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Hi all. Did the maiden tow on our work trailer. for reference, we use this trailer frequently to haul job boxes, welders, etc. 99% of the time we pull it with a F-250. Previously I’ve pulled it A few dozen times with a mid 2000s F-150. i have also used it once with a caravan (this was not an enjoyable experience) So those are the comparative reference points i’ll be using.
Quick overview:
trip was about 50 miles. 20 miles highway (empty trailer). 30 city (with just a welder and some scrap placed over the axles… so… lets say 2000-2500lbs total trailer weight).
Feel/towing confidence:
Super impressed with how the little thing handled the weight. Accelleration was suprisingly more than sufficient. visibility was fine. Would extended mirrors be helpful, sure, especially for backing up. But for occassional towing, stock was fine. Hitch height is also placed in a good spot for trailers this size. A small detractor, I hit a cross wind on an overpass with the trailer empty. This unsettled the truck a bit. Nothing unsafe. Just some jitters as the unibody tries to compensate for the sway.
drive modes:
Tow/haul feels really good. Shift points are where you want them. If you’re being light on the throttle for accelleration it kinda keeps you right around where your boost would start to kick in, so it attempts to keep your fuel econ in check, but gives you quick access to the power if needed. It fails in the prior lol but gracefully. I appreciated the attempt. The downshifting when coasting down a hill is very nice. Pretty perfectly set up for the rolling hills of the area i commute around.
Fuel econ:
as expected, it sucks. For reference i average 30mpg in normal driving. empty trailer on highway i got 17mpg. Loaded through city it fell to 13-14. It could be worse. But dont expect to save fuel by hauling a trailer with this thing instead of a full size truck lol
braking:
trailer brake controller works well. Ford didn’t try and re-invent the wheel. Its a familiar controller if you work with their ‘real truck’ sector of ford. Gain adjustable by the 0.5. standard is 5. I kept it at 6. I wanted a bit less strain on my mav brakes. Braking was confident, even when i misjudged a couple stop lights on the city portion. Despite being basically all city type driving for over an hour of driving there was no softening of brake feel. It felt the way it should. you feel the weight, but it doesn’t feel like its going to push you through the intersection.
overall thoughts:
ford gets a lot of hate in this forum… which is somewhat ironic, but anywho, one thing they do well, and the main reason i went with this instead of the santa cruz (aside from price and styling) is that ford knows how to set up a truck for towing. This has proven true even when its an Escape, Elcamino alien child. I was especially impressed by the lack of rear suspension sag. the size of trailer isn’t something i would suggest exceeding for any trip with overpasses, or windy fields. There just isnt enough substance to the back end to keep it grounded the way you’d want to haul anything bigger for long stretches with confidence. But overall, I Couldn’t be happier with this little baby truck. It can do so many big truck things… as long as you remember what it is at its core and dont expect too much from it too often.
Quick overview:
trip was about 50 miles. 20 miles highway (empty trailer). 30 city (with just a welder and some scrap placed over the axles… so… lets say 2000-2500lbs total trailer weight).
Feel/towing confidence:
Super impressed with how the little thing handled the weight. Accelleration was suprisingly more than sufficient. visibility was fine. Would extended mirrors be helpful, sure, especially for backing up. But for occassional towing, stock was fine. Hitch height is also placed in a good spot for trailers this size. A small detractor, I hit a cross wind on an overpass with the trailer empty. This unsettled the truck a bit. Nothing unsafe. Just some jitters as the unibody tries to compensate for the sway.
drive modes:
Tow/haul feels really good. Shift points are where you want them. If you’re being light on the throttle for accelleration it kinda keeps you right around where your boost would start to kick in, so it attempts to keep your fuel econ in check, but gives you quick access to the power if needed. It fails in the prior lol but gracefully. I appreciated the attempt. The downshifting when coasting down a hill is very nice. Pretty perfectly set up for the rolling hills of the area i commute around.
Fuel econ:
as expected, it sucks. For reference i average 30mpg in normal driving. empty trailer on highway i got 17mpg. Loaded through city it fell to 13-14. It could be worse. But dont expect to save fuel by hauling a trailer with this thing instead of a full size truck lol
braking:
trailer brake controller works well. Ford didn’t try and re-invent the wheel. Its a familiar controller if you work with their ‘real truck’ sector of ford. Gain adjustable by the 0.5. standard is 5. I kept it at 6. I wanted a bit less strain on my mav brakes. Braking was confident, even when i misjudged a couple stop lights on the city portion. Despite being basically all city type driving for over an hour of driving there was no softening of brake feel. It felt the way it should. you feel the weight, but it doesn’t feel like its going to push you through the intersection.
overall thoughts:
ford gets a lot of hate in this forum… which is somewhat ironic, but anywho, one thing they do well, and the main reason i went with this instead of the santa cruz (aside from price and styling) is that ford knows how to set up a truck for towing. This has proven true even when its an Escape, Elcamino alien child. I was especially impressed by the lack of rear suspension sag. the size of trailer isn’t something i would suggest exceeding for any trip with overpasses, or windy fields. There just isnt enough substance to the back end to keep it grounded the way you’d want to haul anything bigger for long stretches with confidence. But overall, I Couldn’t be happier with this little baby truck. It can do so many big truck things… as long as you remember what it is at its core and dont expect too much from it too often.
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it had no trouble with the weight
