I have a 97 F150 4.6, 4x4, 5 speed, ext cab, 8 foot box with 3.55's and stock 235/70 tires. I tow a 19 foot 87 Shasta that loaded weighs 4200-4300 lbs, plus a family of 5, and crap in the back.
The truck does OK in my mind for a 281 ci V8 , I just keep it in 4th most of the time!
The old 300ci 6 is a different engine , with different torge characteristcs, but what I can tell you is final gear ratio plays a huge part in towing! That includes tire size. If the sticker on the door gives a tire size, than the final gear ratio is calculated using that size tire. if you go up a size or two in tire size, then the final gear ratio effectively goes down. There are charts that show this.

Thanks Tom

 

you would have had more trouble trying to pull it with the 5.0L, yeah it might have 2 more cylinders and 2 more ci's, and it might be a good stang engine, but the 5.0L aint no towing motor, its just a little "torqueless v-8", i have a friend with a 95 150 w/ 5.0l eddie bauer 5spd and he wont tow anything with that truck, he had to go out and buy a '03 f350 PSD 5spd + granny gear, but anyways, dont ever regret your desicion to go with the 4.9L

 

cool! so if i put 33"s on my truck will it be like having 4.10s??

 

Terminology problem - bigger tires make the effective ratio NUMBER go down which is what you do not want to do.

 

No, it'll be more like having 3.08s. To get more torque at the wheels, you need to go DOWN in tire size or UP in gear numbers (down in gear ratio).

 

my bad

 

First I want to say all you guys have helped me big time on this issue, excellent post I'm a serious Novice I purchased a 95 f 150 8 ft bed 4.9 6 cycylinder I've had this truck 3 yrs I towed a Blown up Subaru Legacy to the junkyard and it felt like there was hardly anything back there Im thinking that car weighed at least 3500 lbs , I have never towed a travel trailer or owned one I want to buy a used one I don't know how much a 15 ft TT weighs but looking at this site all of you think my truck will handle it fairly well Thanks people , from a nervous Novice !