Hi guys

Just pulled my dad's Elky on a car hauler (pics later). The combo weighed in around 5,500 lbs. I went around the block a few times, I didn't go far. All I ever heard was how strong a pulling motor the 300 is. I was disapointed in how my truck handled, but I've never towed anything before (asides from pulling stuck trucks out of the mud).

I have the e40d and 4.11 gear ratio with 31'' tires. I never went past 2,000 rpm to get it going but it felt hard to get going. Is this normal?

Just wondering what "normal" feels like pulling a 6,000 lb load. I know my owner's manual says an F-250 with the 4.10 gear is rated to two 11,000 lbs. I would not want to tow that much in my truck after pulling 6,000 lbs.

Just wanting thoughts and opinions from you guys. My first time pulling / backing a trailer with a full size car (I did pretty dang good, too!)

-Bill

Ps. Once I got the load moving, it didn't feel bad at all. I'm just wondering if it's supposed to feel so hard to get going. On a side note, my truck sounded just like a dump truck. Sounded really cool

 

While I was back in Utah recently I bought my friends 1979 F-240 4x4 (a heavy rig for sure). I got it for $250. Only stipulation being I had to get it out of his yard. So we flat towed it about 10 miles to a place I could keep it. It's still there, back in Utah, and I'm now in Iowa again, but that's a problem for another day. Anyway, my bronco has 3.55 gearing and the mazda 5 speed and it flat towed that truck better than I thought it would. It took 4 low to get it budged out of where it had sunk into his yard, but once on the road I could start it moving from a dead stop just fine in 2 high. We never went over 40 because it was a flat tow but that 4.9 pulled that truck 35 MPH up some pretty dang steep hills. I would guess with a dolly or a car hauler I could do 60 all day with that truck on a flat road, maybe not that fast on the hills though. Remember the 300 is 150 HP. I think to really get an idea of torqueness of a motor for towing you have to compare how much of a difference a hill or two makes on your speed instead of just how fast you can accelerate your trailer. It took some pretty good inclines for that bronco to finally give up some speed.

 

Sorry guys, FTE has hiccups tonight. I didn't know I made two twin threads.

Bronco, thanks for the reply. hard to believe you took off in 2 hi. Why would you even do that?

 

Once it was on asphalt it didn't take 4 wheel drive anymore to get it moving. Only needed 4x4 initially because the old F-250 had put down 'roots' in his yard so to speak

 

ive towed about 5000 pounds with a 84 f150 with the inline six and my 94. both did take a little effort to get moving but once cruising on the highway it wasnt too bad. the handling on both was very un impressive. i remember the 84's front end would float around with the front wheels lifting up slightly, not fun. never had that problem with the two 302 powered f150s weve had but they both had factory tow packages, sway bars, and all. maybe the inline six trucks were setup slightly different, since they both seemed to handle poorly when towing, engine power wasnt too much of an issue though.

 

I've got an 85 f-250 with the oversized swaybars, 3.55's in the rear and the mazda 5 speed. With a full load of wood in the back it was sitting on the overloads but I pulled the nastiest hills through the rockies here in BC with no problems. Most of them I never dropped down from 4th gear and that's doing 45 mph, not bad huh?

 

I really wish I would have took that elky on a real road. Like I said, once I got it moving I couldn't feel it back there (which lead to a few close call stop sign events). I'm just wondering if I could do 65 mph with that much weight.

-shrug- My dad said it pulled good and from what you guys are saying, it did. I suppose it was just a big shock when I went to pull out and my motor had to rev up. I think it's kind of strange I could idle at normal speed though.

 

I bet it would, but I'd give the tires a looksy first.
I can't remember any rating numbers, but there's a test you can do.
Go to the back of the truck.
Shake the hell out of it side to side.
If you let go, and it continues to wobble like it's on a spring,
you have the same junky tires that I do.
Don't go too fast with a load.
A lot of weight on a trailor will push you all over the place (side to side).

If you shake it and it stops when you let go, you're all good.
Light weight tires can make pulling kind of scary (sway bars or not).

Something to keep in mind.
Murph.

 

manual would make a difference, i know ur not gonna switch trannys but auto will have a bit less punch on the take off

 

Haha. Does this test really work? Why would junk tires prevent trailor sway?

I take vehicles very seriously. An unloaded regular cab truck is a 4,000 lb missile. With a 6K load that's 10,000 lbs going down the road. That's a lot of force.

I won't be towing that trailor, thankfully. The Big Block Ford powered U-Haul will be. That monster has some serious power to it. It's rated to haul 4K and tow 10K.

 

..Which is exactly what I felt. Once I got it going, I had no issues. I forgot it was back there twice.

 

Just the opposite!
Weak tires will create all kinds of sway.

Maybe I was unclear in my previous post.
Weak, junky, wobbly tires stink for pulling a trailer!
Don't read into it any more than that.

Murph.

 

Sorry murph, I said that incorrectly!

So, theoretically, wide tires would be best for trailor sway?

 

Braking will be as much or more of an issue than tires unless the trailer has brakes too.

 

This trailer has brakes. I noticed it was much harder to stop even with the trailer braking.