So a popular question is how much can I tow? I know what the book says, but what we really want is to hear others recommendations who have down it many times.
I have a 2010 f150 4.6 3V crew cab 2x4 3.31 gears. The manual says something just short of 8k lbs.
I am looking to tow a tow behind 32 foot trailer dry weight 7600. I will only be towing this a couple times per year. Thanks in advance for your info.

 

oh oh...bad idea. I tow about 7500lbs with my 2008 5.4L and can't wait to get rid of it. I now have a 2011 6.2L on order. Towing with my 5.4 burns tons of gas and the "get up and go when you need it" is just not there.

 

I have towed with a similar setup. Weight towed was about 6300lbs. Very lethargic at best. Any type of hill would force it down to 3rd to maintain 50mph.

9 MPG average while towing that load.

I have a 2010 F150 5.4 CC 4x4 with 3.55 now. It does better but we are looking at a larger camper so are planning on a F350 6.7.

 

I think your overmatched.

 

I would not tow that much weight and aero drag with a 4.6L 3-valve. If you are only going to go 100 miles on relatively flat terrain, it'll do it. But it won't do it well. That gear ratio will kill the transmission and you'll constantly be gear hunting. With 3.73 gears it'll do much better but still not well. The thing I would be most concerned with besides tranny failure would be detonation with platinum plugs. Platium plugs do not withstand detonation well at all. And when an electrode lets go from detonation or a lean condition, it ain't a pretty site. You'll know when it happens when you have a miss and the engine puffs blue smoke like an old Lawnboy lawnmower or Evinrude outboard. And the remanufactured 4.6L 3-valve costs more than $4000.

 

Per Ford's 2010 RV & Trailer Towing Guide, it lists you at a maximum loaded trailer weight of either 8,000 or 8,100lbs depending on whether your trucks is 145" or 157" wheelbase. Beyond that, there is also a 13,100lbs or 13,500lbs gross combined weight rating. I suspect that you will also be exceeding this rating. I think that with water (~8lbs/gallon) & all of the assorted stuff that finds its way into a travel trailer, you are going to be well over those published figures.

While slow & steady could definitely get your from point A to point B and back without incident, I would lean towards upgrading the tow vehicle or downgrading the trailer.

 

While your empty weight MPG's are enviable, a gear change would make that awesome 4.6L 3V come alive. If your not prepared to trade your truck then I would recommend looking into a 3.73 LS of 4.10 LS axle. You will sacrifice gas mileage but you''ll increase your towing ability.

 

ok to the op if you have to ask well that tells me your a smart Pearson to seek help. but it scares me to. to think you will be towing for the first time scares me as well! now that i sound like a jerk
i would like to tell you that just becuse you can do it dont mean you should! with that motor and gearing like said before me flat and short trips ok. butt i would not recommend pulling some thing that big with that set up. but hey thats just me. now 7600 dry then add all the gear and people plus every thing else like water clean /gray water / waste, and none of this adds up to me. it sounds like you might be over loaded. if not you are very close!

 

One other issue with towing big weight is the truck's payload. Look on your door sticker; a lot of F150's have a GVW that is roughly 1000 lbs. Let's say your trailer is 8k lbs in total; this means you will need to allow for 800 lbs of tongue weight in the payload. If you, the driver, are 200 lbs, you are done. You can't even carry your lunch in the truck, and forget about other passengers and cargo if you want to stay legal based on the allowable payload.

Good luck,
George

 

I have just joined here as I was looking for more info on F150s.

But I have professional towing experience. I did just over a quarter of a million miles in just 2 1/2 years as an RV transporter using a 2006 F350 Screw dually with a 6.0L Powerstroke. I delivered trailers of all kinds to all of the US and western Canada from the northern Indiana based RV manufacturers.

First off, don't ever exceel the maximum combined gross vehicle weight rating of your truck and trailer. The gross combined weight rating is on the yellow sticker inside the driver's door post.

If you violate it and get in an accident, the cops will get your first and then your insurance company has an excuse to deny your claim.

You should as a rule of thumb, remain below your maximunm towing weight rating by at least 20 %. That is, if your tow vehicle is rated at 8,000 pound your trailer should not have a weright wait of more than 6,000 pounds.

You can never have too much engine

There will come a time when you need all the engine you can get. Not only for towing power but also for stopping power.
Learning to drive a truck with a trailer, particularly a large trailer (anything over 20 feet) takes skill and experience as well as mechanical means. Using a weight distributing hitch should be required, they do make a huge difference.

I have seen RV transporters rolled into ditches, upside down, jacknifed and crushed because they tried to pull too much trailer with too little tow vehicle. I would not ever risk my family like that.

As far as towing it only a couple times a year, it only takes once to kill you and your family.
You are talking too little tow vehicle and a much too big trailer for that engine and gearing.

My apologies for what may seem to be harsh words and please believe me, I mean no offense.

I just bought a max tow package 5.4L/3.73 gear F150 to pull my 3500 pound wet weight JayCo 17 foot hybrid because I know and follow these rules.

Bud

 

Bud,

Very good advice. You are very right in all you said.

 

+1 on all points. I've been saying the very same thing for over 2 years here. I've been flamed and supported.

For Ford to place an 11,300 label on an F-150 is both misleading and inappropriate. This is a 4x2 reg cab truck, how many families buy that truck as a family vehicle? The truck that a family needs to pull that kind of weight does not exist in an F-150.

Ford should do the right thing and re-rate these trucks and the RV dealers should all join in lock step and refuse to sell a trailer to a person that cannot prove ownership of a properly configured tow vehicle.


I would also add this: If your using an F-150 on a farm or off road then do what ever you want. But please, be mindful of the people around you when on the road.
Fire away fellas! LOL

 

This should be posted in a "sticky" somewhere. Far too often are people carrying far more than they should just because a TV commercial stated something close to what they're attempting to do.
Just like the guy I work with that uses his Double Cab Tundra to get 1 pallet of coal pellets yearly for his furnace. Dry weight of one pallet of coal = 2,000 lbs. Oh, and he's on P-rated tires. He does this once every Fall, and it's 100 miles one way to get the pallet.

Good judgment is a must!

 

3.31 is not a towing axle. I wouldn't tow more than 3-4k thousand pounds with it.

 

I agree with all of this Tim.....great points. And Bud made an excellent post above.

I believe that once the new SAE tow ratings are put into effect, there will be changes across the board for manufacturers. Bragging rights are one thing but when it comes to safety, it's time to tighten their belts and admit that they may be overstating capabilities to a degree.

Safely towing can't be overstated and it's the responsibility of the truck buyer to educate themselves by doing more than just reading and buying into all the hype by truck manufacturers. Kind of like when you read the brochures and see the tiny little footnotes saying something about "when properly equipped". People don't read and do enough research when considering a truck for everyday use and towing. Even though you may only tow a couple times a year, it just takes one instance of brake failure, tire failure, etc., to have catastrophic consequences.