well on monday i'm going home to california for my kids baptism and i'm towing my 73 mustang with a 460 in it back to utah. its roughly a 3900lbs car, and u-haul claims they're dolly weights 600. so thats 4500lbs combined. i know the manual says it can tow 7k. however, is that really optical?

will my 5.8 bronco tow that load nicely? it will be going sea level to 4500ft of elvatioin. i got the tow package and external tranny cooler. i hope it does because i don't wanna wait another month (been wiaitn 6 months now) for my dad to be able to tow it for me. hes got a 96 e350 with same motor/trans (much longer wheel base)

however, i have nothing done to the truck besides exhaust and a KN. stock 3.55 tires with 32's.

all and any input would be appreciated.

 

im sure it will tow fine on flat ground but once you start climbing it will probably slow you down to 55 or less. besure not to drive in OD towing that much weight. i suggest you get the tranny serviced right before and if you can afford it get a B&M tranny cooler or any aftermarket cooler installed. the stock is ok but not as efficient and with how much it would cost to rebuild your tranny if it fried the aftermarket cooler just makes sense. be sure to run full tire pressure as well , the 32's will kill some performance if you could drop down to 31's or even the stock size tire it would help out alot more.

good luck and dont be in a big hurry things will be fine

 

I tow my 4000 lbs ski boat regularly w/my 5.8. It does well on flat roads like Kem stated but uphills you will have to kick it down and wind it up to stay above 50 mph

 

the tranny was serviced 1 year ago. so i know it has new fluid. and for the cooler, i was thinking about installing another to go along with the stock one, i'm just not sue where to mount it and how to becuase there isn't much more room to mount it and the stock one has tranny lines going into it.

with the OD part, would it be ok to use OD on flats and just turn it off on hills? if i didn't use OD and went 55mph (posted speed limit in california/utah with trailers) i'm at 2050rpms. i'm assuming with OD i'l prolly be at 1500rpms. at70mph with OD i'm at 1900rpms.

 

no reason to use od while towing,why take the chance of burning it up.

your tranny is due for another service. it should be done every 6months to a year. so towing with od off at 65 should put your motor around 2500-2700rpms which is in its sweet spot for power. its running it above 3g for long periods thats not to good

also just put an aftermarket cooler in place of the factory one. the factory one isnt as efficient so why leave it in. the aftermarket unit will bolt in its place with ease

 

You should be fine, just allow for the extra distance in braking. The tranny cooler in the '96 towing package is pretty big, its as big as any Hayden Rapid Cool you'll find. On your next tranny fluid change look at using a full synthetic or synthetic blend ATF fluid, they handle any additional heat better than the regular dino fluids. You can expect about 8 mpg while towing so plan accordingly. The weak spot on the Bronco for towing is it's brakes. Hopefully the car trailer you're using has trailer brakes, its required in most states and if you are involved in an accident they will look over your trailer for brakes and lights. Some bored DOT cops will even stop you just to look at your trailer anyway. Good luck and drive safe.



Mike
'96 5.8L EB

 

do you got a link where i can get an aftermarket cooler? how much more efficient would the aftermarket one be over the factory one? the one i got its pretty big and thick. if i spent money for another one, it better be at least a good amount better than the one i'm replacing it with. how much we talking for another one? if i could, i'd rather just adding another one to it so there is 2 external coolers.

with the rpm thing, when i'm cruising at 55mph (california max mph speed), i'm only at 2050rpms with no OD. i'm assuming going 65mph i should be more in the 2500rpms range. not too bad i guess.

changing the fluid every 6months to 12months seems kind of excessive. most new fords don't change tranny fluids for 60k. in the owners manual it says to change fluid every 60k for some other kind of tranny besides the e40d. doesn't say what the e40d is though. but that often seems excessive.

on this truckforum.com homepage, it says the tranny uses 18qts of fluid and there is a certain way its got to happen. so i may just go and get it done besides going to the base hobby shop and doing it myself.

with the brakes matter, its a dolly so it doesn't have brakes. i wished it did. te rear brakes are a little squeaky and i will service them and check the fronts when i hit my destination in california and do them at my dad's shop.

 

i'd like to see 10-12mpg when i'm towing. 8seems kind of low. but if i do, i'll make the 780 mile trip spendy!!!

 

i made an appointment to get the transmission flushed out with synthetic blend. its 55 dollars plus a few more dollars for the synthetic blend over reg.


possibly get the filter changed. think a flush is good enough?

 

You may not need an extra tranny cooler. Just put in a temperature gauge, and stop if you see that the oil is overheating.

 

I tow regularly and you will benefit greatly from a B&M or comparable trans cooler. I flush the trans and change the filter about once a year which equates to 45 to 60K miles for me as I run 150 to 200 miles a day. With a dolly, you will have no apparent tongue weight which makes everything easier. I have 246,500 on my E4OD and my mechanic (with ford for 30 years) says an emphatic NO to synthetics in an E4OD. Knock wood, I follow his guidance and have been very happy. Generally I pay $99.50 for a flush/filter change in the transmission with Mercon fluid.

 

well i'm one of those people who only drive 5k-10k a year max. i went ahead and flushed out the tranny today here on base. since i wanted the synthetic blend, i paid an extra 18 dollars over the regular 55 tranny flush. so 73 dollars to flush out the tranny.


however they had mercon V, it says it exceeds dexron/mercon III, and is ok to use that fluid instead of it.

where can i find a b&m cooler over the stock that will bolt or screw right in the stock one? got any links? the stock one looks very thick and big so i don't know how anything else smaller would do any better.

 

You let them flush with Mercon V ?!?!? You got screwed big time as the E4OD is not compatible with Mercon V. You can read more about this in the tranny or the oil forum.

 

the place called ford and tanner transmission in utah, they said mercon III is factory fluid and aamco V oil meets mercon III specs and is ok to use in it.


tanners transmissions said they rebuild with that fluid in there. if the bottle says it can be used in ford mercon situation, then i guess its ok.

i'll let you know how it works. so far its good.

 

ok, its an ammco mercon V synthetic blend auto transmission fluid, the front of the bottle says it exceeds dexronIII/mercon fluid.


in the rear it says, its approved for use in vehicles that specify ford MERCON (WHICH THE MANUAL SAYS), ford mercon V, dexron III, dexron IIE.

if it says it's approved to use in place of ford mercon and the manual says it uses that. then i guess its ok, the nearest ford said that as long as it says it meets fords mercon specs, its ok.


DO DID I DO A COMPLETELY HUGE MISTAKE?