I do a lot of freeway driving and need to have a combination economy car, trash hauler and tow vehicle. Being a "true blue" guy I'm looking at a 97-98 F150, 2wd, short bed, reg cab with 4.2 V-6 and 5-spd. With a 3.55 axle they are rated to tow 3,600 lb. My boat weights about 2,800 lbs. Can anyone give me their opinions on towing performance with this? I usually make short trips (< 20 miles) with a few hills and sometimes about 100 miles with lots of hills.

Also, what kind of non-towing mileage (city & hwy) could I expect?

With an automatic and 3.31 gears it's rated to two 4,800 lbs. How would mileage compare between these two configurations? If auto is just as good, I'll probably go for that.

Thanks,
Mark Biederbeck

 

I have a 2000 F-150 w/ 4.2L, 3.55 rear end and 5 speed. I have a 21ft center console boat that I have pulled to and from the lake (50 miles each way) a half dozen times or so. I am actually suprised by the truck and how well it does. The trip involves several "substantial" interstate hills and unless traffic gets me below about 60 mph, I don't have to come out of high gear. Make no mistake, it ain't like pulling w/ a big V8, but I suspect you should have no trouble with the boat you mentioned. With the limited experience I have, I seem to get about 14-15 mpg while towing; largely determined by the hilly terrain I suspect.
Check out the TOWING forum for more info.
Brian

 

I forgot...I average 19.8 - 20.1 mpg when not towing. Have gotten as high as 21.5 (all interstate driving 65 mph) and as low as 16 (all city driving in a hurry). I bought the 4.2L / 5 speed based largely on price ($16,700 new). Also, I liked the fact that a manual transmission should, based on my experiences, last longer than automatic - especially if towing.
My $.02

Brian

 

Hey Brian,

That's great, sounds like my objectives will be met. Maybe a couple of last questions...is your's a long or short bed and/or xtra cab?...do you have a canopy on it?

Thanks!
Mark

PS - thanks for the tipoff to the towing forum, I never noticed this before.

 

Marc:
I have the extended cab (2 extra doors - small ones - not full sized king cab). The truck I bought has some heavy duty "package" which I think is nothing more than larger tires (255x70 rather than 235x70), 3.55 rear end, maybe an extra leaf spring and some other stuff. Nothing really major but certainly worth having (especially since dealer didn't charge any more than trucks without the package!). The extended cab will lower your towing capacity by (I think)about 300 lbs. I believe this is just a limitation due to extra weight of cab cutting into the GCWR. So far as I know, there is only one bed length available on the extened cab XL.
As you probably know, an automatic transmission does provide for higher towing capacity - the limiting factor w/ manual being the clutch.
Overall I have been very pleased w/ my truck. It really was - and still is - a lot of truck for the money. I have 42,000 miles on it and aside from a problem with the cassette player...no problems.

Hope this helps,
Brian

 

Brian,

Definitely does. I wonder if anyone makes a heavy duty clutch. Do you consider yours to be easily driveable in city traffic? I don't do a lot of that but I do on occaision get stuck in traffic and don't want to drive a "tractor".

Thanks again,
Mark

 

No problems driving in city traffic..just have to shift same as w/ any manual automobile. Never looked for, but suspect h/d clutch is available. Right now I have really not needed anything heavy duty. I was "concerned" (a little) about pulling my boat out of the water, that is to say...up a steep ramp. But, fortunately...no problem. Knowing HOW to drive a manual shift is abviously important. You can slip and smoke, or use emergency brake or heel-and-toe and start right up the ramp with no probs. at all.
I will mention; my transmission was sometimes aggravating to get into low gear until everything got "loosened up" and now no probs.

Brian

 

I have a 97 with the 4.2 and 5 speed. the best mileage I have ever gotten (empty) was 19mpg. When pulling a car trailer, the mileage can go down to 12mpg. I live in the Midwest and it is pretty flat around here. If I go up a slight hill or rise, I have to downshift to 4th. If I were buying a new truck, I would get the 4.6 V8. My brother gets the same mileage as mine and his is a V8 4x4 with an Automatic. Ford, bring back the 300 inline 6. Just got down having new head gaskets,bolts, 1 connecting rod and piston, and new bearings in a 80,000 mile truck. The bearings were put in because they showed some wear, not a failure.

 

my truck is a 97' f-150 with a 4.2 V6 and i pull a 12 foot pop up camper with absolutly no problem the only thing i notice that is diffrent is the brakeing distance and any body that pulls a trailer should know that that will change with trailer weight and when it is not loaded it gets awsome gas millage even with corn bags for weight in the winter time that is 150 lbs.
Something i have noticed i have bought a tailgate net for summer when i barly haul anything and i get 30 miles more to the gallon with out the tail gate on wich should be a given but i was not expecting 30 more on a tank of gas

when i go camping i dont do to bad on gas either i get about 15 m.p.g. doin an average of about 55 mph but i am always behind a frien o fmine who has a 5th wheel so i guess i am kinda drafting him bu tim not sure anyways i hop ethis helped your disission


kewlf150
97 f150 x-cab 4.2 V6 5-speed
dark toreador red clear coat metalic

 

I have an '01 with the 3.08 gears, 4.2L, and 5 speed tranny. I've been getting about 19mpg overall (combined city/highway), and it has more than enough power for a smaller trailer - and it would be a lot better with the 3.55 gears. Heck, it's actually got more power than my old F150 with the 5.0L V8. In hindsight I probably should have gotten the 4.6L V8 with the auto tranny, but I got a good deal on this one - less than $14,000 with the longbed and A/C. The truck does seem faster/more powerful with the manual tranny than with the automatic (they say the Ford auto robs you of about 30hp), but the auto will probably win in a 0-60 contest because the manual does not like being shifted quickly (there is a definite pause going through neutral, at least on the ones I've driven...I think it's a synchro issue). For passing maneuvers and such, the manual tranny wins hands-down...push her down into 3rd or 4th and she takes off quite nicely (as good as any auto-tranny-equipped stock truck I've driven). The V6 has halfway decent low-end torque, but loves to rev...and the manual allows better use of that power.

Now that I've said the good stuff, here's the problems:

The Mazda-made 5-speed tranny is not impressive - it has strength issues, the clutch is really light-duty, and synchro problems seem to be common. Also, the O/D linkage is weak - if you tow a trailer in overdrive you're just asking for trouble. Of course, you shouldn't tow in O/D with an auto tranny either. Also, reverse and first are not nearly low enough - it would have been nice if they'd put a granny low in there. With that said, some people have had good luck with this tranny - so you might get lucky.

I would strongly suggest that you avoid the '97 and '98 model years - they had a lot of problems with the 4.2L V6 in the first years of production. By '99 they seem to have worked most of them out, and so far I've been very happy with the engine in my '01.

I'm not sure I'd buy another manual-tranny F150 at this point, given the problems I've had with mine...and even though I like the 4.2L V6, I think the 4.6L V8 is a better engine choice (more power, more reliable, better resale, almost the same mileage). However, with that said you'd probably end up paying just as much for a '99 F150 with the 4.6L and auto tranny as you'd pay for a brand-new F150 with the 4.2L and 5 speed.

This isn't the right area to say it, but if I were you I'd be tempted to pick up a 5-year-old Ranger with the 4.0L V6 and auto tranny (probably an extended-cab). That would easily tow your trailer, they are fairly common (and relatively inexpensive), and really reliable (especially if you put on a large aftermarket tranny cooler & use synthetic fluid). I needed to have a full-size 8-foot bed, but if that isn't as important to you the Ranger might be worth a look. In this area, used Rangers are all over the place at good prices - but base-model F150s aren't too common because everyone seems to want all the bells and whistles, and it's tough to justify spending $15k or more on a used truck.

Of course, all this depends on what you're looking for...

LK

 

LK,

Interesting you should mention the Ranger, I currently have a 91 4.0 xtrabcab w/ auto & 4x4. I really like it except I can only carry two adults and need better stopping power (don't want to put electric or surge brakes on). But, your analysis is pretty much right on, they're good reliable trucks!

Mark

 

Mark,

As far as braking issues go, I'm not 100% sure how much better an F150 would be than a 4x4 ranger extended-cab. My truck weighs in at only about 4,050 pounds, and I think an extended-cab Ranger 4x4 with the 4.0 is probably almost as heavy (at least within a couple hundred pounds). Since for the most part your braking ability with an unbraked trailer depends on the weight of the tow vehicle, I'm not sure you'd see a huge improvement. The new F150s all come with 4-wheel disc brakes, which helps - but I'm not sure what year they started doing that (though I'm sure someone here does). The rear discs seem to be a lot better for repeated use when towing - they don't overheat nearly as quickly.

Of course, if you get a 4x4 F150 with the 4.6L V8 and auto tranny, that'll weigh more and do a lot better job of stopping your trailer...but of course it'll also cost a lot more. Everything has tradeoffs, I guess. If you want to carry more than two adults in an F150, I'd recommend getting an extended-cab - because I've ridden three in mine, and it doesn't seem as spacious as my older Ford pickups. I know that they claim it's bigger, but it doesn't seem like it. I'm not saying that you *can't* ride 3 across in the F150, but I wouldn't want to have to do it all the time (esp with a manual tranny). Plus, with the extended-cab you get a fair amount of extra weight and a longer wheelbase - both of which will help for towing. But, then we run into the money issue again...

LK