This is just my opinion here, but why does everyone want their truck to be a race car with a heavy trailer? Towing heavy stuff just takes more time...what's wrong with that?

The heaviest thing I've ever pulled with my F150 was an old Blazer on a car hauler, and that was for about 450 miles. Total weight, including the motorcycle I was carrying in the bed, was about 7,000 lbs. The truck did fine. Sure, it took a good 30 seconds to get up to speed, but once it was there, she had no problem with it. I never had to even slow down below 60 going up some pretty steep hills; I was impressed! Honestly it wouldn't even bother me if the truck slowed down to 40-50 MPH going up some of the hills...I realized long ago that towing requires patience, so what's the problem here?

You're right, a supercharged F150 would certainly tow better...but at what cost? Do you really think the tranny could hold up to towing with a supercharged engine, putting through almost double the torque the tranny was built for?

If you must have a rocket ship with a trailer, I'd go with the above suggestions of a super duty with a diesel.

 

Just to say, a supercharger will give a lot of horse power on the upper end of the RPM range, but torque.... Well it will give more, but not so much.
I really don't see a $5k dollar supercharger will make much of a difference towing. A gear change would help more and be cheaper.

 

Not to split hairs here, but...

That would depend on the type of supercharger. A "positive displacement" similar to the roush charger you see commonly on F150s would increase torque and power throughout the rev range. This is because it's pushing a certain amount of air per revolution, making the boost level fairly constant throughout the rev range.

A centrifugal supercharger, like the vortech units you see, would not. This type of supercharger takes RPMs to build boost, therefore you would see a big difference in the high end, but not so much down low.

 

Im not the creater of the post, but its not about racing with the trailer. ITs about maintaing a good highway speed and being able to merge on and off without too much trouble.

 

I agree with hllon4whls. We have been towning our 18 ft Toy Hauler, loaded around 7000 lbs, for 3 years with our 2000 Expedition Eddie Bauer, 5.4, 3.73 gears. It now has 106,000 miles on it. On a trip from SoCal to northern Minnesota last June, it did fine on the open freeways. Only 3 places did we get down to 45 mph, the grade southbound on I25 from southern Co. towards New Mexico, the grade on I40 westbound out of Needles Ca. and the Windy Ridge area of the 241 tollway in SoCal. It is slow from 0 to 60, but not THAT bad, but we only averaged 8 MPG. Without towing we average 17 with it. We still have the Expedition, but picked up an 07 Super Cab F150, 5.4 and 3.73 gears. They want us to have at least 1000 miles on it before long towing trips, but just taking it back to the storage spot, I can tell there is a big difference in the added horespower and torque of the two vehicles. I'll be happy with at least 10 mpg. The price difference here from what we got to an F250 diesel is well over $10,000. The F150 is rated for what we have, so we figured it was worth a try. If it does not work out, on to the F250!!

 

These trucks only tow great suspension wise as long as nobody checks actual weights. These days in Western Canada the standard is British Columbia. People towing a trailer of any substantial weight with any 1/2 ton are getting turned back at the border because they are overweight. The reason I bought my HD is because I fully intend to tow a trailer into British Columbia next summer and I can't justify the initial expense of a diesel.

 

I agree with you there, but heavy performance mods for towing are a very tricky thing...

Our trucks are designed to handle 300 HP and 360 lb-ft of torque. Sure, they are overbuilt a bit to handle the extra stress of towing, but still they are not built to handle a whole lot more power.

Increasing the power output through ANY mod, even relatively insignificant gains can seriously shorten the life of the engine, tranny, and the rest of the driveline when used for towing. For example, when towing a heavy load up a long hill, many with the Edge tuner report that their transmission temp goes all the way up to 220 degrees. This by itself is not good for the tranny, but what about pulling that same hill with a supercharger or other serious performance mod?

Nah, I'm just leaving mine stock. If I absolutely have to have more power, I'll trade it in for a V10 super duty. Until then, I'll just live with it.

 

I had a dealer going to give me an 08 6.4 Turbo Diesel F350 (yes 350) Crew Cab 4x4 for $34,000. 08 F350 Crew cab 4x4 deisel! I just couldnt get the deal to work for me though cause I would be trading both trucks (one paid off and one not) and I would have to replace the other truck with a commuter car... Anybody in So Cal interested in this F350 let me know and Ill tell you where to go.

Im back to square one looking for a used late model F250. Even the V10 with an extra 100ft/lbs will do me...mileage will suck but whatever. What are the V10 F250s getting for mileage towing 8000lbs?

Pet Peeve: Why do all the decent used F250s I find have big lifts, gaudy aftermarket rims and huge tires? Jeez...

 

You could also try the Superchip. It has shift point adjustments and a number of other adjustments including tire size and axle ratio adjustments. This might give you some options unless you want to spend over 5 grand for a supercharger.

 

Now, why is it a 5.4 in an F-150 is a dog, but the 5.4 in my F-250 does just fine towing over 9000 pounds? (See set up below and in gallery). You'd think the F-150 would feel faster because it is lighter.

I mean, I am not going to win any drag races but I have never failed to get up to traffic speed before I have to merge.

Does the 5R110W transmission make that much difference?

 

The tranny and final gearing is the difference. Put the lazy F150 4 speed and a 3.73 in your F250 and youll feel the pain...

Oops, I see you have a 3.73. First and second gear in the 250 is much shorter and there are much smaller gaps to jump 1-2 and 2-3.

 

Have you checked your trailer for problems? Like stuck brakes, or bad bearings. Maybe try pulling a buddies trailer loaded with the same weight and see if it still pulls bad.

I agree with most posters here, 4:10s, 17" wheels, and a programmer. I think that will give you the best bang for the $$.

I wish I had the your set of 3.73s, 3.55s , good for MPG, poor for towing and performance. '

'04 SCREW 5.4L 3.55, 4x4, 66K,

 

if you can't get the 4.30s and you're going back and forth between 4.10s and 4.56s, don't ever fear the gear. you will love 4.56s; especially if you get some larger tires down the road. if you get 4.10s and get any larger tires down the road, you'll be at the same point as now. get the 4.56s; get a JLT cai/sct programmer (bout 25-30hp and 45ish lbs of torque), and if you wanna go the extra mile, electric fans.

When I moved up to minnesota I pulled my car on a heavy uhaul trailer, all in all about 5500lbs. truck had no problem hitting triple digits... that was a 5.4 short cab 4x2 with 3.73s as well. I know there's a big difference between that one and my current truck, but I don't think it would have a big problem with it (current one is supercrew 4x4 w/ 3.55s, so a lot of extra weight, taller gears...)

I got 11.8mpg the whole way here, even with all the screwing around on open roads; and going from 1400ft altitude in phoenix, to over 7000 ft to get out of arizona. both trucks have 17" wheels.

and I agree the OD button does more than just prevent shifting into OD... the 1-2 and 2-3 shifts do feel a bit better.

 

agreed... the 4 speed in these trucks, while it's bullet proof (in my experience w/ it and the 4r70w sister tranny in mustangs), it ain't exactly the best geared tranny for a mod motor...

 

I figured out the answer! An easy way to add 100ft/lbs. Im adding 2 more cylinders... I found a really nice low mileage V10 F250 Crew Cab 4x4 for the right price.