2013 F-150 SCREW 4X4 6.5ft bed TOAD advice

[steined]

I have a 2013 F-150 Platinum SCREW 4x4 with 6.5ft bed. It is a heavy truck, I'm sure every bit of 6250 lbs (ford factory skid plates, sunroof, bed cover, etc)

I would be towing with a 40' 2000 Monaco Dynasty with 350HP Cummins ISC

The motorhome is equipped with a 10,000 lbs hitch, so capacity doesn't seem to be an issue.

1.) Will the 350HP ISC be enough to tow this without becoming a Hazard to others?

2.) What baseplate / tow bar should I consider?

I was leaning towards blue ox until I saw the Roadmaster XL could be installed without removing the bumper.

Blue Ox Aventa and Baseplate = $1063
Roadmaster Blackhawk 2 All terrain and baseplate = $1350

The F150 is my daily driver, and the only of our vehicles that can be towed, I don't need a 4th car and am hoping this could work out.

Looking to use a RVI2 for towed brakes.

Any thoughts or advice?

Thanks in advance

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by steined

I have a 2013 F-150 Platinum SCREW 4x4 with 6.5ft bed. It is a heavy truck, I'm sure every bit of 6250 lbs (ford factory skid plates, sunroof, bed cover, etc)

I would be towing with a 40' 2000 Monaco Dynasty with 350HP Cummins ISC

The motorhome is equipped with a 10,000 lbs hitch, so capacity doesn't seem to be an issue.

1.) Will the 350HP ISC be enough to tow this without becoming a Hazard to others?

2.) What baseplate / tow bar should I consider?

I was leaning towards blue ox until I saw the Roadmaster XL could be installed without removing the bumper.

Blue Ox Aventa and Baseplate = $1063
Roadmaster Blackhawk 2 All terrain and baseplate = $1350

The F150 is my daily driver, and the only of our vehicles that can be towed, I don't need a 4th car and am hoping this could work out.

Looking to use a RVI2 for towed brakes.

Any thoughts or advice?

Thanks in advance

Well Sir,
First off, I had bit of a hard time with "SCREW" in your opening sentence! But, after a minute I figured it must be a typo, "Crew" I'm assuming is what you meant to type. Anyway:
First, your 350 Cummins is going to do just fine with that kind of weight behind it. While our coach, an '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with the C-7 330HP CAT is a tad bit lighter than yours, we do just fine with towing our '11 GMC Sierra 4x4 Extended Cab. And, we have a Rampage lift toting a 2008 GL 1800 Honda Goldwing that tips the scales at about, 900 lbs.

So, you'll be just fine. Use your trans correctly on hills and don't let it think for you, and you'll be way ahead of the game and, keep your engine cooler at the same time.

I recently acquired a Blue Ox Aventa that was damaged and, I re-worked, straightened it all out, welded things up, and put it all back together and, it's working flawlessly.

As for brakes, I just went to what's called the M & G Braking system. It, by far, is the nicest, easiest system to set up for a toad, especially if you have a diesel "Air/braked" coach. There's absolutely NOTHING on the inside of your nice truck for application of the brakes. The M & G unit is mounted between the master cylinder and, the power brake unit and, works flawlessly.

All that's between the coach and the toad is, one curley-que air line with quick disconnects. It takes about 3-4 seconds to hook it up and, YOU'RE DONE!

We would have loved a new F-150 Platinum when we were looking but, I didn't want to have to sell my first born to acquire one. So, we settled on our 2 year old, at the time, GMC. It's performed great as a toad and, a daily driver.
Scott

[steined]

Thanks for the reply. Sorry about the "SCREW" - it stand for Super Crew cab, 4 fill size doors. I would edit the thread title, but don't know how.

[the trainguy]

I sent you a PM.

Bob

[steined]

Thanks to everyone for the replies.

I ended up going with the Blue Ox BX2635 baseplate and BX7445 Aventa tow bar. The baseplate install wasn't that bad. You end up reusing some bolts if you have a Tow Hook and drilling 2 holes on each side of the baseplate into the frame. Not too much work at all. Video on etrailer helped as well as posts from ShapeShifter.

The only tricky part was positioning the permanent safety cables such that the lower air dam could be reinstalled. Not terribly complicated, but took a little screwing around with it to make it work.

I like the way it looks without the tabs installed.

I installed the RVi2 Brake system despite many suggestions to go with the air force one. If I planned on using this as my only toad I would have gone with the Airforce one, but we'll see how this works.

The emergency disconnect wire for the RVi2, I was able to push through the firewall with the hood release cable. I just put a hole in the rubber boot then resealed it with some butyl rubber that comes in a roll like tape but is in a rope shape.

I plan on running the Tailgate light bar like this: Amazon.com: 60" Redline LED Tailgate Light Bar - Triple-Core LED - Weatherproof - Full Function - 2yr Warranty: Automotive so I ran a 4 conductor cable to the rear and installed a 4 way plug on it. I think Walt2137 was the guy who came up with this and I really liked this idea.

All in, to mount the breakaway, run the wiring to the cab, install the power line and charger to the TOAD battery, run and zip tie the 4 conductor line to the rear, install the 4 way plug, and re-install the bumper etc, it took me around 6 hours. That said, I wasn't rushing and was enjoying getting to know about the F150 while I was running wiring, etc.

I still have to install the 6 way wiring connector on the F150 and ended up using this: Hopkins 47054 - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o00_s00 since my Motohome has a 7 way connector.

Thanks all!

[UsualSuspect]

I just saw this, I tow a 3/4 ton Chevy Duramax/Allison crew cab long bed 4x4. It is heavy, but it does the job. As for the ISC, my CAT is 350 HP, I won't be setting any land speed records, but have pulled it over the I-5 Grapevine, and a few other grades. I wasn't slowest, but was not the fastest either, but I made my destination. I use a Blue Ox baseplate, an Aventa tow bar, and an Evenbrake.
So far no issues in 3 years of pulling it around. If anyone asks, I tell them it is my auxiliary drive unit to help push up the hills, and brake on the way down.

[walt2137]

Steiner just saw your post. Looks like you are all set up and the F150 makes a good toad also makes very little difference in mpg from the Kia to the F150 . I have one suggestion I typed out the procedure for putting the trans in tow and taking it out of the tow mode had it lamated and keep it on the dash, it sure helps this old guy from having second guessing.
The Rvi2 is a good toad brake from everything I have read but the M&G is I think the best, easiest and simplest if you ever decide to change. A rebuilt M&G is about $300 ( and as good as a new one) and the brake way is easy to make your self with a Mac valve and a few fittings, hardest thing is the little air tank.

[walt2137]

Steiner I just noticed that you didn't mention installing a charge line, you are going to need one with the toad brake mashing the brake pedal and lighting the brake lights. Read the warning in the owners manual about a low battery could cause the trans to shift out of tow mode

[steined]

Originally Posted by walt2137

Steiner I just noticed that you didn't mention installing a charge line, you are going to need one with the toad brake mashing the brake pedal and lighting the brake lights. Read the warning in the owners manual about a low battery could cause the trans to shift out of tow mode

I installed a charge line and a charger unit from RVi, unsure if that was needed or not but yes on charge line.

[steined]

Just an update, as others have indicated, a F150 makes a fine toad! I barely noticed it with the exception of changing lanes and the occasional slow poke up the mountains where I wasn't going to make up much speed up the hill.

Thanks to all for the advice and encouragement.

[walt2137]

On the change lane issue you might want a think about Vans X braces it can help if not solve that issue in this long thread.
Wandering, sway bars, alignment, ride height, oh my!!