Hello, I've found a lot of information on the Lightning forum about towing, but some of it has been conflicting so I'd like to raise it as a new topic. I have a 2000 Lightning and I am considering purchasing a 27' camping trailer. The dry weight of the trailer is 7130 lbs. Not sure of the tongue weight. It comes with a load leveling htich with anti-sway bars installed. According to the owner's manual, with the stock 3.55 rear gear the Lightning should be able to tow 8500 lbs. Am I biting off more than I can chew with this trailer? Thanks.

Andy

 

I have always been told the maximum we can tow is 5000 lbs.

 

I've heard that too but the F-150 Owners Manual that comes with the truck shows 8500 in the towing table.

 

I don't have the suspension issues that pertain to the Lightning and that's too much trailer for my truck.

 

5,000 lbs is a Lightning's max tow rating. You are going to be exceeding that by well over 50% when that trailer is loaded. Will it pull it? Yes, like a champ, for a while.... when you're going up hills your boost is going to be pegged and on a stock tune you'll likely be seeing heat in excess of 1500 degrees for as long as you have that heavy of a load under that boost. and eventually you're going to melt or warp something unless you drive downhill everywhere you go. with load leveling hitch you are going to be right at or above the stock hitch's class rating. your suspension on a 2000L will probably be too soft even with load leveling so would require air bags, minimum. i have an EGT gauge and have done a lot of towing with 3500-4000 lbs in my 2003 L and I know that I would not pull over 5,000 lbs with mine regularly and expect the motor to not eventually suffer some serious damage. just my .02

 

Even though the L will move the trailer around, you'll get into trouble for not having appropriate 'tow' mirrors. Trust me, I regularly move an 8,000 lb travel trailer around & it's tough not being able to see down the sides of the trailer when backing up. That's why I have friends with F250s that I borrow for any long distance work.
Robert

 

8000 lb on a 2000L would be a really bad idea. First of all out suspension will suffer but air bags can fix that. Our tires that we have arent the best for heavy loading since they cant take tooo much weight on them. Finally though we have a powerful engine and tranny, the engine would definetly be working hard with a lot of excess boost, and the tranny could give u troubles since it will be working hard on hills and such. your best bet is to get an other truck to do that kind of hauling.