My girlfriend is wanting to get into barrel racing horses. We haven't found a trailer yet so i won't know the weight but i had some questions.

We selected to use this F-150 basically for the reason that we already owned it. A couple years back she put it through a curve and it's been sitting since with some pretty ugly body damage and a bent I beam. We've got it drivable again and we're doing some light body work and gonna primer it black. it's only gonna be a work truck and tow rig.

The plans are to add an aux. trans. cooler and oil cooler. May do a beefier radiator. Improve the airflow both in and out. In the future, probably when i do the trans cooler, i'm planning to do a towing shift kit. May go with an RV/towing cam later down the road. I also may do trailer brakes on whatever trailer we get so i may do a trailer brake controller too.

I know it's not the best setup but the truck has a 302, Automatic (not sure if its aod or aode), with 3.55 gears and an aftermarket hitch (not sure of the class). Milage on the truck is just under 200,000. It's been well taken care of and was immaculate before the wreck.

What suggestions or questions do you have?

Thanks for all input, although i don't want to hear about how i should buy a f350 diesel with a 10 speed or some crap. if i had that kind of money i wouldn't be working on getting this 150 sturdy to tow.

 

It's not likely the truck has an AOD.. more likely it has the 4R70w, but if you find the trans code on the drivers door pillar that will solve the mystery. Keep the tire size stock or close and it'll tow a horse trailer, it just won't tow it very fast. The truck is actually rated to tow up to about 7000lbs but IMO anything more than the weight of the truck itself(4200-5000lbs) is pushing it. Sounds like you have plans to address most of the things that need addressing, it needs a shift kit, exhaust and a cam upgrade at the very least, and 4.10 gears wouldn't hurt either but 3.55's aren't too bad with an automatic.

 

It should have no problem with a two horse bumper pull, and even a 4 horse bumper would be reasonable. I haul hay with my old ford, same as yours, and I can get 5 4x5 rounds on a 16ft bumper trailer and another one in the bed. Of course, it really helps that I have 1 ton springs on the back (and no, It doesn't kill the ride quality). But a couple of horses really wouldn't slow you down at all.

 

Gettin going is the easy part... trailer brakes are a must and make sure the truck brakes are in order. Simple surge brakes on the trailer would be fine but electic would be best. If your truck has the tow package you'll be prewired for em.