Will It Tow It?

[JFScheck]

Good point Gene - we all sometimes perceive what we so desire to hear...

[Bruce B]

Originally Posted by Rifboy

OK,
I am going to sell my F-150 and go with our Fiat! It is equiped with Fiat's "Ultimate Tow package" too...should be no problem.
Bruce

I should post the specs:
18HP 2 cylinder 500cc engine.
Net Vehicle Weight about 900lbs.
80K Kilometers on the odometer, engine has been rebuilt at least one time.
4 speed non synchro for the first two speeds.
Loads of fun to drive!
Bruce

[Sodbust]

Out here in Kansas most Chevy grain trucks have a 350 engine and pull 500 bu ( 45,000 lbs gross) to town day after day and for over 200,000 miles before parts start sticking out of the sides of the block.. Not a great work engine,, and must be driven like a NACAR 90% of the time..

3.73's with smaller OD tires and a good hitch I would run a Chevy 350 any day before a little 3L Ford with 2 turbos blowing fire all the time,.. Just how I see it anyway,,


Sodbust

[Bill M.]

friend probably made a good decision for him and his situation. no need to buy something that you will be uncomfortable with using. maybe he will find a smaller airstream to go with that truck if that is what he wants to tow with.

[TG Twinkie]

The grain truck has a 5 speed transmission and a 2 speed rear end. The operators of these trucks are rarely the owner and tend to over rap the engines when driving. Especially in the fields. This is pretty brutal duty for any engine.
I pull my 26'Argosy with a 360 Dodge engine, 5 speed manual and 4:11 rear end. It does great on the flats. In the mountains the split between 3rd and 4th gear is too wide. But overall it does the job. Gets between 10.5 and 13 mpg. With the manual transmission it does a good job of holding back on the down hill therefor saving on brakes on the TV and the coach.
Would I like to have more horses? Of coarse. But the truck is a '98 3/4 ton with less than 100,000 miles on it. It would cost $40K to replace it. It's just not worth it to me.
If the truck has the axle and brake capacity and hitch capacity along with the proper transmission cooler. I say; Use it. Just don't abuse it.

[dscluchfc]

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

David, maybe your friend doesn't want to use this truck for towing. It is his baby and he doesn't really want to use it as a truck, but as a car and is worried about harming this beloved vehicle. Maybe the tech told him what he wanted to hear. Sometimes it is all in the perception.

Gene

honestly, I think this is the closest to the situation given some further conversations with his wife.

[Gene]

I guess this isn't a situation where you go to the doctor and tell him: "I've got this friend who has some problems with his 'privates' and wants to know what to do. I think he picked up someone in a sleazy bar."

You are a good friend to try to solve his problem, but I don't think it can be solved unless he buys another truck just for towing. A Freightliner may be just what he needs. Logic won't work.

Gene

[Jim Flower]

Originally Posted by Zia

I have been thinking to get an advice on my specific towing issue,
Purchased new 23 FB Serenity (replaced 2007 20' Safari) a few months ago towing with existing 2007 Lexus GX470 with towing capacity of 6,500 bs. I am using Reese weight distribution hitch with anti sway.
I weigh the both on a truck scale fully loaded trailer 5040 lbs, Lexus reare axcel 3260 lbs and front 2460 lbs. I also measured the car height before and after weight distribution hitch hookup with about 1/2 drop in both front and rear excel.
I have gone over 5,000 ft passes with no problem. The only issue is onced in a while I feel unstable handling even at 55 mph after I slow down a little the stable feeling comes back.
Is it a sign that I am loosing it or any other phenomenon I am unaware of?
I wish Andy could chime-in I am one of his admirer
Thanks in advance

You have too much weight on your rear axel. You have to increase the load on your hitch bars. This may involve changing the angle of the bars and / or decreasing the chain length. Try to keep at least 5 or 6 links available for wiggle room. Your vehicle and your airstream should be level when you are done and the weight evenly distributed on your front and rear vehicle axels. Do it soon. You are really in an unsafe condition now. Also,you may want to beef up your tire pressure on your vehicle to near max when you are towing. Just thought of something else. You may wish to drill another hole in your shank in order to move the whole mess closer to your rear axel. Don't move it so close that you can't open the tailgate without beating on your tongue jack.

[dscluchfc]

Originally Posted by Jim Flower

You have too much weight on your rear axel. You have to increase the load on your hitch bars. This may involve changing the angle of the bars and / or decreasing the chain length. Try to keep at least 5 or 6 links available for wiggle room. Your vehicle and your airstream should be level when you are done and the weight evenly distributed on your front and rear vehicle axels. Do it soon. You are really in an unsafe condition now. Also,you may want to beef up your tire pressure on your vehicle to near max when you are towing. Just thought of something else. You may wish to drill another hole in your shank in order to move the whole mess closer to your rear axel. Don't move it so close that you can't open the tailgate without beating on your tongue jack.

The largest problem I see is the short wheelbase of the Lexus tow vehicle relative to the whole setup.

I used to tow a 31 ft with a short wheelbase 2 door Yukon 4x4. At speeds above about 60 mph, things got very busy, very quickly with regard to stability, and it was a short wheelbase problem. The longer the wheelbase on your tow vehicle, the better it is at higher speeds.

You may work to balance the weight distribution, and that definitely should be done. However, you still may not clear up the instability of the setup. In fact, it may not be curable.

---just my 2 cents---

[ROBERT CROSS]

"The largest problem I see is the short wheelbase of the Lexus tow vehicle relative to the whole setup."

Oh Cr@p!!!

Here come the Mounties.

Bob

[starcraft]

Tow man tow

[Jim Flower]

I did all the things I mentioned and had no issues with my 25' safari over 300,000 k. Tow vehicle is a jeep grand Cherokee with a Reese dual cam. I had great help from Can Am RV. They also beefed up the OEM hitch. I really think it all is dependent on the proper setup and a balanced trailer load. And forget about NASCAR. Jim

[frscott]

I towed my 1986 26' sovereign originally with a 1999 suburban with the vortec and found the suspension to be the problem. I had sway and very bad pull towards passing trucks, the power was marginal also. I found it dangerous to drive with the trailer. Perhaps a new set of springs/shocks in the rear might have helped. Bought a 2001 F250 power stroke and the difference was (is) night and day; no sway even in high winds, no pull, all the power I could ever wish for, it's a monster! I'll never go back to a 1500!

[dscluchfc]

No way would I tow with a 1500 without beefing up the shocks, and going with LT Load Range E tires. P-metrics have way to little lateral support, and are much more susceptible to the push/pull of passing trucks, etc.

A lot of the reason that diesel pickup is so stable is the LT Load Range E tires which are standard equipment on the F-250.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

[QUOTE=Sodbust;1127670
3.73's with smaller OD tires and a good hitch I would run a Chevy 350 any day before a little 3L Ford with 2 turbos blowing fire all the time,.. Just how I see it anyway,,


Sodbust[/QUOTE]

Hi, that would be a 3.5 L direct injection twin turbo V-6; I'm a Ford person and owned one Chevy truck, [no other choice per franchise] And long story, short, in 42,500 miles the turbo 475 trans and two of the famous Chevy 350 V-8 s were replaced. Eco-Boost in my future.

[ROBERT CROSS]

No way would I toe with anything YOU all have. Mine is alwayz better.

Bob

[Sodbust]

Originally Posted by ROBERTSUNRUS

Hi, that would be a 3.5 L direct injection twin turbo V-6; I'm a Ford person and owned one Chevy truck, [no other choice per franchise] And long story, short, in 42,500 miles the turbo 475 trans and two of the famous Chevy 350 V-8 s were replaced. Eco-Boost in my future.

I just fear,, that the movement I see around here about the Ford sales hype with the little 3.5L V6 twin turbos has the makings of a lot of sad owners later down the road.. I had a turbo T-bird years ago and it had the heads off more time than the car ran on the road.. Yes they might have learned a trick or two,, but large castings and cubic inches are the key of long term constant Hp. Not pushing 20 lbs of boost into a little hole with gas and setting it on fire..

One has to look at the pressure curves going on inside,, a natural engine takes a snort of air and compresses it 7.5 to 9.5 to 1 and has pressures between 160 to 220 psi.. The spark goes off and that pressure goes another step up to around 800 to 1000 psi.. Toss in a pair of turbos and 20 lbs of boost that number goes off the charts at around 2200 psi.. All that pressure has to be transferred to rotation,, and bearing loads,, rings pressure side wall loads... It all adds up... to heat and pressure. My goodness you are looking at a little motor just a tad over 200 cu in,,

I'm sure that twin turbo is a ball to drive around empty like my T-bird was,, but to tie a 8000 lb trailer too the back and buck a 5% grade and a 25mph head wind for 35 miles might find the limits of what it can do faster than one might want to see happen.

Computer controls,, modern metals, oils, and skills might make me wrong but I don't think so.. What goes up seems to always come back down and so does the laws of building engines.. I have built more high performance engines in the past 43 years than I can or care to remember.. There is a hidden limit of just how long one can contain the pressures and heat we are looking at and asking from a off the shelf mass produced engine that has more bean counters cutting corners than other wise.

I made the step down from a 300hp Cummins Ram 2500 to a Hemi dodge tradesman 1500 and it will get by with its 390hp non turbo 400 foot lbs but I will always respect its limits.. It has 345 cu in engine. 150 cu in larger than the twin turbo Ford..

By the way my 2012 Ram,, I got brand new for $27,000 and comes with 4x4 and a complete tow package rated at 10,700 lbs and built in brake controller, class 4 hitch, engine oil and trans oil cooler.. not the $45,000 like the price I saw on the Ford with 2 turbos.. Just saying..

Sodbust

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, also had a supercharged Thunderbird, actually it was my wife's. That Little 3.8 L V-6 had gobs of torque. Now, for more of the nay-sayers, what would you-all say if I told you that GM has a 3.6 L direct injected twin turbo V-6 in the works? It has about 420 horsepower in a Camaro.

[Bruce B]

Mine is bigger.....
Bruce

[Friday]

Originally Posted by Zia

I have been thinking to get an advice on my specific towing issue,
Purchased new 23 FB Serenity (replaced 2007 20' Safari) a few months ago towing with existing 2007 Lexus GX470 with towing capacity of 6,500 bs. I am using Reese weight distribution hitch with anti sway.
I weigh the both on a truck scale fully loaded trailer 5040 lbs, Lexus reare axcel 3260 lbs and front 2460 lbs. I also measured the car height before and after weight distribution hitch hookup with about 1/2 drop in both front and rear excel.
I have gone over 5,000 ft passes with no problem. The only issue is onced in a while I feel unstable handling even at 55 mph after I slow down a little the stable feeling comes back.
Is it a sign that I am loosing it or any other phenomenon I am unaware of?
I wish Andy could chime-in I am one of his admirer
Thanks in advance

We tried a 2011 4Runner for towing... a relative of the GX... and it was a twitchy bitch without anything behind it. We hated it so much we frantically searched for a way out, and ended up getting a 2008 Sequoia and a dealer who gave us a super deal working with Toyota to make us happy.

So... it's not you... I wanted a 4Runner for so long, and to have it handle so poorly on twisty mountain roads was really heartbreaking. We had a Tacoma before, which towed great. I think it is likely an issue with the shorter wheelbase, higher CoG, and some poor front-end suspension tuning.

Anyway... for the money is makes way more sense to get a Sequoia for towing if you want to stick with the Yota family.