Good post Conger, but this isn't right:

All F150s come with the same transmission cooler. Engine cooling can vary by engine and towing package though.

 

Thanks Tom.

 

I picked-up on this from the folks at RV.net. Looks like I need to make some adjustments to bring the nose of my trailer down to level (or just below.)



They also suggested increasing tire pressure on my truck to the 44 PSI max listed on the tires.

 

They also suggested increasing tire pressure on my truck to the 44 PSI max listed on the tires. Actually what you should do when towing is to know what each axle weighs when you are loaded and all hooked up, by weighing at a truck scale one axle at a time and then adjust the air pressure to that weight. I think the tire manufacturer has a scale for each tire with regard to pressure/weight.

 

i'm not sure that is right, tom.

when you go into the package descriptions on the ford website (build and price) they describe it differently.

no towing package makes no reference whatsoever. but when you select the towing package it makes reference to an aux. trans cooler as included in that package. max tow currently makes the same reference, but in the past it said "upgraded" trans cooler.

my understanding was that:
no towing package got no trans cooler and a standard radiator.
std. towing package got a trans cooler and and upgraded radiator.
max towing got an upgraded trans cooler and the biggest radiator offered.

obviously, the sheet you posted shows differently, but i have found errors on those sheets before, specifically with the transmission cooling shown.

case in point: if you look up the tech data for a 2006 expedition it shows that the standard (no towing package) does not come with an aux cooler, and that the Max tow option comes with a 14 plate cooler. In reality the standard plate comes with a 7 or 8 row aux cooler, even though it shows otherwise on the data sheet.

i'm just saying that those sheets are prone to error and should be called into question in light of conflicting information..... more research is needed before coming to a conclusion.

 

nose high will take weight off rear and move to front, that will handle bad

 

I had an 06 F150 E/C with Tow Package. I tow a 20' Enclosed car hauler weighing close to 7000#. The rear springs seemed weak for that tongue weight so I added some overload springs and that solved that problem. With the WD hitch with 3 links hanging down on bars the load was level. I had P-metric tires on the truck. I aired them up to 44 psi. The truck handled great. I only sold it because of fuel mileage in a headwind. I went back to a SD diesel. The first time I tried towing for a trial run with the 10K gvwr F250, the nose of the trailer was 1-1/2" higher than the back. The truck was being pushed around by the trailer and was squirrelly. I set the ball height to level the trailer and all is well now. And both trucks tow equally well without the sway control. I found that out when it came off on one end on both trucks.

 

you might try going back to the hitch setting that your dealer had. they may have had it right to begin with.

what made you think it was set too tight? if the nose of the truck was lower than the rear, it might have been, but short of that they might have had it set right.

something to try.

when in doubt, hit the scales -- then you know for sure that it is set up right.

 

I recently switched to an open car hauler for ease of use. The salesman told me with older cars he recommends a 22' trailer (when purchasing enclosed) for hauling older cars since there is more room to position the weight in the trailer. Any trailer I've towed seem to tow better when the nose was slightly lower than the tail.

 

Ford manual says to setup the WD hitch so that the front wheel well measurement is half way between unloaded and fully loaded. The dealership's setup had the front wheel well measurement at the unloaded height, so theoretically there was too much weight being transferred to the front axle. That was my reasoning, anyway. The truck felt a bit more stable after I made the adjustment.
Scales would take the guess work out of it, but where's the fun in that?

 

when measured at the wheel wells, you should want WD bars set such that the front is no higher when loaded than it is when unloaded.

this makes sure that there is no weight transferred from the front axle to the rear axle, thus unloading the front.

you could probably even go a little tighter than that and have the front end sitting slightly lower when loaded such that you are loading the front axle and the rear axle when hitched up. some sources say it is fine to have the front end sit lower when loaded so long as the rear end measurement decreases more than the front.

it sounds to me like your RV dealer had it set pretty close.

adding more weight to the front axle should help increase stability ... only one way to know for sure, though