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

[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.