My 2009 Wildcat 27RLX weighs about 8000 lbs and loaded with water, food, clothing and misc. items is about 9000-9200 lbs total weight.
Most F150s with their max tow (or is it heavy duty tow package now??) and 3.5L ecoboost package can tow this 5th wheel with spare load capacity for another adult, a couple of kids and a dog or two. I know because I towed this 5th wheel with 2 F150 ecoboosts, a 2013 and a 2015 model. Under no circumstance towing in Colorado did I feel unsafe or not have good handling or breaking capability. I often towed at 70mph to not slow traffic on I-25 without issues.
My only complaint on the F150 EB with the highest tow package available was that I preferred a little more engine power on the steep mountain passes. I often limited my speed to 55-60 mph to not stress the motor and turbos too much. I do not like using more than 1/2 throttle to climb hills and only use 3/4 throttle max to accelerate. I'm not one to abuse an engine.
I jumped on the opportunity to get a great deal on a leftover F350 and am now using it. The F350 gave me the capability to double (or is it triple tow) a 12 foot long ATV trailer. Loaded up with 2 ATVs the trailer total weight is about 2700 lbs which is within the max factory installed hitch on my 5th wheel. When we towed with the F150 my wife towed the ATVs with her diesel Jeep (7200 lb tow rating BTW). I enjoy the companionship of having my wife and dogs in my 1 ton truck instead of taking another vehicle and burning more fuel. An interesting side note is we often had credit card problems when we stopped to fuel my truck and her trip on long cross country trip to camp and ride ATVs. Our banks, despite being told we were traveling and would be making multiple fuel purchases at gas stations, often disabled our credit cards right after refueling the 2nd vehicle especially where purchases on credit were limited to a certain amount (usually $100) on a single swipe and 35 gallons of diesel often required 2 swipes to fill an empty tank when fuel prices were higher.
I love the ability to climb any mountain pass at any speed -I have light truck tires rated for speeds much higher than 65mph on my 5th wheel. I do not care much for diesel emissions particularly the numerous temperature, exhaust pressure, and nitric oxide sensors on the exhaust system which are not as reliable as I'd like them to be.
A roadmaster active suspension (better than airbags which I tried and didn't like) on the F150 not only takes care of the squat but improves handling to such a degree when towing or not towing that all of my neighbors who tow with their F150s ditched their airbags for a RAS system after driving my truck. They all couldn't believe how well it handled corners when not towing and how little the vehicle squatted with a 1650 lb load on the 5th wheel hitch.
If you do your homework, a lightweight 5th wheel can be towed with an F150 despite naysayers opinions. Today's 1/2 ton trucks have better brakes, transmission, and tow ratings then 3/4 ton trucks from as little as 10 years ago. Despite my 30 ft 5th wheel being fairly lightweight, I'm amazed by how well it is built and held up over the years. It is solid and built well. The only problem I've had with my older Wildcat is blown ST tires but Korean made L/T tires and larger wheels solved this problem! No more annual blowouts!
