So bare with me as I try to explain the thoughts going through my head on the subject of towing


So my hobby is Jeeps and rock crawling. I've got a 03 Wrangler that I have a 79 Ford Dana 60 in the front and a Dana 70 in the rear. Will be sitting on 40in tires an stretched wheel base.

Meanwhile I have a 01 Wrangler on Jeep axles, 35's I DD an I don't beat on it to much because of the DD status.

However if I had a tow vehicle, I wouldn't hesitate to tow the Jeep to the trails, beat on it an tow it back.

So for right now I need a truck that can haul one Jeep on a trailer. Later down the road when the other Jeep is ready, I'll be looking into a truck that can haul a gooseneck trailer an two Jeeps.


Ok so now you have the gist of why I want to tow. My dad has an 86 F150, 300 inline 6 with a 3spd he keeps at my house I use to haul trash an odds and ends.

Reading the boards I heard the inline 6 is actually a good motor. Is it capable of towing and to what rating?

This is a 2wd truck an it squats pretty good when we put a load of mulch in the back of the long bed. I'm assuming I'd have to do something with the suspension to be able to handle 6000lbs or more.

Should I find a donor f250, f350 an swap everything over to the f150 an do a 351w motor? Diesel?

Should I leave it alone an find another truck? I'm looking at a small budget for this right now so I have the option of towing one Jeep. Or should I just find a bigger truck that can handle towing two Jeeps an be done with it?

Just questions I have at the moment. Like I said the 86 2wd 3spd f150 longbed truck doesn't seem like it has much towing compacity with the way it handles full load of mulch. I'm also thinking the 8.8 axle won't handle much of the load. I have another dana 70 rear in the garage I could swap over to it if I needed to.

Thanks for any advice.

 

If it were me I'd find a bigger truck, F250/F350 or so. F350 would be better IMO. Even if you upgrade the the motor/trans/rear end/brakes and suspension to handle it you will still have the F150 frame which isn't rated for that kind of weight and some states get kind of picky about that. The 300 you would handle it, just not real fast, but you'd probably be happier with a diesel or 460.

 

The only problem you will have with the 460, at least from my experience, is the cost. Parts for the 460 will be more expensive than for say a 351.

 

I do the same thing. Here is my build thread for my rock crawler towing vehicle. Go to the 460 or 7.3 Diesel.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-tow-tool.html

 

I was wondering if the frames were different between models...guess that answers a lot of my questions.

 

I've read your build on

Old Ford




Another reason I want a tow rig, so I can tow to Crozet more

 

Once you start towing to crozet it's downhill from there.