Am I stupid ? Ford F150

[thecatsandi]

Originally Posted by wingfooted

A close out deal came up on new 2007 Ford 150 with 5.4L V-8, 4 x 4, regular cab, long bed, 3.73 axle and tow package. So I purchased the F150 locally and it is sitting at the dealer. No miles.

Dry weight on the AS is 7100 pounds and rated tow capability on the Ford 150 configuration above is 9500 pounds. So I'm OK but marginal as long as I'm careful and keep the water tank mostly empty while driving, dont load the kitchen with too many cast iron skillets, ect.

Thanks

According to the Ford Website For the 08... The 07 data is no longer available without owning one.
Tow rating for F-150 5.4L 4X4 reg cab long bed 3.73 axle is 9500 lbs. GCWR is 15000, GVWR 6950. Max Payload 1700, Empty Weight 5250.

An empty trailer with full water tank (recommended) would be 7600 lbs. Your truck can weigh 15000-7600= 7400. It will work according the the tables. However practical experience says you are pushing it.

[BillTex]

My .02; you will clearly be maxed out. Can you do it? Yeah, but it will NOT be a fun ride at all.

I don't really know by your info if you are the owner of the truck yet???

If you already owned it, I would say give it a try (slowly and carefuly).

But if you are in the position where you can still upgrade to a 3/4 ton, then I would say you'd be crazy not to...

there are no stupid questions, but there are some questionable responses!

[tmartin904]

I tow my AS all the time with my 2002 Expedition. I go slowly up big hills. I do not leave my driveway with out the sway controls on. I towed without sway control once. I am lucky to still have my AS and Expedition.

[CanoeStream]

Hello wingfooted -- Welcome to the Forums! I stepped up to my 25' Safari when owning a 5.6L engined Nissan Titan. The Titan 5 speed tranny has lower gearing to finally get you to top speed -- this was probably only one factor in a truck that got very poor mileage. I had a buyer and chose to step up to a 3/4-ton diesel TV -- more because I just retired and have the travel bug. It will be used a lot!

The 80% rule (or 85% from some sources) is aimed to lessen wear & tear on your tow vehicle while keeping better control in emergency/avoidance maneuvers. The 2008 F-150 specs in the Payload Package Selector gives payloads for a variety of models; your owners manual will give you the best data. Weigh your tongue weight as loaded for camping (your manual shows how to with a bathroom scale) and add the human payload to that. The remaining amount under the 85% line will guide how much other gear you should haul in the truck when towing. Can you go up to 100%? Yes. The less the better though.

Highway travel usually encounters gradual grades (especially interstates) and slow-n-easy will let this truck get you most anywhere. But there are some paved 2 lane routes back into the sticks that won't seem comfortable. You might be happier with more engine and load capacity. A newer 30-footer is hefty. With my 1/2-ton Titan I sure couldn't put on a topper and hope to carry a Honda genset, my canoe & 2 bikes and pull my Safari at the same time. He who has the most toys .... uh, takes longer to get out of town.

[85MH325]

Do you have a specific reason for choosing a half ton over a 3/4? If not, and the financial end of buying a 3/4 isn't significantly different than a similarly equipped half ton, it would be a wise decision to move up to a tow vehicle that you know will do the job.

Since this thread is full of folk wisdom as well as concrete numbers, I'll add a little more folk wisdom:

"You can move a train with a sewing machine motor, if it's geared properly." Stopping the train once it's moving is another matter altogether.

When towing, there is never a down side to having a bigger, "badder" tow vehicle (in the less than one-ton range... there are suspension stiffness issues, but that's a whole different set of problems). The question most folks (including you) have asked is: "is my tow vehicle adequate?". In most cases, if you have to ask, it probably isn't. If fuel economy is your concern, then you probably ought not be considering towing any trailer in the 30' range. Buy an economy car to commute, but buy enough truck to tow safely when you're towing.

Roger

[till]

I have been towing my 67, 26 footer with a 93 Caprice for two seasons, no problems to date.
I have upgraded a few things, but it can do it.

YMMV

[BillTex]

Originally Posted by tmartin904

I tow my AS all the time with my 2002 Expedition. I go slowly up big hills. I do not leave my driveway with out the sway controls on. I towed without sway control once. I am lucky to still have my AS and Expedition.

you, my friend, are a brave (?) man...

[jacarape]

You go on the internet and ask "Am I stupid?"...uh. You don't have self esteem issues?

You work international, me too. I spent the last 3 years in Africa, Angola, Nigeria, back and forth, then a resident of Egypt. So no, yor're not stupid, but you should have asked before you bought. (Not that I can offer any post mortum advice.)

As also an international (100%) worker, you won't need your TV. Don't sweat it, you're a smart guy, the AS is going to be shelter/bed/breakfast/a place to bother your wife, 98% of the time. You have much more to worry about then second guessing yourself. So, build your farm, try out the TV, get a good hitch and play around, look for spear points and flint knives, post pictures and enjoy life. And, if you have a great place where we can dry park, drink cheep beer in a honkey tonk, eat .99 fried eggs and hashbrowns and go looking for old flint knives and don't tell us where it us, we won't call you stupid, we'll say greedy.

Peace. Have fun, life is short.

[Andrew T]

Hello Wingfooted

We have at least 200 customers that with F150's & Expeditions many are towing 30-34' Airstreams some much harder to tow conventional trailers. Several are on their second or third and see no reason to change to a 3/4 ton.

Your brakes are just as effective as a 3/4 and you have good engine braking going down hills, far more than a deisel without an exhaust brake, if you find you have to use the brakes to keep your speed down going down a hill then you are in the wrong gear or not at a high enough RPM. To climb you will need to use second gear on hills occaisonally so you will be climbing at 50 MPH instead of 65. The F150 has more power than any tow vehicle you could by 12 years ago and people still traveled back then.

If you need 4x4 where you are the F150 has independent front suspension the F250 does not. Pushed to the limits the F150 will outhandle the F250 hands down.

The key to driving in hills both going up and going down is to select a gear that keeps the engine in its powerband which is 3500-4000 RPM with the 5.4. It runs those RPM's very easily and will climb easily if it is kept in it's powerband. The 5.4 receives the same transmission as the V10 or the earlier deisels so it is a pretty bullet proof drive train. It likes fuel but you will never drive enough in your circumstance to pay for the deisel with fuel savings.

The passenger car tires that some of these trucks come with are not good and changing the tires can improve handling a great deal. There are several tire size options on this truck if you let me know what size is on it I can recomend a good replacement.

The hitch receiver is not too bad, we always strengthen them but it is better than a lot of the hitches out there much improved over the older F150 hitches.

A Hensley hitch is a great idea for either the F150 or an F250.

Andy

[Jim Clark]

I must mention that Wingfooted is still listed at one post so unless he is just lurking and not responding he hasn't been back to read all of this great information and we have all been talking to ourselves for 3 pages of posts.

[safari 28]

andy i have the 18 inch tires. what would you say is a better tire for this 08 model?

[wingfooted]

Very good comments and opinions from the board on this topic.

Conclusions

1. Yes it is possible to tow a 30' classic with the new model Ford F 150 but it wont be as much fun as having a bigger TV. Particularly on gradients.
2. Safety issues are involved - buy a good weight distribution and anti sway hitch.
3. As I wont be driving the Ford F 150 off the lot until February, I will wait until then and see what my brokerage account looks like. A decision on the bigger Ford F 250 can be defered until then.


Thanks again

[papademojo]

Just purchased 34' Limited W/Hensley. I drive an '05 King ranch 4x4, 5.4L with 18" wheels and I must say that it pulled the TT like the 22' that I will be posting for sell. I had no problems towing it 540 miles from KC,Mo. to Lou.,Ky. So if you have A F150 and want to pull a 30-34' go for it. Make sure you have a Hensley and a good controller. BTW my controller is a prodigy and worked flawlessly with the Three axel TT.

[dmreilly10000]

Nope, nope, nope, you need at a minum one of these:

Just joking, of course.

[tpi]

Andrew T The key to driving in hills both going up and going down is to select a gear that keeps the engine in its powerband which is 3500-4000 RPM with the 5.4. It runs those RPM's very easily and will climb easily if it is kept in it's powerband.

This is good advice which shouldn't be lost in the shuffle. Don't be afraid of revs on this engine. It also keeps the transmission cooler.

If you go w/ 250 get the v10 or diesel.

[uwe]

F150vs mini...found it this morning. Has nothig to do with towing, of course, but I still found it to be interesting.
bridger.us » Archive » Crash Testing: MINI Cooper vs Ford F150

[GolfStream]

Thanks to everyone on this thread. After reading this, especially Andrew T's post, I will be keeping my '07 F-150 Lariat well after my payments are completed. :-) But, then again, I have the tow package including the tranny cooler, 3.93 rear gear, and beefed-up rear suspension.

We completed our first trip with the 28 CCD to Santa Fe in May and I was a bit concerned about keeping the 5.4L in the 4,000 RPM range on inclines and declines. Good to know that i was doing the right thing.

Yesterday, I test drove the 2011 F-250 with the new diesel and while it is a very nice truck, the thing is a gangly beast and I'd hate to have to park that thing in a grocery store lot, much less in a parking garage.

[wingfooted]

As followup, although I still have the F-150 5.4L I never have actually towed the Airstream off the farm grounds. In fact I never even bothered to license it. The Airstream goes from the machine shed to the parking space and back to the machine shed with a side trip now and then to discretely dump the black tank in the back 40 acres.

Recently purchased a 2000 F-350 7.3 powerstroke with 6 speed manual --- that will be my primary tow vehicle. Actually I bought the diesel for other reasons rather than towing.

If I had to do it all over again, I should of just bought a superduty diesel to begin with.

[munimula]

watching 'flying wild: alaska' on discovery. just saw an ad for 2011 f-150 towing what looked like a 27 foot classic. is that really enough truck for that rig?

[Aage]

Originally Posted by munimula

watching 'flying wild: alaska' on discovery. just saw an ad for 2011 f-150 towing what looked like a 27 foot classic. is that really enough truck for that rig?

Read this thread from the beginning and tell us what you think.