Towing with F150 or Tundra

[1993yj]

I know these topics have been covered before, but the threads I found were quite old.

Thinking about getting either a 2012-2014 F150 ecoboost or a 2010-2012 Tundra 5.7. The only thing I tow is my jeep on a trailer, less than 7k lbs total, and only a few times a year. For the times I do tow though, how well does either one do?

 

[LT.]

Either truck will do the job just fine. Issues with both trucks will come up as soon as you put larger tires and wheels on either of them. Larger tires is in every off roaders blood. Also, the tires that come on either of those trucks are a P rated tire. As soon as you put LT truck tires on it you are going to feel and see a loss of power and fuel mileage. However, keeping the stock tires will limit how well either truck handles the loads.

Folks may try and talk you into a 3/4 ton or larger for the job. I think either of your choices will be just fine the few times you are going to tow with it.

LT.

 

[TRD270]

I had a 2012 F150 Ecoboost with 3.31's, pulled my 4runner on a standard weight car hauler with ease. Averaged around 12mpg towing that, 17-18 around town, observed as high as 25 hwy

Also had a 2011 F150 with 3.55's and the 5.0 great motor, pulled the same load but definitely had to work a lot harder to do it, but still would pull at speed. About the same mpg towing usually 1-2 less city and highest observed hwy was 22

 

[1993yj]

I already have a 3/4 ton truck that I lifted and put 35s on. I bought the 3/4 ton to do a job that it does less than 5% of the time. While I like the way it looks, now that I am older, this time around looks are not my #1 concern, but rather comfort. I also want to buy a truck for how it will use it 95% of the time, driving to and from work. A 1/2 ton for me would not be getting a lift, but I want to make sure trips to Moab aren't miserable towing.

 

[mbryson]

I think you'd be good with any modern half ton to tow a rig on a trailer. I like the bigger cube gassers but people that have the ecoboost really like them. I bought an F350 so I could tow and haul a camper at the same time. It's not a great daily driver esp compared to a late model half ton

 

[frieed]

My truck is a 2013 Eco w/3.55 rear end.
Tires are now 33" e-rated Michelins vs 32" stock which gives me about the same as a 3.44 rear with stock tires,
Fully loaded with my travel trailer and junk I'm just over 8k lbs.
I can pull the grade from Heber to Strawberry with that load, at the posted limit, at 2700 RPM except for the very last bit at the north side of the pass where it drops a gear and bumps up to 3300 RPM.
If the trailer didn't have the wind profile of a haystack I'm sure it would not downshift at all.
It's a joy to drive in the mountains unloaded. With cruise on it won't break 1700 RPM crossing Soldier Summit and the 36 gal tank gives me about a 600 mile range when a cruising around the west desert.

As a comparison to a big cube gasser, I drove my setup to Vernal along with my brother in law in his '95 chevy 2500 w/454 CID. His trailer and setup was 2k pounds lighter and I'd always pull away from him on the hills. We both averaged about 9 mpg for the trip, but I seriously doubt he'd get anywhere near unloaded mileage, city or highway.

and another thing.... If you are the kind that has to have the big V8 rumble, this is not your engine. It is blissfully quiet. Pay close attention if you are test driving one since many people correlate power and acceleration with sound.

 

[rholbrook]

Eco-Boost is your tool you need. The back seat area is ginormous and it just flat works. I see the same mileage as trd270 both empty and towing. Everyone I know with a Tundra all complain about two things, small gas tank and terrible mileage towing. They all hated how often they had to fuel up pulling a trailer. Pulling my 24' Chaparral (heavy) boat I could roast the tires if I mashed the peddle to the carpet at speeds up to 10mph easily. I pulled it over Imigration at 80 mph with no problem just because. When I pushed it much over that the temp gauge would climb. It was 90 outside when I did it.

I did get a couple mpg better with the stock tires on it though. Pulling your jeep it wouldn't even break a sweat. For 2015 they have piped in a V8 sound into the cab because people complained how quiet they were. Not me, I love not hearing the drone of the exhaust.

 

[Toad]

I have driven a few ecoboost trucks. Never towed with one. They have always felt like gutless turds to me. Let me explain. The V6 is a quiet as a mouse and the 6 speed auto is so smooth that you never feel the shifts. In no time flat your doing 70 plus. If I only needed to tow a couple times a year I would definitely consider the Ecoboost. Got a buddy that just got a 5.7 Toy and he is not that happy with it.

 

[1993yj]

I have driven an ecoboost, just not towed with one. I know it would be a fine DD. Haven't ever driven a Tundra, I like the looks of them more, but they seem to cost more. Trying to stay around $20k, hence why I am looking at Tundras a few years older. It sounds like for the few times I tow either vehicle would be a fine choice. Need to test drive a Tundra and maybe that will push me one way or the other.

 

[frieed]

I too have spun the tires accelerating from a stop with probably 1400 lb of weight in the bed (trailer tongue weight plus genny plus firewood plus etc) and 6600 lb of trailer.
I'm sure the Tundra will do fine, it has the HP, but where you make HP makes a big difference in the quality of the ride while you tow.
Ecoboost vs the Ford 5.0 V8, from dyno charts I've seen, makes about 100 HP more @ 2500 RPM. Very, very big difference. And then there's it's indifference to the effects of altitude.
Yes, I'm a big fanboy but if you want to try a test pull, I'm game.

 

[moab_cj5]

I towed my BIL's FJ80 land cruiser to Moab and back with my 2014 F150 ecoboost. With all my family and our gear, I'm sure I was pushing the tow limit on my truck (not the max tow package). The truck had power to spare, and I was pulling away from others on the climb to soldier summit. I wish I had the max tow package to handle the weight (airbags or heavier springs are in my future), but the truck was nice to drive and handled everything well. I'm a fan!


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[pkrfctr]

I've towed my LJ with my tundras all over the west for the last 10 years. Works great.

 

[Caleb]

I absolutely loved my Tundra (I'm currently contemplating trading my Tacoma for another Tundra). Had a 2007 and the only thing I would change would be the size of the gas tank...especially with the way I drive. I towed my camp trailer a couple times a month for a couple years, it weighed right around 10k lbs fully loaded.



I did use a weight distribution hitch and had airbags as well. This picture was before I put airbags on, I'll see if I can find one post airbags.

 

[Jared]

I'm driving a crew 2012 F150 with the 5.0 and it tows a full size rig on a flatbed with ease. With not-too-agressive tires I see 20 on the freeway and 16 in town. Towing at 70-75 I see about 13-14MPG. If you push it to 80, which it does just fine in 5th, you're looking at about 10MPG.

A good distributing hitch with sway control, and a good brake controller make a big difference too. But I've towed another F150 around plenty of times for work without the equalizer and been just fine.

The nice thing about the 5.0 is that they don't price them like a turbo diesel. Those ecoboosts are high dolla!

 

[mbryson]

I'm driving a crew 2012 F150 with the 5.0 and it tows a full size rig on a flatbed with ease. With not-too-agressive tires I see 20 on the freeway and 16 in town. Towing at 70-75 I see about 13-14MPG. If you push it to 80, which it does just fine in 5th, you're looking at about 10MPG.

A good distributing hitch with sway control, and a good brake controller make a big difference too. But I've towed another F150 around plenty of times for work without the equalizer and been just fine.

The nice thing about the 5.0 is that they don't price them like a turbo diesel. Those ecoboosts are high dolla!

I was bouncing back/forth between a 6.2L and 5.0L F150 in '12 when I bought my Wrangler. Good to hear the 5.0L is knocking those numbers down.

 

[1993yj]

Those are better mpg numbers than I would have guessed from the F150 V8. That may have just opened up more options for me.

 

[Jared]

Those are better mpg numbers than I would have guessed from the F150 V8. That may have just opened up more options for me.

I had a 2012 extra cab 5.0 4x4 and I saw 22 on the freeway with stock tires if you kept it at 75 or under. With P rated Firestone AT's on it one size over stock, that went to about 20.5. They handled any load I pulled just fine at 40 PSI (44 is the max).

I've now switched to a 2012 5.0 crew cab 4x4. It was getting the same as the extra cab with some fairly worn 10-ply AT's. I just got some new BFG KO2's in a 275/70R18's, 10-ply. Now I'm at about 15 in town and 18 on the freeway. I haven't really had the chance to tow with the current truck and tire combo yet to check fuel economy.

 

[TRD270]

That 5.0 V8 is a great sounding motor as well. If I were towing a lot I would take the ecoboost over the 5.0, but if you're not towing a bunch and can get a deal on a 5.0 I wouldn't look past it. I really liked my 5.0, if both trucks were the same price I'd take the ecoboost, but if I could save a few grand for the same truck i'd take 5.0

 

[frieed]

From what I've seen on NADA, you get the Ecoboost price delta back when you sell or trade.
I paid $700 over the 5.0 for mine, and NADA books it as a $700 adder.

 

[OB1]

I love my 2010 F150 with the 5.4L. I towed my JKU from ND to Utah in Dec going through West Yellowstone and had no problems what so ever.