Hi guys ... I need some driving advice on a long heavy haul with the wrong gears. I am not going to change the gear ratio as this is a one time affair but what should I expect and how can I modify my own driving behavior to have the best trip possible. Here's the situation:

My truck: 1992 F150 351W E4OD 3.55
The trailer: 20' Enclosed Car Hauler, expected total weight 7,500 lbs
The haul: 2,500 miles from West Coast to East

And yes, I have all my towing needs, tranny & oil cooler & upgraded springs, equalizing hitch, sway bar, electric brakes and controller. What I'm asking about is the driving itself.

Thanks in advance for your assistance!!!!

 

wow! thats a pretty hefty load for that truck... ESP with the E4OD! i found a few tricks tips through hauling heavy weight a lot. when going up and down hills dont expect to maintain speed and dont push the truck to try and maintain it. you could easily compensate though, go faster down hill and the momentum will keep you going up hill. when you hear/feel the tranny shifting b/t 2 gears a lot let off... this means you found a shift point and the constant changing gears will create heat. speaking of it might be a good idea to have the tranny serviced and the fluid changed along with the filter before heading out.

actually 3.55's will be good to you as long as you are cruising through halfway level country but it's gonna hurt you when you start to find the hills. also, instead of changing gears ever thought about putting a smaller set of tires on your truck? that would do the same thing!

basically what i am saying is that truck will make that trip easy as long as you take care of the tranny! everything else will be fine. the cooler you keep everything the better!

-cutts-

 

Don't let yourself get rattled, you have tooooo much trip. Run at the hills and keep a little extra for stopping. You do not want to get in the Ohh Sheet zone.

Most of all wishing you Good Luck, stay safe.

John

PS: Let us know how it went after you complete the trip.

 

Your rig is on the light side for that much weight. The Ford Truck Bible and Trailer Life Magazine didn't recommend the 1990's era 150 for towing much above 5,000# on a regular basis.

When you stop for gas etc, let the engine idle a few minutes. During a hard haul, especially in hot weather, the engine and tranny metal will soak up a lot of heat. If you stop the engine right away, all that heat will dump into the coolant, oil, atf etc and may cause something to boil over.

Idling lets the cooling system dump some of the stored up heat as long as the fluids are circulating. Usually I stop for gas or whatever, let it idle while I do a walk around to inspect the trailer etc. Then just before pumping gas, I turn it off.

If your tranny hunts gears, shift down one(or turn overdrive off). Before a long hill, also shift down one before you lose momentum.

Leave plenty of braking room, the 150 doesn't have a lot of brake. Also, down shift when going downhill, let the engine keep your speed down. Your small brakes will overheat if you ride them and then you will have an exciting ride.

Make sure your tires are aired up, they will support more load and run cooler. There should be a sticker on the door post or manual showing towing pressures. I don't know on a 150 since I assume they use light truck or even car tires. But on a 250 and up the tires typically will be aired to about 90 psi front and rear for tow and down to about 60psi for no tow, quite a difference. In any case DO NOT EXCEED the max pressure rating on the sidewall.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

Thanks so much for the advice guys. All good stuff. I did already have the tranny fluid changed, but is there something else meant by "servicing"? Also I forgot to mention that my truck was a 4x4 but I don't imagine that's going to affect the drive.

Having just come down (via divorce) from a F350 PSD with which I towed my horses regularly, I have great respect for what I'm asking this little and older truck to do for me. The first two days through the mountains will be the worst (and it was 10 hrs for the PSD towing the same weight) but the rest of the trip should be mostly flat.

Oh, and cool idea about the tires but that would probably hurt my pride too much . But that does explain something I've always wondered about big duallies with little tires! Thanks!

What about using cruise control on the flats -- yes? no?

 

dg, Sounds like you might have a good handle on things. He (or she in this case) who who holds the steering wheel makes the final difference. You should be able to make the trip just fine with your equipment. You will see a lot of 150s and smaller trucks used for towing as you cross the country. Cruise can be used when it isn't jumping in and out a lot. That is the one thing that you want to avoid when possiable.

It shouldn't take many miles before you have good command of your vehicle.

John

 

Hi Duc_grrl: Having towed heavy loads with a half ton in the past may I offer my 2 cents worth. I don't think you will have much trouble towing 7,500 lbs cross country if you are carefull. There is a lot of good advice in the above posts. You may already know this but your tranny will run cooler if you leave it in drive as opposed to overdrive. This will all so prevent the transmission from hunting. I would recomend in hilly areas down shifting yourself instead of waiting for the trans. to do it and not standing on the gas when going up hill, just hold a steady speed. I would be carefull about using the cruise as in an attempt to keep a steady speed it will tend to "powershift" to a lower gear. Good luck, have a safe trip.

 

You might want to consider adding a tranny temp gauge. They're not all that expensive or hard to install, but it could keep you out of a LOT of trouble by letting you know when you're pushing a little too hard. Consider it insurance.

Good luck with it,
Roger