Topic: Dkaz's yet another prolonged tow vehicle buying adventure

[carcrazed]

My colleague's BIL is a Ford mechanic and says the 2.7 EB engines are what keep their service department busy.

[revalations]

Those small engines in the f150 scares me in the long-term.

The US buyers I deal with are done with anything Ecoboost if its outside warranty. I've bought six in the past year at auction and actually got a total of one home, the rest fell under arbitration for oil leaks/turbo issues and/or phaser/timing chain noise. All had from 88,000 k- 167,000 km.

Please, elaborate.

They have issues. Primarily oil leaks, front timing chain cover is most common and oil leaks around the turbos. Add the cam phaser and timing chain noise as second most common. When dealers have to spend big money to fix 5 year old trucks all the time they simply don't buy that model anymore. When I buy one at auction its usually a trade or lease return, they go through an inspection and anything over $750 allows me to cancel the deal or re-negotiate, that why out of six only one passed inspection where it didn't need well over $1000 to fix. The 5.0 is the Ford engine of choice for my buyers.

I found a Ranger that sold at auction in May from Vancouver for $28,800, was a crew cab 4x4 XLT trim, brand new never registered with 39 km on it. BUT, it had a $7,000 accident repair, I assume it happened off the carrier or in the dealers lot. Still, the repair was good enough to still earn a perfect score of 5.0 on the condition report.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Hmmm, Ford still can't figure out their cam phasers and timing chains, eh?  Tssk Tssk Tssk.

I wonder how the 3.5EB is doing?  It's been available since, what, 2012?  Should have a pretty good idea of how reliable it is by now...

[dkaz]

That looks like an accident waiting to happen.

Yeah, it's one thing pulling a max-load trailer when it is something relatively compact like that 10 000lb dump trailer I was pulling 3 weeks ago.  In that instance, my truck was only fighting the mass of the trailer when it came to accelerating, braking, and driving in a straight line or going around a corner. 

It's a completely different experience when you're pulling a 24'-26' travel trailer, though.  The amount of surface area those trailers have is massive, and they basically act like big sails.  So now, not only does your truck have to control the mass of the trailer, but it also needs to control the effect of the wind on that trailer, especially any side winds. 

Look, I'm an experienced trailer guy, and I'm telling ya, when it comes to hauling a travel trailer, I wouldn't go past 2/3 of the truck's rated capacity if I'm planning on hauling any decent distance at all.   You have to remember, when you're loading up for a vacation, not only do you have the loaded weight of the trailer (which includes the trailer itself, water tanks, and all the necessities you have inside the trailer, pots/pans, kitchen tent, bbq, camp chairs, etc.), but then you're going to load up the back of the truck with stuff.  I always fill the back of the Tundra every single camping trip, with stuff like our food and beer coolers, bikes and other toys, firewood that I'm bringing along, and luggage.  I might have an extra 400-500lbs in the back of the truck, all of which eats into the truck's capacity. 

Can you tow a 24', 5000lb trailer with a midsize vehicle?  Sure, technically, you can do it.  My BIL tows his 23' Rockwood Micro-Lite (4500lbs unloaded, 5000lbs loaded) with his 4Runner.  But man, he white knuckles every drive, and won't drive more than a couple of hours in any direction when pulling his trailer.  It's just too stressful, because the trailer is driving his truck, not the other way around.  Even though I have a truck that is significantly more capable than his 4Runner when it comes to towing/hauling, I'm still going to limit my trailer size to 24', and about 5000lbs, or a little more.  I want our camping trips to be fun experiences, and that includes the drive out there.  I also don't want to be limited to staying within a couple of hours of home, just because I'm scared to drive our rig further.  I'd like to be able to explore the Rockies with our rig, and that means having a trailer that is easy to tow. 

Anyway, just my two cents.

Everyone's a tow police, aren't they? It's under the manufacturer's limits which does have a safety factor in there, there are trailer brakes, and he has a weight distribution hitch with sway bars. I don't know what's the obsession with having a 3/4 or 1 ton truck to pull this or that trailer, it turns people off from camping in something more comfortable.

GBA, why wouldn't you put that stuff in the trailer where 15% of the weight accounts for your Tundra's fairly limited by 1/2 ton standards max payload rather than 100%?

[dkaz]

Those small engines in the f150 scares me in the long-term.

The US buyers I deal with are done with anything Ecoboost if its outside warranty. I've bought six in the past year at auction and actually got a total of one home, the rest fell under arbitration for oil leaks/turbo issues and/or phaser/timing chain noise. All had from 88,000 k- 167,000 km.

Please, elaborate.

They have issues. Primarily oil leaks, front timing chain cover is most common and oil leaks around the turbos. Add the cam phaser and timing chain noise as second most common. When dealers have to spend big money to fix 5 year old trucks all the time they simply don't buy that model anymore. When I buy one at auction its usually a trade or lease return, they go through an inspection and anything over $750 allows me to cancel the deal or re-negotiate, that why out of six only one passed inspection where it didn't need well over $1000 to fix. The 5.0 is the Ford engine of choice for my buyers.

I found a Ranger that sold at auction in May from Vancouver for $28,800, was a crew cab 4x4 XLT trim, brand new never registered with 39 km on it. BUT, it had a $7,000 accident repair, I assume it happened off the carrier or in the dealers lot. Still, the repair was good enough to still earn a perfect score of 5.0 on the condition report.

Hm. I haven't heard anything bad from the 2.3 EB other than the head gaskets in the Focus RS when they accidentally used Mustang head gaskets. But we'll have to see what the long term issues are.

Maybe I should lease.

[bridgecity]

GBA, no offence, I know you've got some experience towing, but how much do you have towing a travel trailer?

Dkaz, I'm with you, if you're within legal limits and manufacturer limits, I don't see an issue.  Of course a bigger truck will pull a trailer better.  How big do you go?  Might as well have a one ton dually pulling your trailer.

There's so much more that goes into how a trailer pulls and how safe it is to do so.  Weight distribution, hitch weight, speed, aerodynamics, etc.  One dude pulling a trailer with a half ton might be safer than the guy with the 3/4 ton just because of how its set up.  For reference, my 31' travel trailer pulls better than my previous 23' trailer due to aerodynamics and axle placement. 

[Great_Big_Abyss]

GBA, no offence, I know you've got some experience towing, but how much do you have towing a travel trailer?

Dkaz, I'm with you, if you're within legal limits and manufacturer limits, I don't see an issue.  Of course a bigger truck will pull a trailer better.  How big do you go?  Might as well have a one ton dually pulling your trailer.

There's so much more that goes into how a trailer pulls and how safe it is to do so.  Weight distribution, hitch weight, speed, aerodynamics, etc.  One dude pulling a trailer with a half ton might be safer than the guy with the 3/4 ton just because of how its set up.  For reference, my 31' travel trailer pulls better than my previous 23' trailer due to aerodynamics and axle placement.

Maybe I just like to err more on the side of caution than anything else.  I've never had any problems, or even 'near misses', though, so I'd like to think I've been doing well. 

[ktm525]

If I was regularly towing 5000 lbs+ it would be 3/4 ton  minimum with diesel.  My eyes were opened towing the 30' TT with the F350 I posted earlier. Tuned diesel and we were getting about 13L/100 km at 60 MPH or about what the Ridgeline can eek out empty.  RPMs were sitting about 1600ish IIRC.

[bridgecity]

I towed my 31' with a tuned Duramax for one trip.  I was at 21, which was way better than the normal 25-26 with the Tundra.  You must have had a serious tailwind to get 13. 

[ktm525]

Some wind and downhill most the way and lowish speed due to 2 lane highway 80-100km/h. Manual locking hubs so essentially 2WD. Don't know the tune but it has settings and we were running econ. The 30' trailer in the owner's words is the biggest POS known to man.  It is used as a skiing and biking hovel.  Won in a raffle and is the cheapest (lightest) box there is. You could barely notice you were towing it.  That truck had about 500k kms on it at the time too.

[rrocket]

If I was regularly towing 5000 lbs+ it would be 3/4 ton  minimum with diesel.  My eyes were opened towing the 30' TT with the F350 I posted earlier. Tuned diesel and we were getting about 13L/100 km at 60 MPH or about what the Ridgeline can eek out empty.  RPMs were sitting about 1600ish IIRC.

Ya, a co-worker has this HUGE race trailer he tows with a tuned Dodge diesel.

The figures he threw out for fuel economy were amazing.

[ArticSteve]

You guys are supposed to discourage me dammit! Fiscal responsibility! We only buy used previously depreciated vehicles! What is this, a forum of enablers?

It's would be an idiotic purchase particularly considering your TT.  Assume you are financing the entire cost.

[EV-Light]

Hmmm, Ford still can't figure out their cam phasers and timing chains, eh?  Tssk Tssk Tssk.

I wonder how the 3.5EB is doing?  It's been available since, what, 2012?  Should have a pretty good idea of how reliable it is by now...

LOL are you going to take revelations #gmfanboi word for the complete truth?

Here— CR recommends the Ranger but doesn’t recommend the Tacoma...much more credible source eh?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rrocket]

Hmmm, Ford still can't figure out their cam phasers and timing chains, eh?  Tssk Tssk Tssk.

I wonder how the 3.5EB is doing?  It's been available since, what, 2012?  Should have a pretty good idea of how reliable it is by now...

LOL are you going to take revelations #gmfanboi word for the complete truth?

Here— CR recommends the Ranger but doesn’t recommend the Tacoma...much more credible source eh?






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

CR doesn't recommend the F-150...and yet you bought one...and recommend them.

So are they credible to you or not?

[revalations]

Hmmm, Ford still can't figure out their cam phasers and timing chains, eh?  Tssk Tssk Tssk.

I wonder how the 3.5EB is doing?  It's been available since, what, 2012?  Should have a pretty good idea of how reliable it is by now...

LOL are you going to take revelations #gmfanboi word for the complete truth?

Here— CR recommends the Ranger but doesn’t recommend the Tacoma...much more credible source eh?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Is Motor Trend credible or no? They rate Taco dead last with Ranger not far behind.

 I've nothing against your Fords, in fact, I told OP to go for the Ranger! just when you buy many and attend weekly auctions and see the same issues with these things over and over......nah, guess I'm not credible either, auctions make this stuff up anyway to keep buyers away and trucks in their yards instead of on dealers lots.

[BWII]

Hmmm, Ford still can't figure out their cam phasers and timing chains, eh?  Tssk Tssk Tssk.

I wonder how the 3.5EB is doing?  It's been available since, what, 2012?  Should have a pretty good idea of how reliable it is by now...

Nope...apparently they can't.  Mine is going under the knife again, thank goodness for 2 yrs worth of warranty on the warranty replaced parts!  Not even 20-25,000 km and she's rattling like the rods are about to throw a fit.  Just for a second or so on cold startup...and not all the time...and of course not when I left it on their lot for 2 days.  Not even when I picked it up.  But every day since then...fack.  Parts are on order.  Should check my emails.  Hope they don't blame the Mobil1 filter...oh, that's not a Ford filter...direct cause and effect!! (BS)

Funny thing is, my bro bought a high km 2012 3.5EB - right around 200,000 - and that thing seems to run smoother and quieter than mine.  Hopefully I didn't steer him wrong - it's a $2-3,000 job or more to get it done.  Funny that the dealer was about half of the independent though.  How is that even possible?  Baffled, was I. 

Too bad the 5.0 is a shitty towing engine.  Can you tow with a supercharger??  Could be worth it to do that to a 5.0 and have sound and fury.  I'd like to update to an 18 or 19...with an EB...but they might still not have fixed the issues.  Maybe it's unfixable.

Also, to Dkaz...you live in the mtns, right?  I don't think, even though it can, that a Ranger and 24' of travel trailer is a good combination there.  Truck might be a little too small.

[dkaz]

This is on hold indefinitely. I’ll look around. I still want something smaller. I hated the size of the Sequoia. I’m going to look at SUVs. Some German SUVs like ML350 and Q7 have about the same payload and towing capacity as Ranger. An old colleague of mine has an older Q7 with over 300,000 km in it and says it’s been very good and reasonably cheap to maintain.

I virtually had a crew cab pickup tonight. A little bit of a dog but I averaged under 7 L/100km.

[rrocket]

I hated the size of the Sequoia. I’m going to look at SUVs. Some German SUVs like ML350 and Q7 have about the same payload and towing capacity as Ranger

Lexus GX470? Porsche Cayenne?

[Triple Bob]

I’m going to look at SUVs. Some German SUVs like ML350 and Q7... reasonably cheap to maintain.

 

Oh man, this thread gets better!


And guys, no one is saying buy the biggest truck possible. But we do give a crap about a fellow forum member's safety, that's what everyone is here for, advice.

[ktm525]

It is the trailer that is the outlier. Without that consideration then the choices are endless. Towing up to the limit (esp with large sail like trailers like a TT) with a relatively short wheelbase vehicle of freeways is not a good idea. Now if  just sticking to the 2 lane BC secondary highways where for the most part the speed limit is low and  speeding is enforced by confiscation then maybe.