F150/26rbi - what

[jmak]

Looking at purchasing a Cougar Xlite 26RBI 6100 Dry Weight/710 Tongue Weight/30'2" length travel trailer. My tow vehicle is an 2014 F150 Supercrew Ecoboost with 3.31 Axle. Max tow is 9400lbs and 1750 Max Payload. How much am I really pushing the limits of towing with a 1/2 ton. One other concern I have length and trailer sway.

[GaryWT]

Keep an eye on the payload and use a good WDH and you should be ok. I would do it.

[sourdough]

How do you envision camping with this rig? Payload on your truck is 1750 lb. The hitch weight on the trailer, loaded, will run in the 900lb + range. Then add hitch, folks, load etc. Payload will be close.

With a 1/2 ton and an almost 8000 lb trlr (gvw) you want a good WDH. Don't skimp. You don't have to get a Hensley but don't get the lower end ones either....I use and Equalizer.

For towing a 3:31 rear end is very anemic. If you had a diesel it might be able to work with that but with the EcoBoost and trying to tow approx. 8000 lbs you will be working that engine to death in any kind of terrain.

[CaptnJohn]

How do you envision camping with this rig? Payload on your truck is 1750 lb. The hitch weight on the trailer, loaded, will run in the 900lb + range. Then add hitch, folks, load etc. Payload will be close.

With a 1/2 ton and an almost 8000 lb trlr (gvw) you want a good WDH. Don't skimp. You don't have to get a Hensley but don't get the lower end ones either....I use and Equalizer.

For towing a 3:31 rear end is very anemic. If you had a diesel it might be able to work with that but with the EcoBoost and trying to tow approx. 8000 lbs you will be working that engine to death in any kind of terrain.

Agree ~~ payload will be close but could be OK. An Equalizer 4 point hitch and no P rated tires as that is a long TT for a soft suspension.

[Sherwolfe]

Looking at purchasing a Cougar Xlite 26RBI 6100 Dry Weight/710 Tongue Weight/30'2" length travel trailer. My tow vehicle is an 2014 F150 Supercrew Ecoboost with 3.31 Axle. Max tow is 9400lbs and 1750 Max Payload. How much am I really pushing the limits of towing with a 1/2 ton. One other concern I have length and trailer sway.

I have the 2015 3.5 Ecoboost and as you can see from the description of my equipment listed below, I can tell you I have had absolutely NO problems pulling my Cougar anywhere. Yes, many will say you shouldn't use a F-150 and they will say the Ecoboost V-6 will not do it, but I can tell you I pass other tow vehicles going up grades and the mountain passes in the Northwest with little if any difficulty.

Do not underestimate the pulling power of the Turbo V-6 Ecoboost as for pulling. Now, I do agree you need a good WDH, I use the Blue Ox with 1000 lbs bars. Even with the F-150, or a F-350, a lot depends upon how you load your trailer as to how it will pull.

As with any tow vehicle it has a lot do do with how you drive, load, and roads you travel. Plenty of mountains here, works fine. I get an average of 9.5 MPG loaded but the bonus is when unloaded, which is more than pulling the trailer, I get 19-20 MPG which is really nice.

Overall, your combination should work fine as long as you don't drive it beyond your abilities.

[jmak]

I have the 2015 3.5 Ecoboost and as you can see from the description of my equipment listed below, I can tell you I have had absolutely NO problems pulling my Cougar anywhere. Yes, many will say you shouldn't use a F-150 and they will say the Ecoboost V-6 will not do it, but I can tell you I pass other tow vehicles going up grades and the mountain passes in the Northwest with little if any difficulty.

Do not underestimate the pulling power of the Turbo V-6 Ecoboost as for pulling. Now, I do agree you need a good WDH, I use the Blue Ox with 1000 lbs bars. Even with the F-150, or a F-350, a lot depends upon how you load your trailer as to how it will pull.

As with any tow vehicle it has a lot do do with how you drive, load, and roads you travel. Plenty of mountains here, works fine. I get an average of 9.5 MPG loaded but the bonus is when unloaded, which is more than pulling the trailer, I get 19-20 MPG which is really nice.

Overall, your combination should work fine as long as you don't drive it beyond your abilities.

Thank you. I pulled a 5000lb trailer that we rented out to Big Bend just recently. I can for sure agree the 3.5 ecoboost is work horse and I am not worried about the engine part of towing. With being at 90% torque at less than 2k rpm I never wound out a gear going uphill. I think only a couple of times did it downshift to 3rd gear.

I will say the faster you go which keeps those turbos in spool seems to greatly effect gas mileage. However it seems like if you are patient and keep it a 60mph which seem to be the sweet spot for getting 9+ mpg.

I did get some sway that was scary on the way back home with some wind gust and drizzly roads. Two factors I am guessing did not help was I had cruise control on at a higher speed than I probably should have been going and most likely the rental place did not spend the extra time to get the distribution hitch setup properly.

However with the this trailer we are adding several more feet as a sail and some additional weight and why I have my concern. Before I go spend 20 something thousand of a TT I want to make sure I will enjoy it for lots of weekend quick getaways and that starts with the drive to and from being an enjoyable trip also.

[sourdough]

I have the 2015 3.5 Ecoboost and as you can see from the description of my equipment listed below, I can tell you I have had absolutely NO problems pulling my Cougar anywhere. Yes, many will say you shouldn't use a F-150 and they will say the Ecoboost V-6 will not do it, but I can tell you I pass other tow vehicles going up grades and the mountain passes in the Northwest with little if any difficulty.

Do not underestimate the pulling power of the Turbo V-6 Ecoboost as for pulling. Now, I do agree you need a good WDH, I use the Blue Ox with 1000 lbs bars. Even with the F-150, or a F-350, a lot depends upon how you load your trailer as to how it will pull.

As with any tow vehicle it has a lot do do with how you drive, load, and roads you travel. Plenty of mountains here, works fine. I get an average of 9.5 MPG loaded but the bonus is when unloaded, which is more than pulling the trailer, I get 19-20 MPG which is really nice.

Overall, your combination should work fine as long as you don't drive it beyond your abilities.

The OP said he had 3:31 gears, you indicate 3:55 - big difference in towing.

Sway; you will have sway. With a 1/2 ton truck and a long trailer it is inevitable. You can minimize it with a good WDH, air bags and LT tires.

You ask "how much am I really pushing the towing limits with a 1/2 ton?" You're pushing it; as has been mentioned the payload will be an issue. The 3:31 rear end (meant for highway cruising) will hamper you. The suspension will hamper you. After all of that, you can still "pull" the trailer and still be pretty safe if you make some mods.

[Jrmac22]

I pull a cougar 31SBQ 7100lb dry weight with my 2013 Ecoboost F150 with no problem. I do have max tow and max payload options on my truck. My trailer is about 4 ft longer than your and I have absolutely no sway. That being said, lighter and shorter are always the better way to go.

[Ken / Claudia]

Here's what your doing wrong. This is apples to oranges with your listed weights. You use the lightest weights the trailer can be ever and those are not real camping/towing weights. Than listed the max. weights your truck will handle.
So, I looked up the trailer and found it has a GVWR of 7800lbs. That is the number to use. What about the tongue wt. Be safe and figure what the most it might be. That could be 15% of the GVWR. If I did my math correct that tongue wt could be 1170lbs. If you are going to stay within those numbers and you should really try. Your listed payload of 1750 minus 1170. That leaves you with being able to load your truck with 580lbs. Check the truck that 580lbs may include fuel, all add ons, cargo and people. Also check the tries and see if they will carry that much. I would use the 7800 as a guide than divide by 4. Each tire should be rated to carry more than 1950lbs.
I am not telling you it will not work out but, look at those numbers and see for yourself if the truck is rated for that much. That is a starting point. Lastly their are some who say they never load their RV up much. I guess there are those but, I take what I need and want to enjoy the camp or hunt and the trailer does get heavy fast.
In the end it is your money you invest your truck and trailer and your liability. No one on here will never help you if your truck fails from overloading or help you in any lawsuits or cites you could get IF your asking to much of ANY truck. See what I did below for 30 years.

[jmak]

First trip was almost 800 miles driving back from Georgia to Texas. Towed like a champ with that ecoboost even with 3.31 gears. Even getting on the highway never had to shift higher than 3k rpm. Hummed along in 5 gear(had 6th gear locked out) at 1900rpm cruising down the highway. Downshift for going up hill typically was a downshift to 4th with a occasional downshift to 3rd when needed a few times for passing on an incline. Keeping speed between 60-64mph was able to average 10.2mpg for the trip.

Need to play around and double check measurements with the blue ox distribution hitch to see if I can get better on controlling sway. Only spent about 40 minutes getting it setup and installed. Never any crazy white knuckle moments but definitely had to pay attention with a wind gust or big semi passing me.

[Ken / Claudia]

Glad to read your happy. You should still wt. every thing Truck and trailer loaded up for camping and compare that to your trucks and tires max wt. rating. Just to see how close or how much over you are.
I just had a trip about 800-900 miles also. And seen 2 trucks pulling RVs that I would have stopped and checked if I was working. 1st was a older f150 with about a 26-30ft toy hauler. At the rear bumper it looked like a V because of to much tongue wt. and trailer way nose down. At the connection point only inch's above the roadway. They were thank god, traveling at 45 to 50 on flat roadway not the posted 70.
Later I seen a truck/RV being passed by a 18 wheeler ahead of me. The trailer did sway more than normal. As in enough for a cite or at least a stop. As I passed it was a TT 22- 26 ft. pulled by a F350 traveling around 50 in the 70 zone on flat roadway. I slowed and looked at the hitch area. Just chains and hitch without any WDH. We were in a windy area of I84 that has blow over 18 wheelers. That certainly was enough truck just not the right hitch system to tow safely. We were traveling mostly at 65 and would speed up to pass slower vehicles without having trailer sway like he was at 50.
I will say that all trailers I have ever towed with any vehicle while being passed by a 18 wheeler create a push/pull from the wind as they pass. About the same as passing them. You will feel a push 1st away and feel a pull back into them. With the right truck/trailer and hitch system there should not be any more than that. If the trailer sways or jerks the truck back and forth several times during that you maybe going to fast/have to much trailer or wrong hitch system.

[michael_h]

I just bought a 26RBI and presently towing it with an F150 eco HD with the 3:55 gear and using the Reese Straight Line WDH. I read every post I could for a couple years here and know I'm at the limits of my trucks tongue weight/payload as most all have stated.

I will say I was very concerned about sway (my Premier 19 did sway a little with passing trucks) but find that I feel more "push" from flying SUV's than the big rig trucks with this Reese Straight Line hitch.

We just took our longest maiden voyage from Virginia Beach to Kerr Lake, maybe 160 miles where part of the trip is interstate and part is a 4 lane road and was pleased with 10.7mpg on moderate hills. Later in the week we took I85 (not a major trucking road) to our second destination and averaged 11.3mpg, and on the way home same mileage. I'm no speed demon and try to keep my rig moving between 55/60 mph.

I'm hoping that within the next year once my F150 is paid off to find a good F250 to use just as a tow vehicle. I can definitely feel the 2000 pound difference, but I don't feel I'm abusing my truck either