Towing with Ford F-150

[hlrosenberger]

Do any tow the 5th wheel Escape 5.0 with a Ford F-150? if so, how does it do? Do you get much bouncing, or is the Ford F-150 suspension sufficient?



Thanks


Harold

[HarleyD]

Originally Posted by hlrosenberger

Do any tow the 5th wheel Escape 5.0 with a Ford F-150? if so, how does it do? Do you get much bouncing, or is the Ford F-150 suspension sufficient?



Thanks


Harold

Welcome Harry, yes several of us tow a 5.0TA with a F150, both 5.0L and the Ecoboost engines, both 2.7 and the 3.5. I have seen almost no complaints from any of these owners about the ability of the truck to handle the towing properly. We have towed here in Colorado up to 12,000' of elevation and it has been incident free. Our truck is a 2016 and we bought it used when we got the trailer a year ago this month. If we had bought a new truck I might have configured it somewhat differently but we are still happy enough that we will keep what we have for now.

[Ron in BC]

That combination seemed to work well for Jim B. in Baja.

My view of using the F150, 2.7l, 10 speed, towing my 21 is that it's the tow vehicle that I always dreamed of.

Ron

[sofmerc]

I think escape industries tow vehicle is a Ford F150 EB with a short bed.

[WillyB]

[hlrosenberger]

Thanks so much. How would you have configured your truck differently?

[hlrosenberger]

Thanks!

[hlrosenberger]

What kind of hitch do you use?

[HarleyD]

Originally Posted by hlrosenberger

What kind of hitch do you use?

I would have added some creature features, heated seats (the F150 is also our ski vehicle). I would have added the power towing mirrors, we have a 6 speed, starting in 2017 they upgraded to a 10 speed, I would have tried to get a larger fuel tank.
Aside from these I am happy with what we have.
We have the Andersen Ultimate hitch and it works very well for us. The ease of removal is a big plus, we have a Trifecta 2.0 tonneau cover and for the winter we throw a thick rubber mat over the bed rails to protect our skis from any damage to the bindings.
A very versatile and competent set up, for us.

[John in Santa Cruz]

you typically need a longer bed and/or shorter cab to fit a larger stock fuel tank in a truck, I can't speak specifically for the late model F150, but my 2002 F250 Super Duty, the 38 gallon tank only comes with the 8 foot bed. an 8 foot bed + crew cab is a very very LONG truck, so we opted for the cab-n-a-half with a longbed to compromise a bit.

there *are* aftermarket tanks you can get, both for under the truck, and for the front of hte bed, to add capacity to most any truck.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by HarleyD

I would have added some creature features, heated seats (the F150 is also our ski vehicle). I would have added the power towing mirrors, we have a 6 speed, starting in 2017 they upgraded to a 10 speed, I would have tried to get a larger fuel tank.

I've always been an order the base truck kind of guy. (Oh, you want a work truck the salesmen would say.) But my wife wanted the memory seats and that sort of stuff is only available on the Lariat and higher models.

So, yes heated seats are nice, so are cooled seats and all the other comfort goodies.

I don't have the tow mirrors and don't have any difficulty towing a 2019 21C . Rear vision down the highway is good.

The 10 speed is a dream, always a suitable gear, not like my old 5 speed where I ended up screaming away in 3rd on steep hills.

With my Supercab the larger fuel tank wasn't an option. I get great fuel milage, better than my Ranger, and there's never been any trip where I felt that not having the larger tank was a big negative.

Ron

[johnnyv]

How about f150 with rear wheel drive and tow package ?

[johnnyv]

Big time problems with 10 speed tranny.

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

With my Supercab the larger fuel tank wasn't an option. I get great fuel milage, better than my Ranger, and there's never been any trip where I felt that not having the larger tank was a big negative.

Ron, I don’t know why. My 2015 F150 was a Supercab and my 2020 F150 is a Supercab and I ordered both with the 35 gallon fuel tank rather than the 26 gallon tank. Is it perhaps not offered on Supercabs produced for sale in Canada?

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by johnnyv

Big time problems with 10 speed tranny.

Can you document that statement and what years, if any, that it applies to.

Originally Posted by C&G in FL

Ron, I don’t know why. My 2015 F150 was a Supercab and my 2020 F150 is a Supercab and I ordered both with the 35 gallon fuel tank rather than the 26 gallon tank. Is it perhaps not offered on Supercabs produced for sale in Canada?

That's it exactly, in Canada, one size fits all. Maybe because our gallons are larger.

Ron

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

Can you document that statement and what years, if any, that it applies to.

I’ve had no problems with the 10 speed nor have I heard or read of any problems with it either. It was co-developed by Ford and GM as was the 6 speed. It is my understanding GM is using it in the Camaro.

That's it exactly, in Canada, one size fits all. Maybe because our gallons are larger.

Ron

Nah! You don’t have gallons anymore, you have liters, and they are smaller than U.S. gallons and even smaller than imperial gallons!
But it really surprises me that Ford would eliminate this as an option for vehicles for sale in Canada. I love the larger tank because the fewer times I need to maneuver around gas pumps the happier I am. I wish there were even a larger fuel tank option.

[Centex]

Originally Posted by C&G in FL

Ron, I don’t know why. My 2015 F150 was a Supercab and my 2020 F150 is a Supercab and I ordered both with the 35 gallon fuel tank rather than the 26 gallon tank. Is it perhaps not offered on Supercabs produced for sale in Canada?

What are each of your bed lengths?

On US Ford F150s I believe it's the wheelbase that dictates fitment of the extended-range tank. E.g. Yes on the Crew+5.5' or longer bed, Yes on Supercab+6.5' or longer bed, Yes on Regular cab+8' bed, all of those cab/bed combinations yielding the required minimum wheelbase to fit the extended-range tank.

Yeah, Canadian vs US option availability could be in-play, too.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by C&G in FL

Nah! You don’t have gallons anymore, you have liters, and they are smaller than U.S. gallons and even smaller than imperial gallons!

Yah, but we still think in gallons, imperial gallons, so the gallons seem more to us.

Originally Posted by Centex

What are each of your bed lengths?

On US Ford F150s I believe it's the wheelbase that dictates fitment of the extended-range tank.

Yeah, Canadian vs US option availability could be in-play, too.

I have the 6'5" box. It was my understanding that it was a Canada model only thing even though it was made in Dearborn.

Ron

[Centex]

I have the 6'5" box. It was my understanding that it was a Canada model only thing even though it was made in Dearborn.

Ron

Gotchya, thanks, that's interesting, so it goes.

(I have a Honda Ridgeline in addition to an F150; it's 'interesting' to we hot-climate US Ridgeline owners that "cooled seats" are available in Canada but not the US; all Ridgelines are built at one factory in the US, go figure, but so it goes )

[gbaglo]

When I bought my 2008 RAV4 V6, it came standard with the tow prep package, which was an option in the U.S.
I got larger alternator, radiator and transmission fluid cooler standard.

Who knows what marketing determined that?