I have a 94 F150 2wd with the 4.9 I6 and Mazda 5spd transmission, 3.55 rear gears. I'm looking to tow a small (maybe 14'-16') car trailer with an 89 Cherokee on it but I'm not sure of the towing capacities. I've heard that it's around 5300lbs with the transmission I have and I've heard up to 10k with an auto. Are those figures close to accurate? 10k seems a bit much for a half ton. How much more would I be able to tow with a ZF-5 and how difficult would that swap be?

Thank you
-Dylan

 

I don't want to say for certain, because it's been a while since I looked, but I'm 99.9% sure the towing capacity is 2500lbs because of the m5od transmission. It may be a little more with the 3:55, but not much. "Legally", your not going to increase towing capacity on that truck.

I've had several trucks with that transmission. 1st gear and reverse are very high. I use to tow a 22' fiberglass deck boat probably 5k lbs, never had any issue. I pulled a 7500 lbs load of scrap metal one time, no issues. But, I also smoked my clutch trying to back a POP UP camper into a steep uphill spot! A 4wd with low range helps tremendously with this Tranny.

The zf5 would definitely improve your towing abilities with the granny 1st gear and lower reverse ratio. It is a pretty simple swap, but the zf5 is not as smooth and fun to drive everyday as the m5od.

With all that said, I would not hesitate to tow that load with that truck, I would strongly recommend having a trailer with brakes. And if this is going to be something you do on a regular basis at hwy speeds, get a weight distribution hitch and scale your load out properly, then mark your trailer so you can load it the same way every time. Just remember to baby your clutch(there is a larger clutch available), and I would not recommend using overdrive. Also, check the plastic plugs on your transmission, make sure it's full of fluid. Those plugs are known to dry up and leak, but it will only leak when in operation. This and resting your hand on the gear shifter\improper body lifts, is probably the cause of 90% of m5od failures.

 

I had a '95 and it was a gutless wonder.


I would not bother myself.

 

When you say gutless wonder, are you referring to speed? I would totally agree with that. But the 300 is a great pulling motor, it will pull way down in the rpm range. Not everyone can afford to go out and buy a newer superduty that want even notice 5k lbs back there. A 302 would be a worse option than what he has for towing, but makes the daily commute more fun.

Here's the 94 300 AUTO I had, pulled this around to local campgrounds no problem at 55-60 mph. It was probably the slowest vehicle I've ever had, and I've had a lot.

 

Cross country run with mine it wouldn't hard to interstate speeds with a full load in the bed.


I can't recall but perhaps I had taller gears.


Motor itself was darn good, just underpowered for me.

 

I don't mind the ZF-5 not being as smooth around town, this truck is eventually going to just be a dedicated tow rig and I'm going to be getting a motorcycle and probably an 01 Z28 Camaro for daily drivers, so that's not much of an issue.
Is there any mods you'd recommend doing to the motor to make it a bit more comfortable towing?

 

Unfortunately, there is not a lot of aftermarket support for the fi 300. A free flowing exhaust helps. You may research a 5 liter tuneup, same things apply to the 300 as a 5.0. A lot of people have liked the results of bumping their timing. Lots of threads on this. The computer doesn't like most of the aftermarket cams available, and your factory can pulls good down low. A lower gear is an option, but will kill your interstate mpg. Honestly, if it's going to be a dedicated tow rig, there are a lot better options, especially if your already looking to dump money in this one. I dump some time and money in mine, but the truck was in extremely good shape and I was in it cheap through a trade.

 

Maybe I'll just use the money I'd be dumping into this truck and save up for a first gen Cummins, been seeing a few of those go for pretty cheap with low miles. I got this truck pretty cheap as well, paid $1500 for it after totaling my Camaro. As long as it will hold up temporarily until I can afford something else, It should work fine.

 

I did a few things to coax some power out of my old 95 4.9L 4x4 F150 years ago.

Comp cams 268H worked well when paired with the port matched 5.8L throttle body. I also replaced the down pipe with the walker tubular one, paired with the summit brand 3" exhaust. I cannot say that it was the best pulling truck in the world, but let me put it this way. I got a speeding ticket in Colorado while towing a 1968 Plymouth Roadrunner on a 18 ft. equipment trailer. I was doing 81 in a 65. I also had the M5R2 (M5OD) transmission. I never had a problem with the transmission.

 

And that cam didn't freak the speed density computer out? It has a lobe separation of 110. That's really not enough for speed density. It's generally thought to keep it at least 114 to keep the computer happy. I had specifically asked about that cam, if it worked, I would sure like to have known when I was asking about them a year or so ago! And walker does make a down pipe that is perfect for a cat delete.

 

No, but it only allowed for so much performance gain. Essentially, the camshaft raised the rpm range where torque was at it's highest. This put it in a better window for me while towing.

 

As far as towing capacity goes the 94 f150's have a range of 500lbs to 7500lbs depending on equipment. 351, auto, with 3.55 gears, and 4wd, having the highest factory rating I believe. If you need more truck, my advice is to save up and buy more truck.