Hello I currently have a 02' superduty with the v-10 and tow about an 8,000lbs trailer. my question is how well will a new 08' f-150 tow this load. and what kind of mileage should I be able to pull down? thankyou

 

im not an expert on this but i can give you an opinion. the F150 with the 5.4 liter is supposed to be able to handle 10,000 lbs of towing. your fuel milage will not be that great. i get about 14.5 on average without towing. i can just imagine putting a load behind it would drop the mpg to under 10. if you tow that 8,000 alot, i would stick with a 250 or better and get the deisel. i know gas cost more but in the long run, you wont have to worry about wearing out he rear end or motor or brakes as fast as the f150 would do. thats just my opinon.

 

I have an 06 Scab w/5.4.3.73 rear and 7200lb trailer package.I pull a 5th wheel camper with lite weight of 7400lb loaded I am over 8k.Tows it O.K. comfortable with it get 8-9mpg towing.Hope that helps.

 

Unless your planning on getting an 2008 F150 with the 7700# heavy duty package. Stick with the Super Duty I have used my 2006 superduty many times hauling in the 8000-10000 range and can confirm that the F150 without the Heavy Duty package with the E rated tires would be worked hard. I am not saying it would not do it, just the Super Duty does it with ease.

 

No such thing as a 7700 package for the new series. The HD package has a GVWR of 8200 now. I am driving one as you can see in my gallery.

I am currently towing a trailer that weighs about 3000 to 3500 pounds. I ran the truck on the scale the other day and the front axle and rear axle weights were the same at 1600 kg or about 3500 pounds. Now by my computations that means my gross vehicle weight, and that is with virtually nothing in the truck and no water in the trailer tank, is about 7000 pounds. Draw you own conclusions.

 

Oops looks like I am still stuck in the 1997-2003 F150 era. I meant the new 8200# HD option truck. I still think the Superduty with the Torqueshift tranny (2005-current) will outperform a 2004-2008 F150 HD with a 8000 pound trailer. Now maybe a 2004+ 8200# F150 will tow better than a 1999-2004 Superduty with the 5.4 and 4spd auto I could see that.

 

I just got back from yellowstone towing a 9000lbs trailer. My HD Payload did pull it over the mountains but it was not pretty. It would not even hold it in second gear on the long grades. ( alt ranged between 5000 to 9200 feet) I know I was asking alot from my truck and it delivered, at about 6.5-7.8 mpg. At home in the flatlands of Indiana, the truck pulls the trailer fine at about 8.5 mpg. I get 11-14mpg totally unloaded with the wife driving.

 

Actually I only stuck with the F150 because I have quite a collection of accessories for them including a tuner and a Green Performance air filter among others. Also I knew that the trailer I was going to tow is both light and aerodynamic (an Argosy built back in the 70's by Airstream).

I am one hundred percent with you for most applications. If you are going to tow a trailer of any substance go with the F250 or 350. If you think you need the power of a diesel go ahead, otherwise I really think that the V10 makes by far the most sense. If you really read Fords towing propaganda (oops I mean literature) you can clearly see that the Super Duties are the ones made for towing. Otherwise, why is it that they are the only ones getting the 5 speed and manual trannies?

Ford did a great job of making the new series F150 quiet and comfortable and stiff, they just forgot to make them light enough to actually carry much of a load (take a look at the pics in my gallery of my overloaded red 2004).

 

I just returned from a 300 mile trip pulling 6000# with my 04 Screw 4x4 FX4 5.4.......I could have run faster. once it was up to speed it was ok, but holy crap, it was GUTLESS. My 05 escalade would pass faster with the same load than my 04 screw would empty! I am REALLY hoping a tuner will help. I am pretty bummed. I will tell you though, it was a beautiful comfortable controlled ride.....just so slow.

 

That's surprising, i tow a 6500 lbs. boat pretty often and it has no trouble towing it even at higher speeds.

 

unless the esclade had the 6.0, and even if it did, i think i'll call bull on this one. 6000# for the 5.4 is a load, but not going to feel slower than the caddyshack under the same load. now...provided your truck is in top notch running condition that is...

 

Well, all escalades have the higher tuned 6,0, and there really is no bull. I am not bashing the truck, I sold the escalade because I liked the truck more than the chevs I was thinking of replacing it with, but my god, there is no acceleration! It tries, and it pulls consistentlly, but it is reeeeaally working. I really do kid you not that the caddy would pass loaded faster than my truck will pass empty. It only has about 40,000 miles on it too!
I am pretty disappointed. I guess I should have gone with a SD diesel. Ah well, I only tow a dozen times a year.

 

well, if your 5.4 is a stock truck, compared to a tunde 6.0... i guess you'd feel the difference. your rear gears will have a lot to do with it as well. i know most guys who tow prefer the 3.73-4.10 for towing... if you have the 3.55, it might feel a little sluggish under load.

 

I think JAAB was more referring to the fact that the Escalade's 6.2L Vortec V8 is cranking out around 400 horsepower...not that it was necessarily running a tuner.

One thing to keep in mind is that the modular motors (5.4L & 6.8L) "like" RPMs when it comes to moving along down the highway with a load. To get moving from a stop, their torque is focused down in the low end of the RPM range. But, to move fast requires more horsepower...which really requires that the motor is in its upper RPM range.

Running in that 4,000+ RPM range makes it sound like it is "really" working given the increased engine noise, but it is really just getting into its stride.

 

pretty much nailed it. And I agree with BigDaveWilson; the V10 just makes more sense if you're gonna tow anything heavy, but not often enough to warrant a diesel.

I towed my mustang loaded down with electronics, on a steel uhaul trailer; prolly about 6000lbs. The old truck (4x2 reg cab short bed 04 5.4 3.73s) did 11mpg all the way from phoenix to minneapolis. Unloaded, same trip has netted a few tanks in the 21mpg range, and a few in the 17 range, averaging roughly 19 - didn't track it as close, as that one wasn't paid for by the company relocating me :P. W/ the mustang behind it has hit triple digits passing a semi once... it really had no problem pulling the thing, as long as you let it rev.

on the same route, my 4x4 crewcab w/ 3.55s, w/o towing - just camping gear, me, girlfriend, dog, etc, had trouble holding overdrive @65mph on hills... The 3.55s and added weight of the truck = bad mojo. That truck should have had 4.10s from the factory w/ 4.30s optional to make up for the weight... Would it be more stable than the reg cab towing a travel trailer? very likely. Is it worth pulling it at 15mph uphill in 1st gear getting 6mpg just to say it did what Ford said it would do? nah.

Gears are everything in the F150s (well, pretty much in any mod motors)... if you can't find a HD package one, get a normal one and re-gear it if you're gonna pull anything big... but by the time you're done doing that, it just makes more sense to stick with the V10.