I own a 1997, long bed, 5-speed manual, 6 cylinder, 2 wheel drive truck. I am looking for info regarding towing an aluminum 2 horse slant load gooseneck trailer. Can this be done or will my truck not handle this with its factory rear end? Any information will be appreciated. Thanks.

------------------
siintrigue

 

The V6, 5 speed combo has the lowest tow rating avail. I believe it is in the neighborhood of 3500 pounds. Anyone out there with a 97 brochure that can tell for sure???

 

I've got one at home but at work right now. I will look but I know you are right V10man. It was realy low. However there was a thread in the Tranny section about this. Most say it was artificially low and could handle more. And many have given it more. It was a real knock down drag out thread. Worth searching for.

 

Two points I'd like to make/ask:
Is this a full size truck??? Or something like a toyota or Ford Ranger???
Isn't a "gooseneck" similar to a 5th wheel?? And wouldn't the truck pulling it need to at least have the camper package on it to handle the extra weight in the bed???

 

The truck is a full size pickup with an 8 foot bed. I currently tow a bumper pull 2 horse trailer, approx 2,000 lb. with a 1,000lb horse in it & sometimes with a pony. I have pulled a very long maybe 20' 2 horse with a dressing room on the bumper and it did well. This was an older heavier trailer. I want to get into a lightweight aluminum 2 horse slant "fifth wheel" or gooseneck as we call them. I pull the 2 horse with a reese hitch 2" drop. Since the weight would be over the axle of the trailer, couldn't the rear axle of my truck handle the light weight of the gooseneck front? I would only have the one horse in it anyway. Thanks for all replies.

------------------
siintrigue

 

As per 1997 booklet--4.2 with a 3.08 will tow 2300 lbs, 3.55-3600 lbs., for a regular cab 4X2. Super cabs are 2100 and 3400 lbs., respectively.

 

siintrigue: sounds like your 6cyl is doing the job BUT I bet the engine is really having to work at it. Do you have any info on just how much weight will be on the gooseneck?? And if the new trailer weighs less than the one you have??? You know your horse will continue to weigh about 1k so the only play you have will be w/the weight of the trailer. If the new one is less than the one you have, then you should have no problems. I wouldn't add any more weight than you already pull though. Also there's things you can do to your truck to help it out. Like helper springs (I think that's what they are called) The guys here will know more about this stuff than me.

 

Tina, Thanks for the info. I do not know at the moment how much weight will be on the 5th however I will be looking into it. I am also going to look into the helper springs for my truck. As for the engine, believe it or not it really doesn't work that hard, compared to my friends automatic which really takes a beating hauling a trailer. I find that with the standard tranny I can control how much the truck needs to get up a hill or whatever. I don't normally haul in the winter so the truck does only about 18 hauls a year during show season. I also use a product called "Friction Free 3000" which uses micrometal technology to seal any pits or scratches inside the engine itself and keeps it always new. It also increased my gas mileage by about 9 miles to the gallon even pulling the trailer. With gas prices the way they are this was a big bonus this year. All I have to do is add it after an oil change and my engine will stay in excellent condition. Thanks for all the info and help!

------------------
siintrigue

 

I'd forgotten you have a manual. I too drive a manual and my truck will pull/tow anything you hitch behind it The only problem w/manuals is when people drive them that don't know how to shift. Otherwise the manual will outpreform an automatic any day of the week (and get better milage doing it) Another thing you can look into would be to add a Superchip for more HP/torque. It would cause you to have to use Premium but I found on my last truck (4x4 F150 4.6 5speed) that I got better milage. So that kind of made up a little bit of savings toward the higher price of gas. Now if you REALLY want to pull that trailer and not even know it's back there, get you something like I drive!!! I pull a 30'travel trailer and load up anything/everything I want into it Go over to the Computer chips section and talk w/Mike T about what the chip will do to help your engine pull better.

------------------
2k F250 CC SWB 4x2 6 speed Diesel XLT Super Duty, Woodland Green
Power Mirrors, 3.73 LS, Captains Chairs, ARE tonneau top, rear privacy glass
TT Pkg, Class IV hitch, sliding rear window, running boards, mud flaps
265/75/16 AS OWL tires, am/fm/cassette/cd, rechargable MagLite
Clarion APA 5240 amp, Memphis speakers:Components front, 5x7 rear, 10"sub
SuperChip, Stepshields, Ventshields on windows, rubber bed mat
rugged liner bedliner on tailgate, quick disconnect jumper cables
unaFORDable (decal on tailgate)