Enclosed Car Hauler recommendations with 21 F150 3.5 eco

[J17GT]

I've been hauling race cars and enclosed trailers around with a 3.5 F150 SCREW since they came out in 2011! I just towed a new 28' enclosed with my new 23 F150 to Florida from Ohio for Sick Week and it did really well. Here is me experience.

There are zero downsides to towing a 24' enclosed but the 28' I have is considerably larger with more frontal area and murdered my gas mileage. F150 towed it fine but gas mileage was abysmal at 6-6.5mpg. With a 24' on my last 3 F150s I typically got 8-8.5.

Airbags with a WDH leveling kit up front, 45psi in stock tires, 40psi in the bags. Trailer loaded was 12k

One issue I have with the 23 is the mirrors are smaller than the 16, 14 and 11 I owned previously. I think I am going to break down and order the Boost towing mirrors, plus this trailer is black and grey and hard to see at night to begin with.

Awesome! Nice looking Grand National!! Did you use air bags with the 24' trailers? Or just on the 23 truck because of the level kit and larger trailer? My truck is 100% stock and will stay that way. What WDH have you had good luck with?

I'm 95% sure I'm getting a 24' enclosed trailer this year. Going to order one most likely in April. I'm liking the Haulmark Heat line of race trailers and have a dealer about an hour from me. They come with some nice options, although they do seem to be a bit on the heavy side.

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[Jus Cruisin]

Towed a 24' enclosed with my 3.5l King Ranch. A few trips from Florida to Michigan and Kentucky. I was going to put cabinets in the nose of the 24 footer. Never did and down sized to a 20 footer.

 

[TurboF150]

Awesome! Nice looking Grand National!! Did you use air bags with the 24' trailers? Or just on the 23 truck because of the level kit and larger trailer? My truck is 100% stock and will stay that way. What WDH have you had good luck with?

I'm 95% sure I'm getting a 24' enclosed trailer this year. Going to order one most likely in April. I'm liking the Haulmark Heat line of race trailers and have a dealer about an hour from me. They come with some nice options, although they do seem to be a bit on the heavy side.

My 2011 and 2014 did not have air bags
The red 2016 above had E load range tires with Bilstien Stage 1 suspension
The 2023 is all stock except for the air bags and leveling kit.

 

[Samson16]

I've been hauling race cars and enclosed trailers around with a 3.5 F150 SCREW since they came out in 2011! I just towed a new 28' enclosed with my new 23 F150 to Florida from Ohio for Sick Week and it did really well. Here is me experience.

There are zero downsides to towing a 24' enclosed but the 28' I have is considerably larger with more frontal area and murdered my gas mileage. F150 towed it fine but gas mileage was abysmal at 6-6.5mpg. With a 24' on my last 3 F150s I typically got 8-8.5.

Airbags with a WDH leveling kit up front, 45psi in stock tires, 40psi in the bags. Trailer loaded was 12k

Some of my previous set ups.

One issue I have with the 23 is the mirrors are smaller than the 16, 14 and 11 I owned previously. I think I am going to break down and order the Boost towing mirrors, plus this trailer is black and grey and hard to see at night to begin with.

Is that a Grand National?

 

[TurboF150]

Is that a Grand National?

Yes Sir with a V6 too!

 

[Samson16]

Yes Sir with a V6 too!

Forget trailer talk and the perceived limitations of the F-150 due to frontal surface area. Newsflash, aerodynamics is real. Tell us about your car and those other classics you race against!!!

 

[TurboF150]

Nothing aerodynamic about a Buick that's for sure. That pic was from Sick Week at OSW which unfortunately did not go so well for us but we got a lot sorted out on the car. I will be at Drag Week in Sept and plan to be back at Sick Week in Feb 25.

To keep the post on topic (especially since OP is a Mustang guy lol) aerodynamics and fuel mileage would be the only reason I would upgrade to a 6.7 SD. I daily drive my F150 and I always say it's really an SUV that can do cool truck shit, a SD on the other hand is definitely all truck.

 

[Calson]

The comment about frontal areas was a good one. At 70 mph the air drag is 4 times as great as at 35 mph and so speed is very important. At least with the max tow package you have lower gears which helps a good deal.

My concern is always how long it takes to accelerate on a freeway onramp to 60 mph so I can safely merge with the tractor trailer rigs that seldom pull over to allow traffic to enter. When I was towing a trailer I bought a 3/4 ton pickup with a diesel engine so as to have enough power to insure I could accelerate fast enough when getting on the freeways. The diesel engine provided twice as much torque as a gas engine and could accelerate with a trailer load much faster.

 

[Jus Cruisin]

The comment about frontal areas was a good one. At 70 mph the air drag is 4 times as great as at 35 mph and so speed is very important. At least with the max tow package you have lower gears which helps a good deal.

My concern is always how long it takes to accelerate on a freeway onramp to 60 mph so I can safely merge with the tractor trailer rigs that seldom pull over to allow traffic to enter. When I was towing a trailer I bought a 3/4 ton pickup with a diesel engine so as to have enough power to insure I could accelerate fast enough when getting on the freeways. The diesel engine provided twice as much torque as a gas engine and could accelerate with a trailer load much faster.

No issues getting my old 2016 Ecoboost up to speed entering the interstates. My long trips were up I-75 from Florida towards Kentucky and Michigan. No big mountains but hilly in nothern GA through Kentucky. I always bought a V-nose trailer.

 

[Jus Cruisin]

Sure a diesel is the best choice for anyone that tows alot. My long haul towing was only 3-4 times a year which is why I went to the Ecoboost after this Cummins. Same trailer in the previous picture.

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