I'm in the market for a new tow vehicle

[Max Freedom]

I tow a travel trailer out west 25feet up and down mountainous roads. My old excursion is getting old. And need to look for a new vehicle. Does anyone have any recommendations on the type of vehicle I should look at?

[Yellowreef]

Whats the weight of your trailer?

[Max Freedom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yellowreef Whats the weight of your trailer?

6500 pounds loaded

[TXiceman]

Look at the new Ford F150 EcoBoost with the Tow Max package. From the reports, it has the guts to do it, but no one is reporting towing fuel economy.

Ken

[CoachDJS]

Have 2003 Excursion with 7.3 diesel. Wouldn't trade it for a new anything. Pulls great and with four kids, the dog, wife and myself there isn't much else out there right now.

[Kodiak_Kid]

The dodge Durango does great with the hemi. We have a 29 ft tt at 7500 lbs loaded and the owner of the camper place was impressed with the acceleration. We have 2 kids and 2 dogs no problems. 12 miles to the gallon on the highway.

[SmokeyWren]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TXiceman Look at the new Ford F150 EcoBoost with the Tow Max package.

Tow rating over 11,000 pounds and GVWR of 8,200 pounds. To order that, you have to start with the 3.73 limited slip rear axle. No other axle will result in the max tow pkg. And you also get the HD payload pkg, which means those wierd 7-lug wheels.

I wanted better fuel economy than that combo would give me, and I didn't want those wierd wheels. So I ordered the 3.15 electronic locking axle, which includes the regular tow pkg with tow rating of 8,200 pounds. Granted, manufacturers' tow ratings are inflated, but a tow rating of 8,200 pounds should mean that the rig will comfortably tow a 7,000-pound trailer over the Rockies on I-10, I-40, or I-80. And the pickup will be my car for the next year or so, so I need that 20 MPG unloaded fuel economy that should result from a SuperCrew with EcoBoost engine and 3.15 axle.

Nothing will replace an Excursion. The best compromise would be a pickup with a camper shell. The F-150 SuperCrew with EcoBoost engine should be enough truck for your 6,500 pound trailer. Order the 6.5' bed and there will be lots of room under the camper shell. If you want something to match the oomph of the X-Car, then you need an F-250 SRW diesel CrewCab. But my F-150 EcoBoost SuperCrew Lariat with a few options has an X-Plan price of $40,038. A comparable F-250 diesel will cost at least $10,000 more, and it's easy to get those puppies up over $60k.

[mga60tw]

Buy a nice 250/350 or 2500/3500 diesel so when you purchase another camper and you probably will, you will have plenty of vehicle) Nothing like a diesel truck for pulling a camper.

[Cat320]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mga60tw Buy a nice 250/350 or 2500/3500 diesel so when you purchase another camper and you probably will, you will have plenty of vehicle) Nothing like a diesel truck for pulling a camper.

Yep...BTDT!

[puttin]

SmokeyWren-

I'm trying to see what you call "those wierd 7-lug wheels". Are they those 3/4 ton h/d jobs? Just curious.

Thanks

[SmokeyWren]

Quote:

Originally Posted by puttin I'm trying to see what you call "those wierd 7-lug wheels". Are they those 3/4 ton h/d jobs? Just curious.

No. Ford 3/4 ton (F-250) wheels have 8 lugs. F-150 wheels have 6 lugs. Only the F-150 with the HD payload pkg has 7-lug wheels.

Way back when, Ford sold a pickup they called an F-250 LD (light duty). It was actually an F-150 with beefed-up suspension and 7-lug wheels. It still looked like an F-150 and not at all like the old F-250 HD or F-250 SuperDuty, but the badges said F-250. Confused the heck out of many Ford pickup buyers, so around 2001 model year Ford continued to build that pickup, but stopped badging it an F-250. Instead it was called the F-150 with heavy duty payload pkg.

Apparently, the 7-lug wheels were to prevent ignorant owners from installing wheels without enough weight capacity to handle the max payload of the F-150 HD. And also apparently, Ford didn't want to go all the way up to 8-lug F-250 wheels, so they came up with the compromise of 7-lug wheels.

So today the F-150 max trailer towing pkg requires the heavy duty payload pkg with wierd 7-lug wheels.

Ford did a decent job of designing the 7-lug wheels, so you probably won't notice them unless you on purpose stop and count the lugnuts. But if you decide to install different wheels, good luck. Aftermarket replacements for 7-lug wheels are scarce as hen's teeth.

To clearly see the 7-lug wheels, go to Ford.com, click on trucks, then on F-150, then Build and Price. Choose Lariat, SuperCrew, 3.5L EcoBoost engine, and 3.73 limited slip axle.

Then click on packages. Note the packages already included are the HD payload pkg and the Max trailer tow pkg. (That's why the 3.73 LS axle seemed so expensive.) Click on the arrow near the front or back of the truck to revolve the picture of the truck until you see a side view so you can clearly count the lugnuts on the wheels. You'll see 7 lugnuts per wheel.

[puttin]

Thanks, I'll take a look.

[StarGazer-1]

I tow w/ my 2006 Ram Mega Cab 2500 5.9L diesel. It's more than enough truck for my needs. I wouldn't buy the 6.7L engine. Fuel mpg for me was maybe 8mpg in the city and around 17mpg hwy. Now w/ the 5.9L I'm getting 13mpg city and 20 on the hwy. and it's 100% stock. The truck in my avatar was the 6.7L and since have traded it in for what is in my signature.

[Ramblin]

I don't tow a camper, but I do a LOT of equipment trailer towing with my F350 7.3L diesel dually. I will tell you, if it needs to be towed, this truck will tow it in style with power to spare @ ~12mpg. Might be overkill for your 6500lb camper.