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A 6700 gvwr ain't squat. My e99 5.4 ccsb 4x4 weighed 6700 empty. The engineers towing charts are for the engineers to stroke themselves. Bet you hit gvw before max tow.
what does your truck weigh?
tongue weight of trailer?
Hitch weight?
wife, kids, other cargo?
anything packed in the trailer in front of the axles?
are you over 6700# yet?
A 6700 gvwr ain't squat. My e99 5.4 ccsb 4x4 weighed 6700 empty. The engineers towing charts are for the engineers to stroke themselves. Bet you hit gvw before max tow.
what does your truck weigh?
tongue weight of trailer?
Hitch weight?
wife, kids, other cargo?
anything packed in the trailer in front of the axles?
are you over 6700# yet?
Believe it or not...a couple years ago, when I first got the rig...I did a detailed calculation (I'm an accountant so...I'm a loser like that...lol) and I was around 7K so...a little over weight. I thought about buying a bigger pickup but in the end...it just didn't pencil out...especially since my truck was handling the trailer fine. It doesn't even sway much when it's windy and if you know anything about Southeast Missouri...it's all flat land. I do plan on taking it to a truck stop and actually weighing it in a couple weeks. But, I'm thinking about upgrading the suspension on it. I thought about having the axle ratio upgraded but...that's a little too in-depth I think. If it were swaying real bad, I'd just drop the cash and buy a Hensley Arrow...couple thousand bucks but...it would solve the problem.
My wifes family is from Lilbourn, we know how semo is. We spend a lot more time in the ozark mountians. Valleys can squeze the wind speed much higher by the time they clear the hill tops. More than once I was glad I have a heavy diesel siting over the front axle when I caught the crosswinds.
My 30', 6k trailer has over 900#tongue weight loaded for travel.I was pushing the limits with the xclb 7.3 01's 8800gvwr.
My wifes family is from Lilbourn, we know how semo is. We spend a lot more time in the ozark mountians. Valleys can squeze the wind speed much higher by the time they clear the hill tops. More than once I was glad I have a heavy diesel siting over the front axle when I caught the crosswinds.
My 30', 6k trailer has over 900#tongue weight loaded for travel.I was pushing the limits with the xclb 7.3 01's 8800gvwr.
Does your F150 have the 5.4 or 4.6? I know in 04 the STX came with the 4.6 and was standard. If you're towing that camper with a 4.6 then God help you, that engine was a great engine for everything but towing. Mine struggled with our Jayco that weighed 5400ish dry and about 6 ft shorter than yours. Our current camper is 36.5 and I towed that with my 2012 F150 5.0 and the power and stopping was there but wasn't too much fun driving anywhere other than the rural roads we have in Southern Illinois due to being blown around by wind, semis, etc. I'm in agreement with everyone else you're at 3/4 truck territory with your current camper, you may not blow your truck up but you're not doing it any favors either by being at or over the max capacities in just about everything.
Does your F150 have the 5.4 or 4.6? I know in 04 the STX came with the 4.6 and was standard. If you're towing that camper with a 4.6 then God help you, that engine was a great engine for everything but towing. Mine struggled with our Jayco that weighed 5400ish dry and about 6 ft shorter than yours. Our current camper is 36.5 and I towed that with my 2012 F150 5.0 and the power and stopping was there but wasn't too much fun driving anywhere other than the rural roads we have in Southern Illinois due to being blown around by wind, semis, etc. I'm in agreement with everyone else you're at 3/4 truck territory with your current camper, you may not blow your truck up but you're not doing it any favors either by being at or over the max capacities in just about everything.
Yah know...it really has pulled the trailer fine and it is the 4.6. There is some sway but nothing that's scary...I just go slow and take my time. Now, with that being said, I'm not headed for the Rockies or Gatlinburg. Three-quarter ton pickups are just too expensive. To be honest, before I spend $20K on a pickup that's 15 years old...I'll replace the engine with a 5.4, change the axle ratio, and upgrade the suspension...costly but...at least I know the truck and still way cheaper than a 3/4 ton.
Yah know...it really has pulled the trailer fine and it is the 4.6. There is some sway but nothing that's scary...I just go slow and take my time. Now, with that being said, I'm not headed for the Rockies or Gatlinburg. Three-quarter ton pickups are just too expensive. To be honest, before I spend $20K on a pickup that's 15 years old...I'll replace the engine with a 5.4, change the axle ratio, and upgrade the suspension...costly but...at least I know the truck and still way cheaper than a 3/4 ton.
Yeah you won't make it up mountains with your setup, and if you do your truck won't be happy with you at all . Replacing your engine isn't going to help one bit with the major issue of a half ton pulling a camper that size and that's sway and you're likely still going to be over your GVWR anyway. Anyway, no need to continue my rant on this, safe travels!
I have a 2008 Ford F150 STX Super Cab. My travel trailer is a 2021 Forrest River Wildwood X-Lite (273QBXL). I have attached a Scan Gauge 2 that I monitor the truck with. My truck has pulled the trailer fine for the last couple of years. I usually stay at state parks around two hours away (I live in Southeast Missouri). When I pull the trailer, my RPMs are around 2,500 on a typical flat roadway. It jumps to around 3,500 when climbing a hill, and when I'm "showering down" on it and trying to merge onto the interstate, it can be much higher. I monitor the transmission temperature closely, and it never gets above 150 degrees.
However, looking through all the options on the Scan Gauge, I noticed a "LOD" feature and found that it stood for engine load. Under everyday driving (pulling the trailer @ 2,500 RPMs), the LOD readout is usually above 85%. When I'm climbing a hill, it hits 99%. So, am I going to blow my motor up? As I stated earlier, the truck has been pulling the trailer fine. Anyway, thanks for your help in advance!
Sorry, I'm a little late to the party. From page 25 of your manual: "This is a percentage of the maximum power available currently being generated. In some vehicles it is the maximum available at the present RPM."
I suspect your vehicle is displaying on the "some vehicles" scale, which would make sense based on your report. At 2,500RPM it isn't capable of as much horsepower as at higher RPM, therefore what power it is putting out is going to be a higher percentage of available power at 2,500RPM. When you're climbing a hill, it makes sense that it would go to 99% because it is probably producing all of the power that it can at 3,500RPM. So if it could generate 150HP at 2,500RPM, it is actually generating 127.5HP, for example.
Like the others said, it is fine and not about to blow up.
Yah know...it really has pulled the trailer fine and it is the 4.6. There is some sway but nothing that's scary...I just go slow and take my time. Now, with that being said, I'm not headed for the Rockies or Gatlinburg. Three-quarter ton pickups are just too expensive. To be honest, before I spend $20K on a pickup that's 15 years old...I'll replace the engine with a 5.4, change the axle ratio, and upgrade the suspension...costly but...at least I know the truck and still way cheaper than a 3/4 ton.
Just got down to this part. Yeah the 4.6 is a good engine, but a little small for what you're doing. Especially with a 3.55:1 rear end. It will put up with it because it's tough, but it's definitely not oversize. I bet it could do the occasional long and steep grade, but it will be in first gear the whole way and it would be good to take it easy on it if you did something like that.
I totally agree on upgrading the current truck versus buying a 3/4-ton. They are really expensive! I think the best first thing you could do for yours with a 4.6 in it is change to a lower gear ratio. Something like 4.11 or maybe a 4.30 would help a lot, and probably wouldn't sacrifice any towing fuel economy.
Sorry, I'm a little late to the party. From page 25 of your manual: "This is a percentage of the maximum power available currently being generated. In some vehicles it is the maximum available at the present RPM."
I suspect your vehicle is displaying on the "some vehicles" scale, which would make sense based on your report. At 2,500RPM it isn't capable of as much horsepower as at higher RPM, therefore what power it is putting out is going to be a higher percentage of available power at 2,500RPM. When you're climbing a hill, it makes sense that it would go to 99% because it is probably producing all of the power that it can at 3,500RPM. So if it could generate 150HP at 2,500RPM, it is actually generating 127.5HP, for example.
Like the others said, it is fine and not about to blow up.
Thank makes sense! Thanks for the help...and piece of mind. :-)
Just got down to this part. Yeah the 4.6 is a good engine, but a little small for what you're doing. Especially with a 3.55:1 rear end. It will put up with it because it's tough, but it's definitely not oversize. I bet it could do the occasional long and steep grade, but it will be in first gear the whole way and it would be good to take it easy on it if you did something like that.
I totally agree on upgrading the current truck versus buying a 3/4-ton. They are really expensive! I think the best first thing you could do for yours with a 4.6 in it is change to a lower gear ratio. Something like 4.11 or maybe a 4.30 would help a lot, and probably wouldn't sacrifice any towing fuel economy.
Yeah...a 3/4 ton just doesn't make sense to me when you factor in money. The dealer said they see people with 1/2 ton pickups pulling the X-Lite's like mine all the time with no problems plus, who want's to drive around a 3/4 pickup all the time.
I bought a used 3/4 from the dealer that supplied a major construction company. They would do group buys every 3 or 4 years. The one I bought was said to have been the supervisors truck. I believed the salesman since I had worked with him during the day for years. It is a 2 wd XLT and since everyone here thinks you need 4 wd automatically, it was priced much lower than 4 wd. The difference in towing going up from a half ton was incredible. 2012 6.2 ext cab. Not a perfect vehicle for the shopping mall but I bought it for trailer pulling and it sits in the building most of the year. Just keep your 1/2 ton for everyday. Just my take.
I bought a used 3/4 from the dealer that supplied a major construction company. They would do group buys every 3 or 4 years. The one I bought was said to have been the supervisors truck. I believed the salesman since I had worked with him during the day for years. It is a 2 wd XLT and since everyone here thinks you need 4 wd automatically, it was priced much lower than 4 wd. The difference in towing going up from a half ton was incredible. 2012 6.2 ext cab. Not a perfect vehicle for the shopping mall but I bought it for trailer pulling and it sits in the building most of the year. Just keep your 1/2 ton for everyday. Just my take.
Yah know…I almost did that a couple years ago. Drove about 150 miles to the dealer offering it…had cash in hand and they knew I was coming. I got there and…they told they sold it…just in the couple of hours I was driving up there. MAN WAS I PISSED!!! Lol
Yeah...a 3/4 ton just doesn't make sense to me when you factor in money. The dealer said they see people with 1/2 ton pickups pulling the X-Lite's like mine all the time with no problems plus, who want's to drive around a 3/4 pickup all the time.
Thanks for the help and support!!
Remember a dealer is there to make money aka make a sale, they will tell you you can tow just about anything with anything. Trust me you won't want to drive that camper down a 2 lane highway with 30 mph sidewinds, you'll be white knuckling at best and ending up in a ditch or worse worst case. I drove home with ours yesterday in less wind than that and the tail was wagging with my 3/4 ton, which handled it fine, sure wouldn't wanna go back and be in my F150 for it though. Gears won't address that issue, a new motor won't address that issue, only a bigger truck is going to address the tail wagging the dog issue which will happen to you at some point.
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. Replacing your engine isn't going to help one bit with the major issue of a half ton pulling a camper that size and that's sway and you're likely still going to be over your GVWR anyway. Anyway, no need to continue my rant on this, safe travels!
