Overkill

[jswinner]

Originally Posted by Bill

Ahh! Crew cab, short bed - exactly the right combination in my opinion. Wish we were rigged that way, but the dealer didn't have one at the moment we needed to buy. Long story, but our Supercab regular bed F-150 isn't quite right. On the other hand, we love the 5.0 L engine.

Bill

I feel your pain trying to find what you want, too many options. It is more manoeuvrable than the Frontier was, which for some strange reason has a terrible turning radius. The crew cab is like a cavern with the seats folded up. But I am happy with the turbo whine pulling that trailer up a hill

[Padgett]

IMNSHO that is the perfect combination for towing a TM. Everything I see about the 2.7 indicates that to make the torque needed to tow a trailer at speed it spends too much time in PE (performance enrichment) which kills MPG. The 3.5 OTOH has enough torque to stay in lean cruise mode and will get better MPG towing than the 2.7.

BTW with a turbo I'd invest in an EGT (Exhaust Gas Temperature) gauge and back off if it starts going up under load. The DI (direct injection) will reduce detonation but it can still overtemp easily.

Also never just shut down after a hard pull but let it idle for a while to reduce temps.

This stuff is old hat for diesel people but not so for modern gas engines.

ps I'm a sucker for DOHC sixes.

pps: short bed is ideal to reduce the rear axle to hitch distance. Divided by the wheel base, a 1:3 ratio or less seems best for trailer stability.

[jswinner]

Fully loaded, with 40 gal water, 3k elevation gain, ~14.5 mpg hand calc. Some interstate and the climb portion was 2 lane twisty.

[ArkyDoodle]

Once you get the EB broken in, your mileage may improve a bit. Our setup is very similar to yours and I have been able to get 16+MPG (nearly all the time) my personal record was over 400 miles on a single tank of gas (over 18 MPG).....and we've never had a lack of power or acceleration issue even passing trucks going uphill in the Rockies....

But as we get older and spend longer time on the road, my wife's already hinting at a Class A of large Fifth wheel which will probably mean a diesel dually..... :-(

Meanwhile I'm gonna enjoy the benefits of what we have: garage storage, a comfortable fully equipped trailer, excellent towing MPG, and plenty of fun with the boost (even while towing)!!