leejacstu

I have a 2007 F150 4wd with the 4.6 engine. According to the manual the max trailer weight is 6,000 pounds. My brother has offered me a steal on a travel trailer that weighs 5,900 pounds. I will tow this trailer twice per year approximately 200 miles (one way) on back roads, no interstates. The terrain is mostly flat but about 20 miles of it starts to get some hills, not foot hills or mountains but some hills. Will this kill my truck or should it be OK? Keep in mind, I'm not in a hurry I just need to move the camper for hunting season. Your thoughts?

smokeywren

It will kill your truck if you don't pay attention to tranny temp. Don't leave home without a good tranny temp gauge. If your truck didn't include a tranny temp gauge, then install one that will give you tranny sump temp, and never allow more than 225° tranny temp. If you truck has the Ford idiot gauge for tranny temp, then understand that green (or white) means go, but yellow means your tranny is too hot, and red means get ready to overhaul the tranny. If the gauge jumps into the yellow, then stop immediately, idle the engine at 1,200 RPM until the gauge jumps back off the yellow zone.


If you install a tranny temp gauge, then DO NOT put the sender in a cooling line. The hot line will show way too much temp, and the cold line will show you only what the ATF temp is when returning from the coolers. You want sump temp so you know that 225° is the red line.


If your truck did not come with the trailer towing package, then you also need to install the oil-to-air (OTA) tranny cooler so you are much less likely to overheat the tranny.


So that will prevent killing the truck. But the 4.6L is a weakling that will strain with a 6,000 pound trailer. I drug my cargo trailer from west Texas to Phoenix and back on I-10, loaded to about 4,000 pounds going and 2,000 pounds coming home. The truck struggled on every little grade, whether loaded with furniture or empty and just dragging wind. I was very disappointed in the towing capability of that pickup, so I traded it in on a pickup with more power and torque.

Boulevard

I had an '06 super crew with the 4.6 and the 4.6 is a great engine and just like you I pulled 6000 lbs but unlike you I pulled it for long distances and at interstate speeds. The only trouble I had was climbing long hills at high speed where the transmission would over heat.

From my own personnel experience I would say go right ahead but keep an eye on the tranny and slow down if it starts to act up. As an added measure of safety you could stop and let the truck rest every 100 miles.