hey guys not sure if i'm in the right section, but here goes. I have a 2011 5 liter regular cab long bed with 3.31 gears that will be replaced with 3.73. I want to start towing a 28 ft. trailer . I picked up the tranny cooler, t.b.c. and the correct 7 plug trailer harness and fuses. My question is will my radiator be ok or do I need a bigger one? I've read in different articles that ford didn't really make different towing radiators. Is this true?

 

To my knowledge you only get a different radiator when you get the max tow (and maybe the 8200lb GVWR), which is not available with the 5.0.

How heavy is this 28' trailer you plan on towing, not dry weight but GVWR.

 

spec say 7857#

 

That is an odd number for a GVWR. Sounds more like a dry weight. If a dry weight, GVWR would be more like 9500lbs, which will be way too heavy for the truck.

 

grey wolf 25rr toy hauler

Dry Hitch Weight 857 lbs
Dry Ship Weight 4,697 lbs
GVWR 7,857 lbs
Cargo Carrying Capacity 3,160 lbs

 

Sounds okay, but you will need a WD hitch and brake controller. It is a good thing you are getting a 3.73 rear. The 3.31 would not be fun to tow that weight with.

As far as the radiator, when you go through the build and price at Fords site, the only time I have seen anything about the radiator is when you look at the details for the max tow.

PS, I mentioned it sounded like a dry weight as usually, when a manufacturer lists the GVWR of a trailer it states numbers like 7850 or 7860, not an odd number like 7857.

 

I was looking at the Hensley or pro-pride hitches.

 

Forrest River is pushing the weights with its campers. It is using 2-3.5k axles to get the 7k and then adding in the 857 for tongue weight giving you a 7857.

Is this ok... well sure. But people are known to push limits and will probably overload these by even more than average.

 

Seems your thread here has gotten a little off course of your original question.

To determine if you need a bigger capactiy radiator, you need to get a real temp gauge (or a programmer or device that'll monitor real water temps) and tow with that a time or two to really tell. I don't know about on your model truck but on my '02, the temp needle sits at its "normal position" any time the water temp is between 160 and ~235+. Correct...the needle does not budge towards a hot indication until the actual water temp gets above 235. IMHO, that's way too hot.

On my truck when I first started towing, I was easily pushing and exceeding that on hot/uphill/stop and go traffic. So, in goes a bigger radiator and problem solved. Yes, in my scenario, I in fact needed a bigger radiator.