I have a 2011 F150 XLT SuperCab, just under 2k miles. I am towing a 20' car hauler (enclosed) going 500 miles on hwy 101 from SF to Oregon. Lots of hills and inclines. I'm towing a car that weighs 2800lbs, the hauler is 2600lbs.

It will be raining or sprinkling the entire time I am driving.

My question is, should I be in 4wdHi the entire time (assuming the roads are wet) or only when on inclines?

Thanks!

Note: The car hauler has a 1968 Jag XKE that is fantastic...I'll send pictures if someone responds!!!! (and yes I'm new to trucks & towing, can you tell?)

 

I would think you might only need 4Hi for uphill launches in wet conditions.

In almost all street conditions 2wd with a good driver can get everywhere a 4wd can

 

I'll also take a picture of the entire haul package and post it in the correct thread. Thanks!

I can't post inline yet, so here they are in my dropbox account:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13504026/jag1.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13504026/jag2.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13504026/jag3.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13504026/jag4.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13504026/jag5.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13504026/jag6.jpg

 

got them posted for you, sharp car!! Whats the story behind it?

 

...

 

The only time I have used 4 hi is when towing on loose gravel and that was towing a skid steer and trailer with attachments up a steep but short hill that I didn't get a good enough running start at to keep momentum and I got stuck. I also tow a 11,000lbs fifth wheel as well as a 18ft open car trailer in the summer running Innovative Diesel's tow tune and never use 4wd just go easy on the throttle and breaks in 2wd and you will be fine.

 

2wd will be fine.....the truck has traction control and anti sway.......wet roads wouldn't be any justification to use 4wd......slow down if needed>>>that's the best way to tow a trailer.....

 

I'll add that the only time you should use 4WD on the hardball is when there is snow or ice. Rain (water) is really no factor as long as your speed is low enough that you don't hydroplane. (If you're at towing speeds, I doubt hydroplaning is an issue at all.)

4WD on a hard surface will make the handling "squirrelly". Not something you want anytime, and especially not when towing. It does not improve your "towing power" at all, provided there is sufficient traction for the tires (no ice, snow, etc.).

- Jack

 

You definitely do not want to run down the highway in four wheel drive. That puts a god awful bind on the entire drive line.

 

If it's snowy/icy I'd try to find another time to do the tow if possible.

 

2WD on any pavement unless it is completely snow covered.

 

It only binds while turning...

To the OP, you should only use 4x4 when you NEED it.

 

Wow, great feedback and thanks to all. We made the trip just fine, even in the rain. We travelled just under 600 miles towing the jag in the car hauler through a rainstorm without a problem, even on the steep inclines and 7% grades downhill. I also see why it was important to have an electronic brake control added, that really helped.

Story on the Jag:
My father-in-law bought it 25 years ago from the first owner. The original owner had his own shop and tinkered with the car quite a bit, almost to it's detriment. When my father-in-law got it, he reversed alot of the tweeks and brought it to a stock condition with a few mods - electronic ignition control, a bypass fan control and an additional fuel pump. When he turned 70, he decided it was time to sell it as he didn't want to take care of it anymore.

We bought it from him and have had it for the last 4 years. It has <43,000 original miles, and the pictures you see were just after I got it back from the paint shop for a frame-off paint job, and we completely refurbished the engine, tranny and suspension. It drives like a dream! (well, as best as a dream can be with manual steering that is)

- Jim

 

Not correct. If the tires were solid steel and exactly the same diameter, then you'ld be correct.

Those tires are soft rubber and they wear and they depend on air and their rolling radius varies with load / inflation pressure / wear. The ones with greatest loads even heat up more and that's a variation in inflation.

No way all 4 are the same, they vary and those variations stack up and put the entire drive train in a bind as the front of the truck and the rear of the truck try to move at two different speeds while still connected. Doesn't take a huge mis-match to put a great deal of heat creating stress on every gear tooth, bearing, and U joint ... and even the tire treads themselves.

It would be like tires bolted side by side on a dual wheel setup like Dualies, TTs, etc. If not matched perfectly, they try to travel two different speeds. There's no gearing or U joints between them, but if not matched, they both wear faster as one drags, one spins (and even if perfectly matched, they wear most on anything but perfectly straight running).

RRs wear their steel wheels most on the long gradual turns precisely because of the great weight and steel wheels and steel rails and the fact that the left side and right side wheels are connected by a big fat solid axle with no differential.

 

I have been in love with Jaguar XKEs since I was a boy and sat in a new green roadster on the dealer's floor about 1964 as my dad looked at the new Mercedes. He bought Plymouth Satelite instead. Faster and not so stinky as a '60s MB Diesel.

I never took the plunge to get a Jag, but to my way of thinking, a Vette don't hold a candle to them in looks. A older second cousin once had one, it too was green, a '66 or '67 I think it was. I got one ride in it, it was fun.

I think if Marilyn Monroe had had 4wheels, she would have looked a lot like a Jag XKE.

Sexiest car ever.

Thanks for sharing the pics.