I had a F150 with the 3.5 EB engine w/ tow package but not max tow. 1486# payload and 3850# rear axle rating. Towing our 2650 with my wife and I, and I was 200# over on the rear axle and gross weight. Switching to LT tires made a big difference towing at the expense of unloaded ride quality. I could have spec'd out a new F150 but under the skin it still would have been a 1/2-ton truck. The new ride is a F250 gasser. It's in my driveway with a yard of stone on it for a shed project, something a 1/2-ton can't do. :-)

Not that this is relevant to the original question, but we can't "paint all F150s with the same brush" . . . (or F250s for that matter). My problem with an F250 gas is the narrow high torque RPM band as compared to the turbocharged Ecoboost. I have had a yard of stone (about 2500 lbs) in the back of my HDPP F150 on more than one occasion and didn't even have to use the airbags to level out the truck. (The landscape supply guys were really hesitant until they saw that the loaded truck sat level ) The rougher ride with the LT tires is easy to solve by reducing pressure for daily driving. The 60 psi spec on the door is for GVWR.

Rob

Cate&Rob Rob,

I run my LT tires at 40 psi when empty and have been able to keep my ride quality. This is still 5 psi over the OEM tires. For towing I have been airing up to 50 psi where handing has been better than at the higher pressures which I believe was due to crowning of the tires under my light loading. A D rated tire really would have worked best for my situation but Michelin did not offer this rating.

Jim

I would double check the install on the equalizer after you get the truck and trailer loaded for camping. The dealer only had an empty trailer so at best they were guessing what the optimum setup would be. Your WDH might need to be adjusted for optimum weight distribution and sway control in a loaded for camping configuration. If you don't have a manual for that WDH look it up online. Adjusting a WDH takes a little time but is not difficult.

Understood, but you said you couldn’t afford to do anything dangerous, and wanted to know what we would do in your position. Personally I would not be comfortable on a long trip with that truck and that hitch as they are. With the right tires and hitch I would try it, but that’sa really long trailer with a lot of tongue weight on a fairly light truck. Like Rob says the engine will pull it all day long, probably better than the gas F250 engine. And it will probably stop fine too, but I’ve seen what happens when trailer sway gets out of control and it’s not pretty. At the very least as suggested get the rig hooked up and check your hitch setup, but at a week you still have time for tires and a hitch. I’d see if you can return the equalizer, and if the truck is new (I can’t remember) maybe see if the dealer will work with you on the tire swap. All this is much easier now than when you’re in the middle of the trip and decide you should have done it.

Just returned on a 500 mile trip and I believe I'm dialed in on my half ton while towing our 2600RB loaded and with full water. Below is what has been done on this half ton to handle the many horrible road conditions across the country.

E rated Michelin LTX Defender at 45psi cold for the front and 50 psi cold for the back. 40 psi cold for all for non-towing.

Bilstein 4600 shocks and struts

Trailer has 15" Goodyear Endurance E rated aired at 60psi cold.

[Hitch and Air Bags]

30psi in the airlift air bags during towing. 5 psi for non-towing.

Equalizer hitch with 1000lb bars. Bars and bags put the truck in an unloaded attitude (with level trailer) where the suspension is primarily utilizing the bags, the trucks primary leaf's and Equalizer bars for the majority of suspension travel. On bottomless Michigan roads the previous stated components as well as the secondary springs absorb the remaining punishment.

This or some modification may help with other half tons where this combo has proven to be a pleasure to drive. Do I know the trailer is back there? Yes, but it tracks well and is very stable. Very slight truck suck is evident but its very light and predictable. Speed is typically 62-63 mph with high winds resulting in 60 mph speeds. Could tow much faster but the FE will suffer so rolling along at the lower speeds at 2K RPM delivers good economy.

Hope this or some combo will help others that would like to keep their half ton economy and ride.

Jim

Out of curiosity, what was your mileage? Just wondering..

Running from Gnats ,

Depending on wind I range from 9-11 MPG.

Jim

Guest
FWIW . . . my towing experience with a different brand of half ton is nearly identical to Jim's.

I am towing a little more weight which works because of the 5th wheel connection.
My truck is the HDPP version of the F150 in stock configuration. I run slightly higher LTE tire pressures than Jim and the same 30PSI in the airbags.
The "sweet spot" for 60 MPH highway towing is also about 2000 RPM where I have averaged 9.8 MPG across 25,000 towing miles. (tracked by the truck).
I wonder if the overlapping 5th wheel setup might be giving me better aerodynamics than the distance between truck and more blunt TT ?

And BTW . . . between Florida and Ontario . . . Michigan roads are (by far) the worst encountered.

Rob

Rob,

I also believe the 5th wheel with respect to the truck may have better aero, even though they tend to sit a bit higher. The air moving over the roof line of a truck will fall toward the top of the tail gate. Then it encounters the trailer that is around 4ft beyond that in a TT configuration. This would certainly result in increased turbulent flow. Turbulent flow results in increase drag. Another factor can be final drive ratio as well. I've not tracked my mileage overall but its 99% >10 mpg which seems to be inline or better than most for a NA engine application of this displacement (5.3L). If I increased tire pressure I may be able to pick up more economy but the ride would suffer so I will leave it as is.
My next truck will be the GM half ton 3.0L turbo diesel which will bring 35+ non towing FE where I can only speculate 20-25 mpg while towing my Imagine. Even with higher fuel prices I cannot ignore these numbers.

Another thought: The NA engine will also have higher pumping losses since it is not unthrottled (will have manifold vacuum) where the turbo (if in very light boost) can save some fuel without these losses. But in moderate to heavy boost, there will be no eco present.

There are a few miles of N Rt 23 about 25 miles north of Toledo that is about is rough as it gets. The truck and trailer handled this well at 60 mph and today I see no flat springs.

Still thinking about the shocks on the trailer where the thin 0.23 square tube on my frame is the issue. A self tapping screw would have contact by about 1.5 threads which I'm not comfortable with. Inserts?

Jim

You have a good hitch, so the only thing you could improve quick before your trip would be LT tires. I have a friend with an F150 towing an Imagine 2600RB and he said changing to LT tires was a big improvement.

We towed a Keystone Premier 26xxxx (31 ft) with Equalizer with 1200lb bars. Dealer set it empty. At home loaded, truck was a little lite in front. Tweaked hitch leveling with washers per instructions. Key is to do the front & rear fender well measurements unhooked, again after hooking without the bars, then again with WD bars on. Instructions describe Getting the front measurement back to midpoint of the first two, which puts enough wt on front to pretty much level the truck. May have to adjust vertical position of L-brackets on trailer so trailer is near level also, like within +/- 1” from front to rear. Takes awhile to dial in but towed well.
Later, we upgraded to a Premier 31xxxx (37 ft) 8000 GVWR. initially just used previous hitch & L-bracket set up, but truck was nose high and too light in front. Had to move L-brackets 1 hole up, & max number of washers in hitch angle adjustment, same WD bars. This leveled out the loaded truck and camper, and again towed well. Originally two dealers quoted 1st camper and Equalizer. One dealer said 1000 lb bars would work. Other dealer recommended the heavier bars, which is what we bought. I think if we did not have the stiffer bars, I might not have been able to level out the larger trailer. We ended up slightly over rear axle rating because we carry 2 Kayaks On top of our box cover with bikes inside, paddles, PFD’s, etc. Obviously would have liked to have had the HD Towing pkg. But, properly adjusted to put some wt on the front tires and level the truck, the Equalizer hitch worked great for us. Also invested in tire pressure & temp monitoring system. Towed with stock Michelin tires,inflated to 45psi when towing. At replacement time, I would have upgraded to LT tires.
Happy travels!

This year we upgraded to a GD Solitude, as a permanent winter getaway in our campground, and are no longer towing.

NerkGDguy

You are picking up on a thread that is almost 3 years old. The info is still relevant . . . but further input may be limited. The OP has not been on this forum since May 2022.

Rob

Rob,
I saw the time stamp and missed the date! Boy do I feel dumb….
I’m not sure how I grabbed this particular post. I usually peruse the ‘recent activity’. Thanks for keeping me straight.
Tim