Unfortunately I am unable to postpone my company truck long enough for the 2004 Fords, I will either get an S'crew, with 5.4/3.73's/17" rubber, or a SD F250 CC SB with 5.4/4.10's/265's.
I tow up to 5,000lbs and haul up to 1,000lbs in the box. Anyone load up thier Crew like this with this combo? How does it work? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

I have a 01 Screw with the 5.4l 4x2 3.55, and tow a flatbed carhauler. loaded down it probably is 6000-7000 lbs (it's a tandem axle 18ft dovetail with surgebrakes) I had no trouble pulling it, in fact I ran the speed limit through the passes from CoSp to FL. (you have to be careful to always tow with the overdrive OFF and it's harder than you might think cuz, it resets to ON every time you turn off the truck to get gas or whatever.) I would highly recommend some airbag load assist though cuz it kinda sagged the truck more than I like and I swear the front tires came off the ground once on a bouncy section through TX?!
oh yea, and I have a K&N FIPK and a strait pipe where the muffler used to be.

 

'01 Screw 4X4, 5.4, 3.55 gears pull a 24ft enclosed race trailer. Total weight is 7340 lbs. I don't tow in OD so it eats into gas mileage but the truck handles it fine and doesn't act like it is straining. Not gonna win any stop light races though.

 

I tow a 21 foot Chaparral 2130ss with a tandem trailer w/surge brakes (6000lbs or so). Tows fine 65-75 , but a little slower up the hills 50-55mph.

PS..
After reading the post below I forgot to mention that I bought the truck for versatility and pleasure.......Not to work it hard and constant. I only tow the boat in the summer and that amounts to 6 to 10 times a year. Its not a "Work" truck, but that is exactly why I bought it...same cash as F250L with 5.4

 

F250 without any question !!! Just the frame alone will be safer for you and the 4:10 gears will work wonders for you over the standard 3:55 or 3:73 that come with the S'Crew. The guys that've posted so far may be gettin by with towing those weights but how long are their trucks going to last and how comfortable are they to tow those weights? Read those posts carefully....
I'd opt for the 5.4 or V10 with 3:73 or 4:10 on a F250 chassis. This will give you plenty of pulling power and the truck will last forever. I promise that if you get a S'crew with 3:55 and the 4.6 you'll be way sorry and if you get it with the 5.4 it'll be ok but you'll always wish you'd gotten a true work truck. Just my opinion.

 

I tow a 30' camper that weighs about 6200# loaded and throw in some gear in the rear and it tows fine. I had the truck and then bought the trailer. I would buy a 250 with a bigger motor than the 5.4. If you are going to get a 5.4 then I would get the screw.

 

Related questions guys....

Why do you turn off OD when towing. I can understand it if up and down hills is causing too much shifting. But why not use OD on flatland roads???


Thanks for your help.

 

Scooksey....I know you'll get better technical responses to your question than this but, my read on it, based on pulling both a 12' twin axle flatbed trailer with a small tractor frequently and a 3800' popup camper, is that it all has to do with how often the truck has to downshift when in overdrive to keep up with the speed your asking it to go. Frequent downshifts = harder wear on the tranny. It's easier on the engine to run at 2300 RPM consistantly than it is to run at 2000 RPM and then downshift one or two gears (sometimes running up to 3500RPM or better) alot because of a grade or headwind etc. I'd bet your gas mileage would be the same or better over the long run out of OD too in this scenario. I pulled my twin axle trailer across Eastern Colorodo with the Kuboda on it and a 20 - 30 MPH tailwind and never took it out of OD and got 19 MPG on a tank. This was a trailer and load combo that weighed about 4500LBs. It stayed in OD and never downshifted at all for over 150 miles !! Thats unusual though. Just my experience with it though......

 

mjhind -
Have been looking for a camper to pull with my Screw and, of course, the bigger the better as far as living in it is concerned........... but I've not been able to find anything close to a 30 footer that weighs in loaded anywhere close to what you have. Thought I'd looked at em all. What make and model is it and what kind of hitch set up are you running with. Thanks.......

 

I used my 2002 Screw with 5.4L for towing our 25ft Sportsmen this past weekend and it did a wonderful job. Previously we had used a 97 Explorer with the 5L V8. The difference between the two is night and day, no complaints about the truck. By the way the Sportsmen has a queen bed slide out that extends the trailer to about 31 ft so it may meet your needs.

 

Thanks for the info DGSCREW !!! Don't want to turn this thread into a travel trailer discussion so I'd offer this URL as an alternative. This is a GREAT site for RV and towing info. I've noticed that those who tow a lot would rather be overtrucked than overtrailered. There really is a science to this if you want to do it safely without damaging the equipment .

http://www.rvadvice.com/main.html

 

momule.... Thanks for the input and advice. I'll soon be towing a tandem axle trailer with a couple of 4x4's on it. Probably less than 2000lbs trailer and 4x4 weight. Your experiences will help.

 

I own a 2001 Screw and pull a boat thru the hills of Colorado. Haven't had the chance to go up any of the major hills but where I have pulled it it has done fine. Can't tell it is back there sometimes... With that said with the loads you are talking about hands down get the 250 with diesel and pull whatever you want.... Daddy always said if your gonna go GO BIG!!!!

 

I tow a 21 foot Wellcraft deep-vee I/O boat with a tandem trailer and surge brakes. I have yet to tow it any distances but I did take it for a little spin and the Screw did just as good towing and better braking than my 1994 Bronco with a 351 EFI.

I did tow a 19 foot fullsize camper (hardshell, not pop-up) over 200 miles back in September and I stayed out of OD the whole time like your supposed to. The screw towed it great, 65-75 the whole way without gettin on it and RPM's stayed under 3k.

For those wanting to know about the OD issue, here is why.

You tow with OD off for the reason of reducing strain on the tranny by not having it hunt for the right gear, this builds up heat and ya know what kills trannies??? You guessed it, HEAT... Secondly, which is directly related to the hunting/heat issue or rather actions to keep it from happening, is that when out of OD your RPM's run a little higher, thus maintaining a higher line pressure on the tranny and preventing the torque converter from slipping out of gear. So, what does this mean? It means that your torque converter is locked and that you have more fluid running through the tranny which which serves to cool the tranny faster. A slipping (non-locked) tranny is the source of almost all the heat that is built up in a tranny...

To put it in a nutshell, shifting translates to heat buildup... Ask anyone with a tranny guage installed what happens when the tranny starts shifting a bunch... In a matter of seconds, YES SECONDS, the tranny will begin heating up significantly...

Sorry this is long winded, but I think I was clear enough???

Chris (ReelWork)

 

momule

I have a Jayco Quest 294j. They now make a Kiwi Too 30t that has a slide and weighs the same as my 294j. I really like the quality and prices on the Jayco's. Have had mine now for two years and no problems except minor ones that have been taken care of by the dealer.