Posted this in the towing board but looking for maybe a few more hits over here . . . what do you guys think?

Thaks for the feedback on the towing board hmustang.

Do you guys think my planned mods will make a decent difference?

"I'm getting to the stage of looking for a boat and I'm wondering what the maximum weight I should "cap" myself to to make trailering tolerable.

I've got a 97 F-150 4x4 EC SB with the 4.6 auto and 3.55 LS. I will be adding a Superchip and new Exhaust system so I hope to bump output from 220hp and 290lb ft (stock) to around 255hp and 330lb ft or thereabouts (I'm just using the estimated power gains from what I've seen on the various sites). I'm probably looking at the Gibson cat-back system. Are these increases conservative or pretty close to what I could reasonably expect?

The terrain is not mountainous but it can be fairly hilly with the odd long grade. I'd like to be able to travel at highway speeds without feeling like it's taking forever to get there. I guess 55mph would be nice if possible.

The owners manual numbers seem a little high in my eye of what would be tolerable. I was thinking of nothing bigger than an 18 foot fishing boat (probably closer to 16 foot). Would 3,000 or 3,500 pounds be out of the question? I'm thinking about 2,200 tops for the boat, motors and fluids and 800 for the trailer, give or take a few hundered or so.

Do you think this would be painful to tow given my truck and planned mods? It would probably be towed quite a bit during the year because of the different areas I like to go to.

Thanks for your help, I know this isn't an easy topic."

 

I flat tow a 4300 lb. jeep with my stock f150 . Standard trannies should only pull up to 2500 lbs. but auto trannies are rated to 6000 lbs. I just received my super chip and hope to gain some h.p. just like you. good luck

 

Depending on the terrain, you should be fine. Make sure you get trailer brakes though.

I tow a boat that's 7000-7200# depending on fuel and gear in my Expy and it does great.

 

I think I'll definitely get trailer brakes . . . do you think a transmission cooler would be necessary? I didn't get the tow package and to be quite honest, I don't even know if I have one . . . maybe I'll check that

It sounds like I'm liking what I'm hearing . . . that fishing boat would look quite nice behind the ole F-150!

Hopefully my planned mods will help out as well.

Thanx for the input!

 

I used to tow a 20' deck boat (4k + lbs)with my 97 F150 with the 4.6L. It did alright. Really worked on the hills tho. Check on the tranny cooler. Add one if you dont have it.

 

We have an older Bayliner Capris 1902 cuddy cabin with a 125hp outboard (19ft). I think it's about 2500lbs plus trailer which is single axle and without brakes.

The F150 has no probs handling this weight without trailer brakes. I used to pull this package with a 90' Ranger 4x4 2.9L V-6 5sp I used to have. It was about the max. for the Ranger safety-wise.

It depends on what kind of water you'll be boating in. If you frequent the ocean (salt) waters then with an 18ft boat consider no trailer brakes because of the big headaches you'll get with corrosion and high maintenance. On the other hand get a trailer with brakes if you'll only be taking it to freshwater lakes.

Engine mods won't increase your "legal" tow rating as far as the cops are concerned. If your trailer is proven (by cops) to be heavier than what it says on the maximum capacity sticker of your truck you'll be in deep doo doo.

Happy hauling.

 

I had 97 4.2 with tow package towed 26 ft. trailer 5,000lb. Towed fine but 6 mpg. Got a 98 5.4 tows faster and 9.5mpg.

 

I tow an 18' bass boat behind my stock F150 4 or 5 times a year. Your truck will tow it fine without trailer brakes, but remember you have a lot of extra weight pushing you, so plan your stops appropriately. If you feel your transmission kicking in and out of overdrive, then turn the OD off.

 

I occasionally drag a full enclosed trailer with m four-wheeler and gear across the mountains in PA. My tow vehicle is a 97 F150 with a 4.6L and auto tran. I figure I have about 2200# behind me (damn four-wheeler is 700#). Going uphill is a couple of spots my 4.6 is really working, I'm running 4k-5k on th tach to hold 55mph. The only complaint I have here is the mileage goes down the toilet.

I did offer some advice in the towing forum. You can tow anything, just make sure you can stop.

 

Great advice everyone, thanks alot.

I was considering upgrading trucks to a 5.4 or SuperDuty but that would put the boat plans on hold for 4 or 5 years. I'd rather get the boat now (not overdo it on size) and know that my current setup could handle it with some common sense.

Thanx again!

 

COUGAR GUY i only have a question for you i live in alberta and the b.c. highway people seem to be checking truck gvw and gcw weights is this going to pose a problem with your planned towing or are you going to register the truck as a commercial truck and register for the weights needed

 

Hey Darrylsr,

My owners manual lists the GCWR as 11,500 pounds so I don't think I'll run into any problems with total weight . . .

The GVWR is 6,000 pounds and I'm looking at a trailer weight to be a maximum of around 3,500 so I should come in under even considering passengers, fluids and gear . . . my ratings should be fine.

The weight ratings seemed to be a big deal last summer and the issue has kinda died off. With the new Liberal Govt and their cutbacks, I can't see this issue being a huge priority Not sure why it received such big attention, it seemed to be the falvour of the month for a few months but then it kinda died off. There was alot of public pressure for them to rethink their agenda

I think they were trying to cut down on OBVIOUS unsafe situations (half ton with a camper pulling 22 foot jet boat for example) but the line seemed to be blurred as to what they considered unsafe

I don't think you'll have any problems unless you are WAY overloaded causing some unsafe conditions . . . the pressure and publicity of this whole issue has calmed down ALOT since last year

 

You should have no problems towing 5k, 6k, 7k. As said above you can tow anything just make sure you have brakes to stop it. If you are going to go above 2500# I would make sure that you have some trailer brakes just to be on the safe side and to avoid abnormal wear/warping of your truck's brakes.

Make sure also that you have it out of OD, if the engine is lugging and the transmission is hunting in and out then you are asking for problems. Yeah your gas mileage will suffer but if I am ever hauling or towing over a 1000# then I take it out of OD. Extra gas is cheap insurance for your transmission. The extra engine braking helps too when slowing down.