MarkoDaGeek

Hello everyone,

My name is Mark, I just purchased a 2005 Ford F150 4x4 Standard Cab, I'll see if I can attach a picture below.



I'm new to the F150 and Ford in general, I grew up in a GM family but I've been warming up to Ford these last few years, especially the trucks, I figured I couldn't go wrong with a F150. - Always wanted a pickup, wife finally let me get one because we are planning to purchase a travel trailer next year for camping. I sold my 2008 Chev. Malibu and bought this thing for cash, I didn't want a 2nd car payment again.

The truck had 80k miles when I bought it, from AZ (I'm in MN) so no rust, it's very clean. It was owned by a city in AZ as a municipal work truck so it's VERY basic, no cruise control, crank windows etc. But I got a great deal on it that I couldn't pass up. It would be nice to get 250k out of this thing, I'm very good about regular maintenance, what are your thoughts?

I'm not looking to do any crazy modifications to it, although I've come across some beautiful customizations around the forums. I bought it for towing, I went for the 4.6L V8 because I've heard of some issues with the 5.4L that I thought I could avoid, it might not be the best choice for towing, but I did luck out with the 3.73 gears so maybe that will make up for it a little bit?

The sticker says 6800lbs towing capacity, I'd like to keep a little under that.. It doesn't have a stock towing package, so I'm going to buy a class IV hitch setup for it, travel trailer will have sway bars but I'm not planning to get into load balancing. That said we are looking for campers in the 4000-4500lbs empty range, so we're talking a max of 6000lbs fully loaded.

Since the truck doesn't have a stock towing package I'm not seeing a big transmission cooler anywhere. We don't have a lot of hills in MN but up north where we normally camp there are a few, nothing mountainous though. Could I get by without one?

Also, she rides pretty high in the rear end, hard to see in the picture, is this normal or do you think an extra leaf may have been installed? Appears to be some kind of rack installed in the back at one time.

Since this thing has a very basic package, there isn't a RPM gauge, I'd like to find some kind of 'thing' I could plug in somewhere to give me RPM and transmission temp, I'm not sure what to search for or if something like this exists. I know there are tuners in the $300 range, anything cheap and easy I could install? Or something I could plug in and monitor with my smartphone on my dash?

Do you have other suggestions to set this thing up for towing? My budget is limited as I just dropped 10k on the truck itself, but what do you guys think? I didn't make a really poor choice right?

jrh5610

I recommend getting an electric brake controller for the brakes on the camper. Getting a tranny cooler would not be a bad idea. Mine has the 4.6 with 3:55 gears I haul hay with mine around 8000lb and I don't have any trouble with the hills here in Kentucky.

MarkoDaGeek

Yeah absolutely, trailer brakes will be installed. Also just ordered a set of giant towing mirrors, they should look pretty cool.

Since buying the truck I put in a rubber bed pad, I have a tonneau cover picked out so I will be getting that shortly, trailer hitch receiver is picked out, going with Class IV since I will be going a few pounds over Class III (or right at the limit), I replaced the stock AM/FM radio with a decent stereo, replaced the speakers with pioneers... I'm not the kind of guy that needs a cool stereo in his rig but the stock radio wasn't very good..

Eric0508

You definitely want to get a transmission cooler if you want your transmission to last a long time. A brake controller will be mandatory for a trailer that size, so you will have to upgrade your trailer plug to 7-pin.

Many people here seem to like the edge programmer which can do the things you desire (RPM & transmission temp) as well as load a towing tune which will make towing you trailer much more pleasant.

In addition, you are probably going to want a weight distributing hitch with that setup. In fact, im pretty sure your receiver will require it for tongue weights over 500lbs or so. They make the towing experience so much better regardless.

Other than that, do some good preventative maintenance like fluids for differentials, transmission, coolant, brakes, etc to ensure your rig lasts as long as possible. Good luck and enjoy camping! We sure do.