I had a '95 F-150 that I bought 3 years old, with 27K. It was much the same as that one; 351, E4OD, 3.55 gears. The bed was drilled for a fifth wheel hitch. I don't know what the PO pulled with it, but the heads and manifolds were warped. The shop said it had been overheated pretty badly. After getting that taken care of (and replacing the standard radiator with an HD one) I didn't have any more trouble with it.

I occassionally hauled a pretty big load with it (carrying a slide in camper, towing a Jeep, about 7K - 8K on the truck (including the truck) and 4K in tow. I was overloaded (kids, don't do this at home). I also had air bags on the rear.

Overall it handled it pretty well. I had no complaints about the 351 and 3.55 gears (and I even put 33" tires on it, making the gearing that much worse). It didn't accelerate that well, and I had to drop it out of overdrive on hills, but I wasn't in that big of a hurry.

So is it a good choice for you? Maybe not the best. I used my truck as a daily driver, with occassional towing, and even so I really wished I had an F-250 (but mainly so I wouldn't be over the leagal weight rating with the camper on board). If you are going to use it primarily for towing you're probably better off getting an F-250. But could you tow your trailer withit if you needed to? Yes.

If you do go that route I'd strongly suggest a trans temp gage (really even if you have an F-250 with 4.10s it's a good idea with an auto). That makes it easier to know when you're pushing it too hard and need to take it easier.

Oh, and those mirrors aren't the best for towing a wide trailer. You can strap on auxilliary towing mirrors, but if you can get a truck with towing mirrors, or at least the manual adjusting mirrors, you might be happier with it. Here's what I did to extend my manual mirrors.

 

i would not recommend a 1/2 ton for what you are doing.

 

Thank you both for responding. The more I thought about it, the more I think I should keep looking. I actually pull with an '08 F150 Lariat right now, which obviously isn't optimal. I would like to have a cheaper strictly towing vehicle and something fun and economical, as a daily driver...Focus ST? Although the F150 handles the trailer fine, I may eventually want to upgrade to a trailer with LQ or carry more than one horse at a time!

 

I agree with the above statements. It'd do the job, but isn't ideal. If you upgrade trailers, you'll be hurting with that F150. Besides that, its over priced and has quite a few miles on it.

If you do go with an E4OD auto, shoot for a 95' or newer truck.

 

Truck Chicks are HOT!!


I wouldn't mess with a 1/2 ton, weaker axles, body mounts, breaks drive train, you'd wear it out or flat out break it.


I have a bow tie '99 1/2 ton that pulled a 14' cargo trailer with pianos in it and the frame actually broke right behind the receiver hitch mount.


I like to be able to through whatever I want in the back or behind it and know I can stop it and have the suspension for it too.

A NOTHING SPECIAL said I feel the painted up 1 ton is WAY over priced, when I was looking for my truck I found one outta my budget but it was a '96 F250 4x4 exl excab 7.5 beautiful red truck for $4500.00 if you expand your search you might be able to find a better vehicle for the same price including an airline ticket.


On this sight there is a vin decoder I found it helpful to plug in the vin # on vehicles I was looking at to get more info then the P.O. actually knew, i.e. gears, axls, package and whatnot.

 

If you do go with an E4OD auto, shoot for a 95' or newer truck.[/QUOTE]

How do you determine if it's E40D?

 

Shift pattern.

P-R-N-D-2-1 with a button on the shifter to toggle OD.

You wouldn't want the AOD for any heavy towing.

The ZF5 in that F350 is as good as it gets.

Diesel Brad in fine form I see.

 

Thanks Old Trusty for the info and the compliment! I aspire to be a full fledged Truck Chick, but I have a lot to learn!
I certainly don't want to be busting any frames! The vin decoder would be helpful, I will search the forum. I'm branching out a bit after searching this site and receiving advice from you helpful gentlemen! I am still considering diesels too.

 

That is OVERPRICED with the milage and rust

 

I wonder why he didn't mention the 600HP turbo in the ad?