Going power-boost over super duty here’s why

[Hotdogoil]

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You guys towing more than 8000lbs real weight with a 150 Powerboost or 5.0 are gonna be disappointed…….just sayin’.
The 150 has the guts but not the “ass”. Better reconsider the Super Duty platform.

I only tow 7k now. I think she can handle 8k no problem. To each there own...that’s what makes it great

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[kmayer]

You guys towing more than 8000lbs real weight with a 150 Powerboost or 5.0 are gonna be disappointed…….just sayin’.
The 150 has the guts but not the “ass”. Better reconsider the Super Duty platform.

I tend to think that they 7000 - 8000 lbs range is the sweet spot max for the 150. I think It’s actually the better choice for that weight than the 250 even from just a purely towing effectiveness standpoint and overlooking that it’s the more comfortable vehicle too. The 250 I have produces much more vibration and shaking than a 150. That vibration and shaking is transmitted to the trailer, and is not easy on the contents, fixtures, etc.

 

[Hotdogoil]

I tend to think that they 7000 - 8000 lbs range is the sweet spot max for the 150. I think It’s actually the better choice for that weight than the 250 even from just a purely towing effectiveness standpoint and overlooking that it’s the more comfortable vehicle too. The 250 I have produces much more vibration and shaking than a 150. That vibration and shaking is transmitted to the trailer, and is not easy on the contents, fixtures, etc.

All good points

 

[maecomotorsport]

Real world towing experience from my 2 week old Limited: towed a 22’ ft box Haulmark trailer with vintage race car, pit motorcycle, some spares, tools and fuel at 8000 lbs /1200 lb tongue weight. 1000 mile round trip. Empty bed. Load equalizing hitch absolutely required. Lane centering unusable because of sway induced by automatic steering corrections. Added one anti sway rod to trailer and lane centering was useable with hand input to counter the induced sway from automatic steering corrections. Added a 2nd anti sway rod and lane centering worked well on straight highways, quite useable on mild curved roads. Overall mpg 8.9 mpg. 8.0 mpg at 65 mph. 9.6 mpg at 60 mph. Amazing amount of power. Could accelerate from 55 mph to 75 mph in seconds for safe passing on two lane roads. Just amazing acceleration. Carried an electric refrigerator instead of the normal ice chest. Just left it in generator mode the whole time. Turned off A/C, fan, headlights etc when I was away from the truck. Engine would start every couple of hours and run for a minute to charge battery pack. Lessons learned: looking for a V nose Featherlight or an Aerovault. If I was towing 100% of the time, a Super Duty would be a better choice.

 

[AutonomousHybridF150]

You guys towing more than 8000lbs real weight with a 150 Powerboost or 5.0 are gonna be disappointed…….just sayin’.
The 150 has the guts but not the “ass”. Better reconsider the Super Duty platform.

Really? The truck I had was a 2007 which is grossly underpowered for 10,000 lbs. like is said, the truck got the job done, and it was a tad dangerous at times.

I wasn’t trying to be that guy, but I’ve had a 12 EB too i between and it towed better than the 2007 by a long shot. I would hook my PB to that same 10,000 lb TT (after changing all 4 trailer tires), and never look back, and based on what I know about the current gen setup, it will FOR SURE pull that load better than the 2007 would, and that’s the only point I was trying to get across. Ford F150’s have towed well for a long time, and they are towing better than they ever have before today.

The problem here is, people don’t know how overloaded their truck already is, and then complain when it doesn’t pull the load perfect like a 1-ton truck does.

For “those people” we should just let them drop 90k on their SD rig and let them tow their TT with it 2 times per year.

 

[Norris McCarty]

Really? The truck I had was a 2007 which is grossly underpowered for 10,000 lbs. like is said, the truck got the job done, and it was a tad dangerous at times.

I wasn’t trying to be that guy, but I’ve had a 12 EB too i between and it towed better than the 2007 by a long shot. I would hook my PB to that same 10,000 lb TT (after changing all 4 trailer tires), and never look back, and based on what I know about the current gen setup, it will FOR SURE pull that load better than the 2007 would, and that’s the only point I was trying to get across. Ford F150’s have towed well for a long time, and they are towing better than they ever have before today.

The problem here is, people don’t know how overloaded their truck already is, and then complain when it doesn’t pull the load perfect like a 1-ton truck does.

For “those people” we should just let them drop 90k on their SD rig and let them tow their TT with it 2 times per year.

Yep….really
you drive your 1/2 ton…..I’ll drive my 3/4.….Some of this is subjective, but it’s mostly it’s strength and torque vs lbs.
One truck is not better than the other except for situations when it is. Either way, don’t ask a 1/2 ton gas to do what should be done by a 3/4 ton diesel.
8000+ lbs is asking too much of a 1/2 ton. Been there done that with a “properly equipped“ 150…..not doing it again.

 

[Snakebitten]

I understand both points of views but when you set your cap at 8000, that implies all 8000lb loads are equal to pull, and all 1/2 ton trucks are equal at pulling that 8000lbs.

I'm not saying that's what you meant exactly, but it did come across that way to some.

My brother has a 2018 F150 HDPP 3.5 Ecoboost and it has a cargo capacity one THOUSAND pounds more than mine. I realize there aren't a lot of HDPP F150's in the wild, but that truck would shake off the 8000lbs just fine. In fact, after dropping 1000lbs of tongue weight on the truck, he'd still have 1700lbs of cargo capacity left. That's more than my truck starts with. And 2700lbs is more cargo capacity than some F250's and other 3/4ton trucks.

 

[Norris McCarty]

Ford trucks rock……which ever you choose. No debate there IMHO.?

 

[AutonomousHybridF150]

Real world towing experience from my 2 week old Limited: towed a 22’ ft box Haulmark trailer with vintage race car, pit motorcycle, some spares, tools and fuel at 8000 lbs /1200 lb tongue weight. 1000 mile round trip. Empty bed. Load equalizing hitch absolutely required. Lane centering unusable because of sway induced by automatic steering corrections. Added one anti sway rod to trailer and lane centering was useable with hand input to counter the induced sway from automatic steering corrections. Added a 2nd anti sway rod and lane centering worked well on straight highways, quite useable on mild curved roads. Overall mpg 8.9 mpg. 8.0 mpg at 65 mph. 9.6 mpg at 60 mph. Amazing amount of power. Could accelerate from 55 mph to 75 mph in seconds for safe passing on two lane roads. Just amazing acceleration. Carried an electric refrigerator instead of the normal ice chest. Just left it in generator mode the whole time. Turned off A/C, fan, headlights etc when I was away from the truck. Engine would start every couple of hours and run for a minute to charge battery pack. Lessons learned: looking for a V nose Featherlight or an Aerovault. If I was towing 100% of the time, a Super Duty would be a better choice.

My other post about the 22 FT race car trailer was in fact a haulmark with the heavy tonnage axles. It was 7.5 feet tall, so it could haul 4x4 trucks, which pulled on multiple occasions. I found that the wind drag caused it to whip, so I usually loaded the front as heavy as possible to give it more tongue weight at 70. If the trailer was maxed out, I never really had a whipping issue. Odd. I’ll post a couple a crappy pics so you can compare.

Of all the times this was used, I may have needed a SD 2 times. That’s real world usage. If I towed this regularly, yes a SD would be preferred. But other than that, the SD would have been a pain to have compared to a F-150.

 

[Snakebitten]

And note, that 2018 BEAST cost him $43k +ttl after typical large XLT discounts before Covid days.

He (my brother) was a diehard 7.3 Ford Diesel guy. He stated many times over the years that he would never stop driving them even if he had to continue to rebuild motors/tyrannys.
After trying to keep up with me all summer as we crisscrossed the country pulling our condos-on-wheels, his wife finally said she wanted him to at least LISTEN to his little brother about what his options were.

That HDPP F150 is what we sat down and did a build sheet. He couldn't believe it has far more horsepower and basically the same torque as his beloved 2001 PowerStroke. And a lot more cargo capacity than he ever imagined possible with a "sissy truck". Lol

That truck was hooked to their RV almost non-stop for the first 2 years.

 

[AutonomousHybridF150]

Yep….really
you drive your 1/2 ton…..I’ll drive my 3/4.….Some of this is subjective, but it’s mostly it’s strength and torque vs lbs.
One truck is not better than the other except for situations when it is. Either way, don’t ask a 1/2 ton gas to do what should be done by a 3/4 ton diesel.
8000+ lbs is asking too much of a 1/2 ton. Been there done that with a “properly equipped“ 150…..not doing it again.

Well I have towed often with my half ton, and honestly it’s been maxed out a lot, and I’ve never really had issues that couldn’t be resolve by re-distributing the load or other. Again, if I was pulling these loads 52 times a year, and that’s what I did with my truck, I would have an SD.

But I don’t own one. I bought a boat and picked it up, and I helped a friend with a broke Dodge. I pull the boat .2 miles to the water and the dodge was a 1 time one way trip type thing.

I’m sure I’ll get crucified for this, but neither load shown below used load leveling or sway control. I’m sure everyone will tell me how my truck was damaged and I took years off the drivetrain, but whatever.

I don’t use my RV for weekend vacations much, I use it for work. Which most times is a 1000 mile trip, and then it remains parked for 2-4 months while the project is completed, and then I pull it home or the next area. Then, once I’m at location with the RV, I use my truck to perform field inspections and spend a large part of my day in the truck driving between inspections, and doing computer paperwork sometimes while driving. It is 1000% more important to have good MPG and ride quality when NOT towing, then to be able to tow 15,000 lbs all day long. It sometimes hard to take phone call in an SD because of the road noise, etc, so I’m just saying it’s a big deal to me.

Picture 1:
Flat car hauler, towing a 1 ton Dodge with lift kit, tires, rims, and Lincoln arc welder in the bed of Dodge. It towed the load ok at 60 and traveled about 70 miles. The Dodge was so heavy it bowed the pull out ramps on the trailer. This is a situation best suited for an SD, but the F150 towed it without any major issues. I would not have towed this more than about 150 miles though, just because I know this spells trouble.

2nd Picture:
Rinker Fiesta V 27 on triple axle trailer. Towed 200 miles, and had to stop and change 4 tires on the way back. Good thing I brought ALL my spares

I’ll be honest. This was a PITA and not suited for NON-risk takers.

Should both these loads have been pulled by a 3/4 ton truck? YES!!!

Was the F150 overloaded in both these photos? YES!!!

Do I need a 3/4 ton to put this boat in the water .2 miles from the house? Absolutely NOT.

Do I need a 3/4 ton to pull a Dodge 1-Ton 60-70 miles? Ehhhh, probably should have, but the F-150 did decent, and wasn’t a chore.

Do I need to drop 90k to pull either of these loads a few miles once or twice throughout the lifetime of the truck? Not me, maybe you, and to each his own!

Disclaimer:
Don’t tow overloaded and crash your truck and trailer just because my F150 made it a couple times. This is only on here to show what has in fact been successfully towed by a much older and less impressive F-150 model. The Powerboost would pull both these loads 30-40% more confidently than the F150 pictured. I know what I have done, and maybe I’m a little ballsy because I’ve been towing since I had my drivers license (well some towing before my license), but I’m just trying to tell the trolls that this truck is light years ahead of my old one, so I know that it will pull 8000ish without me worrying too much. If it whips, I’m going to redistribute the load until it’s correct, and I’m not going to lose any sleep over a tough trip towing.

Anyone want to guess what that bad boy Dodge with generator weighed in at?

 

[don.mullins]

And note, that 2018 BEAST cost him $43k +ttl after typical large XLT discounts before Covid days.

He (my brother) was a diehard 7.3 Ford Diesel guy. He stated many times over the years that he would never stop driving them even if he had to continue to rebuild motors/tyrannys.
After trying to keep up with me all summer as we crisscrossed the country pulling our condos-on-wheels, his wife finally said she wanted him to at least LISTEN to his little brother about what his options were.

That HDPP F150 is what we sat down and did a build sheet. He couldn't believe it has far more horsepower and basically the same torque as his beloved 2001 PowerStroke. And a lot more cargo capacity than he ever imagined possible with a "sissy truck". Lol

That truck was hooked to their RV almost non-stop for the first 2 years.

I was a die hard 7.3 Powerstroke guy as well. Sold it at 362k miles and got my Powerboost.

 

[Cobra427]

I am another SD diesel escapee, and I highly recommend it. I pull a horse trailer with my PowerBoost, and have no problems, in fact it is better.
One thing I have not seen mentioned in the posts is DEF. Yep, diesel exhaust fluid, which is what drove me away from diesels. The feds have now regulated diesels into pending extinction. Diesels are now strapped with so much hardware and software controls that the 'advantage' of torque and power are disappearing.
My DEF system failed out of warranty, cost me $2400. Truck went to dealer on a rollback - twice. Not going to rant here, but when I did rant on a SD forum, the only answer I got was, "delete it." This is the only advice you get, despite the fact deleting is federally illegal. I am now DEF-free, and enjoying towing much more.
One other point I have not seen made is that a majority of the responses you got focused on how much a truck can tow, which is important but not primarily. What is of primary importance in towing is how much can the truck stop? Braking power seems to get forgotten in these towing discussions.

 

[kmayer]

One other thing that I think is easy to overlook is how we use our tow vehicles. For me towing our airstream, we spend about six weeks a year in it. We typically tow to a nice destination, and then unhook and explore that area for many days. At that point, we want something easy to drive (compared to super duty) and maneuver. We then Hook up again and repeat. So, even on RV trips when it’s fulfilling it’s roll as a tow vehicle, we still spend much of the time using it as personal transportation.

 

[dannko58]

One other thing that I think is easy to overlook is how we use our tow vehicles. For me towing our airstream, we spend about six weeks a year in it. We typically tow to a nice destination, and then unhook and explore that area for many days. At that point, we want something easy to drive (compared to super duty) and maneuver. We then Hook up again and repeat. So, even on RV trips when it’s fulfilling it’s roll as a tow vehicle, we still spend much of the time using it as personal transportation.

I have a 21 FX4 F150 Powerboost coming, what do you think on towing either a 27 (7700gvw) or 30' (8800gvw) Airstream? Neither should be an issue, but just wondering if anyone has towed one or a trailer that weight? Keep in mind Airstreams tow super easy because of the aerodynamics

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