need some advice from fellow f150 owners. i have a 2003 f150 supercrew fx4 4x4 w/ tow package, 5.4 l, 3.73 gear ratio, auto. , 6750# package. i plan on purchasing a wilderness camper with a dry weight of 4850 lbs. and a gvwr of 7200 lbs. do you think i can tow this comfortably or will this be hard on my truck. thanks in advance.

 

Not beating around the bush here, but you will not be too satisified... I'd suggest a F-250....

 

thanks reelwork. do you think the power will be lacking, or is this set up to hard on the truck.

 

mikes03,

well I will give you my opion...................You will do fine! just remember a few things. Turn off overdrive and dont expect to keep up with the big blocks or the V10s. That set up you have is Ideal for what you have so dont load it up with too much other stuff. I have about the same set up as you but I have the 3:55 axel. I dont know what ReelWork is referring to. Some people expect too much. Just take your time.

mlaugh

 

I have been towing all types of stuff for years, mainly boats, but I have towed 20 foot campers and tandem axle trailers loaded with bricks/lumber and here's what I have found to be the safe rule of thumb. That rule is to not tow more than 75% of the max towing weight for the vehicle if you plan to do it regularly.

What this means is that you can load up a trailer with two cords of bricks and tow it (around 8k lbs with trailer), but you should plan to do it safely and take extreme caution, giving enough room to brake and factoring in slower acceleration.

Now with a trailer like your talking, an F-150 will tow it ok, don't get me wrong. The problem is that the brakes are not as beefy as they need to be (unless the trailer has brakes - does it?). Additionally, the towing power, while it may be adequate, is not being transferred through a heavy duty tranny. That's right, the 150's come with a wussy tranny. The Lightning/HD and super duties all come with the heavy duty tranny, but not our 150's! What does this mean? Lots of heat buildup and premature failure in the right conditions. Heavy towing makes the perfect conditions...

Now, to answer your question, YES, it will be hard on the truck.. It'll do it, but it will be working...

Don't forget that you will undoubtedly be towing that nice camper with a load of supplies.. So factor in another 250 lbs for potable water (30 gallons at 8 lbs/gallon), Another 40-80 lbs for propane, food, gear, toys, passengers, etc - you see where I'm going with this... You will pretty easily bump that 4850 dry weight to well over 6k lbs.. Don't forget that you, the driver, are still factored into the overall weight. So, with you (assuming you're around 200 lbs) and water (300+), you have less than 1k lbs to play with and you're quickly closing in on your max... That's ok, but then you factor in the **** poor aerodynamics of the camper - nuff said.

Now, some may disagree with me and I may sound like an old poot but, I that's based on my experiences.. I'd say to give it a try first and see what you think... If you know your truck, it'll let you know what it thinks...

Take care!
Chris

 

Mlaugh - no flame here, I'll reply to ya!

I don't expect much, but I don't like to push it when towing. I tow my boat (around 3500 lbs) at around 70-75 most of the time, but in the slightest headwind, it starts to bog the truck down, as do the hills. Now, it has the power available, but I'm not going to run with my foot buried, running at more than 3k RPM's and stopping at every gas station, ya know?

Basically what I am saying is that these 150's are very capable. Deceptively capable and that's the problem!

Respectfully,
Chris

 

I just purchased a Toybox that is similar in weight. It is 4000 lbs empty and I think about 6000 lbs fully loaded. I also have a 4000lb boat that I've been towing with the Screw since new.
My truck is the same as Mike03 but the 2001 version with a chip, exhaust, and K&N.

I just got back from a long trip with the new trailer. On flat terrain it would not stay in 4th at any speed. It turned out to be an entertaining game of how to work the gas pedal so that it would keep the torque converter locked in 3rd. It’s important to keep it locked as much as possible due to tranny heat. On flat ground it might do 65+mph, but cruised nicely at 60 (I only passed one vehicle in 800 miles). I was getting 8.4mpg on that section of road. Don’t expect much over 200 miles per tank. The next section of road was all rolling hills with one very step, long climb. The tranny temp went up to 240F (70F ambient), 2nd gear, 45 mph (it also went up to 230F in stop and go traffic).

One surprise for me was how the Toybox towed. I set it up with the Resse Dual Cam HP hitch and a Prodigy brake controller, and with this set up it actually tows better than my boat. The sway control and weight distribution makes towing soooo much more comfortable and safer.

Bottom line is the truck did O.K. but I’m now looking for a 2001-2002 Powerstroke, as I mostly tow with the truck.

 

I have a similar sized trailer being pulled by a '02 screw with 5.4 with towing package and 3.55 rear end. This past summer we went from mid Florida to the Georgia mountains. We went along at 70 mph most of the way, down to 10mph in the mountains. The truck pulled the trailer with no problems, plenty of power at all times.
The only thing that has me concerned is the tranny. As was mentioned before, this is the weak link. I would recommend a trans temp gauge so you can keep any eye it. My big concern is down time in some far away place getting my tranny serviced. Other than that I think you are fine, just watch how much stuff (extra weight) you put into the trailer.

 

thanks guys! i really appreciate your input. i plan on getting a prodigy brake controller and a equalizer weight dist. hitch. most of my towing will be on relatively flat terrain. we generally camp around 8-10 times a year. can anyone tell me a good tranny temp gauge and who sells it? thanks again!

 

i have a 03 Scerw with the 5.4 and with 3.55 ls rear end and pull a 6500 trailer and it pulls up no prolbem up hills at speed and can acclrate with no prolbem and there are about teh stepens hills i have ever seen on and freeway i usaly use the cruse when pulling theo so i would say you will be just fine the trailer i'm pulling it a inclosed 24' race cartrailer with a 2526 lb pro mod car in it

 

and i for got to say i leave the overdrive on and let the truck chose what gear it wants most the time it is in overdrive on hills it will go out of overdirve but rarly went doen a nother gear and tires will have a little to do with it to you have to rember that i'm runing 275/65/17

 

My wifes 02 towed my 2000lb car trailer and 3000 car with no real issues. It could hold 70 mph going up hill without much effort. Hers has the 5.4 and 3.55 gears. It gets the job done. Just keep the O/D off. Just my .02

 

Realworks point is being missed here;

Sure you can pull quite a bit more with a F150 than Ford recommends, but! The rule he pointed out is a life saver! Me and my wife, and our 4 yr old log a great deal of miles coast to coast pulling our 5er, we do that with a F-550! We pull a 40 Teton w/t 4 slides, its to heavy for even MDT(F250-F350) so we pull it with a real Super Duty! When your pulling anything, and with even a F150 you have to be able to stop your load, trailer brakes do help, but what ultimately controls your load is the haul truck, and if your load is beyond your breaking ability of the haul truck you could end up in trouble that you and your truck cant handle. F150"s have been pulling all kinds of things for 100 years and counting, but expecting them to do what their clearly not intended to do is for Chevy owners, not us! I am guilty of this as well, that's why we bought the F550 PSD/Super Duty. I had a trailers brakes lock up on wet surface on me and it all came down to the F350 I had at the time, I had the trailer strait, I didn't have a lot of time to react, at all My F350 was being pushed by the trailer, and we went into the back of a semi, that helped us stop for sure, and may have saved our lives. This is where the rule that realwork has quoted proves, and holds it ground! With know argument! I have a F150 Supercrew King Ranch 4X4 w/t 5.4L and 3:55LS and the best tow package available. But! When you do all the math, as Realwork has stated you shouldn't ever pull over your vehicles weight, if you have to keep it "slow", and make sure your trailer is parallel to the road, and watch your tranny temp.

We have seen some really bad accidents involving light trucks and there trailers with all of our 5ing. It is sad, People getting killed because they think there light truck can handle anything! The worst part of it is this; when I got my family in our accident, I thought My truck was big and bad too! What a fool I was! SAFETY FIRST, your life is at stake! So is everyone else's.

Merry Christmas

 

F-250 power stroke............. or in a year trade ur worn out f-150 for one..