Rouge River

I have to tow my 8,700 pound boat across the country in about a week. Everything is sorted out for the most part, just curious about a few of the steeper, 6% grades.

Is it better to hold the truck in first gear, and limit RPM to around 4500 or so or drop the pedal all the way down, force an upshift and remain in second gear at full throttle? Trying to not blow the tranny.

Bone stock F-150 Lariat 4x4 with heavy tow package: 3.73, 9 row tranny cooler, oil cooler and class 4 hitch options installed.

Thanks in advance.

BRONCMAN

What engine do you have?? I highly doubt you will have many issues regardless... I have an 01 F150 5.4 with the 7700 package & I can tow a 33' camper with a slide out up 6% grades around here no problem around 50-55mph... With your truck I would just put it in tow haul mode & only use the manual mode if you notice it shifting back & forth between gears. If it does that, lock it in the lower of the 2 gears. I highly doubt you'll have to lock it in"1"..

Rouge River

5.4L. Just worried about the tranny.

BRONCMAN

Oh, for some reason I was guessing you had a 5.0 or ecoboost. Youll still do just fine as long as you remember to keep the transmission from gear hunting just as I said earlier. Lock it in the lower of the 2 gears if it shifts back & forth. I just towed 5000 lbs today with my 5.4 over a 7% grade. I started the hill cruising at 60 in 3rd. It downshifted to 2nd & stayed there on its own & held 2nd even though i was only about 1/2 throttle. I layed into a bit just to see if I would accelerate. I pulled it up to 70 then lifted off & held 70. I could of probably hit 75 if i stayed on it but was coming up on traffic. This was my first time towing anything since I put my 285s on it & I must say it still does good, although there is a difference though compared to my old 245/75/16 tires but not too bad.

Rouge River

Thanks! Just what I was looking for.

grouseridge

It is always a good idea to change transmission filter and fluid every 15k when towing a lot. I use to tow around 6800lbs. with my 08 5.4 and would turn off the overdrive when in the mountains and keep it on when on level ground for mpg'. Keeping the rear diff and trans. serviced are very important, just as much as engine oil and filter.

Rouge River

2008 5.4L 3.73 4x4 Truck modified before hand: Bilstein shocks
BFG AT Load Range D
KN Cold Air 3" cat back exhaust with 2013 Ecoboost muffler

9,000# Boat and trailer:
4x Kodiak disc brakes with Titan surge actuator.

I spent a relentless amount of time researching before the trip and wanted to put together some lessons learned.

Averaged around 8 mpg at 62 mph; dropped solidly into the 6.x range at 70 while flat CA cruising at 55 resulted in 9.8 mpg! High speed cruise at late night with headwinds through TX hill country was worse (6.0 mpg at 70 mph) than the long steady 6-7% climbs through CA, AZ and NM followed by long descents. Full throttle was never required to hold the 55 mph CA max speed limits on any grade, however the truck made 76 mph up a long 6%+ grade in NM for several minutes at full throttle; the temperature gauge never moved the entire trip.

Without a LDH, 800# on the tongue, 300# in the bed and a 300# shell she had a fair amount of squat with the 4x4 package. Handling was exceptional to 60, fine to about 65 with passing trucks and tricky at 70 with crosswinds or larger trucks.

I have always considered this truck to be torquey but a dog nonetheless. Adding 3" exhaust from the y-pipe to the tip, a lightly used Ecoboost muffler (has straight through design yet very quiet) and KN cold air kit resulted in substantial horsepower gains. The Ecoboost muffler was a spare from a shop (Rods Muffler) and he installed that with a nice stainless tip for $200 out the door. The KN kit was $285 at my door, so less than $500 in mods. I reset the ECU to relearn the idle and fuel curves. A full throttle start after install resulted in one engine stall that it recovered from and then ran like a clock thereafter. The results from these mods cannot by overemphasized. Ford switched to 3" on newer trucks for a reason. The KN cold air kit is noisy at mid to high throttles and slightly offsets the lack of any noise that leaves the Ecoboost muffler.

These trucks are insane, of only of 99% of the population knew what they were truly capable of. Sorry Ford I am keeping this one for AWHILE!

Thanks to everyone and their suggestions.

BRONCMAN

Figured you wouldn't have any issues... I just got back from a trip towing my fullsize Bronco on a car hauler trailer 500 miles down to the Boise area. Lots of hilly terrain & my 01 could easily maintain the 65mph limit even going up a 7% grade (although it required a drop to 2nd gear). Needless to say i didnt make the return trip with the 01 as I traded for a new 13 ecoboost model while I was in Boise... Loving the new truck!

Rouge River

'13 Eco and Boost! You have both, I have none.