Towing my boat with 4.6 5 speed!

[jhalle]

To all of you unfortunate people out there who purchased a 5 speed without doing your homework and assuming as most people do that a manual can tow more than an auto. The truck tows fine. I have a 2002 4.6L 5 speed with 3.31 gears. My boat is a Seaswirl 2301 O/B with tower. The boat is upwards of about 5000-5500 lbs depending on fuel in the boat gear etc.... I towed it from North Carolina to Maine through the Pennsylvania mountains on Interstate 81. The truck did great. I was able to cruise at about 60-65 mph @ 2300- 2700 RPM respectively. Of course very steep grades 4% +, required a downshift to 3rd @ 3000 rpm doing 50mph. Essentially you keep up with the loaded tractor trailers. You just have to be smart when you tow. Don't beat on the truck. I could have done 75+ mph in overdrive on the straights and downslopes. Why? The tranny is plenty strong. No problems what so ever. I spoke with alot of Ford techs prior to making my trip to get the boat. They said they had almost never seen a manual tranny break. Clutches were a different story though. don' ride the clutch. engage the clutch as quickly as possible. Don't try and have a nice smooth takeoff. engage it and let the engine do the work. I was very happy with the performance of the truck and 5 speed. I guess if I had one wish to make it would be to put at least 3.55's in it. Even when I tow nothing I think the 3.31 is hurting my fuel mileage. They make the engine work to hard.

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[Raoul]

Thanks. Good, common sense post.
I'm sure it will be referenced often as this topic comes up all the time, usually in the Towing Hauling Forum.

[uinthas]

After much concern with my own 5 speed & Fords tow rating I have concluded the same.. I tow aprox 3500lbs in moutain regions of Ut, ID & WY without a problem. Also have talked with several tranny mechanis who just say keep it out of 5th unless going down hill, wich I did anyway