New boat hauler

[wolfs4evr]

About time! Been 10 years since I had a new vehicle. It was my turn for something nice. Plus the wife was getting tired of me using hers to tow the boat since my now ex-car was a small SUV.


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[TheWhizzle]

Fancy! It even matches the boat... Pretty slick lookin.
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[lvfishingdude]

you will love it, i bought a 2007 Ford F-150 4x4 brand new and it will tow just about anything without a problem.

I have the same 4 door model. Great for a family. I looked at just about all brands and fords have the most leg room out of any truck out there
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[wolfs4evr]

I am kind of excited to see how it tows. Lots of hype on the Ecoboost engine so to be seen. I have been towing the boat with full sized GMC Yukon with a 5.3L. It did a pretty good job of it. At least going out to Mead and doing 55. It did do quite a bit of shifting on the hills to keep the speed up. Would of been pretty hard on it over a whole lot of years towing. On the freeway anything over 65 and you were down to 10mpg.

The amount of buttons, menus, options, etc in these things these days is extremely overwhelming! I thought that 2011 Yukon was bad but this thing is going to take me up to the day we trade it off to figure out all the voice commands and buttons. lol

Love the HID headlights. BRIGHT!

I like the rear leg room. TONS of it. I am pretty sure more than the Super Duty I use to own in the late 90s. We use to own a F350 4 door Dually 4x4 diesel. Got it back when the current body style came out in '98. Awesome truck. WAY overkill for our boat. Then we had kids and the big boy toys went away for a whole lot of years. lol Finally starting to get my toy collection back up and in action [cool]
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[fsh4fun05]

Good lookin' truck. I'm a Chevy guy myself but I'm not a hater. I like the inside of the cab, it's like a space ship lol
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[wolfs4evr]

Thanks.

Last year I was sweating it launching at Panguitch with the lake so low and only a two wheel drive. The lake was so low that the water was touching the end of the cement ramp so I had to go off the end to get the boat launched. Luckily there was some solid gravel there. Will feel much better the next trip up there having a 4x4 now.
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[dsmacey]

I have the same truck, although it is a 2010 FX4. Pulls my boat, which comes in at with trailer and fuel and equipment, 9000+ lbs total with no problems at all. I do have the max two package, but even without it there would be no problem. Enjoy it, Ford trucks are way ahead in terms of ride and comfort and quality in my opinion. Of course that is subjective and to each their own. But the ride of the new F150 and the quietness of them is impressive.
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[wolfs4evr]

You have the Ecoboost engine also?

What are you seeing far gas milage? What speeds? 65'ish?

I don't have the max tow package but this one is very close to that since it has the 402a package and FX luxury package. I have the regular tow package and the rear was upgraded to the power locking 3.73. Tires might be different, rating wise, plus you have the power extending mirrors, which I don't need with our boat. I think the receiver is different on the max tow. I am betting GVWR wise only a couple hundred pounds difference in ratings.
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[wolfs4evr]

Had to pull the boat out to check out hitch heights. Go figure the drop hitch from the Yukon was way too much and the one I had from the F350 I owned back in the late 90s was too much so had to go and buy another drop hitch for this truck. Starting to acquire a small family of drop hitches these days. lol

I had to go 2 inches less in drop over this picture since my driveway has a curve to it. As it sits here the spare tire on the trailer rubbed pulling the boat out and the center cross rail on the trailer cleared by a thousanth or so. lol Any weight in the bed or boat and it would of hit so why I went up 2 more inches in height on the hitch.

Of course it had to be a blue truck to go with it's playmate. lol


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[dsmacey]

You are right, with the 3.73 gearing the difference in GVWR is not too much. Same wheels as yours, too, it looks like (the 20" wheels). Gas mileage is not so good. I have the V8 (5.4) and without towing I average around 14.8 on a regular basis. With the boat I get about 10-11 averaging 60-65 MPH. I am thinking of trading it in in a year or two for the new EcoBoost V6. More power, higher towing rating, 20+ MPG for regular use. My brother in Texas just got a 2012 FX4 with the EcoBoost engine and it is a joy to drive. He has a bass boat similar to yours and you don't even notice it back there.

The integrated trailer brake controller is the best feature, towing wise, for me. If you have electronic brakes on your trailer and it set right braking with 9000+ lbs is like stopping in a Honda Civic
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[wolfs4evr]

I am about ready to kill to go fishing. Stupid weather! A huge weekend off and crappy weather. Of course I want to go more so to see how the truck tows over anything else [] But I guess best in the long run since this truck has only a couple hundred miles on it and should have a few more before I start towing break in wise.

The 2011 Yukon we traded in with the 5.3L ran about like yours albeit a lighter boat towed. 13-15 in town since the wife hardly ever hit a freeway and 11'ish towing this boat at 65. At 55 driving out to Echo on Northshore Road I got into the 13s towing. Get on the freeway trailerless heading out of state and cruising waaaay beyond the speed limit and that thing got 18-20mpg. Very impressive once cruising. Going to be missing that part next time we head out to visit family out of state. I wouldn't want to even attempt to tow much more than this boat with that one though. The transmission would be hating life shifting and shifting and shifting.

We shall see on the truck. Read a ton of killer reviews on it plus everything I have heard good from family that knows of people with the Ecoboost. So far buzzing around town a little plus a trip down to BPS (I live in the far NW end of town) gas milage wasn't crazy good. Might need to get some time on it and get it fully broke in. Kind of missing my Saturn Vue when it comes down to little bee bop trips around town and gas usage already. I thought hard about keeping it for buzzing around but just didn't make sense to have a 3rd vehicle and two sitting on the street.
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[wolfs4evr]

Glad we didn't go fishing. Thought hard about it last night and decided to go then watching the news/weather later on changed my mind. Between the winds and cooler temps would of been dam cold out there on that lake. Madi would of been hating life.

Instead we drove out to Primm this afternoon for something to do. Wanted to put a few miles on it and figured why not Primm. Easy one if I wanted the wife to go. Just say do you want to go and get some Lotto tickets and she was is in the truck before me. lol

16.8mpg overall with todays winds going 75 (2000rpms) through town and 80 (2100rpms) on the fwy. Only way I am getting any better gas mileage is driving slower. 3.73 gearing will be great for towing but will ding one just a little bit cruising emtpy. 3.55 gears would be a better choice if one drove a lot empty (betting a 400-500rpm drop at 75-80). I'll more than likely put more miles on it with the trailer behind it since my daily driving isn't much at all. Most of the miles I drive is with the boat verse without. 65-70 the fuel economy goes up fast.


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[lvfishingdude]

i consistently get about 14-18 mpg in my f-150. i have the 5.4 v8

Not bad for how big of a truck it is
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[Tarponjim]

I have the 2011 F-150 4-dr. with the 5.4L V-8. 18 mpg highway at 75 mph empty. 12-13 mpg highway at 75 mph towing 2500 pound cargo trailer or 18 foot boat with negligible winds.
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[wolfs4evr]

Dsmacy

I was reading some reviews, etc on the F150 last night and came across one that highly reccommended not getting the max tow package no matter what the load was, etc. Due to wind resistance and fuel economy irt the larger mirrors.

It was someything like car and driver, or something along that line. Don't remember nor do I remember the numbers they listed but they were substantial. Matter of fact almost fiction. lol Anyways they tested a F150 with the max tow package with the mirrors out as normal and then folded them in and did another substantial test session. It was several MPG difference, which seems fairytail'ish but what they wrote.
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[07yzryder]

nice looking truck! Im hoping to get a new truck one of these days my little 2.4l tacoma cant tow much more then my fishing gear lol let alone a nice boat.
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[dsmacey]

I believe it on the max tow mirrors. They are huge, I call them the Dumbo Ear Mirrors. I could easily see 1 MPG or more difference with them folded in versus out. The wind noise from them alone is pretty insane. When I get a new truck again in a year or so I am not going to get them again. Not so much for MPG, but they are just too damn big and it makes simple things like drive up ATMs or getting out of the airport parking garage a pain.
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[wolfs4evr]

Went for another spin to Primm to get some more miles on it and see if there was any change in the mpg. Gained .3mpg with the Bakflip F1 tonneau cover I installed last night. A pinch less weight gas and passenger wise but overall a identical trip to the previous. 75'ish through town and 80 on the open 15. (Truck gets way better gas mileage under 75...)

Love this cover. Easy to install and you can't beat the prices on Amazon! Saved over $200 from the average places prices plus no shipping or tax $$. Ordered Monday and here Wednesday afternoon.


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[dsmacey]

Great choice on the backflip cover. I have the same on mine and its been problem free for 3 1/2 years now.
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[wolfs4evr]

Good to hear!

Got ~500 miles on it now so not concerned towing. Broke in enough for me. We shall see Saturday. Planning on dragging the boat out to Echo as long as the weather holds like it is now. Interested to compare it against the 5.3L Yukon we traded in.

Tempted to go out tomorrow but Madison would have a cow if I went without her. Would have to go again on Saturday so she could go. One trip a week is enough for me $$ wise. Fits my budget.
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