I am a newbie to this site and have learned alot in a little time reading the boards.....But...... I still need answers... I own a
97 F-150 ext cab short bed with the 4.2 V-6 I believe with a 5 speed. I also have a 2000 Expedition XLT with the small V-8 (4.6??)... My question is what are the towing capacities of both of them? I recently bought a 33' travel trailer pull behind and am having it delivered. I know I need to get a class 4 reciever hitch as well as trailer brake controls but whitch vehicle can I use. I would like to use the Expidition but will it handle the weight? I have no idea what the weight is of the trailer I am waiting on the old owner to reply to my email.... Any help would be GREATLY appriciated.... My wife hates the thought of trading my pickup in on a 3/4 ton but I am afraid that is the best solution. The man who owns it now said his 03 F-250 powerstroke 4X4 pulls it with no problem he hardly notices it back there.......
Please help.....

 

Unless that 33 footer is an Airstream, I doubt that your Expedition will be able to make a good go of it. The trailer will probably be well over 7,000#.... And you have the smaller of the two engines in your Expy. Do you know your axle gear ratio & wheel size? You'd also need a good tranny cooler if you don't have a tow package.

A PS diesel in a 3/4 ton is a whole different (and bigger) beast than an Expy.

Let us know what your weight and brand of trailer is...

 

f250 at least. v10 would be better than 5.4, diesel better than either. Neither of the vehicles you have described ( although you don't even know for sure what engines/axles/etc. are in them) are anywhere close to what you need to safely tow that trailer...

 

i agree, i think you should seriously consider getting something bigger if you want to pull that 33 footer....Now is a good time to do that too because of the surplus of used trucks out there, you might even be able to find a left-over 04 F250.......

 

It is definetely not a good idea to tow a 33' trailer with an expy 4.6 or 150 V6 manual.

My fifth wheel is only 29', and loaded it is about 8,000 lbs. Your new trailer will weigh at least that much, and you are well over all of your maximum GCWR, GVWR and probably payload.

If you cant go up the hill, you probably wont be able to stop going down the hill, either.

Be safe, and get a bigger truck.

I just replaced the truck in the signature below with an F250. That is your best bet, with the V10 or diesel would be your best bet, but the 5.4 3v is a good engine, and it should be able to tow up to 8500 lbs no problems.

Just my EDUCATED opinion!

 

Your F-150 can only tow 3500 pounds (manual tranny rated very low) and a 4.6L Expy isn't going ot get more than 6500 pounds. 33' trailers typically weigh around 6-8k dry, so you'll be well over the rated limits (besides pitifully slow and sucking a lot of fuel).