1997FordF150XLT4.6V8

Hi everyone,

I'm a novice when it comes to towing and have never towed anything over 2000 pounds. My truck is a 98 f150 4x4 with the 4.6L. My other truck is a 97 and is pretty much the same truck which is what I will be towing to a shop that's about 5 miles away. I'm assuming the truck weighs close to 6000 pounds. The trailer I am planning on renting to transport it is a 22ft car trailer which I would think weighs around 1000 pounds. The trailer only has a 4 pin connector no brakes and I do not have a wdh hitch but I was hoping as long as the truck is centered on the trailer my tongue weight won't be terrible. Just need to know if this will be okay to transport 5miles.

My second question is I'm planning on driving 70 miles up state to tow home a 1988 ford ranger. With this same setup. But this truck weighs a lot less then my 150. So will I be okay towing 5000 pounds 70 miles home with this setup. I really appreciate any advice thanks.

Zach

Dirttracker18

Although it has been done before without, you are well above the limit that requires a WDH.

In addition I think you will find that there will not be much room to move the truck back and forth that will actually make a big difference in tongue weight. Most trucks have the bulk of their weight toward the front when empty. I do not think you will be able to move the truck far enough back to significantly alter the tongue weight with that in mind.

Finally that much weight without trailer brakes is not good. You will see immensely reduced braking.

That being said 5 miles is not far and it is your call. My thought is you are very poorly set up for this. Why not just land tow it?

With the long distance Ranger tow, I would not do it without trailer brakes. IMO

joe mcmillan

You need to start out by checking your hitch capacity. I believe you will find it to be 5,000 lbs total with 500 lbs hitch weight. If so, this should put a damper on trailering that F150.
As stated above, the lack of trailer brakes creates a huge safety hazzard.

1997FordF150XLT4.6V8

[QUOTE="joe mcmillan;3099552"]You need to start out by checking your hitch capacity. I believe you will find it to be 5,000 lbs total with 500 lbs hitch weight. If so, this should put a damper on trailering that F150. As stated above, the lack of trailer brakes creates a huge safety hazzard.[/QUOTE

1997FordF150XLT4.6V8

Thanks for the replys. The guy at the rental place said I cannot tow my half ton with a dolley if that's what you mean by land tow? And maybe I can rent a dolley for the ranger I'm not sure I will look into that. I'm just gonna have the truck towed I do not want to endanger myself or break my truck. Thanks again.

tomb1269

If you are renting a a car trailer it has brakes, the ongue on the trailer controls the brakes. I have not seen a rental car trailer without them. And any car trailer designed with out them would be about foolish as the trailer is designed to carry more than 3000lbs and therefore would require brakes by law. The second part of your issue is that trailer will be heavy when loaded. You will definitely push the limits of a 5000lbs hitch class 3. However, if you have a class 4 as most of our trucks do it is 500/5000 w/o od and most are rated for 800 or more tongue/with 9000 lbs or more trailer when using WDH. If your hitch has a similar rating and is not heavily rusted your are good to go on the 5 miles with the F150 on board. The ranger is going to be a heavy 70 mile haul as well. My 2002 ranger edge extended cab ways dry over 3500 lbs. Loaded on the trailer you will be right at the 500/5000 standard. You may also find it hard to shift the ranger back enough to lighten the tongue. It is a double axle trailer so it will help, but it is still going to pull the back of the truck down hard. I might suggest you load the ranger on backwards and back as far forward on the trailer, this will get the engine & trans closer to the trailers center. The only issue I could see would be the back of the ranger being too close to the F150 for safe turning as you will be hanging 3 feet or so forward or the trailer tongue and they were designed to town nose forward with only a foot or so hange over the front of the trailer. Make sure you check and air up the tire on the F150 to there max cold PSI marked on the tire, not the PSI on the door sticker. Finally, just take it easy keep your speed down and your spacing large.

Dirttracker18

Never load a vehicle backwards on a trailer. The extra weight on the back of the trailer will cause it to sway violently.

Save for some sports cars, all vehicles have a front weight bias. This is exaggerated with any truck.