i picked up a 2016 3.5EB last fall and love it. huge leap in ride quality and quiet compared to the 2014. it pulls a trailer great! my buddy just took it on a 600 mile round trip pulling an 18' open trailer and he averaged 15mpg the whole way.

 

So much want. And the 17 is supposed to be even better on fuel, with more power and the 10 speed behind it. My 5.0 gets about 11.5 towing the Evo at 65-70.

 

Its funny bc depending on who you talk to some love the EB towing and others hate it. I've also heard comments about the AL F150's being scary to tow with but like everything you gotta take it with a grain of salt.

In the end I opted for the RAM although I admittedly almost ended up with a Tundra Limited Rock Warrior as I couldnt find the RAM spec'd how I wanted it. But alas I found my diamond in the rough. Hemi 3.92 LSD air suspension leather heated/cooled seats power folding mirrors to fit in the garage better etc etc. Hopefully soon I will get to see how well she pulls. Certainly no diesel but my needs are fairly minimal and the truck is good for over 10000# so coming in around half that should be more than enough powa for merging.

 

I just like all the room AND 800ftlb of torque. I can fit (8) 18" 275s inside the cab, and (6) in the bed. That and the interior of the Laramie is pretty high quality. I actually like driving this thing more than my DD 335i, save for the parking trouble.



I really like the integrated trailer brake. It's actually a really clean application. You can see it down at the bottom left of the infocenter.

 

Man that megacab is massive! But Im with you the interior on the Rams are very nice especially in the upper tier models. I was after a Laramie as well but so many had crap gearing so I ended up with a Sport that had all the bells and whistles the Laramies come with.

And yes, agreed I love the look of the OEM brake controller and apparently it also functions pretty well to boot! Im actually installing mine tonight as my truck didnt come with it. I wanted the power folding mirrors not the tow mirrors so I can fit in my garage. Then just gotta get someone to add the sales code so it'll register in the dash.

 

All the trucks come with an integrated brake controller now, my F150 has one.


A Diesel would be nice, but I simply cannot justify the cost of one when I at most tow my Evo, or the offroad truck, both of which weigh less than 7500lbs on the trailer. My f150 has no trouble doing it (ecept fuel mileage kind of sucks). The 2017 3.5 EB at 375hp/470tq has 10hp and 100ftlbs more torque than the 5.0 in my truck, and the new truck is ~700lbs lighter. It would be just fine.

 

Yeah most if not all have then or at least have a means to have them installed simply. However some are better than others. For example I know the Tundra's OEM one sucks so I was going to pick up a prodigy if I went that route. But Im told the RAM one is solid so time will tell. I had to add mine granted it was pretty straight forward but was needed as I mentioned bc the trucks that had them also had the tow mirrors which I didnt want so the easiest way around that was to add it in after the fact.

As for the diesels I feel the same way. Unless I was going enclosed or multiple car trailer I couldnt justify the cost especially with the creature comforts I wanted. My truck is good for over 10000# so evo and trailer should be just over 5000# which puts me well within the range.

As for the newer F150's Im with you seems like it would work fine. Im just going off of what others had mentioned. Apparently they swayed a good amount and were pushed around. Sounds like too much tongue weight IMO; just going off what I was told by some guys I race with. The comment was that his Raptor felt way more stable than the new F150 which is funny bc the Raptor's suspension is far softer. His new tow vehicle is a F350 with the 6.7 and that obviously pulls effortlessly no comparison there.

 

I've towed similar loads to my Evo with a Toyota Tacoma. Guys complaining that a 5,000lb+ full size truck doesn't tow well had the trailer loaded wrong for sure. Excess sway is usually due to not enough tongue weight (too much weight towards the rear of the trailer).


I have no complaints about the controller in my F150. I would likely never buy a Toyota; very over priced for what you get IMO.

 

Yeah I mean I wouldnt want to tow an evo with a Taco. Nothing against them theyre great trucks just not exatly the speediest things around so cant imagine dragging a boat anchor behind one to boot!

Like I said just going off of what I was told. I was thinking too much weight which unloaded the front but not enough making the rear light sounds even more plausible as you mentioned.

And yeah I was never thrilled with the Tundra; I know theyre nice trucks but the one that I almost bought was a pretty rare config so I liked it. But agreed they are expensive especially when you get into leather and crap like that which I wanted. All in all I ended up with my RAM and am loving it so far. Some people like Fords others GM others Mopar. I'd say they all have their strengths and weaknesses. I happen to like the RAM and dont regret my decision one bit. But I suppose time will tell

 

The Toyota is just out dated. Old engine that gets ****ty fuel mileage and doesn't exactly meet the power output of the newer top engines from other OEM's. Old 6 speed trans, etc.

 

Yeah agreed the 5.7 gets horrible MPG but I also think its partly due to the 4.30 gearing that they all come with. Its got plenty of torque down low especially from the seat of the pants driving a couple of them but yeah the drivetrain remains virtually untouched since 07 and technically that iforce engine has been around well before then.

Im curious to see what kind of MPGs my RAM gets. My buddy seems to average around 17ish mixed driving but he has the 3.55s so Ill probably end up slightly less than that although knowing my right foot perhaps far from that, lol!

 

I seem to get around 13 around town in my truck. It's far from great...lol

 

Lol yeah I wouldnt be surprised if I end up around there. But and then again Im lucky if I get 14mpg in the evo anyway its not the end of the world. At least my truck has the larger 32 gallon tank so thats a plus.

So back on topic here...it seems from talking with friends and reading online people prefer the wooden deck trailers over steel deck. And here I was trying to find a nice steel deck. There is a decent looking trailer in my area but after talking with the guy he mentioned reinforcing the frame which screams trailer was overloaded prior. The thing is only a couple years old and from the pics looks nice but that was a red flag IMO. Im trying to come in under $3000 which is right around the entry price for a new one so I was hoping I could find something of quality lightly used for a deal but I might end up buying new. Just trying to stay patient.

What is your preferred method of strapping down the evo? I read on here some like the t hooks over the wheel straps. Should I be looking for a trailer with D rings or stake pockets? Im seriously a trailer newb so not exactly sure what Im after other than around 18' with dovetail and closed deck.

 

After talking to a few people at NASA NE events, including honda-guy and killerpenguin21, I went with the open deck 18' Econotrailer for my first trailer. They have a full deck (steel) version as well. Comes with D-rings with which I use Mac's tie downs and t-hooks. I also had a local guy build me a tire rack to mount on the front (thread page 41).

 

Wood deck is better. When you go to tie the car down at the end of the day, and you're reaching your arms under the car to wrap tie downs around the control arms, the deck won't be eleventy billion degrees.