stein78

I purchased my truck at the end of July and finally got to really make it work a bit this past weekend. It's a 2011 FX4 5.0, 3.73s, and factory 20" wheels. I attended a race with my Mustang in Bowling Green Kentucky. Had my car on the trailer, bed of the truck was loaded with all sorts of stuff - firewood, tools, camping gear, coolers, lots of beer. I'd say car and trailer are 4500lbs or so. No idea on the weight of everything in the bed, but I'd say she was loaded pretty decent. I pumped the stock rear Perelli's up to their max, 44psi. I used to haul this same load with my previous truck, 2003 FX4 5.4 2V.

The truck did AMAZING. Just gobs of power. Felt very solid and confident while towing. Didn't work anywhere near as hard as my old 5.4 2V. The factory integrated brake controller worked beautifully. The tow/haul mode on the trans worked really well, I was super impressed by it. Shift points were good, loved the engine braking while going down hills or having to come to a stop, and I really like that it keeps the torque converter locked pretty much all the time. Trans temp never budged above 197* and I did the majority of my towing in 6th gear. Through some of the rolling hills south of Louisville, I kept it in 5th and it had plenty of power to maintain speed up the hills. My buddy in his 2005 5.4 3V was with me and we did a little "test" up one of the pretty steep hills. He did have a bit of a heavier trailer, but his truck couldn't even come close to keeping up. I was thrilled how the truck performed.

I was even more impressed with the gas mileage while towing!! My average speed was probably 70mph for most of the trip. Here is how it did round trip:



My truck and my buddies with our cars:

Rickxt23

Sweet!!! Ford Tough

02themax

Nice trucks and cars! I have yet to pull a serious load with my truck, thanks for sharing. FX4 Coyote powered... Love it!!

Fx4_5.0Man

iTrader: (1)

Your stang looks alot like mine! I have an 97 with a 2004 PI engine swap and a vortech. love it bro

dave91gt

Sweet stuff right there. I am getting my motivation to start drag racing again next year. My 91 GT has been collecting dust. Just as excited to yank it around with the "other" coyote. Great review. I've pulled the same car with a 79 F150, 88 Dodge with 318, 01 Dodge with 318 (that was UGLY- zero power), 99 V10 F250, 03 Excursion V10, and finally an 03 5.4 F150. They all did fine except the 01 Dodge. The 03 F150 did really well. But the 5.0 is In a different league.
I have avoided modding the truck as my Stang needs some love. Gotta break 7's in the eighth. Then my 347 short block is getting assembled.

68ss396

I pulled around 4500lb with my 2012 5.0 3.73 gear screw with the same results. Did wonderful. I locked out 6th gear and used the tow/haul mode. I was around 12mpg. That was at 70 mph. My buddy has a 2012 Ram and was pulling a TT that has a weight of around 6500lb and was getting 7mpg. OUCH!!

jwhayne0001

I was at the BG races Saturday wanted to take the f150 but I thought it was gonna rain but gambled and drove my 95 cobra down, glad I did now lol, how'd you do down there?

kent johnson

My truck is set up the same as yours and my trans temp is usually 197-199 unloaded. Is that just the normal operating temp?

realaxed83

Very nice, love the truck and whats on the trailer!

stein78

Thanks guys!

The mustang has been a love/hate thing for the last 12 years. It has a fully built 2V n/a motor that's been in the car since 2005. Aluminum block .030 over w/ 10.6:1 compression, forged pistons & rods, mildly ported 2V PI heads with good valves, springs, and Comp cams, and a ported bullitt intake. Spec stage 2 clutch, T45 5-speed street/strip trans by T45source.com, and a built rear with 31spline axles & 4.10s. That's how the car sits now.

When I was drag racing more, it had a spool and 4.30s in the rear. With slicks & skinnies on Weld prostars. I have two kids now, so it's tough to find time for racing. That's why I got rid of my hardcore drag stuff and the car is more street oriented now.

Best pass in full race trim was 12.04 @ 114.
Best pass in full street trim so far is 12.69 @ 107 (last weekend in Bowling Green)

Full race trim:





Full street trim:




I ran the True Street class where you do the 30 mile cruise on Saturday and do the three back to back passes. I went for the 13.0 average and ended up with a 13.091 but didn't win. Some lady won that wit a 13.014. But I didn't care, I had a blast. Got away from work, kids, wife, camped out at the track and drank LOTS of beer. I've been going to BG since 2004.