I had a few questions regarding renting of an E350 van to tow our Racecar cross country. We plan on renting a 15 passenger E350 with the 5.4L V8. Our trailer is an enclosed 20ft long trailer that will weigh approx. 6000lbs loaded.

We will be traveling from California to Michigan and im wondering how this van will tow a load like this and also how safe it will be?
What king of mileage can we look at on this trip as we will have to travel over the rockies and the Sierras?

 

the 5.4 will be fine, but the mpg will be low 10s.

 

6000lbs is right at the capacity limit for a 5.4 equipped e350. It will do it just fine, but you wont be going much faster than 60mph on the flats, and expect to drop into the 40-50 range on hard climbs. 6000lbs is solidly into the 'requires brakes' territory. If the trailer is equipped with electric brakes, you will need a van equipped with a tow controller. If the trailer is a uhaul , those use surge brakes and don't require a tow controller. Fuel economy will be below 10mpg in the hills.

 

Will the rental company approve towing a vehicle? Its been so long since I've rented anything but never knew any company overly enthused about such an intended use.

 

Don't tow in OD on any hills or when the van is lugging. I have towed thousands of miles with my 5.4L E350 at about 6000 lbs. I always tow with OD off unless I'm going down hill. The extra $100 you spend in gas is far cheaper than burning the tranny up towing in OD. I'd definitely also have the trailer brakes working and leave space ahead of you to the next car. I usually get 10-12 mpg towing, at about 60 mph.

Josh Quick
Quick Speed Shop

 

A couple of months ago, I was pulling back up to my office and noticed our 2008 F450 V10 dump truck was still there. What was odd about that is my 18' alum equipment trailer and Bobcat E32 excavator where not there. I knew we had an excavation job that day, about 60 miles from the office, and began wondering "how did my guys get the excavator there?". My question was answered when I saw one of our technicians pulling back into the parking lot with the trailer attached to one of our service vans. It's a 2004 E350 5.4 extended with an class 4 hitch, trailer brake controller, and upgraded rear springs. It does not however have a tranny cooler or a towing rear end. I was shocked (ok maybe a little angry) that my guys just used one of the service vans to tow the equipment to their jobsite. The trailer, with excavator and attachments, weighs in at every bit of it's 9,900 GVWR (hence the reason I spent the extra $ for an aluminum trailer). Heck, in my 2006 F350 DRW turbo diesel you can REALLY feel that trailer. After some possibly, not so nice words, to my guys, I found out that they couldn't find the keys to the dumptruck and had to get to the job. The driver said the van was a champ at pulling, it was slow and he had to set the brake controller higher than normal, but even he was shocked how well it did. I did however give both of them a lesson in weigh ratings. I have to admit after that I was expecting the tranny or something in that van to let go, but so far so good. I was even a little impressed that the van had no issues. I do NOT recommend a repeat performance, nor am I suggesting it's ok to towing a trailer that is over 2000 lbs over the listed capacity of any vehicle.

Scott Ray

 

Thank you all for the information. It was my guess what we would be around 10mpg throughout our trip. That is one issue i forsaw was the van that we are looking to rent probably doesnt have a brake controller, which would be the end of that idea. However the company does allow us to be able to tow! which is a major plus.

 

A tow controller can be temporarily placed in the van quite easily if it has the ford towing package. Its just a 4 wire connector, then placing the tow controller somewhere where it is secure and level.

 

That indeed is good news---I wasn't sure how rental companies treat towing something--always good to ask ahead of time.

Hope your anticipated trip goes perfectly for you!

 

Hello, I have a 2008 Ford extended passenger van with 373 rear and towing package with some additions. Heavy duty Bilstein shocks added, Helwig rear sway bar inch and a half, K&N cold air intake, and a GT Bully Dog GT Gas Tuner. In standard tune using regular gas. I am pulling a 7200 dry weight and about 8200 loaded weight Forest River Flag Staff V-Lite 35 ft travel trailer. About 51 ft in all and about 15,500 to 16,000 total gross combined weights. For my van about 13 to 15 thousand is range. So I am over. It says I can tow 9, 500 lbs. I have been pulling this travel trailer for 3 years now like this. I have sway bars and of course weight distribution. I have a small squat in rear and when towing on level to some hills trans temp is at about 185 to 200 at 60mph. Climbing bigger hills I reduce to 50 to 55 to keep trans temp down. Yes I have some sway but nothing bad and runs down the road pretty dam good. Flat highway I can run 70 if I want to. Prefer around 60 for van and for safety. I get 7 to 10 mph depending on hills and wind. Plan on adding a bigger or better trans cooler, rear spring upgrade, and possible air shocks at some point. I make this trip of 1200 miles twice a year in my Van. Oh ya I got a great deal on this van from a Ford dealer in Galveston Tx. It had 27,500 miles on it and got it for 11,500!! Can ya believe it... Love this van, best money I ever spent... Do not recommend hauling the weights I am hauling. Be safe stay within the weight limits recommend by Ford...

 

Just returned from a 700km roundtrip picking up my new beater daily driver (Opel Omega 3.0 V6, known as the Cadillac Catera to you guys).
Empty trailer is about 1200lbs, plus car ~3800lbs. Average speed was about 60-65mph. Got me 15mpg with empty trailer and 11mpg loaded.
Driving down the hwy I couldn't even tell the trailer was there, no sway whatsoever, braking was ok with surge brakes.
My E250 sports a stock 5.4 running on LPG. Engine temps never exceeded the usual lower quarter range. I used OD mostly, but switched to 3rd uphill.
Towing felt much easier than with my old 2500 RAM with the 5.9 Magnum gasser before.

 

What do you guys think about towing with the 4.9l in an E350?

 

Big Mistake unless it is a aluminum Fishing boat......

 

Or a small inflatable...........

I'm hard pressed to understand WHY Ford put that puny engine in a E350 chassis? If there was ever encouragement to misuse something this has to be a huge prime example.

 

Back in the late 80's when my brother used to road race motorcycles, one of our buddies who owned a bike shop had a late 80's E350 with the 4.9l and he used to tow an 20' enclosed trailer with 6 bikes and gear. I drove it one time to Daytona and besides swaying a little, the engine was up to the task. But nowadays everyone wants to go 75 mph even while towing.