This may sound like a silly question but I am not sure if I have the towing package. I have a 02 F-150 4x4 with the 4.6l it has the hitch on the back with the four prong trailer light pig tail. I was told by a camper dealer that I don’t have the tow package. Also does any one have any advise on what to install to help with towing a small approximately 4k camper trailer. I was thinking of the troyer stage one. Thanks in advance for the help<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>

 

Depending if the camper has electric....brakes....and needs the 7 pin hookup.
If so, you would need a...brake controller.....in the cab.
An aux trans cooler would be a good investment in trans life.
If you use a lot of lighting, a larger battery capacity could be a consideration.
A...larger radiator....is another consideration for hot summer temps.
All these are part of an OEM factory tow package.
If you want to retrofit; the factory 7 pin harness from a dealer will replace you present harness and is a plugup deal. Get the relay and fuse that goes with it.
A....brake controller.....also should plug into a socket that should be spare under the dash and work thru the new 7 pin harness.
.
I retrofitted my 02 from nothing like yours to a towing...special...and now pull up to 12,000 gross combined weight. This includes a trans aux/fan cooler, 2 core radiator, 7 pin harness, Prodigy brake controller, oil pressure gauge, trans temp gauge, deep trans pan, custom...built towing transmission...and Rancho 5000 series shocks. And upgraded brake pads.
If you trailer does not have brakes, then about all you need is some extra trans cooling and an electrical hookup that operates all the lights.

 

I'm not saying you could not duplicate the factory towing package (which you do not have), but it would seem to be very expensive and impractical to do so. 4,000 is not an enormous load, but it is not a "small utilty trailer" either. There are many shops that specialize in setting vehicles up to tow. They would need to know what kind of terrain you are going to be towing over, and what the temperatures might be. Towing across the Mississippi Delta region is very different than going across Bear Tooth Pass. I don't think you can buy the harness to be set up for electric brakes, but any decent hitch shop can wire up a high amperage feed with a battery mounted circuit breaker. The electric brake controller will then supply the additional wiring for your conversion from a 4 pin to 7 pin RV receptacle. It could also be that your 4,000lb trailer has surge brakes and you'll be just fine with the 4 pin arrangement.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that there is no "canned answer" to your question. You should definitely check out the towing portion of this Forum and seek answers there. You're going to want a frame mounted receiver hitch to handle the trailer weight and tongue load.

 

Thanks for all of the advise. My truck does have the frame mounted reiver hitch. I am considering adding a transmission cooler to help keeping it cool. Towing will be mostly in the mountains of new mexico and colorado with some steep climbs.

 

Your going to get into hi heat loads at slow speeds.
Get a 24,000 gvw rated....cooler....., an 8" fan and a thermostatic fan controller.
The fan is about $58, the...controller.....less than $20 and set it to about 185 to 200° so it comes on when the input to the radiator on the trans input line gets to that temp.
The advantage of this is the fan will move air when the road speed is down and help cool the engine compartment and the radiator, when the...truck...is shut down.
It will run about 6 to 8 minutes and draws about 5 amps. Wire direct to the battery thru a 15 amp fuse. If there becomes a problem anytime of no shut down, just remove the fuse. Strap the sensor onto the trans 'in' line to the radiator.
This way you get ahead of the temp loop.
This makes it all automatic.

 

Careful... putting too big a cooler can cause problems too. You want the engine warm, just not overly so. You can easily duplicate the factory package, there is nothing special about it. Its easy to rewire the 4 pin into a 7 pin and add an electric brake controller. You do want a tranny cooler, but NOT the biggest. Buy one rated for your towing capacity, not bigger, not smaller. Bigger battery is nice, but not 100% nessesary. 4,000lbs is a pretty light load, you'll be fine once you wire things correctly.

 

Rewiring isn't always needed. I went to a junkyard, and took the receiver and factory harness off the frame of a same year F150. Cost $50 total and it all bolted right up. The wiring harness plugged right in, (replaced the harness with the 4 pin flat connector) and all I had to do was get the relays for the power box under the hood for the trailer brakes and 12volt supply. Then bought a $12 pigtail (from the dealer) for the brake controller and plugged it right in under the dash.

Just depends on how much shopping around you want to do.

 

I have to take exception with the idea that it is easy to duplicate the factory towing package. My 1999 has a different rear end ratio (3.55), heavier springs to give a 6,300 gvwr, electrical system that provides isolation of the trailer circuits from the truck (there are 5 fuses and 3 relays in the engine compartment and 1 relay in the passenger compartment), and I believe a heavier duty alternator and battery. It may have been possible to get some of this without getting it all, but it seems to be the way the trucks were supplied to the dealer. Also, my truck has the 5.4L engine which would be nice to have for towing purposes.

It's interesting that BillyBob69 was able to scrounge a few components from the junkyard and "plug and play". It may be that all the wires are already in the harness whether you got the towing package or not. I had assumed that there would not be any wires for the trailer wirng system in the underhood fuse box if the package wasn't ordered. If I understood BillyBob correctly, he just had to get the fuses and relays and plug them into their designated slots, and plug the 7 pin harness into a connector at the rear of the vehicle. It also seems the controller wiring connector was already present under the dash (although it would not work without the relays and fuses).

 

I don't know what is being miss-understood!. THE dealer has the harness for about $50 new.
There is no real problem with plug and play for 7 pin conversion.
The new factory harness connector has both 4 pin and 7 pin so you don't miss anything.
The wireng is a standard for use with all trailers unless someone has changed the trailer wireing, even to the use of the brake controller.
I gave every thing in post 2 that has been proven for may thousands of miles.
My...hitch....loading is a bit over the 600 lb limit and still the stock rear spring do not sag and need any helpers. The gear ratio is 3.55. Pulling a 22' hard trailer with a race car, parts and tools.
Go to a dealer parts counter and ask about a harness.
There is no splicing and nothing to make up.

 

The wiring is there, just all of the pigtails are missing. It's cheaper to make 1 harness for both than it is to have 2 complete harnesses just for the towing package.

 

Yep you are right. Whether you order it or not...the main part of the wiring is there. The harness for the 4 pin just needs to be removed, 2 plugs, one next to the spare, the other behind the bumper. The 7 pin plugged right in. When you switch out the harness you see all the extra wiring there. And yes the brake controller will not work without the relays under the hood. Ford already supplies a hookup for the controller under the dash. You just need to buy the pigtail that wires into your controller, then the other end just plugs right in. The relays, if you want all options to work, provide for 12v supply to charge trailer batteries like on campers, backup lights and of course trailer brakes. The only thing I had to modify was the mounting bracket for the 7 pin connector to the bottom of the bumper. But that only took a little cutting and bending of metal for the bracket. I can take pics if you want to see the setup....let me know.

 

Bluegrass7, I'll bet you don't have functioning electric brakes, a trailer battery charging circuit (often used to charge the "break-away battery"), or back-up lights. Essentially you are using the same 4 connections as the flat 4, only they are in the 7 pin plug. It does appear from BillyBob that you can pick-up the extra relays and pigtails and make the harness fully functional.

But, there is more to a towing package than just the wiring.... All trucks can tow something, the towing package lets you tow more.

 

So true. Receiver, diff springs for added weight etc. But jsut the same, with a receiver, you can tow more than with your bumper.

 

All F150's have isolated trailer systems after 1998 (and probably before... I don't know the last generation). The alternators depend on the truck, some have the bigger ones and some don't; either way, that bigger alternator and battery aren't NEEDED, they are nice to have. There aren't many trailers out there that draw an extra 30 amps constantly without having their own onboard system for handling the load. The suspension isn't from the trailer tow package... that's a heavy duty package. Normal trailer tow packages don't increase the gross weight, they just add the ability to tow more through add-ons like the cooler, pre-installed wiring, bigger power handling ability, etc. 3.55 ratio isn't anything special... if it was specifically for towing it would have been the optional 4.10 ratio. My 2002 has the 3.55 and it stinks for towing, if they made that the standard that comes with the trailer tow package I'd rather not have the package and just do the easy modifications myself, lol. The 1999 had a 4.10 and it could haul much better than my '02.

 

FERROLAB, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
at nearly 12.000 GVW, a..controller..that has a lever to manuely apply trailer brakes in addition to auto operation and a breakaway battery power.
Where do you get off saying that rubbish?
Sorry but your not talking to some one who just came out from under a rock last week on all this.
I already said, if you would just read, that the new harness is 7 pin "with a 4 pin"right from the dealer. I DON'T USE A 4 PIN CONNECTION ON A RIG LIKE THIS!
The trailer is a 22" enclosed dual axle. Loaded, it's over 6200 lbs. + the truck weight of 5400 + driver passengers and you get around 12,000 GCVW.
All the lighting and brakes are tested each time before towing.
02s have the full electrical compliment when the 7 pin harness is subbed for the original 4 pin harness. That is also why the..Prodigy..controller plugs up to the factory harness under the dash.
Guys like you just **** me of when you don't know what your talking about.
And yes, I know the weight is just over the factory rating for the truck.
I reserched all of it and carry the papers in the truck.
When you look at the whole ball of wax, there is a lot to.find.out about such as derating "p"...tires...by 10% for loading, as an example.