You were right! I need a bigger Truck!

You all were right!  On almost every thread about how big a truck someone needed, your collective response is - You're going to need/want a bigger truck.

As I mentioned in a previous thread, I bought a F-150 3.5L Ecoboost with Max tow rating of 12,700 and change. After doing the math, I bought a Jay Flight 29RKS, with dry weight of 7,340. Total allowable weight of 9500, though I can't imagine loading that much stuff.  I generally like to travel light, but can see easily reaching 9000 lbs.

I took my first short trip last weekend and it was a miserable experience towing on the Interstate! The wind advisory didn't help my nerves at all!  Truthfully, if handled it quite well, thanks to the weight distribution and sway hitch, but I definitely felt under trucked! On paper I was fine, which drives me nuts!

So now I have to fix my mistake. I have to trade in a 2 month old truck for one more suitable.  I know I should probably get a diesel, but I'm already losing my shirt.  Will I feel under trucked in the gas F-250? I'm trying to limit the damage, as I was already stretched to the max on the one I got, but I cant pull my trailer with it, so I have no other option.

Is there a good compromise to be made with a perfectly capable gas truck vs the obvious ideal choice, diesel?

a 3500 will set you back about $700 more than a 2500 and allow you to get something quite large in the future because of the CARGO CAPACITY both a 2500 and 3500 will tow the same weight provided they have the same trans and rear diffs
Diesel will cost you another $8000 but if you ever plan on getting a large trailer or 5er its worth  it

but still be careful not all trucks in the same catagory have the same capabilities check the yellow door stick on each truck they change a lot
ie a buddy bought a F350 SHORT box diesel and found out it was still under equiped for the 5er he wanted - took a huge bath on that one

I'm fairly certain that your F-150 can handle that trailer. It may be that the WD/Anti sway was not setup correctly. (Just guessing)

Now you did say you ran into some wind advisory conditions. That may have played a big part in the handling.

Our setup is just about a 1000 pounds lighter on the trailer and it handles everything just fine. I do load the back of the truck with a lot of stuff.) We did run into some rough winds in Texas that wanted to blow us around a bit. When it got to be to rough we pulled off the road and called it a day.

In case it's helpful, i recently got rid of an older Ford F-250 diesel and replaced it with a 2019 with the 6.2 liter gas engine.  I will admit up front that i prefer "too much" as opposed to "just enough" when it comes to tow vehicles and bowls of ice cream.  8)

I drove the F-150 with the 3.5EB and it seemed really nice, the kicker to me was the F-150 weighs about 4900lbs and the F-250 weighs about 6200lbs.  That extra weight i think does add stability in windy conditions (or panic stops).  My new gasser F-250 is still about 1400lbs lighter than my old diesel though.

Yesterday on our first trip of the season and first trip ever with new truck, the winds were averaging 25-33 with gusts to 42.  Good times in any truck, but i think the F-250 probably handled it better than a lighter F-150 would have?  How can you really ever know.  It wasn't great, i can say that much - front end felt light.  We certainly would have pulled over if it got really scary, but we were only an hour from home and slowing down helped alot (from 70 to 65 on an interstate with 80 speed limit).

I agree that a properly setup W/D system is critical - we got tape measures out when we got home and re-looked at the measurements.  Think we might not make any more adjustments and see what happens on next trip when it's hopefully less windy.

Before spending on another truck prove out your hitch setup.  Thats a freeby if you can find a closed DOT scales nearby.  Go play around checking weights at every adjustment. Until you find the right setup.  Then take it for a serious tow.  If your still really unhappy then look at a 3500 SRW  gas motor.  Fords are absolutely the most expensive trucks, so unless you are married to Ford, go drive them all.  Rams for instance you can get some really attractive prices.  Dennis Dillon near Boise,ID for example deal aggreasively on trucks every day.

I'm fairly certain that your F-150 can handle that trailer. It may be that the WD/Anti sway was not setup correctly. (Just guessing)

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Good point.
  The OP didn't tell us much which F150 the OP has other than A f150 3.5 EB engine....nothing about the trucks gvwr/fawr/rawr /cab selection/ specs
  However a high 12K tow rating is probably a F150HDPP at 7850 gvwr and 4800 rawr  and set up proper shouldn't have any issues tow that size trailer as other have with the same equipment.
  Time to weigh the trucks axles separately...then hook the trailer and weigh truck and trailer axles. Then use those weights and measured dimensions to check the WD system on the truck. Once the WD with sway control system is dialed in correctly and its still bare knuckle handling then look at the tires on the trailer. Some trailers can come OEM and some trailer owners use bias ply tires. Bias ply tire won't track the truck well and can cause handling issues.

You don't need a one ton truck or a diesel engine to pull that size trailer. Lots of other fellow rvers use that combo with no issues.
 

I would do what longhaul suggests and if you are still unhappy I can confirm that our truck in signature below handles our TT very well. TT has GVWR of 10,500lbs but is not at that weight, think around 9000.

Second the Denis Dillon recommendation, we saved a lot going there.

longhaul said:

Good point.
  The OP didn't tell us much which F150 the OP has other than A f150 3.5 EB engine....nothing about the trucks gvwr/fawr/rawr /cab selection/ specs
  However a high 12K tow rating is probably a F150HDPP at 7850 gvwr and 4800 rawr  and set up proper shouldn't have any issues tow that size trailer as other have with the same equipment.

You don't need a one ton truck or a diesel engine to pull that size trailer. Lots of other fellow rvers use that combo with no issues.

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Thank you for the suggestions.  You have all given me some hope! We really love that trailer!

My trucks GVWR is 7000.  It's a Gas Supercrew, 5.5 bed.  The 'as built' tow rating using the VIN is 12,700. When I was researching TT models I had assumed I was safe up to about 10,000 fully loaded.

I bought the Recurve R6 WD/Sway hitch.  I tried to research it here on the forum but couldn't find much about it.  I found a few reviews on Youtube and they all claimed it was the best hitch they'd ever used (this side of $1000).  I'll try weighing as recommended to see if that shows anything and look into how the hitch might be adjusted.
https://www.eaz-lift.com/product-page/recurve-r6-1200lb-hitch-kit

Thanks again! We're going to take a few local trips in the mean time, no interstates!

Sometimes you have enough truck, you have the right hitch, and you have everything set up properly, and yet it still doesn't feel right.  This may end up being the case with you, I don't know.  As said above, numbers wise, it sounds like you are in like Flint.  But also as SmokeF250 notes, with a bigger, heavier truck to begin with, you get more stability kinda built-in.  If you do end up going with the bigger truck, I don't think you will be disappointed.  Certainly a diesel should cure all ills...well, maybe, but cause others (maintenance and upkeep).  But honestly, I would think an F-250 with the 6.2L would do wonders for you.  I never had any bad issues with the wind, except one time coming across I-10 between San Antonio and Houston.  They were some pretty fierce cross winds that I think any rig would have had trouble with.  But even with the little 5.4L in that old truck, it pulled my TT beautifully all over Texas and the south and up through Tennessee and back.  With the heavier duty everything, it just feels more solid and ready to take on what you can give it.

It would make a difference, and probably make you feel better, but please before taking a hit on the F-150, do as others have suggested and make sure you have everything set up properly first.

I too think your truck will haul the trailer ok. I would check your WD hitch set up also. I would also make sure your tires are correctly inflated. Most of the time they are set to the maximum PSI on the side of the tire. This is wrong. You need to get it weighed and then look on the tire manufacturers tire pressure chart.

It might be your comfort level?
Last weekend I hauled my 5th wheel in 20-25mph sustained winds with my truck and camper in my signature. I drive 60mph and never felt out of control or worried about jumping lanes. Not even when being passed by semi's. Half the trip home was in cross winds and the last half was facing the wind, headwind. With the cross winds my rpms maintain 1,600-1,700, about the same without wind. However once I hit the headwinds to maintain 60mph my rpms jumped up to 2,100. I dropped my speed to 55mph and the tach dropped back down to 1,600-1,700. However I can't drive 55, and it was the end of a long day so I bumped it back up to 60mph.
Honestly, I was impressed at the way the F150 handled the wind and sail it was towing. I never felt it in the steering wheel.

If your steering felt light, I suspect your too heavy on the ball and need to re-organize the camping gear to balance the load. You may also be off side-to-side as well. Both will have a huge impact on drivability. Check your trailers balance front to back and side to side. Adjust as needed and take another trip.

My trucks GVWR is 7000.  It's a Gas Supercrew, 5.5 bed.  The 'as built' tow rating using the VIN is 12,700. When I was researching TT models I had assumed I was safe up to about 10,000 fully loaded.

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Hmmm.....well at 7000 GVWR its not the HDPP at 7850 GVWR.
12700 is a lot of trailer for a truck with only 7000 GVWR. Hopefully your truck has the 4050 RAWR or the 4550 RAWR.
  I see several 7000 gvwr/4050 rawr trucks on fleet Fords spec website which should pull that trailer without sway/handling issues if set up properly.

We recently did a similar thing with our rockwood 2509s. We picked out a 2016 silverado 1500. On paper it worked. Equalizer hitch. gvwr of 7200. Upon purchasing the truck, I was unaware that the tongue weight of the trailer was included in that GVWR. Once i learned this, Off to the scales I went. Just using the manufacture specs on the tongue weight, we were within a few hundred pounds of the GVWR of the truck. I wrote it off and away we went. First trip out, we ended up loading a good bit of gear in the bed. Truck drove terrible.  It Wallowed around under weight. Long story short we sold the 1500 and purchased a 19' F250 6.2 gas with at GVWR of 3416. 

I would suggest checking your weights, checking your hitch setup, along with tire inflation. All of these things could have made differences in my situation as well, but knowing we were cutting it so close on the GVWR of the truck, I decided to just trade it in, before it depreciated anymore.

I have a F350 SRW diesel to pull my FW and love it.  HOWEVER, it is not needed to pull your camper.

You should have enough truck if set up properly.  I would be among the first to say you need more truck if I thought so. 
Enough has been said about setup. 
My other comments are slow down, especially when it is windy!  Keep the speed under 65 at all times and even slower when windy.  It will help both stability and gas mileage.

It?s been an age, but wanted to thank you all again for your help. I was diagnosed with cancer shortly after posting. Treatment still ongoing, but it was certainly the catalyst for jumping in with both feet! I bought a ?19 F-250 Super Duty Lariat (hubby really wanted the 360 cameras) in Dec! We love it, though haven?t been able to travel due to daily treatments. Only a few more weeks of that! We have two relatively short trips planned in the next two months, then heading for San Antonio in the fall. We?ll be retiring in the next year or so and can?t wait to join you all on the road! Thanks again!

JanF said:

It?s been an age, but wanted to thank you all again for your help. I was diagnosed with cancer shortly after posting. Treatment still ongoing, but it was certainly the catalyst for jumping in with both feet! I bought a ?19 F-250 Super Duty Lariat (hubby really wanted the 360 cameras) in Dec! We love it, though haven?t been able to travel due to daily treatments. Only a few more weeks of that! We have two relatively short trips planned in the next two months, then heading for San Antonio in the fall. We?ll be retiring in the next year or so and can?t wait to join you all on the road! Thanks again!

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Congratulations on the new truck.  And so sorry to hear about your diagnosis.  Major bummer.  But it sounds like you are dealing with it well, and I hope you continue to do well and beat that bugger.  I lived in San Antonio for 11 years before moving here.  There is lots to see and do around there.  Enjoy!  And hope to see you down the road.

Sorry to hear you've been unwell. Hope the treatment isn't too stressful and you're back to full strength soon.

Congratulations on your new truck.

Happy travels.

I was diagnosed with cancer shortly after posting. Treatment still ongoing, but it was certainly the catalyst for jumping in with both feet!

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Sorry to hear that, but you can and will persevere. My wife was diagnosed in early 2008 and continues treatment to this day, yet we still never let it stop us from enjoying our RV several months each year.  We have to stay longer in one place and make arrangements for treatment in those locations, but we still go!
Congrats on the new F250 - it's an awesome vehicle!

Very sorry to hear the diagnosis.  Our prayers are coming your way.  Glad you remain upbeat.  That is half of the battle.

I'm sure you will love the truck.  It WILL tow better!

Blessings and congrats on the new rig.