Question about towing
#1
Member
Thread Starter
Question about towing
I just recently purchased any boat and have been using my 2011 F-150 5.0 to tow the boat and the truck seems to really underperform from what I was expecting. I am towing a 22" Tri-toon total weight of boat and trailer is about 4500lbs. When towing truck really seems to struggle and mpg is about 7 mpg. On the highway doing about 65-70 truck does not leave 5th gear around city towing I do not really get out of 4th. Is this normal? This is my first time towing a boat with the F-150 so not really sure what to expect.
#2
Senior Member
I just recently purchased any boat and have been using my 2011 F-150 5.0 to tow the boat and the truck seems to really underperform from what I was expecting. I am towing a 22" Tri-toon total weight of boat and trailer is about 4500lbs. When towing truck really seems to struggle and mpg is about 7 mpg. On the highway doing about 65-70 truck does not leave 5th gear around city towing I do not really get out of 4th. Is this normal? This is my first time towing a boat with the F-150 so not really sure what to expect.
#7
you should be way better than that... a 4500 pd boat should pull easier than a travel trailer because it has better aerodynamics and people report better mileage with heavier travel trailers (i see 10-12 reported pretty constantly towing heavy trailers with the 5.0)
Trending Topics
#8
Agreed 7 MPG is low but the Tritoon looks like a humongous brick with very poor aerodynamics. So maybe that accounts for the low MPG particularly if towing was into the wind. Just a thought.
#9
Senior Member
I just recently purchased any boat and have been using my 2011 F-150 5.0 to tow the boat and the truck seems to really underperform from what I was expecting. I am towing a 22" Tri-toon total weight of boat and trailer is about 4500lbs. When towing truck really seems to struggle and mpg is about 7 mpg. On the highway doing about 65-70 truck does not leave 5th gear around city towing I do not really get out of 4th. Is this normal? This is my first time towing a boat with the F-150 so not really sure what to expect.
Have you done any towing before? I ask because the truck will feel sluggish with weight behind it of any kind. If you ahve not towed before and jumped to a 4500# load you would notice it back there.
#10
not really arguing but it's still got to be better than the frontal area of a travel trailer no?
i have a 5.4l without a fancy 6 speed transmission and one time i got 7.5 mpg hauling an 8k travel trailer with a passenger's side exhaust manifold leak.