Hi we have a F150 supercrew 5.4L 3.73 axle. Our old ford supercrew had a total Gvrw of 9800 and when we got this one they told us it was the same. We now have purchased a prowler travel trailer with a gvrw of 9100lbs and 7150 dry weight. Well to double check we got out our owners manual and read that we can do a gvrw of 8800. Needless to say we were upset. What I want to know is we usually do not add much gear to the trailer and we put maybe 10 gallons of water in and empty all the other tanks. Do you think we will be alright to pull this if we stay close to the dry weight until we can upgrade the truck in a year? The rest of our camping trips are local except one that may be 3 hours away on basically flat land. Thanks so much for your advice.

 

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I think you will be ok, but it might be a lot of work for that motor w/ 3.37s. Someone else will chime in here with some experience towing with a f150.

BTW, welcome to FTE!!

 

Dude - here's a rule for life... Never, ever, trust a salesman.

Now to the matter at hand - it will depend a lot on what type of terrain you are pulling thru (flat good - Rocky Mtns bad) and how you load. If you have a scale nearby that you can pull to, I would load up what you think you will travel with and see what it actually weighs out at; then adjust accordingly.

I would also invest in a tranny temp and diff temp guage and then keep an eye on them; and for about $100 I'd add a larger tranny cooler. In your scenario - it's not the engine that is the concern, but the transmission. You didn't list age and mileage, but if it has a few years and the tranny fluid has not been changed, I would get that done and go with a synthetic fluid.

Many folks exceed GVRWs - in reality, your truck will pull a lot more. The value set by the MFG is to protect them in lawsuits and warranty claims, but also set to ensure longevity of the powertrain. If you treat her right and take care - you should do fine.

If you have the money, you can increase you GVRW but changing the diffs to 4.10s - then your truck probably wouldn't sweat that trailer.

 

The truck will be a year old in July and has 10,000 miles on it. It is a leased truck so we will get the tranny fluid done and then when we turn the lease in we will get the 4.10 axle next july. I really appreciate all the advice it is making me feel better about the choice of getting the trailer.

 

oh by the way the trailer we got is a 1998 prowler with a slide and bunks.

 

I think there is a different number that you need to look at, the GCWR. GVWR is just the maximum that the vehicle can carry, (vehicle + passengeres + cargo). I didn't see what year your SCrew was, or if it was 4x4 or 4x2, but using the towing guide and vehicle specs off of the ford website for a 2008 SCrew 4x4, I see that the GVWR is 7200, with a max payload of 1660, which I do not believe is including passengers. The towing guide shows a GCVR of 15,000 for a non harley-davidson or lariat package, with a max trailer of 92-9300, depending on the wheelbase.

Using that vehicle as an example...

15,000 (gcwr) - 9100 (loaded weight of your prowler) = 5900 (weight of the vehicle, no cargo)

7200 (GVWR) - 1660 (max cargo) = 5540 (weight of the vehicle)

That gives you 360 lbs of passengers and cargo if you run your trailer fully loaded. That is the "MAXIMUM" you could do. I do not like to tow more than 20% of the maximum. Also note, any weight that you save in the TT is cargo you can put in your vehicle, so long as you don't exceed the GVWR.

Really important question, do you have the heavy duty tow package on this F150?

 

I had a 98 F150 5.4 with auto. I towed a small 5th wheel with it. It was ok but not real fast. That is why I now have an 06 F250 for towing. What a difference in towing ability. I feel so much safer and in control towing with the F250. I am amazed at the difference. There is a lot of CC Super Dutys out there that would fit your towing needs a lot better and safer than a super crew.

 

Engine/tranny wise you are OK....had an F250 with same engine, trans, rear, towed 10K OK. Not great, but OK.

 

--I do not like to tow more than 20% of the maximum.

wow. so if fords recommended trailer weight is 10,000 then you wont tow over 2,000?? do you use a peterbilt to pull a bass boat?? lol. im hoping you mean you dont like to pull WITHIN 20% of the max. or 8k lbs in this case.

keep in mind that gcwr is not a legal number unless you go over 26k lbs. as long as you stay within your gvwr and you feel comfortable with the trailer, then you should be fine. just because fords recommended gcwr is 15k lbs it doesnt mean youre instantly going to become unsafe or have your truck fall apart if you weigh 15,001...... just make sure youre within your gvwr and that your trailer hitch and ball are rated at over 10k. and just because a truck is ok to tow a trailer doesnt mean the driver is...... i wouldnt think twice to hook up a 20k lb trailer to my truck and drive anywhere in the country, but wouldnt trust my wife to pull our lawn mower trailer from our house to the nearest gas station lol.

seriously though, just hook it up and see how YOU feel driving it. because the truck will handle it just fine.

 

Ok, so it has already been a long day. yes - I meant within 20% of the maximum.

Now, to contridict what I stated above regarding the 20% rule (er.. 80% rule??)

When we purchased our TT (with a GVWR of 7700) I did not have a "proper" vehicle to bring it home with. We did have a short wheelbase stepside GMC k1500 (don't shoot me!!!) without factory tow package. If I remember correctly, the GCWR for the vehicle was listed as just over 9k, which TT empty + the truck I was well over. This truck was a "factory conversion" meaning it was built by GM, then shipped over to another shop for them to finish. THey added on a 8k reese hitch before it went out the door, but no change was made to the stated GCWR. I subsequently added on a 7-pin + Tekonsha controller and HD trans cooler, and brought the TT home using this rig. Outside of GCVW, yeah. Outside of my comfort zone, no. Outside of my preference, yes, but that's why I got the EL now.

-Mike
2000 Mercury Mountaineer V6
2008 Ford Expedition EL XLT
2001 Keystone Bobcat 280BH

 

--Ok, so it has already been a long day. yes - I meant within 20% of the maximum

i just wanted to make sure lol. i know a guy that got talked into buying a chevy topkick to pull a two horse trailer because some guys in a towing forum said they wouldnt recommend towing anything over 5k lbs with a normal pick up i just hate to see someone go out and but something they dont "need" just because of one persons preference for towing.

 

You want to pull 9000 pound trailer with a half ton gas pick-up? Wow that will suck! It probably will tow the weight but certainly won't be much fun! Do you have 4.10 gears? Do you have Load E rated tires? That will help, otherwise good luck going up hills! My 6.0 works fairly hard going up 6% grades towing 9000 pounds! I sold my 1/2 ton Chevy because it towed 7k like crap! It got worked over hard! Good luck, I'd switch to a 3/4 ton truck gas or diesel! You are definitely going to max out your 1/2 ton pickup. A 3/4 ton would handle the weight much much better and a more powerful powertrain would do wonders for ya too!

 

--You want to pull 9000 pound trailer with a half ton gas pick-up? Wow that will suck!

--Good luck, I'd switch to a 3/4 ton truck gas

he wont have any more power by using a 3/4 ton than he will with a 1/2 ton unless he goes with a v10. the 5.4 in the 250 and 350 is the same as the one in the 150. a half ton truck will actually do better on hills than a 3/4 ton truck with the same powertrain because the 3/4 ton weighs about 1k lbs more. and with a 9k lbs trailer hes only going to have about 1k lbs of the weight on the truck, so he wont even be close to maxing out the trucks payload. and the engine will handle it just fine.

--My 6.0 works fairly hard going up 6% grades towing 9000 pounds!

ive heard this from a lot of people......i know one guy that just traded his 6.0 in for a 5.4 because he got tired of having to run it wide open everytime he towed his trailer.

 

Sounds like BS to me,I know nothing about a 6.0 but if my 7.3 is working pulling a load a 5.4 won't even get it rolling