I pulled my biggest load to date yesterday and was quite impressed with the 94. when i hit the scale i was at 16,900lbs. last time i was there with just my truck, me and half tank of fuel i was at 6,700lbs. Last time i checked that is bit over 10,000 for the trailer and 25 square of shingles. the landfill is 23 miles of interstate driving with two hills closing in on 5%. both are fairly short but the the truck held 65mph in 5th gear and never went above 900 on the pryo. My buddy was more surprised than i was. he didn't even think my old "junker" would even get the trailer to move. HAHAHA is all i said to him and asked if you wanted to hook up his honda to see what would happen. He just got in and shut up. Should also add it was a tandam axle hyd dump bumper pull trailer.

 

Cool, I'm anxious to tow with mine, I've got a 14k lb 18ft dovetail trailer. I hope when you say "bumper pull" you dont mean you have a ball on the bumper pulling that trailer!

 

LOL ! I could just see that now,the tounge weight alone on that 10,000lb. tandem would just peel the bumper off the truck like the lid on a can of peaches, am i right ?

 

I've always heard all of that style called bumper pull.... dont mean it was hooked to the bumper...

 

same here if its not a goose, its a bumper pull. i did however see a guy towing a 12K skidsteer traler with a fairly large bobcat track hoe on the bumper of a 2wd ford f150. and i do mean on the bumper. and of course he had the thing pulled all the way up to the front of the trailer.

 

I saw an IH1466 on a bumper pull come from 65miles away!

 

You guys wanna hear crazy:

My buddy's father-in-law, pulled a 14k shed on a 26' bumper pull trailer....that wieghed 6,000 pounds haha!he went from Phillipsburg to just outside Missoula, that totalled 87 miles....With my buddy's 7.3l with a Banks in it, the old style XD! I followed him from Phillipsburg with a gooseneck flatbed that had 9k on it. I could feel 'turbo' groaning cause it was N/A at the time. Now I wanna try it with a turbo in it, however I still need pyro/boost guages.

 

I've always called them tag along, but I've heard them called bumper pills alot. I believe either is correct.

 

just getting her broken in there Jayme.

your not worried about pulling heavy like that in the zf's OD?

 

I would not be using the ZF's Overdrive, lucky for me I have the T-18 so its a puller pretty much because of the 4 speed. I know Overdrive is not supposed to be pulled with, tends to break things....BUT this is why I like Manual transmissions w/o overdrive for pulling.

 

if i was not in OD i would be pegged at 3200 in 4th gear at 70mph. I cruised right down the interstate at 70 mph, 2300-2400 rpm with a 20-30 mph head wind and maybe had the pedal in a 1/4inch. with 4.10 gears i don't see how you could pull on the highway with out the od, i would have been all over the red line which i don't like. i have actually never went over 2800rpm in any gear with this truck, i kind babyit. and no it was not hooked to the bumper, although i did pull a 20ft car hauler with an f-150 on it from melrose to bozeman on the bumper. got home and the bumper was at about a 30 deg angle. I am surprised that the hitch didnt come off.

 

i never tow heavi in od with my zf, you actually shouldent tow in od with any transmission, manual or auto.

 

This is all new info to me about not pulling in OD. Do you guys run the interstate at 50mph then when you tow, cause my truck is pretty much pegged at 50 in 4th. Also what is the heaviest you will to in OD. I guess it didn't seem like it should be a problem it pulled so well that i really didn't notice the trailer back there after i was up to speed or until i had to stop.

 

Don't baby it, it won't break
At 2800 RPM, you're just entering the powerband...trust me, mine sees a LOT of time above 3000 RPM.
It's not uncommon for mine to be near, or even rest on the governor if I'm pulling a hill and can't shift into 3rd.
With 3.55 gears, my 3rd gear lays on the governor at 60-62 MPH...so when I'm running heavy (like 5k on the bed) and actually going fast, I drop from 4th to 3rd and hold 55....piece o' cake!
There are a few places I go where I can't get a running start. Pull out of the driveway, and you're on the hill already. I pull a 1-2 shift and run 2nd all the way up the hill. 2nd gear will hit the governor at 35 MPH, so I run between 30-35 MPH up the hill. I can't shift into 3rd, the truck needs a running start to pull the hills in 3rd without a turbo.
Those are loaded scenarios, empty is a whole different ball game.

Nice to hear about another loaded success story! Even funnier that your buddy thought the ol' junker couldn't do it!! You showed him!

I call B.S. on not towing in OD on the ZF5. I wouldn't tow in OD on a stock automatic mainly just because of excessive heat build-up. But if the transmission was sporting a second transmission cooler, I would do it. It takes a lot to break these trucks...it seems like some folks think they're as tough as tin-foil...I beg to differ

Here's a copy and paste of my favorite IDI quote...from Towcat
"I went though 3 ZF5's in my F450 carrier from 1993 to 2003. put 980k logbook miles on the chassis. If I didn't put the truck into 5th gear on the freeway, I'd get run off the road. running an average gross of 15-17k lbs, the 5th gear did fine. if you ever owned a F450, you will testify the powertrain is extremely underrated by the factory..
I hydrolocked my first motor at 650k. I stopped giving it any love at 475k.it had low oil pressure, so I stopped changing the oil and stopped adding SCA's. it made it that far with pure neglect. the second motor is ready to be changed out, it's got a fair amount of blow-by now and the draconian smog laws got set back two years. therefore the truck is getting re-powered this spring..anyone who tells you these motors need to be babied is F.O.S.
With my '92 CC dually, I might drop into 4th going up the grapevine pulling 14k GCVW but the truck is doing the speed limit with some throttle left before hitting the floor. thanks to the IC, the EGT's are a non-issue. I'm pushing 900 deg at the end of the exh manifold on the driver's side. even unloaded, the F450 is down into 3rd pulling the grapevine and it tares at 9500lbs. turbo and IC makes a big difference with these trucks. If I was the only driver in my F450, it would get a turbo and a IC in a hot second." All from Oreo's thread here: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/10...ith-5-38s.html"

 

I agree with being tough trucks, maybe i will start looking for a good deal on an extra zf5 just incase mine does break. with fuel prices well over 4 a gallon i dont like running high rpms and watching the gauge drop at the same time. my truck will be seeing lots of this trailer this summer with loads just the same doing the same trip