I own a 2001 f-150 supercrew XLT with 56K miles. I recently bought a 16 foot tandem axle enclosed trailer for hauling my toys around in. Loaded with 2 sleds and gear on the interstate, my truck wouldn't move past 70mph or so and the motor just stopped pulling. Also, if the OD is off it just howls. With the OD on, it shifts constantly.

My question.....Should I upgrade to an F-250 or 350, and is the V8 in those models adequate to pull past 70 MPH on the interstate, or should I move to a V10. It's also my daily driver, so a Diesel is out of the question.

I've gotten conflicting stories as to what the V8 can handle in the 150, 250, and 350 models. I'm also worried about my tranny taking a dump on me.

 

Need a little more info like engine size, gear ratio, tire size. Does the truck run fine when not towing the trailer?

In general, you should not have any problems with that size trailer, unless it's weighs over #8000......

When you say it won't go over 70, does that mean you have your foot to the floor and it's giving all it's got?

What are the rpms at when you are doing this? It almost sounds like you are in SECOND gear and going 70 mph??? If the rpms were over 4500, then that's the case I'd say and that is all you are going to get out of it....

Are you trying to climb a steep grade while doing this? Or was this on level ground?

Mitch

 

I would be kind of scared to tow something that big over 70 anyway. Do you have upgraded brakes or anything like that? Give us a little insight on the weight of this trailer loaded.

 

My suggestion is to not tow over 70mph. Your gas mileage fall exponentially for every mph you try to maintain over 70mph anyways. Whatever time you save will be spent at the pump. In addition, if you're towing so much weight that you can't go above 70mph, you're not exactly being a responsible driver.

If you get a Super Duty, you will need the V10. Keep in mind that you're powering an even heaver vehicle with the exact same engine. If you think you're slow now, add another 1000lbs into the mix.

 

What engine do you have now? 4wd/2wd?

70mph in 3rd gear for either the 4.6 or 5.4L would be fine for hours on end. You may not think it sounds good, but the enigne (either 4.6 or 5.4L) is in its peak torque range. Keep OD off if transmission is constantly shifting. Changing your driving habits should be fine for your current truck for a 2500 pound cargo trailer plus 1500 pounds of cargo.

As for upgrading trucks, why considier the V10 and not diesel? Diesel will get better fuel economy (maybe not to offset the initial cost), and provide more torque.

 

And sounds a lot cooler

 

The enclosed trailer is one of your problems on the highway. It is a great big brick as you already know.

Gearing is an area that can yield significant towing improvements.

An f-250/350 would defiinately be a better towing vehicle. I have seen early 90's 250's from 2-6k $. If I pulled my trailer more than once every other month, I would consider buying a used 250 diesel just for towing.

I know others will disagree, but pulling my load (72 mustang) with a 250 4x4 diesel through the texas hill country was a breeze. I did not have to 'get a run' at the big hills just to crest the top @ 35 mph. And i enjoyed hearing the Turbo 'spin up' as we power up the hills.

Just my .02 cents.

 

Weight has almost nothing to do with how fast your truck will pull a trailer unless you're going uphill. So that is probably not his problem. Wind resistance is a MAJOR factor in pulling trailers up and around the 70 mph range. I think you're not going to see an enormous benefit by switching to the V10. It will pull it better, but don't be surprised if it has trouble at 70 mph as well. It's a matter of physics. The ammount of drag increases enormously over 55 mph, so even a diesel will know it's back there.

I have a 5.4, and I can pull a short peanut wagon, (4 wheels) about 63-65 mph, wide open. But I can pull a tandem axle peanut wagon (6 wheels) the same speed. And it weighs a lot more, has another axle, and is probably 6 feet longer.

My dad has the v10 and I bet he can't break 70-71 mph with the same wagon. My uncle has a powerstroke, and I think we got the thing up to 73-74 mph once.

My truck has the hardest time pulling a 40 foot cotton wagon. They are made of a mesh screen, and they probably don't weigh over 7,000 lbs but I doubt my truck would pull it over 55 mph, wide open.


So, you see, it's not so much the power of the engine, or the weight of the trailer that you're looking at, it's the drag.

 

Aerodynamic drag grows exponetially with speed. At what point does it become "ernormous"?

My FIL pulls a 7x14 enclosed cargo trailer. I went with him when he bought it in Western MI, about 180 miles from his house. He had no problems pullimng it at 70-75mph unloaded (2300 pounds) in overdrive on mostly flat freeways. 1199 F-150 Sueprcab Lariat 4x4 5.4L 3.73 32" tires. Ther eshould be no problem pulling a 7x16 similar trailer at 65-70mph in 3rd gear with either the 4.6 or 5.4L. I won't take bets on fuel consumption, though.

 

Notice I said "in general" before that...... Geeze.... Take a general statement and make it sound like that's all I meant..... You must be in the Media, huh??

The rest of your post has words like "almost", "unless", "probably".... Sounds like "general" statements to me!! ha, ha!!

Sure, wind resistence is a MAJOR factor.... But what road is perfectly flat for your entire trip??

Yeah, you tow some pretty heavy things.... Great..... Does it make it right, or does that mean everyone else has to do the same thing???

60 sf of frontal surface area is the same whether the trailer is 12' or 35'.... It's the same whether the trailer weighs #2000 or #20000....

How fast you tow it can make a difference however..... I'll bet it's easier to pull a #2000 trailer at 70 mph with the same frontal surface area then it is to pull a #20000 trailer at 70 mph......

Yeah, I'm busting your ballz some on this... Just as you busted mine!

What this whole thread boils down to is that Mr. OxfordSupercrew has YET to make a second post to answer my or anybody elses followup questions, so all this is turning out to be is a stupid 'pissing' match over facts that are yet to be determined....

Mitch