Ram 1500 vs Ford F150 Towing Question

[guyofthewest]

I'm a newbie to both towing and TT camping being newly retired
My TT will be a Creekside 20 FQ with a dry weight of 4,400 lbs and max of 6,200 lbs.

It's a very tough choice between the F150 and the Ram 1500, however for me the Ram wins on a number of points.

The tow rating for my configuration (Outdoorsman Trim, Crew Cab, 5.7L Hemi, 4x4, air suspension, 3.21 axle ratio) is 8,000 lbs according to the towing guide. The only axle ratio available on this trim is 3.21, even though the website lists a 3.92 option.

The F150 would pull 10,700 lbs (crew, 4x4, 3.5 ecoboost, max towing pkg, 3.55 axle ratio)

The Ram would seem to have a decent amount of headroom, please correct me if I am mistaken. I'll be running up the mountains throughout the West, btw. Most travel will be on my own or with the bride. Another factor is that it seems like most of us end up with more TT than what we start with

Thanks all.

[skid_o]

We just bought the same trailer and I am towing it with a 2014 ram 1500 Sport. I have the 3.92 gears. I got the air suspension that is very nice. The trailer is good have already done a pile of mods to and have not even been out camping yet. May 1st we are heading out. I towed it 120 miles from dealership and it handled pretty good the shocks on the trailer suspension make a difference. Most of our traveling will be the mountains.

[dcarver]

Going through the mountains then the ecoboost will maintain more power due to the turbos. Also the axle ratio on the ram is a bit high to make a good tow vehicle, but idk how the 8spd handles that gear ratio. Have you compared the new ecodiesel cost wise compared to the ecoboost? The ecodiesel will outperform both Engines and return greater mpg

[09 harley]

The Eco diesel will not out perform both engines. The Eco boost smoked it on the tests that were done in the mountains with Ford, Chev & Dodge. The towing rating for the Eco diesel is also pretty low if you go larger later. 3.21 axle ratio is too high to be useful in the mountains. The Dodge 8 speed has a tendency to hunt for the correct gear and I can't help but think the 3.21 will make it worse.
I would go with the F150 3.5 Eco boost. Higher towing rating, better for towing in the hills, higher safety rating and better resale. The major brands are all good but the new 150 is the best according to all testing and reports. Chevy & Dodge will probably update soon and the race will be on again.

[guyofthewest]

May have to go to another trim to get the 3.92 if I want to stay with Ram. The Ford could be back in the picture, though.

I drove the ecodiesel and it ran very well - super quiet. However the increased fuel cost offsets the mileage gain. So then you have the cost premium to buy added to the increased maintenance cost. So a no go there.

One thing about the Ram - 39' turning circle vs. 47' on the Ford. That means you can do a U turn on two lanes vs 3. That's big.

[rideandslide]

I'm totally a Dodge man, but have to agree with the 3.21 gears. I would have to have at least the 3.55. We have a 2013 1500 Ram Quad Cab,5.7 Hemi with MDS , 3.55 gears,6 speed tranny, Grey Wolf 26RL 5700# dry and to be honest not sure how much we have loaded in her, but just me and the wife. Does great, mid 20's mpg highway cruising , 11 mph towing,but i would not have bought it with 3.21 gears and not sure about that 8 speed tranny yet ???

Jim

[marcham]

What is the dry tongue weight for the trailer, will you carry any passengers or cargo in the bed of the truck? Towing a travel trailer with any crew cab your limitation will not be towing weight but payload and more importantly rear axle weight limit. My TT had a rated dry tongue weight of 500 lbs. Add batteries, propane, hitch, electric tongue jack, light gear in the pass through storage (mostly chairs and Coleman camp stove), my wife, 6 year old and dog and we were at least 300 lbs over weight for the rear axle. (I weighted the tongue at 880lbs last fall with full propane). The hitch weights about 80lbs. My cap weighted 180lbs.

With the truck not even 3 years old, I've now I upgraded to a f250 cc SWB 4wd 6.2L. Of note, my payload capacity and usable weight on the rear axle is now higher than most Ram 3500 (crew cab). We had the 5.0L with 3.73 gears. No problems pulling. Downhill up to a 8% grade it was fine with engine compression. The 10% Downhill I wouldn't do again with a 1/2 ton.

My advice if your looking for a truck and trailer : go straight to a 3/4 or 1 ton. You'll thank me on the first windy day while towing. Ecoboost is great if you need/want the power or tow in the higher elevations, but everyone I know who had one sold it. The resale value is the same for the 5.0L and the 3.5L ecoboost. What does that tell you? . Even going through Yellowstone and Wyoming, we were never short of power on the 5.0L though. Besides, trailer tires are only rated to 65mph.

The more options you add, the lower the payload capacity.

What could be a viable option with the f150 is the hd towing option, but by then you've basically spent as much as a 3/4 ton.

[jimcumminsw]

Another point for the Ram truck is that they conform and meet the SAE TOWING Requirements; SAE J2807 for 2015. Which means that the towing capacity numbers have been tested and the truck as advertise can meet these requirements. Ford does not meet this requirement yet they have stated that they will next time that the truck is redesigned. So their numbers could be inflated and if towed at that capacity the truck could have issues.


Jim W.

[Cumminsfan]

@6200lbs loaded I don't think false tow ratings come into affect. With a tow rating of 10,700lbs on the F150 I seriously doubt conforming to the J2807 would drop 4000lbs off the tow rating.


I would take the 3.5 over the 5.7 to tow that TT. Better mpg unloaded which is going to be most of your driving.

[brulaz]

Like marcham says,
It's ALL about payload for "half-ton" trucks. Not tow capacity.
(and rear GAWR but that's harder to figure ...)

Your fully loaded trailer will be 5500-6000#
You want at least 12% of that on the tongue. I prefer higher and am over 15%. So tongue weight could be from 660# to 900#
The hitch will weigh at least 50#.

So that's 700-950# payload used up just for the trailer alone.
What's the weight of you and your passengers?
Weight of any gear you will carry? Firewood?

Add that all together and look at the yellow payload sticker on the truck's doorjamb. Ignore the truck catalogue payloads, they don't include any options.

You will be surprised at how low payloads can be on the "fancy" half-ton trucks out there. But higher payload half-tons do exist ...

EDIT where's SmokeyWren when you need him?

[brulaz]

Originally Posted by jimcumminsw

Another point for the Ram truck is that they conform and meet the SAE TOWING Requirements; SAE J2807 for 2015. Which means that the towing capacity numbers have been tested and the truck as advertise can meet these requirements. Ford does not meet this requirement yet they have stated that they will next time that the truck is redesigned. So their numbers could be inflated and if towed at that capacity the truck could have issues.


Jim W.

The 2015 Ford F150 half-tons do use SAE J2807 protocol

[Menendez]

The new F-150s have lots of payload. At the local Ford dealer I looked at a new fairly well optioned XLT crewcab with 4x4 and it had 1850 pounds payload. And this was not a maxi tow-- just the standard rig. My 2013 XLT Ecoboost 4x4 crewcab, optioned similarly to this 2015, has a payload of 1319 pounds.

"Building" a truck on the Ford website shows an XLT Ecoboost crewcab with 4x4 and the maximum payload package has a payload of 2650 pounds. That's a lot of payload. Of course heavy optioning and add on doo-dads will lower the payload.

And "stripper" regular cab F-150s with maximum payload package get up around 3000 pounds.

The Dodge Bighorn, comparable to the F-150 XLT, with crewcab and 4x4 appears to top out at 1435 pounds, this according to the Dodge website specs.

The Dodge Ecodiesel, as an extended cab 4x2 work truck, has a mere 1501 pounds payload, not very impressive. Again, this is going by the Dodge website towing specs.

[tuffr2]

Both trucks are very nice and it is a tough decision but on the plus side you can not go wrong with either truck.

Did you test drive the 2015 with the eco-boost 3.5 litre engine? What elevation will you be towing? A gas engine will lose 3% of it's power for every 1000' of elevation...unless it is turbo-charged. So if you are towing at 5000' to 7000' the Ford eco-boost would be better.

A tubo-charged engine will lose some power at elevation but not near 3% per 1000' .

[rideandslide]

Are you going to order this truck ! If so, change models to get , at least the 3.55 gears. Not sure if i could leave Dodge and buy a Ford.Here's my story.

Near retirement, i knew we could not afford a "new " truck. we had a 2010 Ram 4.7 and it did the job, but wanted a truck with a lot more cushion ( tow capacity ) and serched the used market for quit a while ( big believer in used, one owner ) Found our new (to us ) 2013 5.7 Hemi, MDS, as mentioned before.And ii will tell you with all the needed goodiies we need and 38,000 miles , one owner,3.55 gears, think i would have prefered 3.92 but daily use gas mileage would have suffered, we paid 21,000 for it, 8900# towing capacity ( according to vin# search ) , that meets mt 20% saftey factor and we do not plan on a bigger unit , as our 26RL is our retirement camper and we love it ,the rear living , for us, was a must, and all we think we will ever want ( at 30 ft overall, we are pushing many State and COE parks, our favorites ) , so far we love our Grey Wolf 26RL, no interest in bigger. 2 nice recliners, queen bed, 15,000 btu air. Life is good ( retirement in 5 months even better)

So , if you can, stay Dodge ??? Please do so, but 3.21 gears ??

Don't know your age, but for us, We HAPPY .

Jim & Pat