Ok, I know it's been gone over before and I've done the search thing. But my question is kind of what I need to do than what it will pull.

It looks like the direction of my F150 Explorer SBSC with a 300 and 4 speed over drive and 8.8 with 3.55's is going to change.

I had originally planned on just a street truck with little to no hauling or towing but now I have a 26' Jayco travel trailer and really don't want to get a new truck.
I know the 300 could do it but a 351 would be a better choice. And I also know they recommend an automatic over a standard but if I do that it would have to be a overdrive so maybe do a ZF instead.
So I guess my question is, with front/rear stabilizers, rear helper springs or airbags, upgraded brakes and an equalizer hitch would my F150 be up to the task?
I really don't want the get rid of my truck but I don't want to destroy it either.

 

if you have trailer brakes and good springs, it'll do it just fine, but might be a bit slow up the hills.
my experience with the 8.8 is less than desirable, but if it comes down to it you could swap in a dana 60 from an F250 when the time comes.
as for auto vs manual, manuals just do whatever you tell them to do, and last forever if you know how to drive a clutch. i won't tell you how far i overloaded the f150 i used to have, with the only load-based problems being tire failures. springs would sag under excessive load, and the miserable 8.8 went to hades twice before i swapped in something better. once was a differential failure (spider gears exploded), the other time was shaft wear and pitting at all the bearings, including wheel bearings and pinion bearing/seal.

so in short, if you don't already have helper springs, get them. i would assume your trailer has brakes, make sure they work and the truck has a controller for them. make sure your tires are inflated to their rating. from there, go for it, it'll be fine, these trucks are tough as can be

 

Its doable, but you wont like it. I used to tow my bronco to the trails with a standard cab short bed 94 with the 300 and automatic until i built my f250. It did the job, but it didnt ride well with that kind of weight on the suspension. The brakes were also less then confidence inspiring and with it being so short it just never felt very stable. If i were to tow with that truck again i would invest in some high end brakes, air bags and some kind of sway control device.

 

Your truck should be fine pulling that trailer but, A EQUALIZING HITCH WILL BE MANDATORY.

I would not beef the suspension, or the rearend up. There will be very little weight on the rear of the truck after you set the hitch up. So there is no need for heavy springs and a heavy rearend. Without the special hitch, the rearend would sag with the weight of the trailer, but after you set the hitch, it actually lifts the rearend of the truck back up and puts more of the weight on the front of the truck. They also come with sway damping as options as well. To give you an idea how these hitches work, you can actually set them so tight, that it will lift the rear wheels of the truck off the ground, and put all the weight on the trailer tires and the front tires of the truck.

Your only possible problem may be the tranny. Most all the 4 speed overdrive trannies were considered weak, but what I would do is go ahead and drive it, and keep in mind if you do end up with tranny trouble, get ready to put a zf in it later. This may be a good case to spend some extra money on some of the fancy synthetic oil and see if that helps your tranny last longer.

Your brakes should be fine also, as long as the trailer brakes are working and in good shape.

 

5k on a 26' Jayco, sounds more like empty weight, but still the truck should do it. I pull a 22" Fleetwood with my truck. Dont be in a hurry, mountains feel like an all day affair, but we make it, slow and steady. Fully Loaded, water, propane, gear etc, it comes in ~4800 on the scales. You also have to take into account any gear you put in the bed. I have not upgraded my rear either. The equalizer is a must, and LT tires, get rid of XL tires if you have them. I have contemplated swapping in a 9", but that is more to do with my impending 351 build.

 

Ditto what Matt and Dave said. And, one key is the equalizer hitch they recommended. If you get it set correctly you'll have a good balance of weight on front and rear tires so will be using all the brakes the truck has. That, with the mandatory trailer brakes working properly will do it.

As for the tranny, I wouldn't go to a C6 since they use quite a bit of the power you don't have. If you take care of yours, maybe with special fluid like Dave said, it may well do the job. Swapping to a ZF is a fairly big task even when it would bolt up to the engine as you'd have to swap out the tranny inspection cover, drill new holes in the frame for the cross member, and change to hydraulic linkage if you don't already have it.

 

Just don't put the tranny into OD when towing/hauling and I'd think you'd be OK on that.

 

X2 on what CTUBUTIS said,

I also recommend for what my 2 cents is worth, is do not try to pull a load from a dead stop up a incline with the 4-speed OD.

3.55 is a good ratio to have.


Good news is by Ford's recomendation the F-150 is rated to tow 5000lbs with a 351 and automatic with the min. rear ratio of 3.00, so your truck will be able to stop it. That's the most important thing.

Getting it going, the 300 will do that well. (That's my opinion, not Fords.)

The weakest part of your truck is that 4-speed OD tranny, and what I forsee you will have the most problem with.

As for other equipment: The Super Cooling Radiator (if not already equipped), front and rear stabilizer bars, and a weight distributing hitch should be the rest if what you should have.

 

Thanks guys.
Was kind of worried about the truck being able to handle it, and still am a little about the trans. But will run it and see what happens. After almost 3 million miles driving an 18 wheeler I'm not real concerned about pulling with a standard, just with this standard.
It will be getting trailer brakes, front/rear stabilizers and a class 3 hitch before it goes to far. I think it already has the heavy duty radiator but we'll see, and that can be fixed to.
Thanks again, I really didn't want to tear up my little jewel.

 

If the truck is going to spend a lot of time towing the trailer, you could always whip a granny 4-speed in for that period.......just a morning's work - everything will swap.
That would give you a trouble free trans, extra-low 1st & reverse for manouvering, will save your clutch, & your OD trans won't be damaged.

Just an option

 

Good idea, Ken. An NP435 would be an easy swap. And they are cheap and cheerful.

 

I was in the same situation on the travel trailer.
I had a 66 model 26 ft Silver Streak(Airstream twin).
It was Heavy..

I had the equalizer hitch and anti-sway.
I didn't have any problems with stability. You know you have a load but it handles lots better than pulling a set of Pups...Trav...

 

The 300 will not really like the 5000lbs, but it will do it. BUT the Parachute effect the camper will produce will act like you have the brakes dragging most of the time.

Personally, I would be looking for a 351 4:10 gear truck

 

the 300 is a workhorse that'll do it all day, just not too fast. i have an F250ld with the 300 and 3.54s, and with the flatbed it sits at 6k, and is a bit of a dog. it often gets loaded to 9-10k, and it does whatever i say, just not as fast.
personally, if i were to upgrade it, it would either be a 460 or a diesel, but i haven't justified the expense yet.

 

I think the 300 would do it, just kind of think the 351 would like it better. But I've never really pulled anything with a 351 either. I'm pretty sure I don't want a 460 mainly for the fuel mileage reason. My 34' motor home has a 460 with the Banks system and does a great job but it does it at about 8.5mpg, 7 pulling my Jeep. That's one of the reasons I'm thinking about downsizing to the Jayco for all but long trips, just got to go pick it up. The trans and frame on the F150 were what I was concerned about.

And Trav, almost anything handles better than a set of pups, except maybe triples. That's one of the reasons I stopped pulling them almost 20 years ago.