Will my 97 150 4.2 pull a low profile 5th wheel trailer ? The trailer weights 6500 lbs , it will be pulled aprox 500 miles where I will leave it for vacation . Thanks

 

Whats the manual say? is the truck an ext cab auto?? What gears it will tell you the axle code on the door sticker under" axle"
The truck will "pull" it it might be a little slow but maybe in the hills.
The brakes frame trans and I "think" the axles are the same as a 4.6 and they "can pull up to 7200lbs But that is with gas full and all the gear add another 1,000lbs or so for gear. The V6 will work but WITH trailer brakes and common sense it should work I would consider puting in 4.10's to make it pull the hill better and a FAT trans cooler in an auto
if it is a manual and you like to use the clutch it will not last very long but the after market is great

Dustin

 

no... the V6 can't handle that. And if the numbers say it can, I would say you are going to have a very hard time with it. I haul that much with a 5.4L and while its comfortable, I would certainly not turn down more.

 

Way too much for that truck. A moderate size travel trailer is the max I would recommend, and I would suggest that you look into lightweight models.

 

Yeah, you would smoke that tranny and or the clutch. Braking would be really hard on the truck too.

 

If you're only towing it one time, maybe you can get a buddy with a stronger truck to tow it for you. I have towed trailers for friends before. Usually if they put some gas in my tank and offer some free beer, I'm game for it .

 

gotta agree with everyone else. no. the truck can handle it on flat ground. but i wouldnt want to have it on a hill, unless you like going 15-20mph. if its just one time, it wouldnt hurt it. but like socal said, if its just one time, have someone else pull it. if its something youll be pulling very often, id get a smaller trailer or bigger truck. we pulled a 5k camper with a mazda b2000 for about 600 miles on one trip when we moved, and we were in first gear doing 15 mph up some hills. thats not a fun trip, and i wouldnt recommend it.

--I haul that much with a 5.4L and while its comfortable, I would certainly not turn down more.

i wouldnt think twice about putting 14k behind my 5.4. pulled it many a time with no problems.

 

I would, my 150 is only rated for 7700lbs, and while I might push that, I won't be going over, not towing what I do (horses).

 

Ya it's got a V6 so it's going to FRY the trans a 4R70 mind you Oh and it's going to bend the frame too (remember) it's a little V6 and lock up the rear axle to (because it's got a V6) and lock up a front wheel bearing(because it's got a (V6)) So ya your truck will crumble under it's own wieght. PLEASE IT HAS THE same BRAKES FRAME TRANS AXLES as the 4.6 trucks. The motor might be a little slow but not 15-20mph I pulled 6K with my mom's 3.0 V6 ext cab 5 spd ranger 60 miles at 60mph ya I shifted into 3rd gear but I held 60 on FAT hills and had less power than a F150 less wieght than the F150 ans smaller axles and frame than F150. Ya you might need 4.10's or 4.56's but it is the same chassis a 4.6 and has the same trans as the 5.4 and same frame.
Go setup trailer brakes and hook on to it drive down to your corner store and then deside if you need gears. Ya a little peacer of a 5.4 in a 1/2 should never hook onto a trailer the brakes are too small(smaller than my F250) and the punny little axle will snap and the light gauge frame will bend you NEED MINUMUM a F350 Dually crew cab 4x4 4.30 6spd PSD with 450hp to pull a empty 16' bumper pull.
You truck will be just fine maybe a wiii bit slow but gears will make the diffrence

 

--I would, my 150 is only rated for 7700lbs, and while I might push that, I won't be going over, not towing what I do (horses).

in a half ton, id say youre right. i use trailer brakes on everything i haul, but honestly, it stops like theres nothing behind it even with 8-9k on it and no trailer brakes. mine is only rated to tow 9k from ford, but all that is is a rating. what i pull is still legal, it just goes over fords rating and yeah, it puts a little more strain on the engine.

--Ya a little peacer of a 5.4 in a 1/2 should never hook onto a trailer the brakes are too small(smaller than my F250) and the punny little axle will snap and the light gauge frame will bend you NEED MINUMUM a F350 Dually crew cab 4x4 4.30 6spd PSD with 450hp to pull a empty 16' bumper pull.

im hoping theres a hint of sarcasm there because there are lots of guys on here that honestly think you need that kind of truck to pull a 1500lb bass boat lol. but no, it wont bend the frame, or have trouble stopping, or anything like that. but it will work the 4.2 and it will be slow going when he hits hills. towing isnt a drag race, but it gets annoying following someone up a hill that is doing 30mph below the speed limit. if hes on flat land, or mild hills itll be fine. but theres some hills where im at that it would be lucky to be doing 15 mph at the top.

 

ibf250
Ya I was being sarcastic because the guys are saying it WILL not not it just because it has a V6. I was only giving the guy with the ext cab 5.4 a hard time because. Ya I own a 1/2 on also and it will stop a trailer fine and I don't worry about the frame bending. They were just getting under my skin. you seem that you are a real neutral person and thats what we need around here on the towing forum.
PS I was merely hacked off about that. The 5.4 makes a great tow motor and I have seen a bunch go 250K + miles out here

 

--They were just getting under my skin. you seem that you are a real neutral person and thats what we need around here on the towing forum.

i know what you mean there. it gets under my skin when the diesel or v10 guys say that the 5.4 isnt fit to tow anything more than a bag of groceries. people tend to forget that people were towing stuff long before the powerstroke came out, and just because its the best truck for the job doesnt mean its the only truck that will get it done. i say no on the 4.2 simply from experience towing with a 4.9L f150 and a mazda b2000. we towed 5-6k with the mazda for years in georgia on flat land. pulled it great, and if you had asked me if i would have recommended it i would have said yes. all it took was one trip from georgia to tennessee, doing 15 mph up hills when the speed limit is 65 to change my mind. the 4.9L is a really good towing 6 cyl, but my uncle has one, and it wouldnt tow a mustang on a tow dolly without doing 25 mph up really small hills. i would just hate to tell you that it would be fine, and then you go up some hill and barely have the power to make it up it.

 

I hear ya there ibf250. Some people are pretty thick headed when it comes to towing. Just because you don't have a diesel or big block dosen't mean you can't tow what you want. Those rigs simply do the job better and make things more comfortable. I think my 5.0L does just fine with all the applications that use it for. I live out in the hills and it would be nice not having to jam them gears going up those hills. Thankfully, I have some mods on mind and its not that bad. I've never had to shift into 2nd before going up a hill with 14 k lb, but i've had it pull down in 3rd. You just have to know how to drive pulling and always be smart and safe.

 

--Some people are pretty thick headed when it comes to towing.

couldnt agree with you any more on that one lol. a lot of people i know buy the big diesels and v10s just because they like to say that their truck has a tow capacity of x amount, when in reality all they use it for is to drive back and forth to work. they just like to brag about the numbers for some reason. if you asked 90% of the people that do real work with their trucks, ie farm work, they couldnt even tell you what a gvwr is. most of the people that have the high dollar trucks can qoute you the max trailer weights, gvwr, etc but dont realize that pick ups arent required to be weighed, and that the only weight that really matters legally is gvwr. but anyways, i exhausted that topic in another thread and it really doesnt pertain to this one.

--I think my 5.0L does just fine with all the applications that use it for. I've never had to shift into 2nd before going up a hill with 14 k lb, but i've had it pull down in 3rd. You just have to know how to drive pulling and always be smart and safe.

it just takes a little common sense to know what a truck/driver can handle. if you drive carefully it really doesnt matter what you pull. i wouldnt think twice about hooking up to 14k, but id think long and hard about letting my wife drive my truck with nothing in it. just as much depends on the driver as it does the truck.

 

ibf250,
I beg to differ on that 300 I6 is THAT slow when towing. I have pulled about 15K worth of GN and in lampasas I could do 60mph and that's with 3.73's hhhhaaaa...I'm getting 4.30 in less than a monthThat was with my 78 F250 NP 435 3.73