Traded in our F150 for a F250. Ordered it in August 2020. Delivered March 2021. 29 week wait. The F250 has the adaptive steering option. We tow a Lance 2285 travel trailer that weighs about 7,000lbs and has a 850lb tongue weight. This new truck seems to wander more on the highway than the F150. It is more noticeable towing. Love everything else about the truck. Just got back from a cross country trip. I assume the increased wandering is because the F250 doesn't have rack and pinion steering. It reminds me of driving a car from the 1960s. Any thoughts? Still not sure what the adaptive steering option does.

 

It tries to keep you in the center of your lane. Did you try to turn it off while you were towing to see if there was any difference?

 

Glad mine doesn't have it, I'd turn it off!!! I tow 36' 5th wheel with my 20 F-250, 7.3 Godzilla, ----tows like a dream, NO wandering, sway at any speeds.

 

From what i read it basically changes the steering ratio...like I said Im glad mine doesn't have it. Also I'm guessing you don't have the trailer balanced. It should be as close to level when hooked up as possible. A pic would help.

 

I can't find any way to turn off the adaptive steering off.

 

Unfortunately I don't have a picture, but the truck and the trailer sit flat when hooked up and fully loaded. I have an Anderson Weight Distribution Hitch. The truck is a diesel short box supercab. It is a relatively short wheelbase for an F250. I never get any trailer sway even when we towed through 45 mph wind gusts in the Texas panhandle. I did have to fight the truck every time a tractor trailer passed. The truck steers like a 1965 Country Squire Station Wagon(the car I learned to drive on). I may have gotten used to the precision of rack and pinion steering(like my F150 had). I do wish I could find a way to turn off the adaptive steering, just to find out the difference it makes.

 

Sounds like it probably is balanced quite well. A trailer heavy on the rear axel will sway more. My 250 is the 6’9” bed with full crew cab. My 7000 trailer passing or being passed by a truck swayed if it was windy and every truck or trailer was a handful passing or being passed by a truck

 

Thanks for the feed back! I've only been towing travel trailers for a few years. We had a 19' Vintage Cruiser in 2019 that we took from Connecticut to Alaska. It was a very easy tow for our F150, but it's loaded weight was less than 4,000 lbs. When we got the Lance, which outweighed the F150 we decided to move up to an F250. Bye the way our 2.7L F150 had plenty of power to pull the Lance, but it was a little squirmy. We love the Lariat leather seats on our F250 and you can't beat the diesel performance. We average 12 MPG on the diesel towing vs. 10 MPG towing on our 2,7L gas. I do miss the F150 rack and pinion steering, but other than that the F250 is a major improvement over the F150 for towing. Maybe someday I'll try a 5th wheel trailer or maybe the 2022 F250 will have rack and pinion steering.

 

Adaptive steering has nothing to do with keeping you in your lane. At slower speeds you have a variable ratio of how many turns the wheel takes to make a response.

 

Have never had adaptive steering so probably am wrong. I bet its one of the many "gimmicks" that won't be around in 3-4 yrs...