ok im gonna be moving from las Vegas NV to Dallas Tx some time near the end of the year(yes i know i have alot to do to the truck) well im buying a fifth wheel and i wanted to know what the max tow i can have with this truck, hell im not even sure the truck will make it to Texas

 

The truck will be able to handle alot more weight than that 302 can pull. Question for you, i had a 90 F150 302, and i had the AOD trans. What makes you think you have the E4OD?

 

honastly i have no idea what trans ive got, is there a way to tell, and what size trailer do you think i can pull with the 302

 

I've got a 92 f150 with the 302 and my trans is an E4OD too, the easiest way to tell (correct me if I'm wrong) is climb under and look at it, the E4OD is noticeably bigger and has a waffle-like pattern on most of it, rather than the AOD, which is a little smaller and is more smooth. It's kind of a bad analogy, but if you google image search each transmission you'll see the difference.

But like Blue Rebel said, the 302 isn't really meant for towing, so the truck can handle whatever you can manage to pull with it.

 

Check the decal on your drivers door pillar, there will be a trans code and an axle code, post them here. The tow capacity of the truck depends heavily on the rear axle ratio, if it's 3.08 then it's not really suitable for towing anything bigger than a utility trailer, and even with 4.10 gears max combined vehicle weight is 10,000lbs, with 5000lb being the truck itself. Also consider that these published ratings are for a brand new truck in peak condition and not a 20 year old vehicle in unknown condition. These numbers are from my owners manual BTW.

 

The easiest way to tell if you have an E4OD or a single-rail AOD is to just look at your dashboard.

In a 1990 model, an E4OD equipped truck with have a button on the dash opposite the fuel tank switch that says "OD OFF." If you have this button, you have the electronically controlled E4OD, like my '90 did.

If you don't have this button, but have a 4-speed automatic, it is most likely the AOD. If the shift pattern is PRN(D)D1, this is in fact the case.

In either case, you'll probably want to change the fluid and filter if you haven't already. Drive slowly and remember that heat kills both of these. Don't hesitate to take them out of overdrive on the highway and run in 3rd.

 

i think your the only person who hasnt scared me

 

Haha, sorry if we scared you, if you still haven't figured it out though, another way to figure it out, mentioned by Conanski earlier, is to check the under the "trans" part of the sticker inside of the driver side door jam. If it is an "E" then you have the E4OD.

 

In general, the rated towing capacity of the F150 with auto trans is 5000 lbs. With the manual M5OD trans, it is 3500 lbs. I used to have a '90 F150 with 302 and M5OD and 3.55 gears, I rarely put a trailer behind it that wasn't over it's rated capacity, several times WAY over. That truck had 225K on the odo when I sold it and still had the original clutch, so the 302 *can* pull.

The limiting factor to towing, IMO, on the F150 is not how much weight it can pull, it's how much weight it can STOP. The brakes are kinda iffy. If your trailer is going to have it's own brakes that will help a lot.

 

I don't hesitate to pull 8500 lbs with my '91 F150 4.9 5spd. I have trailer brakes. It took a while to get to 60 (about 3/4 mile) but once I got up there it would hold it at 60-65 no problem, even in 5th gear. I actually think this has more towing power than my 7.3 IDI

 

yes it will, the truck has a trailer setup but im gonna install a newer bully brake kit for the trailer

 

I think people are being a bit pessimistic.

Both dash shift patterns are the same (I owned 2 90s one with AOD, another with E4OD.

The E4 will have an OD cancel button SOMEWHERE (cuz if you have electric 4x4 shift its moved)

the AOD will never have an OD cancel (I dont what a single rail AOD is ;-)

the most common (by far) 1990 axle was the 3.55

302/auto/3.55 is rated for a 7200lb trailer with IIRC a 96sq ft frontal area restriction (I can go out and look in my manual, but the wife just drove the truck to lowes - the manual lists all possible combos)

going to a 5th wheel is curious. it will fit, but the absolute, one pound more and I explode, rating for the 8.8 rear you have is 3800lbs and that can only be reached via the factory or after market contact overloads (ford DOES NOT recommend air bags to hit that limit)

also the max GVWR for any F150 was 6250 lbs using the stock suspension. the contacts were used for the 150 cuz some applications violated that with utility/fire or ambulance bodies (mostly exports tho, us ambuli used 250 or larger trucks - mostly 350DRWs cus the steel wheels for the truck would literally bend when the 3800lbs was approached)

 

No I don't think we're being pessimistic, just realistic. Why does everybody now use a Powerstroke or V10 equipped Superduty to tow a 5th wheel, because it's handles at a LOT better than a smaller truck. I have towed 5000lbs with a 5.0/3.55 equipped F150, and as long as the roads are relatively flat and you don't have a big headwind it does OK, just don't try to go more than about 60mph, and expect it to slow way down on hills. When I bought my '90 the tranny had recently been rebuilt, it wasn't really surprising then to find out he towed a 5th wheel with it. Really I can't imagine towing something like that with a 5.0, you would have to be really patient when everything including mopeds are passing you up hills.

 

I towed everything with my 90, boats, tractors (and other stuff) on the beavertail, the RV etc, up the hills of pa where 6% is considered easy and 9% is the norm - ne'er went slow or got passed by mopeds.

and those super duty trucks, I got rid of a 1979 F350 crew with a 351M/C6 that was rated far higher to tow - with its 158hp engine...

 

Conanski is right about the SD trucks - I had one with the V10 and it was way yonder more truck than I needed. That truck had brakes out the wazoo, too.