My friend and I are thinking of towing my Cherokee with his '96 F150 from Calgary out to the Okanogan this July on a tandon axle trailer. Does anyone know the specs on this engine and truck. Will it have the power and weight capacities to handle the load through the Rockies?

Thanks

 

I don't have any specs on your specific rig, but I've heard that the 4.9 is a strong and reliable engine (just gets lousy gas mileage). I'd also guess that you are probabaly going to be hauling about 5000 lbs of trailer and Cherokee. Maybe more. You will also have to consider the "luggage" you are planning on taking. The truck should have a sticker on the drivers side door jamb that lists the GVW and the CGVW. The GVW is the max weight the truck by itself can handle with passengers, gear, fuel, etc. The CGVW is this weight plus your trailer and it's contents. My rig is rated for a GVW of 6250# and a CGVW of 13,250#. That basically boils down to a 7000# max weight trailer. Now I have the 5.4, automatic and 3.55 gears. I'm only guessing, but I'd say your friends rig would be at the limit of it capabilities. If it were a short trip or one that doesn't have many hills, I'd say go for it, but it sounds like your trip is a long one, and I think the highest point of the Rockies in the states is something like 10,000 feet or so (14,000 feet sticks in my head too). You will lose alot of HP at that elevation. You didn't mention what type of tranny or gears or if it has bigger tires on it. These will all factor into it as well.

You would also need to make sure the trailer has good brakes. If you make it to the top, you still have to go down the other side.....

I would try to find an F250 myself. I don't think I would try it, even with my rig.....

Good luck.

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1997 F150 4x4 Off Road, SuperCab, Short Box, 5.4, Royal Blue/Silver, K&N, Gibson SS, LT265/75/16 Wild Country APT's

 

I had a 95 with 4.9 and 5 speed. Towed a 1500lb(approx) camper 3000 miles round trip through the mountains in Canada without a problem. I had the 2.73 rear end. I'd find out the diff. ratio and call ford to see if they know. I also had about 400 lbs of stuff in the bed also. I don't know what he was talking about it having crappy gas mileage. I got 20mpg city and it had 70,000 miles on it.

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1997 XLT Teal 4.6L Flareside 4x4 ORP. Automatic, Reg. cab, 3.55LS, tinted windows, bug deflector, Dual exhaust, K&N Generation 2 air filter, BullDog keyless entry/remote start, Modern 16" wheels, bedliner, Covercraft tonneau cover, White faced gauges, electronic shift on the fly, Clarion ADX5655z Double Din Cassette & CD, 4 Pioneer TS-A6865 speakers and superchip.

Future mods: Supercharger, headers, NOS, tranny upgrade(heavy duty gears, clutch packs, etc.), performance torque converter, composite driveshaft, bore cylinders 30 over, new pistons, crank, and rods, get performance heads or port the ones I have, gauges for the a-pillar, new L if they still make them and I like the way it looks, and a Z06 Vette or BMW Z3.




Click here to see more pictures

 

Just what I have read from other posts on the site when talking about the 4.9..... I should have put the disclaimer, "Your mileage my vary".

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1997 F150 4x4 Off Road, SuperCab, Short Box, 5.4, Royal Blue/Silver, K&N, Gibson SS, LT265/75/16 Wild Country APT's

 

We've decided that if we were going east we would have no problem, but that going west throught the Rockies will just be too hard on the truck. I'm sure it would be able to make it, but pulling the 5000+ pounds would be very hard on the truck and could turn a 7hr drive into a 10-15hr drive, which is way too long. Thanks for the input/advice.

Later