After two years I finally towed something! I picked up my dad's 18 foot flat bed trailer that he uses for work. The trailer by itself weighs about 2000 lb plus the 3000 lb of construction trash that was loaded on it made my rear sag quite a bit! I was pretty happy, however, with the performance of my little 4.6L engine. I was pleasantly surprised. I certainly didn't go any where fast, but I expected the truck to be more of a dog. Now I just need to make sure I get one of those wiring harness adapters so I can tow it legally.

Edit: I wish I had an Edge Evolution so I could see how atrocious my gas mileage was!

 

AH welcome to the towwers club. I tow a 6ooolbs boat and believe me you know it's back there.

 

What engine and gears do you have? I really wanted the 5.4L engine, but I found a deal that I just couldn't pass up, and it has the 4.6L engine. I'll just have to live with it. Or get a supercharger.

Fortunately, it's got 3.73s. Like all 4x4 owners, I'm planning on a lift (when I get out of college), so I'll probably swap them out for 4.10s. Eitherway, I hardly ever tow anything, so I'm not really concerned about this whole thing.

 

I have the 5.4 with 3.73 it gunts alittle but it will do it. I haven't towed since I put the new exaust and intake on it so I'm interested if it will help me a little.

 

How do you like that Gibson exhaust? I seriously considered a Gibson system, but I ended up going with a custom 3" dumped magnaflow. I got charged $150 for the SS muffler and $100 for labor, and once again, I couldn't pass it up. I messed my shorts when the mechanic cranked it up when he got done.

 

I like it alot. It's not horribly loud and I haven't noticed any drone in the cab. It has a nice low rumble at idle and when you get on it lets people know you are there. And the rectangular tips look great. imo

 

I don't tow very much with my truck but when I do I am glad I have the 5.4. It does quite well with a heavy load in my opinion.

 

Cpaggie_07
The first thing you need to do is to get an equalizer hitch - this levels the load and their is absolutely no sag at the hitch level (which is dangerous), then get an electric brake setup and finally stabilizer bar which keeps the sway away at high speeds.
I have regularly towed a 25 ft. Jayco Travel Trailer with no problems, even over the high Colorado mountain passes. But without the exhaust and intake system it was much more difficult. Now I have a new 19 ft. Airstream which is much more easy to tow but I still need all of the peripherals above.
If you are set up right and don't exceed your limitations, then you will have no problems at all towing. But if you tow without the right attachments, you might damage both your truck and your engine.
Hope these comments add to your towing issues questions.
Mert

 

Welcome to the towing world. Wait until you get something back there around 5,000 lbs and the weight of the 2,000 lb trailer you will know it's there.