Towing 4,000lbs?

[Platinum2]

If that is a camper trailer it would be WAY OVER on the max frontal area of 40 sq ft. That's a 5X8' frontal area on the trailer.

Completely agree. It is worth noting that many RV trailers are slanted in front to reduce frontal resistance. I'm not pretending to know how to calculate for this accomodation. I do know that this is one of the ways RV makers are working to lower drag.

OP should talk with an RV dealer as I'm sure they can elaborate on this more deeply.

Hope this comment helps someone.

Sponsored

 

[Scupking]

If that is a camper trailer it would be WAY OVER on the max frontal area of 40 sq ft. That's a 5X8' frontal area on the trailer.

It's probably closer to 8x6.5 so 52 sq ft but it's not a flat front..

 

[Maverick2022XL]

Well, with 4K Tow you're limited to 40 sq.ft. of frontal surface area. So, take the 8' width of the trailer you're considering and multiply it by its frontal height and there's your answer.

Not limited to but the performance will be significantly reduced. Whatever that exactly means.

 

[Tom 71 Maverick 24]

width X height = frontal area. But, this becomes significant more as you speed up. Wind resistance does suck up horsepower. Also heats up the drive train, which is one of the reasons that the 4K package has a 3.81 final drive ratio instead of 3.63. Let the gears do the work. Of course, the aerodynamics of the trailer come into play as well. This can get a bit complicated, I'd guess.

I got to reading the Ford specs and it seems that even the F-150 has a limit of 60 Sq Ft in most trims, which is slightly less than 8X8. I'm not sure if the frontal area of the tow vehicle comes into play or not. Logically, it should, since the truck is pushing some of that wind out of the way. I would consult some of the travel trailer forums to see what experiences they can share.

My personal thought - if you're not pushing 70 mph, it won't be much of an issue. Wind resistance increases as a square function of speed. That is, if you double your speed, the wind resistance rises 4X (2 squared = 4). At lower speeds, trailer weight is the biggest issue, but as you push higher speeds, wind resistance becomes a factor. If you're going to do a lot of highway travelling and/or driving fast through the mountains, I'd probably go with a Ranger. You give up a little mileage, but it's more suited to the task.

 

[Maverick2022XL]

I'd like to think you're cutting it a bit closer than I might. Especially if travelling up and down a lot of hills. Ambient temps matter too. If it's really hot then more caution is needed. Can the Mav do the job you're outlining? Probably but if you DID have any issues and were found to over the weight the truck can handle warranty repairs might be dicey.

That is why you use tow/haul mode with any trailer. It's main function is to minimize gear searching going up hills and maintain speed going down hills.

 

[peeturd]

When computing the towing capacity (not tongue weight) the engineering staff takes ALL of the normal operating modes that the vehicle will encounter in its service life (incline/downgrade angle, environment temps, highway speeds, etc) and then back calculate from there. The Maverick easily tows its rated capacity. If you were to exceed that value - consideration must be taken when operating on steep inclines, high temps. Higher speeds.
Personally, I tow a 5,500# boat with my XL EcoBoost, tows great but I am on 40mph roads…….

 

[Maverick2022XL]

We are thinking of getting a travel trailer potentially next year. The few we are looking at are 20 feet long, 8 feet wide, right around 3,000lbs empty with a tongue weight of 355lbs. I know my current hybrid can't tow that but what about the 2.0 with 4k tow package?

I've done 3500lbs with 1000+ lbs in the bed at the same time with no issues. My only suggestion is to keep on top of monitoring your transmission fluid if you plan to trailer weight like this on a semi regular basis.

 

[LSchicago]

It's probably closer to 8x7 so 56 sq ft but it's not a flat front..

A V nose is calculated the same way. They claim even the V nose has very little change in drag. It's more in our mind. You can help by installing a Higher than cab height topper when towing. My trailer has a frontal area of 5'X5' which is over by 5 sq ft on the hybrid. I have done 2 things to help minimize the effects. I lowered the trailer 6", and bought a flated High top topper to redirect air away from the truck bed.

Camper as purchased:

Dropped, but before new drop hitch:

Topper to help direct air around trailer.

 

[Tom 71 Maverick 24]

Not limited to but the performance will be significantly reduced. Whatever that exactly means.

Your mileage will suffer for certain. Which it already does when towing. But it also creates heat in the drive train and engine due to the harder work being done to keep rolling. But that doesn't mean that it would void the warranty. Then again, that wouldn't stop them from trying, I would guess.

I think this frontal area thing is partly due to federal requirements - dot-gov is always looking to help (themselves) you.

Seriously, there is a lot of information, some good, a lot bad, out there on this very subject. I'm reading up on it myself as it is good to know before making a vehicle choice.

 

[Platinum2]

Not limited to but the performance will be significantly reduced. Whatever that exactly means.

Correct. Though the guide does refer to the 40 Sq. Ft. as a "limitation."

 

[Tom 71 Maverick 24]

The more I read out there, the more complicated it gets.

Consider the coefficient of drag, that is, how streamlined the trailer is - that does make a difference as well.

Here's some interesting reading for us geek-minded folks....

Trailer Frontal Area - Fiberglass RV

 

[Automate]

Wind resistance increases as a square function of speed. That is, if you double your speed, the wind resistance rises 4X (2 squared = 4). At lower speeds, trailer weight is the biggest issue, but as you push higher speeds, wind resistance becomes a factor. If you're going to do a lot of highway travelling and/or driving fast through the mountains, I'd probably go with a Ranger. You give up a little mileage, but it's more suited to the task.

Wind resistance goes up with the square of the speed but required engine power goes up with the cube of the speed. From Wikipiedia

Power
Under the assumption that the fluid is not moving relative to the currently used reference system, the power required to overcome the aerodynamic drag is given by:

𝑃𝑑=𝐹𝑑⋅𝑣=12𝜌𝑣3𝐴𝐶𝑑

The power needed to push an object through a fluid increases as the cube of the velocity increases. For example, a car cruising on a highway at 50 mph (80 km/h) may require only 10 horsepower (7.5 kW) to overcome aerodynamic drag, but that same car at 100 mph (160 km/h) requires 80 hp (60 kW).[18] With a doubling of speeds, the drag/force quadruples per the formula. Exerting 4 times the force over a fixed distance produces 4 times as much work. At twice the speed, the work (resulting in displacement over a fixed distance) is done twice as fast. Since power is the rate of doing work, 4 times the work done in half the time requires 8 times the power.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_(physics)

 

[Tom 71 Maverick 24]

Wind resistance goes up with the square of the speed but required engine power goes up with the cube of the speed. From Wikipiedia

Power
Under the assumption that the fluid is not moving relative to the currently used reference system, the power required to overcome the aerodynamic drag is given by:

𝑃𝑑=𝐹𝑑⋅𝑣=12𝜌𝑣3𝐴𝐶𝑑

The power needed to push an object through a fluid increases as the cube of the velocity increases. For example, a car cruising on a highway at 50 mph (80 km/h) may require only 10 horsepower (7.5 kW) to overcome aerodynamic drag, but that same car at 100 mph (160 km/h) requires 80 hp (60 kW).[18] With a doubling of speeds, the drag/force quadruples per the formula. Exerting 4 times the force over a fixed distance produces 4 times as much work. At twice the speed, the work (resulting in displacement over a fixed distance) is done twice as fast. Since power is the rate of doing work, 4 times the work done in half the time requires 8 times the power.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_(physics)

I tossed in a little first-year algebra and you toss out some "Super-Algebra"! Seriously, though, that is good information.

An anecdote from my experience - I drove my F-150 out to Mount Rushmore from Tennessee a few years ago. Now, my truck gets around 20-22 mpg when driven at 70-75 mph, give or take. I calculate my mileage every fill-up using the fuelly app on my phone. (YMMV as they say).

Anyway, when I got to South Dakota, the speed limit was no longer 70 but was 80 mph. So, I figured, the truck has plenty of HP to run at that speed and more. I've been over 100 in it a couple of times, with room to spare. No problemo.

Anyway, the mileage hit was significant. I went from my happy 21 mpg average to somewhere around 17, just by pushing the speed up 10 mph. Definitely a big difference. No calculation necessary - wind resistance was the big factor as I was not climbing any huge, long hills.

 

[McBear]

I've Pulled my R pod 180 , 2950 dry weight , running with about 300 lbs of additional gear , clothes , pots and pans dishes , lawn chairs and so on with about 10 gallons of fresh water on board. Flat land towing at 100 kilometres Per Hour (62MPH)
I did a 1200 km trip . Half of it into a 30 k head wind and pretty much no wind on the way home.
My overall trip was 15L/100 kilometres on fuel , i was very impressed .
I could not believe how well the 2.0 Eco boost pulled , ran about 2200 rpm all the time , i said to my wife it had traits of a diesel while pulling (Retired Truck Driver) . No transmission searching at all. Held the gears real well.
I know this sounds crazy but it pulls nicer than my 2013 Silverado 5.3
The only thing i noticed was the trailer dance a little on the rear. Might add a sway bar control to it.
We want to do some Long distance travel across the country , So ive been sitting on the fence about upgrading to the Ranger just to have a little more tow capacity .
Over all these are amazing capable trucks.

 

[dusty1787]

We are thinking of getting a travel trailer potentially next year. The few we are looking at are 20 feet long, 8 feet wide, right around 3,000lbs empty with a tongue weight of 355lbs. I know my current hybrid can't tow that but what about the 2.0 with 4k tow package?

My $0.02 would be a 3,000# camper with gear/people pushing the 4k mark should be fine if you went with the EB and 4k Tow. Like a couple others have posted, the 4k value should be under what the "failure" or "breaking point" would be for the vehicle and can actually tow more, but Ford wont tell you what the max would be. The 4k max weight to me would (I assume) be some sort of liability issue where they can say you were aware what the max weight was and you blatantly went over it and that's why this or that happened. Not that the Mav couldn't actually tow 5k without any issues, but more of a legal issue than vehicle capability.

It seems a little bit ridiculous to think that if you tow a 4,001 lb trailer it would break the vehicle, because the documents said 4k maximum. Going uphill, strong head on wind, etc...would all affect the vehicle and everything more than just the plain weight.

So again my $0.02 would be a 3k trailer would have no issue going with the EB 4k Mav. I like to think of it this way... think of the speed limits. Limit is 70mph. Do you only go 70? I would assume not and go slightly over it. Do you go over it a ton, most likely not, but you still go over it. Now lets say a cop is on the highway. You are going slightly over the speed limit, are they going to pull you over every time? most likely not. Me personally for my own peace of mind, I am going to try and stay under the 4k mark with anything I tow, just so that I am not putting un-needed stress on my vehicle...but even getting right to/around the max 4k weight, I feel you are still fine.

Sponsored