phonemanben

I have an 04 f150 5.4l lariat. The truck only has about 45000 miles on it and isnt driven that much but I recently bought a 5th wheel trailer to take to nascar races and just on trips. The trailer is ment to be pulled by light weight trucks and I had a hitch specially made for the f150 short bed crew cab that works perfect for towing this trailer. The question that I have is what is the best way to get the most out of my truck while towing my trailer? I have an aem brute force intake on the truck right now but I know on my way home from bringing the trailer home it seemed like the truck had to work kinda hard to pull it at times as the 7 1/2 or 8 mpg I got on the ride home. I have been looking into systems like banks and other systems that might benefit me so I am wondering if anyone has done this before and can tell me the best way to do it or maybe has some advice for me on the best way to go about this. I had comtemplated buying a new truck before I got the trailer but now that I did I cant afford a new one so I just am wondering what is the best way for me to pull this trailer with my current truck.

chromefonica

A programmer will help out alot. It will give you nice firm shifts and a little more power. You can also go to a higher gear ratio if you wanted too. That would be the most effective but rather expensive. And you could always do a supercharger, but that is even more expensive.

phonemanben

Thanks for the input I was looking into a banks programmer but they told me with my current setup I could not just do a programmer they said I have to do the whole banks kit which is a cai, exhaust, headers, and a programmer and they want like 2 grand im contemplating if it is worth spending all that money. Do you have any advice or recomendations on programmers because I would definitely do a programmer and exhaust I am just wondering if I could build my own package instead of buying theirs because I could make my own alot cheaper than that. I am just wondering if anyone has done it or has reccomendations on programmers that work well on our trucks and what kind of kit I should put together for this.

chromefonica

SCT programmers are good. You can have custom tunes made for your setup. Edge programmers are good too but you can't customize the tunes. It has some basic programs on it, but there are a bunch of adjustments you can make, i.e. shift points, timing, etc. If you tow alot, you will want to go with gears. That will give you the best results as far as available power and gas mileage. For a 4x4 it will run you around $2k. 2x4 will be about half that. Gears and programmer combo is good.

svtmann

I used SCT on my first 05 5.4 f150. I pulled a 30ft enclosed car hauler with a wieght distribution hitch. Worked great. I ended up buying a 07F350 Lariat to pull the trailer. I ended up going back to the 5.4 for towing. I just liked it better than the 6.0, I would pass guys with 6.0 and a lawnmower trailer going up hill.

phenrichs

For actual towing performance the best bang for your buck is a programmer. The Gryphon from PHP is a version of the Edge that allows you to get custom tunes.
This will be better shifts and seat of the pants feel improvements. Gas mileage isn't going to get much better than where you are now with that big of a trailer. Mine is light, only about 5000lbs and I think I can pull off around a 10 average without a programmer. But it is pretty flat here.

maxpat82

I'm towing with my 07 2wd with and EDGE programmer.

Forget about fuel economy.. but the programmer help a lot for the transmission shift and downshifting.

A 5th wheel designed to be towed by a half-ton...it must be very limit of the truck.

don't except more the 8-9mpg.
that's what I do with my 6500lbs (weighted on scale) empty of water...bumper pull and 23ft. 5th wheel aren't better.

phonemanben

Thanks for the replies I had a c class motorhome before and sold it the cab was a ford e350 and it did about 9 mpg and the motorhome was about 29ft and I had no touble what so ever with it this trailer is a little shorter than my motorhome I just figured if I could find a way for my truck to better pull it I would look into it so thanks for the replies if you have any other suggestions please let me know I havent done anything yet I am just looking into what my best options are.

Ada5034

The best and most reliable way is upgrading your gears, using rear airbags, and running premium fuel. Your truck/tranny will last longer and tow harder.