We we made it back from our first trip towing our small travel trailer with our new to us '04 F250, 5.4L SuperCab. Following are a couple of links to pictures of the pair taken at a rest area in San Diego County. I know this may be uneventful to most of you that have had SDs for some time but our previous background was towing with a Toyota Tacoma Prerunner (V6, auto) and the comparison was anxiously awaited. Read on if you would like to hear more of my impressions on towing with the SD and the comparisons with the aforementioned Tacoma. Also, please feel free to provide advice on how we might be able to improve towing a travel trailer. Well, here goes ...

First of all I was expecting a night and day difference towing our small trailer (about 3700 lbs. loaded) with the SD as opposed to the Tacoma. No doubt the setup seemed much more stable but I still felt dogged by the feeling that there wasn't enough power, especially going up some of the 6-7% grades near where the pictures were taken. Maybe I was expecting too much but the truck had to down shift a few gears climbing the steepest grades in order to maintain 50-55 mph. At least we were able to stay close to the speed limit as opposed to the Tacoma, where it slowed to around 35 mph. Ride comfort was so much better in the SD. That alone probably made the change in tow vehicles worthwhile. And the experience of being able to see something again in the side mirrors was an added bonus. I'll never buy another truck without factory tow mirrors.

When I purchased the '04 SD I knew it was going to be a transitional truck. In other words, I didn't want to jump into something new unless I knew it would exactly fit our needs. Our last trip did a lot to answer some of our questions but what remains seems to center around the engine. I've learned here that the new 3V 5.4L has a lot more power than the 2V version. Is it enough to get us over the hump (no pun intended) in what seems to be almost the power we need? Or should we move up to a diesel or V10? I would like to lean in the direction of the smaller V8 because of the savings in fuel and the fact that we just don't travel that much, probably less than 5k miles a year. Maybe an F150 with the 5.4L would better suit our needs. The lighter truck might give us better overall towing performance. Untill the 2009s came out I would have killed the idea entirely because of styling but the newer model is a step in the right direction. I still prefer the SD though.

Well, I've rambled enough. Here are the links to the pics. I would welcome any thoughts or opinions.

IMG_0120 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
IMG_0113 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

Do you have 3.73 gears? Sounds like you do. What mileage and do you have any history of maint on the truck?

BTW thats a nice little trailer.

 

Yes, 3.73 limited slip rear axle. There are 130,000 miles on the truck. I don't have any maintenance records on the truck but an Oasis report came back with only a mention of replacing an ignition lock.

Thanks for the compliment on the trailer. It's a 17 1/2' Bigfoot. We really like the molded fiberglass construction. This reminds me that there is a strong possibility that we'll move to a slightly larger trailer, another Bigfoot, which will add another 1000 lbs. to our towing weight.

 

3.73s are the worst gears for pulling, even unloaded they are not that great. If at all possible I would swap the gears to 4.30s, it will make a big difference. Looks like your truck is 2wd so a gear swap will cost less than a grand.

I would also replace the spark plugs and boots, replace the fuel filter, clean the MAF, replace the O2 sensors, drivetrain fluids and etc. Basically give the truck a good "tune up' to ensure the truck is performing its best.

The gearing is the main problem with the lackluster performance. Also replacing the restrictive necked down portion of the y-pipe will help put more power to the ground and not cost much money.

The 5.4l obviously isn't the most powerful engine out there but 3700lbs isn't much weight for it to haul around.

 

Congrats on your first towing trip with your new rig

Yeah, the 2V SD's like the 4.10s a little better for towing. Also, don't be shy about letting that motor spin. The gassers in these trucks like the higher RPMs. I wouldn't be afraid of holding 4000+ RPMs pulling hills in a gasser.

Its true the '05+ SDs will tow better because of the added horsepower (45 more I think for the 5.4L?) but also the torqshift tranny I hear is pretty awesome.

I've towed several times with mine. Usually 4k pounds or less but once I towed almost 8k pounds and it seemed fine. There weren't any big hills but I was on the interstate for a while and it didn't struggle, but I did keep the RPMs up.

 

I get away with towing my trailer (around 8000 pounds loaded) with 3.73 gears, but I do not have to climb any mountain passes. The 5 speed transmission with the 3V engine helps do a better job of keeping the engine in the torque band, but that holds true with any of the 2005+ Triton engines.

If you decide to upgrade to a 3V 5.4L truck, get 4.10 gears. Your mileage won't be hurt much, if any, but you should be able to tackle the grades without any major issues.

Since you foresee a larger trailer in your future, you might consider a V-10. I'd recommend considering a V-10 if you want to drag something 8000+ pounds on a regular basis.

 

Glad you had an uneventfull trip.

I have 4:10s and I have more power then I will ever need.

My race trailer is around 11500 lbs. I have no problems running with my bddys deisel.

70 mph I turn 2000 rpms. I can say I am very happy with my setup.
I do wish fuel economy was better though. 13.86 in the summer ans 12.5 in the winter. Towing is a little less

 

Thanks bkf! I already replaced most of the fluids and will take care of the rest soon. I'll also have a good "tune-up" done. However, I'll probably dispense with changing the gears. As I mentioned before, this is more of a transitional vehicle and I don't want to put a lot of money into it. I was hoping the current configuration would allow me to find the right setup.

 

Glad you had a good trip, I also have the 5.4 w/ 3.73 and currently are towing a 5th wheel at approx 7200, while it revs a little it seems to pull without any problems. Although not to many hills around here in Ohio and will not to win any races.

 

I understand.

For towing in the hills I would recommend getting the lowest gear available on your next truck. For the SD gassers 4.30s and for the 09' F-150 3.73. These modular motors prefer a steeper set of gears.

If you step up to another SD with the 3V V10 4.10s or 4.30s will be good.

 

I'm glad you mentioned about not being shy to let the motor spin. I was concerned about the 3100 or so rpms that the engine developed when the transmission kicked down to a lower gear. Strangely enough, it felt that I could even accelerate up the hill at this rpm/gear. So, keeping it in this lower gear and rpm range is OK while climbing steep grades? One of the grades on our last trip was 10 miles long, most of it being at 6%. The way I got it in the lower gear was to step on the accelerator a little. Or should I be selecting a lower gear with the shifter? Sorry if the last question was on the trivial side.

 

Yeah don't worry about letting the engine rev. I've held my 6.8l at 4800-4900 rpm several times going up the mountains here in PA. She had no problem going 6+ miles up a steep grade at 4800 rpm and that was just one of many on the trip. The rev limiter is set at around 5300rpm in drive so you don't have to worry about over revving the engine.

 

I forgot to mention earlier that much of our trip was on the flat desert floor, where the truck seemed to perform very well. Of course the OD was off. I would like to say at this point that I would be happy with the tow vehicle performance under these conditions. However, the terrain we have in the Southwest is usually surrounded by mountain passes. You have to cross them to get where you are going. Therein lies the problem. Do you set up a vehicle for the occasional hill that has to be climbed or outfit it for the more common flat terrain? I suspect that some of our future travels will take us to the Midwest where most of it will be flat. But another trip may take us along the Pacific coast where mountain passes are frequent. Is there a way to configure a vehicle with the proper gearing for both circumstances?

 

Its not really a matter of setting the truck up for hills or flat land. Its having gears for towing/performance or for empty highway. A 4.10 or 4.30 gear is always going to be better for towing/performance than a 3.73. 3.73 may give you better mpg when empty on the highway but around town empty, loaded highway or around town the lower gear will give you similar or better mpg than 3.73s.

3.73s turn less rpm than 4.30s but the 3.73 put more load on the engine. The 4.30s are the opposite, more rpm less engine load. RPM alone isn't the only factor in mpg engine load plays a big part also.

For your situation the 3V V10 w 4.10s would be the hot combo especially if your going to be going with a larger trailer in the future. The 3V 5.4l with 4.10s would also be a good combo for a small to mid sized trailer. Both the 6.8l and 5.4l will not be off much mpg wise when towing.

 

I chuckled when I saw 5.4 with 4:10 would be good for small to midsize. hahaha I tow 11500 with out problems. That must be small I guess.
whoooo is me