george b

I have a 2005 f150 with a 4.6l. I am going to be buying a camper next month. But how much wieght can i pull with out hurting my truck. And do I need to pull with over drive off? Not too sure what size trailer I am going to get. BUt it will be a bumper pull. My truck Has bilstien shocks all the way around. And the truck is level.

george b

Anyone have any idea

gage

You will see some quite a bit of sag if its leveled like mine. I have mine leveled and and after pulling a trailer i decided to get air bags for the rear and love them. I just fill em up when i haul and empty them when not and the ride is still as smooth as always. You will want to run with overdrive off or else the truck will be shifting in and out of gears(bad for the tranny)

ATOM

always turn the overdrive off when towing any amount of weight..in the box or towing. if your truck sits level, you will see your truck sag quite badly...might wanna add some airbags or aal's to make it sit *** high again...how much you can pull, everyone has there opinions, i see way way too many guys pulling campers with a 1/2 ton that should not be, it's hard on the truck and unsafe, just because the maker says you can, doesn't mean you should IMO. take a 6k pound truck and try stopping a trailer than weighs more good luck.....

Larryw1

This is my personal opinion take it or not! I think this is a sfe way to go about towing travel trailers

Trailer pulling with an F150 w/ travel trailer - camping trailer
Needs:
Tow package
Trailer brakes
trailer brake controller
always turn off OD

A good cooling system
Good brks and clean fluid
Good trns cooler and clean fluid (not burnt)

Do not go overboard on trailer size. Try to stay around 1/2 to no more then 3/4 of the tow rating for your truck.
if you want to tow 6000 wieght trailer or more get a f250 rated for this.

No tow package:
the trans will overheat sooner and fail
the radiator won't be sufficient to keep motor cool on grades or hot pulls
the alt will be working harder than design may fail or not even keep up with the added battery

No Trailer brake controller
the brakes will overheat and warp most likely on the first trip. Have trouble stopping
the brakes will fail truck will not stop

I also have the AAL on my truck -

I just took a trip pulling my 20' trailer 2500 miles. My truck pulled it nicely.
I didn't hurry, I didn't use overdrive. 55 -60 mph my trailer weight is 2265 dry so I guess around 3000 lbs on the trip

Most grades my truck was able to hold 55 all the way.

ATOM

good advice, too bad idiots buy trucks and max out the tow capacity and bitch about them breaking and how gutless they are....off topic sorta, but still funny....filling up the truck at bp--mid 80's iroc z-28 pulling a nice bass boat...earth to jackass you are a moron!!

george b

Sounds good to me. I think I am only going to be pulling a max of 4500 to 4800 pounds. I am thinking of just a 21 foot trailer. I will be getting the trailer brake controler and the trailer will have brakes as well. I thought they had stabalizers for the tralier to make the truck not sag? Also I think my truck has a trans cooler on it from the factory. I will be having the transmission flushed at the dealer and also I will be changing the rear diff fluid. Any other help would be great. Just want to make sure I will not have any problems with this set up.

Larryw1

Did your truck come with a tow package from the factory? I read somewhere that the trans cooler is smaller unless you have the tow pkg.

I know that on my 2003 F150 w/ no tow pkg... There was NO trans cooler.
I had to add the hitch, wiring, relay's and trans cooler.

Have you hooked up the trailer yet? In the past I have hooked up trailers I was interested in and pulled them as a test. This way you can feel how it tows and you can see how it sits behind your truck. The easy sway or stabilizer helps the trailer from rocking back and forth along with relieving some of the tongue weight … not all. Being a ½ ton truck I recommend the AAL

I haven’t used a ½ ton truck for towing in many years. I am careful not to hurt my truck. I used to race, I carried much bigger loads before but not now.

Most of my past experience has been with ¾ tons or 1 tons. The loads I towed were much bigger, the trailers were 28’, 30’ and bigger. Eventually I went to 5th wheels because of the size.

george b

What is an AAL. And I have'nt bought the trailer yet. Just trying to gett all the infor befor i purchace. The truck came with the hitch and the cooler. I think it is the cooler it sits in front right behind the grill. It is not the condensor or the radiator. Lot smaller then those

rompn4x

If the trans lines go into the radiator and not to an external cooler does that mean theres a cooler in the radiator like the older truck did or is it just recirculating the fluid?