I have a 2006 F150 5.4 with 3.55 gears. I have a travel trailer that weighs in at 5000 lbs dry. I am planning an extended vacation for this July when we will be traveling approx 7500 miles from Eastern to Western states and back. Is this truck capable of doing this or will it destroy it? Ford's ratings say I am good but I want some experienced opinions.

 

You should be OK. The 2008 brochure I have lists max trailer weights from 7400 to 8200. But we really need more info:

1. What is your truck body configuration (Supercab, Supercrew, regular) and wheelbase? Wheel sizes?

2. Does your truck have the tow package? (receiver hitch, 7-pin connection, and a trailer brake connection behind the dash? (The connector was in the glove compartment when I bought a new one.)

3. I assume the trailer has electric brakes.

Have you had the trailer long? If not, checking the bearings might be a good idea. Also, it's probably useful to have the truck and trailer weighed together so you know how close to GCWR you are.

Good luck,


The towing forum will give you good answers if you dont get them here.

 

Page 187 of the '06 owners manual has the specs. http://www.motorcraftservice.com/pub.../06f12og4e.pdf
The F-150 with a 5.4L and 3.55 has a GCWR of 13,000# and a max trailer weight of 8,000#. So it looks like you will be good to go.

 

3.55's in my eye are more of a highway gear. I have 3.73's in my truck and i tow a loaded 30 ft toy hauler that weighs in just under 8k I recently towed it from NJ to FL and back. I did feel it a little on the hills in VA but other then that it did fine. Just take it easy and you should be ok.

Mark

 

You can change the size of your tires thereby changing your effective axle ratio. You can calculate the change here; Chrisman Driveline Components Gear Ratio Calculators
What size tires do you have?
A change from 275/70R18 to 285/75R18 changes the effective ratio from 3.55 to 3.72