ive been on this forum for a few years now, ive read all the towing threads on the 5.4 and YES ive said the 5.4 is gutless, has no power etc. But ive also responded to threads about members looking to buy a 5.4 Super Duty or those who are going to be towing with them and have answered yes these motors tow what Ford says and yes you have to let them rev to 4 or 5k at time. Over the years ive hauled bed full of rock, topsoil, logs, pavers and have never had one issue with the 5.4. Ive towed my 16ft utility trailer and towed my 3520 John Deere compact tractor that had a bucket and backhoe attachment on it all over South Jersey for work and the truck alwaysdid fine. I towed a 1977 K30 reg cab that had a 454 10 inch lift and 40" tires from up state NJ formy cousin and again the 5.4 did fine. BUT yesterday my dad asked me to go pick up his boat from the shore, i said no problem and i hooked up the 7k double axle trailer and drove down Rt 55 and headed to Sea Isle NJ. The way down no problem at all truck did 70-75 mph with no problem or low power feeling. Loaded up his 2005 20ft KeyWest CC and headed back home. Truck has no problem puling the boat up the ramp, driving through town ormerging back onto Rt55. THEN the problem starts so i get up to 70mph and set the cruise control trucks going along hit a small overpass and BAM truck drops to 3rd gear and its screaming at 4200rpm!! go over the pass and its still at 4k screaming and im waiting forit to hit OD but it wouldnt so i shut the cruiseoff and itfinally shifted into OD so i stopped using crusie control and ever overpass i hit or small incline in the road same problem, truck downshifts to 3rd gear screaming at 4-4200rpm?? Now anyone who livesin NJ hasprobally been on Rt55 heading to the shore andyou know its FLAT! Why on earth cant this weak little 5.4 tow a 6500-7k load on flat ground at 70mph without screaming to death on a six foot tall overpass?? I could see if i was in PA in the mountains or out west going over the rockies or something but on flat ground?? All you guys who own 5.4's and towing max loads over mountains and such are crazy! If i was towing 12k with a 5.4 and ever little hill made it drop gears and rev to 5k id sell these junks the following day andbuy something else. Yesterday made me loss all respect for my 5.4 towing......

 

I tow a 4000 lbs trailer and the 5.4 screams at 4-5k to keep up in hills if I have the Cruise Control.
I feel is a bit gutless too but is what it is.. if I want more then I would have to pay more.. I just slow down and breathe...

Remember the F-250 is already a heavy truck that robs a ton of power from the 5.4l

 

 

You seem to have developed quite a bit of angst towards your truck in recent months...

It's not just about the weight; wind resistance plays far more of a role on the highway than weight. Secondly it doesn't matter which gas engine you have, if you expect to maintain your speed on cruise control up a hill you can expect to turn some revs. If you don't like that don't bother with the V10 or 6.2L, go for a diesel truck and the associated maintenance and repair costs.

And lastly what's wrong with 4,000 RPMs? And why do you have to be going that fast with this trailer for it to be acceptable to you? I, as well as many thousands of commercial truck drivers have made my living at 62 MPH and lived to tell about it. You do know that ST-rated trailer tires are only rated to 65 MPH...right?

 

Yup...mine did that too pulling my 5500 pound travel trailer, and even my 4000 pound boat. The 6.4L diesel only kicked down to 5th. The 6.7L so far has only once kicked out of 6th gear even pulling my 10500 pound 5th wheel. I am duly impressed with it.

 

Funny. My transmission never shifts unless I force it to.

Sounds like your beef is with gearing and automatic transmissions, not the engine.

 

Come on now Scaler we must remember that it is a 5.4 in a 7000 pound truck, I pull my 10,000 pound fifth wheel all over the country with it. When I can run at 65 to 70 in overdrive I do and when I cant I take it out and set the cruise at 65 and run 2900 rpm and she sings along happy as she can be. Like already said a V10 or 6.2 is going to do the same thing. And they are correct about the wind resistance being the biggest hurdle. And that doesnt take into consideration that you might have had a strong headwind.

 

agreed in the morning whenthere is no wind and i am towing my 9k skid steer and that is dry weight..most of the time i have a bucket, forks, and post hole digger with me on my 5k trailer i can run 65 in OD on cruise all the way there...but when i am heading home against the south wind i have to run her in 3rd

 

Another SuperDutyScaler rant? Surprise!!!

 

ummm 4K is hardly screaming.. its singing at that RPM.

now if it were 5500RPM+ now that would be screaming along.

sounds to me like your trying to find a reason to get outa ur truck, which is fine..

personaly i wouldnt own a SD with a 5.4, its simply not enuf motor..plain n simple.

 

Sounds like your 5.4 has let you down yet though man, it may kick up in RPM's but it seems that she hasn't let you down once yet.

 

My V10 used to scream at 4500 rpm when pulling my bumper pull 2 car trailer (7,000 lbs) with two 1962 Cadillacs on it at avout 5k each so 17,000 roughly. Trying to maintain 65mph was a challenge but these modular motors like rpms. I believe 4,250 is the peak power rpm range.

 

I'm in the same boat I just pulled my skid steer the other day on a four hour drive. The truck was never able to get out of third gear and hit second about a quarter of the time. I weighed in at 17,500lbs. Made 9.3mpgs on the way there with the 2,600lb trailer and 5.5mpg loaded. I have 35s and 3.73 gears. I think that's my killer. Debating on a gear change to 4.88s but don't know if that's to low? I noticed it made more power in third at 2.5-3k than second at 4.5k.

 

YES, those 3:73's are killing you..

either regear to 4:88's or go down to a much smaller tire.

 

I think SuperDutyScaler must have diesel envy.