It depended on the trip for us. My new combo is easier for long haul towing.
The first time to Disney (2012) we took 3 days and the 78/81/77/26/95/4 route. Never again. It was longer and felt much further away. We stopped twice. Once in Virginia and once in Georgia. Even the stop in GA still made it a 5 hour travel day since it was towards the top of the state. However, it was probably better in hindsight since the TV we had at the time, was a bit older and didn't like to be pushed. One of my wife's tasks was to keep an eye on the scan gauge. If the trans was running hot, I would back off for several miles to let it cool down a bit. The F150 handled the short trip stuff. The long haul was a different story. Hence we got a F250 when I got a job. Homeward bound. We stopped at South of the Border the first night. The second day we pushed all the way through to home. Probably from 8AM to midnight.
Myrtle Beach 2013. Night mare trip with my parent's motor home breaking down. Horrendous DC traffic. Almost getting jacked in NC. Started 6AM on Friday morning. Pulled into the campground at 2 AM Saturday morning. 4 hours of traffic. 3.5 hours of dealing with the motor home issues. Luckily, we had just gotten the F250 Crew Cab so we were able to accommodate everyone in the truck plus my wife was able to assist my mom with travel arrangements, rental RV, motor home insurance stuff all in nice cold AC. Homeward bound should have been smooth sailing. We got back up to where the motor home had it's problem. We got into NJ, the motor in the motor home expired. Spent another 3 hours on the side of the road. We left at 830 AM on Saturday morning. We got back to my parent's at 2 AM Sunday Morning. This trip was probably the most tired I have been towing
Disney 2014 Same F250. My parents and I took off at 6 AM Sunday Morning. We shut down around 10 PM that night 3 hours out. No traffic. Smooth driving. This included fuel stops and rest breaks for lunch. Each rest break for food was at least 30 minutes. After dinner in SC, my parents asked me how I felt. I said fine. We agreed on Savannah South KOA as a check point. We got there and I was like lets keep going. We went from NW NJ to the FL/GA line St Mary KOA. Out of those 16 hours, probably 2.5 hours was getting fuel for the truck, food breaks for lunch and dinner. It put us 3 hours out from the Fort. The next morning. By the time we were in the Orlando area, the morning rush was over. Homeward bound smooth sailing. We pulled over for the night below DC around 10 PM probably leaving around 830-900 AM. No issues getting up to DC. Stayed the night. Left the next morning around 9 AM for home. Got there around 4 PM with a couple of stops for food and fuel.
Disney 2015. Same F250. No problems getting down. We stopped just below DC the first night. Left early in the morning for Disney. Pulled in around 9PM at the Fort. There were 95 detours and closures due to washed out roadways. The biggest headache. Annoying spot in loop 700. Least favorite spot at Disney. Homeward bound. We got up to Richmond, VA around midnight. I was to the point of shutting down. We did in a Flying J parking lot. the next morning it was about another 6-7 hours of drive time. We got home around 2 in the afternoon with breaks.
2016- No long trips with the camper. Flew to Disney. Enjoyed ME to and from the airport.
2017- No long trips with the camper. All trips within 3 hours. Drove to Spring Break FL with wife's new car. We did it one overnight outside of Fredricksburg, VA the first night. The second night was Cocoa Beach , FL. Trip#2 was a fly to Disney and drive to Port Charlotte FL for relatives. Fly out of Tampa.
2018- No long trips planned. Everything within 3 hours of us. Purchased a Replacement truck F350. F250 was wrecked in January. Eagles won Superbowl. Purchased new trailer. Had delusions of making a quickie fort trip.
2019- Return of the long trips with the trailer. We camped the outer banks, NC. Left our campground at 12:45 PM on a Sunday. Made it to the next one at 10:30 PM Just over 10 hours of drive time including 2 fuel stops and 3 rest breaks. The drive had some traffic outside of Philly. Otherwise smooth driving. No issues. The return trip took place on a Sunday. We left around 8 AM and got back to storage around 600 PM. No issues overall. Smooth driving. We also took a trip to the Delaware shore area for an RV rally in October. Nice and easy going trip there. In November, latest we have camped this far north that late in the year not considered Disney. This was Washington DC. Maryland camping. No issues. We left at 2 in the afternoon and hit traffic pretty much right at the Baltimore and DC areas. Pulled in around 7 I think.
Now I drove a bunch when I was working. I have made NW NJ to Buffalo, NY and back in a day. That's about 700 miles or so. If in tow, that is usually an over night trip. So to me I am able to drive long distances without much issue. If we are going on a family trip, I generally like to run at least 12 hours but will push 14 as needed. My biggest thing is traffic conditions and weather. Those will wear my tow limits. If I can get into a groove, I will drive as far as the fuel tank will let me or a bathroom break. Disney is our long trip for us. With the new rig, I have contemplated trips within 9 days total to the Fort. The truck and the new trailer are easier in towing for me. I am not as fatigued even in traffic. I figure 2 "travel" days (1.5 days really )down and same thing back up. This leaves 6 days at Disney and that is a short trip for us there.
My personal tip with long distance travel. Get a radar app for the phone. Keep an eye out for wet weather conditions. Check for wind conditions. Traffic apps are all over the place. Road construction or traffic stops are pretty important. I generally have a small snack on my console and a bottle of water in the cup holder. Having a tool like a scan gauge or bluetooth ELM327 device paired with a something like Torque App interacting with the truck computer, can help with making sure the systems are running correctly. Different things will help make the drive easier. I am different than the next disboarder so my experience is different. Also if you can switch off from time to time, it might make the drive easier and you will cover more miles on a given day.