New Tow Rig

[IXFE]

36 minutes ago, surfdude said:

Bama and I had a discussion before he bought the truck. He doesn’t have to tow very far, and he did the right thing with the rear springs! He may have lost some off-road plushness, but I’m sure it works great for him.

@DAI has similar, modest towing needs, or did you miss that part of the first post?

EDIT: And please slow down, man. Honestly 80mph is rediculous regardless of what you’re pulling with. 

Edited July 4, 2019 by IXFE

[surfdude]

I guess I overlooked that part, we do 2/3 river, wich is a 10 min tow, and 1/3 lake, about a 45 minute tow. The part I hate, is our annual whitefish trip, which is a 280 mile tow.

Edited July 4, 2019 by surfdude

[shawndoggy]

31 minutes ago, surfdude said:

In Montucky, if you’re not going 80 on the interstate, your holding up traffic! Farmers write off their gas, so I don’t care. I don’t tow over 80, but still don’t like how the truck feels towing. Miss the days of the illusion tower where you could leave the Bimini up and roll down the highway at 80, no problem.

LOL I managed to bend the ish out of an illusion bimini from towing at a modest 70 behind a 4 speed 5.4 triton f150 on the interstate when I forgot to put it down one time.  

[surfdude]

Never had that problem with my 07or my 09. You must have hit a nasty gust of wind!

[bamaboy]

@IXFE with yet another mic freaking dropping post.  Well said my friend.  

 

The sumo springs I got are literally a 15 minute mod that apparently transforms the raptor from the crappiest tow vehicle on the planet to a no sag monster.  The whole "raptor can't tow" narrative is as old as @oldjeep tighty whities and tube socks

[DAI]

4 hours ago, surfdude said:

Get rid of that aluminum drop hitch, they have too much flop in them. It makes the bouncing worse! I had the same hitch. I think the boatmate trailer of that era was better balanced, with less tongue weight.

@surfdudeGood to know.  We'll see how it does over the weekend, but what hitch did you switch to?

2 hours ago, IXFE said:

@DAI congrats on the new rig; she’s gorgeous. Welcome to the Ford Performance family!  

You’ve done enough seat time to buy whaterthefuq you like. I totally understand why you’d make this choice, don’t pay any attention to the drama queens. What they fail to recognize is...

 

1) Some people don’t tow 100% of the time. More like 1-2% in your case so choosing a truck that is ideal for the other 98% - 99% is actually quite practical.  I’ve said it before I’ll say it again, the Raptor is the IDEAL daily driver truck.  It’s like an urban assault vehicle, soaking up whatever the nasty, uneven pavement throws at it  

2) $200 makes it a decent tow rig, certainly no worse than any other F-150  

3) No better truck on the planet for resale value

 

Not everybody wants or needs an HD truck, especially for a daily driver. I own one and definitely see the flip side of the coin, daily use on bad roads gets to be a chore. I know a few  guys, including @bamaboy who have made the conscious choice to give up their HD’s for a Raptor. 

@IXFEThank you.  I expected to catch a little s***t over it as a tow vehicle.  That 1-2% you stated is probably my towing percentage as my commute to the office is 50 miles round trip - and I plan on enjoying each one.  With winters in WI/IL, it will be nice to not have to worry about potholes.  Time to start looking at a couple minor mods . . . .

[surfdude]

Regular steel hitch, no drop. We’ll see what happens when the timberin bump stops get here, might be too high then. Also, your gonna want to get some rock tamers on there, those bfg’s really chuck rocks!

Edited July 4, 2019 by surfdude

[bamaboy]

28 minutes ago, surfdude said:

Regular steel hitch, no drop. We’ll see what happens when the timberin bump stops get here, might be too high then. Also, your gonna want to get some rock tamers on there, those bfg’s really chuck rocks!

The timbren bump stops are what I have.  I forgot.  I thought they were the sumo springs.  They don't raise your stance at all.  The fit in and just limit downward travel

[surfdude]

Looks like you can swap them out in about 10 minutes 

[UWSkier]

Sweet rig! With the roads in WI, you need one of those. I considered upgrading my 16 Denali crew to a Raptor last fall but for the 2x weekly tow over a mountain pass to the lake (90 mile round trip), the Magnetic Ride in the Denali is just too sweet. Would love that engine though! 

[jjackkrash]

Here's a few non-judgmental, drama free observations from an old guy who tows lots of different types of heavy trailers and who has towed his fair share of overloaded rigs.  And feel free to ignore them.

• The carry-weight rating on a bumper hitch has a safety margin, but that margin is not infinite.  I found out the hard when when I had too much weight on an overloaded dump trailer full of around 16k pounds of crushed concrete; the hitch failed on a viaduct on I-5 during rush hour.   Nobody died and I managed to get the trailer off the freeway before the WSP showed up to toss me in jail (although there was a brief point I thought I was going to lose the truck and trailer over the overpass).  It was really spooky and changed my towing attitude a bit.  Thankfully I had electric trailer brakes and properly installed safety chains that actually worked as they were supposed to.   
• Now I pay a lot more attention to the different weight ratings on the truck and try and better understand why some ratings are more important than others.  I also use a weigh-safe hitch and check tongue weight pretty much every time out.  I personally don't believe that 1k lbs. of carry on a 500 lbs. carry-rated hitch is a safe bet on the safety margin, even though I see a lot of big boats on older class 3 5k rated hitches.  
• Towing any trailer from the bumper, I want at least 12% of the weight on the tongue.  Tongue weight is less important with a shorter trailer than a longer one, and more axles is better than fewer, but I still try and get 12% on even my short tandem axle 14k dump trailer.  It is absolutely essential on my 10K 36' travel trailer.  The wig-wags suck balls when you are towing heavy and too light on the tongue is asking for the wig wags.  
• One of the challenges towing heavy from the bumper with a lighter duty truck is weight distribution.  If I am towing a 10k trailer I want 1200 pounds on the hitch, period.  I know I can get away with less but the more I deviate the more I feel like I'm asking for trouble.
• The biggest challenge if you have 1200 pounds of carry on the bumper of a 1/2 ton--even if its rated for it--isn't sag, its taking the weight off the front axle.  This impacts breaking, cornering and overall stability.  My 2500 was rated for (IIRC) 1600 lbs of carry weight, but it started getting light, bouncy, and loose goosy with 1200 lbs. of carry on my long trailer if I didn't use a weight distribution hitch.  And air bags won't impact front-axle weight much if any.  So my advice is be aware and pay close attention to how the truck reacts on corners, rough roads, slick roads, and down hills, if you are putting a lot of tongue weight on a half ton, and slow down if you are pushing the payload rating of your truck with just the tongue weight of the trailer.
• I don't have a big problem towing 80 MPH if the truck and trailer combo are under all the weight limits, if the trailer tires are also rated for the weight and speed and the highway is clear.  Many trailer tires are only rated for 55 mph and traveling much faster gets them very hot and increases the risk of a blow out.  If you are near, or at, or over your truck's rated limits, or the tires are not rated for the speed, the best thing you can do is just slow down.  55-60 MPH is about as fast as I want to go if I am towing anywhere near the truck's limits.  And I always buy over-rated tires that are also rated for the speeds I want to tow.  
• The new half tons have pretty big tow ratings, but a 10k lbs. 20+ foot boat and trailer is going to pull a lot of weight off the steer axle and toss it onto the drive axle.  I personally would not enjoy towing that heavy with a half ton--and without judging--I hope the guys who are doing so are taking it easy on the throttle.  

Happy trails; I hope every one has a great Independence Day.  

Edited July 4, 2019 by jjackkrash

[DAI]

7 hours ago, UWSkier said:

Sweet rig! With the roads in WI, you need one of those. I considered upgrading my 16 Denali crew to a Raptor last fall but for the 2x weekly tow over a mountain pass to the lake (90 mile round trip), the Magnetic Ride in the Denali is just too sweet. Would love that engine though! 

Thanks.  The one area I will be avoiding between accidents and narrow lanes is I94 in Racine.  If you come up this way, I'd do everything you can to avoid that area.

[ahopkins22LSV]

I’m not even a ford guy and I love the raptor. It’s just such a sweet truck. I like the color you choose too!

[efjeld]

1 hour ago, DAI said:

Thanks.  The one area I will be avoiding between accidents and narrow lanes is I94 in Racine.  If you come up this way, I'd do everything you can to avoid that area.

Sweet truck!  Not a Ford guy by any means but if someone gave me a Raptor I wouldn't complain.  Second the I94 avoidance....I hate driving that and usually take Hwy45 as far as I need to go.

[DAI]

34 minutes ago, ahopkinsVTX said:

I’m not even a ford guy and I love the raptor. It’s just such a sweet truck. I like the color you choose too!

Thank you.

9 minutes ago, efjeld said:

Sweet truck!  Not a Ford guy by any means but if someone gave me a Raptor I wouldn't complain.  Second the I94 avoidance....I hate driving that and usually take Hwy45 as far as I need to go.

Ditto on 45.  I'll take the extra 10 min to keep my stress level down.  Especially since the only time i'm going through that area I have the family with me.

[Bozboat]

12 hours ago, shawndoggy said:

Really tho, 80 mph tow performance?  That seems like HD (and maybe even dually) territory right there.

My F150 does fine towing at 70ish, but at 80 I'm well into single digit MPG.  I resent CA's 55 mph speed limit for towing but realistically I can't justify running faster than 70 safely.  

Normally 70ish works just fine. But...

When I tow on I-30 east of Dallas, the flat, smooth, wide, posted 75 mph limit, hours between water,  begs for a heavy foot and lighter wallet.

I have towed box trailers back and forth to Lubbock at 80 and usually get  smoked by cattle headed somewhere faster.

While I have not towed on the Pickle Parkway (loop around Austin to San Antonio) sections of it are posted 85,  It is common to be passed at 95 by larger fords towing big items loosely placed on trailers. 

Protip: you can fold in your trailer tow mirrors and save a mpg.

[shawndoggy]

Just now, Bozboat said:

Protip: you can fold in your trailer tow mirrors and save a mpg.

ha!  I put my hat on backwards too.

I get it I do.  Reno to SLC is 520 miles and is easily doable drama free and without risk of getting tickets in under 7 hours.  I just wouldn't tow that fast.

[DAI]

Reading some the responses has this song coming into my head.

https://youtu.be/RvV3nn_de2k

[UWSkier]

3 hours ago, DAI said:

Thanks.  The one area I will be avoiding between accidents and narrow lanes is I94 in Racine.  If you come up this way, I'd do everything you can to avoid that area.

Drove from Chicago to Appleton a few weeks ago that way. Fortunately traffic was flowing OK but man, what a mess. I'm doing that same drive next month. Maybe I'll go around. 

[Bozboat]

2 hours ago, DAI said:

Reading some the responses has this song coming into my head.

https://youtu.be/RvV3nn_de2k

55 is mind numbing.   I really like being able to legally blow past Johnny Law at 80 sitting in the same spot where I was ticketed for 63/55 in prehistoric times.

[UWSkier]

5 hours ago, Bozboat said:

55 is mind numbing.   I really like being able to legally blow past Johnny Law at 80 sitting in the same spot where I was ticketed for 63/55 in prehistoric times.

I'd go crazy going 55 on the freeway. Limits here are 65 in the metro area but it seems like as long as you're not going more than 78, you don't draw any attention. 

But an older slalom boat on tandem from an era where they could still fit the boat between the fenders is like towing a sports car. 😁

[asp13]

A Cayenne Turbo is a great tow vehicle if you want to hit 80 and never break a sweat!

 

[spikew919]

Got a little in line 6 with compound turbos that will go 0 to  80 up any mountain pass pulling 2 wakeboats faster than a wakeboat will get on plane.  😁😁 

Edited July 5, 2019 by spikew919

[surfdude]

side note!  Homemade Raptor rocktamer!

[That Guy]

@DAI  Congrats on the Raptor, love it! I'm on my 3rd F-150 (14, 16, 19) and the raptors make me drool!

I 2nd the rockguard...I made this years ago and still use it, it's clamped on the hitch so no tools to remove.  Couple pieces of aluminum and two semi truck mudflaps, cheap and effective.

@surfdude  Yours looks very similar, I just didn't think about the extra width, how do they do at highway speeds?