability it offers.

Mine is '21 7.3 gas...not diesel. In '21 it was actually cheaper than similiar option F150 with 5.0 or 3.5.

 

[Choupique]

daily driver averages 18-22 cummins 6.7 Megacab 4x4.

The new Ford diesels also do really well with the 10 speeds. My buddies gets well over 20mpg.

BUT, that truck costs $15k+ more than a comparably eco boost, weighs 8,000 pounds, uses 2 $100+ fuel filters, 3 gallons of oil, $7k set of injectors, money to delete it if that's your thing, etc etc.

It's surprising that on a board so obsesses with optimizing equipment to the use case, big diesel trucks get so much love. They're really horrible from a cost benefit perspective unless you need the capability. Few people need that for private ownership and are very well service financially to go with something like a half ton eco boost ford. They're really great trucks for what they are designed for - private ownership with lots of lightly loaded driving and occasional towing of normal stuff (5k pounds or less).

 

[180ls1]

I get 15-16 in my 7.3 F250 on the interstate if I keep it below 80. Tremor with 35s and winch, bed full of whatever...based on dump runs I am usually about 7900s empty....pulling an skid steer on 20' trailer...13ish....dont know why anyone would go eco boost if you gonna tow anything, but groceries, over any distance.

The same way your 2500 is superior for HD usage, the 1500 is superior for daily driving. Both can wear either hat to a certain extent, it's just a preference thing.

I also doubt you truly average 13mpg with 35's pulling a skid. I would hand calculate it.

 

[Choupique]

Mine is '21 7.3 gas

I forgot that was a thing. That's what my next truck will be.