I recently bought an '00 F150 2WD with the 5.4L, 4R100, 3.55 LSD, and factory Class III towing package. It has 130K miles and it was very well maintained by a Ford dealer (including changing the plugs and tranny fluid at 100K miles).

In a few weeks I will be using the truck to tow my race car about 800 miles round trip, including over a mountain pass (the Grapevine for any Californians). The car/trailer/spare parts combo will weigh less than 5000 lbs.

I towed this same combo with my friend's '07 F150 5.4L and know what to expect drive-wise. I know to take the truck out of OD on any sort of grade and just take it easy, but is there anything I should do to prep the truck for this duty?

 

Do you have a good brake controller? If no, I suggest a Prodigy! I very easily tow a 20 ft bobcat trailer with 4k cars on it at 70-75 mph no problem. Everything on your truck sounds good- should be fine. That's not a huge distance really or alot of weight. As long as there is no signs of wear in the suspension, that'll be good, tire pressure is something to check and the cooling!

 

I don't have a brake controller, but the trailer I'm using doesn't have brakes anyway. I just have to take it easy on the downhill sections (stick in the truck lane). Luckily most of the tow through the Central Valley of CA will be on completely flat roads.

Suspension appears to be in good shape and the coolant was flushed recently. Mechanically it appears good to go. I just wanted to make sure there are no common issues or things to watch out for. I feel a bit more comfortable having the 4R100 instead of the 4R70W.

 

if you're going to keep the truck for a while consider a regear to 4.10's since you plan to tow regularly...


you can always add a shift kit (factory tech or trans go), also do the gotts mod

 

I'll probably be towing 2-3 times a year. When I'm not towing with it, my dad will be driving it daily and the mileage stinks as it is, so I'll suffer with the 3.55s for now.

 

Just an FYI, in California, anything over 1500lbs requires trailer brakes. I would also be surprised if you aren't over 5k with everything.

 

Sounds good, you should be fine. When towing, USE the Overdrive Button, keeps pressures and fluid flow high to keep tranny cool.

 

Hmm, that's news to me, but it appears you are correct. I'll have to look into this. Thanks for pointing it out.

I'd estimate the trailer at about 2000 lbs, and the car weighs 2400 lbs, plus a couple hundred pounds of parts (heavier stuff goes in the bed of the truck), so I'd say 5K is a good guess.

I assume you mean I should use the button to turn overdrive off, right?

 

You should not tow heavy loads with the overdrive on. Do a search. This has been debated many times with the majority saying to leave it off.

 

Ok, I'll leave OD off the whole time. I'll only be doing 55 so the revs won't be too high in 3rd.

 

Yes leave it off. Use the button to turn it off, is what I should I said.

 

These discussions never address the full load the truck has to pull.
Your truck weighs? what 5500+, trailer 2000, total load 2400 + 200 + gas, driver passenger etc.
The total weight can be over 10,000 gross combined weight.
The trans and motor has to move all of it.
Point being there is more to this than just addressing the extra loads.
Brakes, cooling, trans cooling, tires etc are all part of the total consideration.
This is what gets short changed in the overall discussion.
I have been through all of it.
At a road speed of 55, the trans won't be able to pull the load in OD no matter in or out. The PCM will keep it out most of the time except down grade.
Out of OD and lockup, the trans runs higher temps.
Low road speeds cool the fluid less. It pays to have fan assist on the cooler and watch trans temps.
Not arguing but these are the facts.
You make the decisions.

 

As per Ford, and what makes sense for the tranny, only lock out overdrive if you are pulling at a speed that causes hunting between 3rd and 4th.

Adrianspeeder

 

Adrian, not just hunting between 3-4, but also locking and unlocking of the torque convertor in 4.

 

What's the opinion on leaving OD on while driving in completely flat terrain? After the mountain, I'll be driving for quite a while in the Central Valley which is flat farm land. I'd like the potential of better mileage in that situation by keeping the revs low.