I have a 1995 F-150 (2WD) that I want to tow behind my RV.
The truck has a 5 speed manual transmission.
I have talked to Remco (The Towing Experts) and they tell me I can tow this vehicle with no modification if it has the Mazda transmission.

1. How do I tell whether or not my F-150 has the Mazda transmission?

2. Does anyone have personal experience pulling a '95 F-150 with manual transmission?

3. Do you believe Remco is correct?

4. Does Ford have an official opinion pther than the owners manual? Where can I find it? (I have read the owners manual that says 35 mph with 50 mile max)

5. Are there any speed or didtance limitations?

Any and all help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Art

 

Only know with my (former) 86 Mustang GT with the T5 5 speed, and it said basically the same thing............ "35mph and under 50 miles with the rear wheels on the ground. Recommended to disconnect the drive shaft or tow with rear wheels off the ground if at all possible."

The only other thing I've "heard" is that you can usually only "flat tow" a 4x4 with a transfer case that allows you to shift it into neutral if you don't want to do anything else to the rig. You run the tranny in park and shift the TC into netural. But I've seen motor homes flat towing all kinds of different cars, 4x2, 4x4, FWD, etc. Of course, I have no idea what the driver did to prepare the car for the tow, but there has to be some way of doing it..........

 

If your truck is a 5spd. manual it has a Mazda transmission.

 

Correct! The 5-speed is the Mazda trans...

The manual omits a couple things... the reason they recommend what they do is because if you have an auto trans, when you tow it with the engine off, there is no hydraulic pressure lubricating the bearings in the trans. The manual transfer case allows you to disconnect the driveshaft from the transmission for towing.

With a manual transmission, oil pressure to lube the bearings is not an issue. A manual uses the rotation of the gears to sling the oil where it needs to be. That's why you can tow a manual in neutral as far as you would like without damaging anything.

I believe Ford can install a kit on the autos with the Electronic shift on the fly 4x4 that will do the same thing... shift the transfer case into neutral. (they sold one for my explorer)

Incidentally, just this weekend, I saw a motor home pulling a extended cab 4x4 f-150. It can be done.

I'm curious, though... with the key in the unlock position (the steering wheel is unlocked, but the accessories aren't on) do the miles rack up on the truck? I wouldn't think so, but I dunno...

-Joe-

 

just take it out of gear, and it should go fine. You only have to remove the drive shaft with an automatic tranny. With a manual tranny, you just take it out of gear. Yet another reason to buy a manual

 

Not necessarily... you can get an automatic transmission so long as you get a manual transfer case. And, like I said before, I think they make a kit that will disengage the auto transfer case too (they did for the Explorers).

-Joe-

 

true. However, i didn't know about the manual disengage. Besides, if you have a 4x4, your transfer case has to have the option to disengage the transaxle. Some of these 'push button systems' seem to lack that feature.