2.7 EcoBoost for towing? Anybody have one and can comment?

[Martinjmpr]

I have a 3.5 liter eco boost and pull a travel trailer. The trailer weight is about 20% below the trucks rated capacity. We go about 10-12 times a year, usually in the mountains. It pulls fine, but what I always worry about is coming back down the hill. My buddy pulls with a 3/4 ton diesel with an engine brake. That would be super nice, but then there is all the additional expense associated with diesel. They are more expensive to maintain and repair. I would prefer a 3/4 ton to tow, but my biggest issue is it would not fit in the garage, and I would rather drive the 1/2 ton other 345 days a year.

I thought the tow/haul mode automatically stepped down the gears to slow you on a long decline? Do you have the 6 or the 10 speed?

WRT the cost/benefit of a bigger truck, I crunched the numbers there too. A 3/4 ton Ram would be more than I need and the thing about a bigger truck is that EVERYTHING about them is more expensive: Tires, maintenance parts, fuel, etc. If I pulled a big 5th wheel or something of course I'd have a bigger truck (funny story, though, last weekend we were camping near Jefferson and I saw an F-150 long-bed crew-cab pulling a 5th wheel. I don't think I've ever seen a half ton pull a 5th wheel before!)

Unfortunately, there's no "perfect" solution. If it was just me I'd still be driving a 4runner and sleeping in the back but I think we all know the saying "happy wife/happy life." Wife wants/needs the trailer to go camping so that's what we have.

Here is what I did to solve the comute cost and wear and tear. I got a Yaris for commuting, and the $ saved on milage and fuel pays for the yaris. My 05 burb is at 109k right now, tranny is good front end needs love, minor crap needs tlc. But I dont really tow.

... Let us know what you choose.

As I said earlier in the thread, I did the "separate daily driver" thing for 6 years from 2011 to 2017. But with my short commute, it just didn't make sense. If I lived in CO Springs and had to commute to Denver every day, it would absolutely make sense but 20 miles round trip x 3 days a week (I work from home the other two) isn't enough driving to justify the "transactional costs" of a 2nd car (much as I'd love to have something with a manual transmission to zoom around in - I guess I'll have to be content with the motorcycles for my manual trans thrills.)

Still on the fence between Ram 1500 Hemi or Ford EcoBoost. The Ram seems to be the more conservative choice and I generally tend to be more conservative with my vehicle picks. That the Ram is cheaper is also a factor, though the flip side of that is whether it will "go the distance" for 10+ years.

[ray1970]

Not that I?m a big Dodge fan boy but my dad always drove Dodge trucks. When I was looking and stumbled across the Dodge I currently own I called him because I knew the truck he was driving at the time had a lot of mileage because he was using it to commute to work for years before he retired. I asked him how many miles he had on his truck and what all he had to do to it over the years other than routine maintenance. At 260K miles the only thing he could think of was he had to have the electric cooling fan replaced once. I specially asked to make sure he hadn?t done a water pump, alternator, fuel pump, transmission.... nope.

I went back and bought the one I was looking at and no regrets so far. Bought it used. The original window sticker was in the glove box. It was a $44K truck brand new and I bought it five years old for $20K with 80K miles on it.

An added bonus for the Dodge is no matter how long I own it or how many miles I put on it I?ll never have to replace a turbo.

[ChickNorris]

My 99 Ram, I've had to replace all that & then some.

Then some more.

& another twice.

[thedave1164]

I thought the tow/haul mode automatically stepped down the gears to slow you on a long decline? Do you have the 6 or the 10 speed?

WRT the cost/benefit of a bigger truck, I crunched the numbers there too. A 3/4 ton Ram would be more than I need and the thing about a bigger truck is that EVERYTHING about them is more expensive: Tires, maintenance parts, fuel, etc. If I pulled a big 5th wheel or something of course I'd have a bigger truck (funny story, though, last weekend we were camping near Jefferson and I saw an F-150 long-bed crew-cab pulling a 5th wheel. I don't think I've ever seen a half ton pull a 5th wheel before!)

Unfortunately, there's no "perfect" solution. If it was just me I'd still be driving a 4runner and sleeping in the back but I think we all know the saying "happy wife/happy life." Wife wants/needs the trailer to go camping so that's what we have.



As I said earlier in the thread, I did the "separate daily driver" thing for 6 years from 2011 to 2017. But with my short commute, it just didn't make sense. If I lived in CO Springs and had to commute to Denver every day, it would absolutely make sense but 20 miles round trip x 3 days a week (I work from home the other two) isn't enough driving to justify the "transactional costs" of a 2nd car (much as I'd love to have something with a manual transmission to zoom around in - I guess I'll have to be content with the motorcycles for my manual trans thrills.)

Still on the fence between Ram 1500 Hemi or Ford EcoBoost. The Ram seems to be the more conservative choice and I generally tend to be more conservative with my vehicle picks. That the Ram is cheaper is also a factor, though the flip side of that is whether it will "go the distance" for 10+ years.

Nothing is a guarantee, but it is more likely for a Dodge v8 to go 10 years than a Ford eco boost

[Erni]

Just throwing this out there:
Commute via motorbike 90% of the time, on bad days take new truck. Truck economy won't matter then, and you get seat time on the bike.

[Irving]

If we're going to throw outside of the box ideas around, you could buy a plot of land that you love for the price of the truck, then borrow a truck to tow your trailer up there once, or build a little structure. Never have to find a spot in the middle of the night again.

[Gman]

I think someone threw away the box.

[ray1970]

I think someone threw away the box.

Pretty sure there's a thread around here on keeping or tossing the boxes.

[XC700116]

Current vehicle is an 04 Suburban 1500 LT, 4x4, 5.3 with 3.73 gears.

Currently at 186k miles. It's in decent shape overall and I've put a lot of work into it (mild lift, 33" tires, dual battery setup so I can run a refrigerator, stereo with Bluetooth and a big TruCool transmission cooler.)

The 5.3 is a reliable engine, no doubt, but in terms of power, it's marginal at best, especially when towing at Colorado altitudes. We camp 14 - 16 times a year and most of those trips require climbing a high pass.

I don't necessarily mind sitting in the slow lane when climbing a pass but when VW buses are whizzing by me it's a little embarrassing.

The 4L60 transmission isn't much help.

Much as I like the 'Burb (and I do), I really think it's time for a new truck. I bought this one 3 1/2 years ago with 136k on it but I really need to get something with low miles and then my plan is to keep it at least until I retire which is about 7 years away (and ideally longer than that.)

As I said, right now it's pretty much between the Ram 1500 with the V8 and the F-150 with the Ecoboost 2.7.

Funny, I used to be a Toyota guy but the Tundra doesn't appeal to me at all. Ditto for the Nissan Titan.

Honestly, skip the 2.7 and go with the 3.5 or the 5.0 V8. I went with the 5.0 and have zero complaints, plenty of power for normal towing 5-6K (I don't care what the sticker says that's more than enough for a half ton to be towing) , and gets as good or better mileage as the ecoboost motors. I've got 66K miles on my 2016 and have had zero problems with it. Before this I had an 05 with the 5.4 and towed with it nearly every weekend towing a 24ft enclosed trailer with 3 snowmobiles a 55gal drum of race fuel and all the gear for 3 guys to ride and camp all weekend without issue. The new 5.0 will whip it's ass 6 ways to sunday. The new transmissions are very good and the new 10 speed that's in the half tons will make pulling the passes much better. (even the 6 speed in the 14-18 models is worlds better than the old 4 speeds)

Yes tow/haul will downshift to help keep the speed in check BUT if you're pulling too much weight you'll quickly find it revving the piss out of the motor and you're going to be on the brakes. There's only so much drag a naturally aspirated gasser can do to slow a load down going downhill.

[00tec]

I have a 06 5.4 with the 4 speed. Can attest to the above as far as the transmission doing MUCH better in my 14 3.5 eco