2011 F150 3.7 Towing Experience!!!
08-22-2011, 12:41 AM
#1
2011 F150 3.7 Towing Experience!!!
I currently have just under 3000 miles on my new truck and i was a little weary about maxing out my tow capacity of 5700rpms. i was almost going to try towing my 3700 street/strip car on a dollie to the race track last friday. but i would have to take off my DRAG RADIALS and disco my my driveline (even though i have a manual car). i don't have my own trailer so i opted to rent a full car trailer from uhaul. knowing my rear wheels are 73 niches apart from end to end and the regular sized trailer uhual has is only 75 inches apart, i knew i was going to have a hard time loading it. so i went with the bigger trailer thats almost 80 inches apart and it would be so much easier loading. the side placard says it weighs 2100lbs (i don't know if i believe a 12 foot trailer weighs this much) so plus a 3700lbs street/strip car that brings me to 5800lbs. i know most manufacturers under rate most ratings so i didn't think i should worry about it.
i have to mention that i got a SCT X3 tuner from www.5startuning.com. i have the 87 economy, 87 perf/tow, & 91 perf/tow tunes from him. i have now tried all 3 tunes and the economy tune is great for highway driving and the 87 per/tow tune is great on a normal basis. before i towed, i ran the tank down enough where i had to put in 24 galloons into a 26 gallon tank. i put premium still running the 87 tune because i heard these motors have some kind of adaptive sensing timing thing. i ran her down for about 5-6 galloons or so and filled back up with 91 fuel. by this time i should have about all 91. i loaded the 91 per/tow tune and immediately i noticed a nice difference over the 87 tune.
when i started towing the 5800lbs'ish load. i put her into gear and let my foot off the brake and immediately without pushing on the gas the truck starts pull the trailer like it was nothing just after a few turns i run into going over a decently steep bridge. at the top of the bridge there is a intersection. during this whole time i didn't need to really hit the gas very hard (i have the tow/haul mode engaged) to get her moving well especially off of a dead stop on a incline. on light throttle the rpm's went to about 2000-2500rpms. shortly i merged onto the highway and knowing there is some cars on the highway already i had to get up to speed. i pushed about 25-33% of throttle into her and the rpms climbed to 4000rpms before shifting and i got up to speed very nicely and not once did it feel like i have a super heavy load behind there.
i am station in california so the legal laws is that any vehicle with a trailer will only go 55mph. so i easily got to that speed without really trying to overly push the vehicle. i cruised at 55mph and go an amazing 17MPG average on the way to the race track. the track is roughly 58 miles away. the last 10 miles of stretch of highway was in traffic and even in traffic it pulled quite well. from a dead stop to up to speed in traffic, the rpms would go to 2000--2500rpms with a really light throttle push and she pulled very nicely. i stopped at the last possible gas station to fill up my car on the trailer and when i pulled out of the gas station i forgot to turn back on the haul/tow mode. and wow, i noticed a difference in pulling power with it off so i immediately turned it back on. and before the last intersection i was stuck in one of those moment i'm in a situation where i need to hit my brakes hard and stop or hit the gas harder to make the light. i decided i was going to hit the gas harder and make the light and i let her down shift from 5th to 2nd/3rd with about 1/2-3/4 throttle and let the rpms climb to 4500rpms. and she pulled very hard and its amazing me how this thing is still a 6cyl.
got to the track safely. on the way back we needed to stop by somewhere to get something to eat. she toted around town with no problem and pull that trailer like it was meant to tow it. of course by now i'm getting tired so i pushed the 55mph to 60mph (max you should go in CA towing anything). i am now only averaging 16.5mpg, which is impressive because my old 06 f150 with a 5.4 only got 17MPG highway empty. so i really don't miss that truck now. it only got 12mpg on a stock tuning towing a 12x6 trailer with maybe 1000rpms in it.
the whole time the tranny was in normal operating range of 190-195 i kept a good close look at that most of the time. when i was in traffic going from 0-40, 40-0, 40-20, 20-40mph and yada yada yada yada, the trans temp got no hotter than 201. hell, driving up the grapevine here in california with just my family in the car and nothing but luggage the trans got up to 199.
this 3.7 6cyl truck i believe towed my mustang on a even heavier uhaul trailer better than it got towed with my old 96 bronco with a 5.8. it handled better and if i remember right when going up hills towing from HILL AFB to los angeles CA, it had to downshift to 2nd gear maintaining 3800rpms to maintain the 55mph. i'm sure this new 3.7 if i was going to go up a steep hill like the Grapevine in southern california, that it'll have to do it in 3rd gear at about 4000-4500rpms at 55mph. thats ok i would guess.
i did forget to mention that i locked out 6th gear because you always heard the thing about not using OD while towing unless your on flat roads. well 5th gear is an OD but its barley past 1:1, i believe its .88:1. at 55-60mph it kept the rpms right about 2000rpms where the first TQ spike is at 2200rpms so i thought that would be a good rpm to hold. i first let it go into 6th after merging into the highway it seemed ok but the rpms dropped down to 1600ish rpms and i didn't want to lug the motor so thats where i opted to tow on 5th gear. maybe down the future towing in other states, i'll tow using 6th gear going 70mph since i'll be at 2000rpms then. don't know if these trans like to be in OD while towing though.
all in all, i'm very happy with my decision from going from a 2006 5.4 f150 to a 2011 3.7 f150, both being a screw cap. i only averaged 14.5mpg with my daily commutes with the 06 and now i'm averaging 20mpg with the 3.7. the 2011 3.7 motor serves me very well. and with the towing thing, the heaviest thing i'll ever tow is with the mustang on a trailer like i just did. nothing ever will be heavier, sometimes i tow a small trailer with a rented snowmobile but thats only 2000lbs. i'm a super happy camper here,
not sure how the truck would perform with the stock tune though.
now, i just need to buy my own trailer and quick renting one. here's a quick link to how the set up looked like.
and a little after racing husband/wife happy moment with the truck/mustang on trailer!!
i have to mention that i got a SCT X3 tuner from www.5startuning.com. i have the 87 economy, 87 perf/tow, & 91 perf/tow tunes from him. i have now tried all 3 tunes and the economy tune is great for highway driving and the 87 per/tow tune is great on a normal basis. before i towed, i ran the tank down enough where i had to put in 24 galloons into a 26 gallon tank. i put premium still running the 87 tune because i heard these motors have some kind of adaptive sensing timing thing. i ran her down for about 5-6 galloons or so and filled back up with 91 fuel. by this time i should have about all 91. i loaded the 91 per/tow tune and immediately i noticed a nice difference over the 87 tune.
when i started towing the 5800lbs'ish load. i put her into gear and let my foot off the brake and immediately without pushing on the gas the truck starts pull the trailer like it was nothing just after a few turns i run into going over a decently steep bridge. at the top of the bridge there is a intersection. during this whole time i didn't need to really hit the gas very hard (i have the tow/haul mode engaged) to get her moving well especially off of a dead stop on a incline. on light throttle the rpm's went to about 2000-2500rpms. shortly i merged onto the highway and knowing there is some cars on the highway already i had to get up to speed. i pushed about 25-33% of throttle into her and the rpms climbed to 4000rpms before shifting and i got up to speed very nicely and not once did it feel like i have a super heavy load behind there.
i am station in california so the legal laws is that any vehicle with a trailer will only go 55mph. so i easily got to that speed without really trying to overly push the vehicle. i cruised at 55mph and go an amazing 17MPG average on the way to the race track. the track is roughly 58 miles away. the last 10 miles of stretch of highway was in traffic and even in traffic it pulled quite well. from a dead stop to up to speed in traffic, the rpms would go to 2000--2500rpms with a really light throttle push and she pulled very nicely. i stopped at the last possible gas station to fill up my car on the trailer and when i pulled out of the gas station i forgot to turn back on the haul/tow mode. and wow, i noticed a difference in pulling power with it off so i immediately turned it back on. and before the last intersection i was stuck in one of those moment i'm in a situation where i need to hit my brakes hard and stop or hit the gas harder to make the light. i decided i was going to hit the gas harder and make the light and i let her down shift from 5th to 2nd/3rd with about 1/2-3/4 throttle and let the rpms climb to 4500rpms. and she pulled very hard and its amazing me how this thing is still a 6cyl.
got to the track safely. on the way back we needed to stop by somewhere to get something to eat. she toted around town with no problem and pull that trailer like it was meant to tow it. of course by now i'm getting tired so i pushed the 55mph to 60mph (max you should go in CA towing anything). i am now only averaging 16.5mpg, which is impressive because my old 06 f150 with a 5.4 only got 17MPG highway empty. so i really don't miss that truck now. it only got 12mpg on a stock tuning towing a 12x6 trailer with maybe 1000rpms in it.
the whole time the tranny was in normal operating range of 190-195 i kept a good close look at that most of the time. when i was in traffic going from 0-40, 40-0, 40-20, 20-40mph and yada yada yada yada, the trans temp got no hotter than 201. hell, driving up the grapevine here in california with just my family in the car and nothing but luggage the trans got up to 199.
this 3.7 6cyl truck i believe towed my mustang on a even heavier uhaul trailer better than it got towed with my old 96 bronco with a 5.8. it handled better and if i remember right when going up hills towing from HILL AFB to los angeles CA, it had to downshift to 2nd gear maintaining 3800rpms to maintain the 55mph. i'm sure this new 3.7 if i was going to go up a steep hill like the Grapevine in southern california, that it'll have to do it in 3rd gear at about 4000-4500rpms at 55mph. thats ok i would guess.
i did forget to mention that i locked out 6th gear because you always heard the thing about not using OD while towing unless your on flat roads. well 5th gear is an OD but its barley past 1:1, i believe its .88:1. at 55-60mph it kept the rpms right about 2000rpms where the first TQ spike is at 2200rpms so i thought that would be a good rpm to hold. i first let it go into 6th after merging into the highway it seemed ok but the rpms dropped down to 1600ish rpms and i didn't want to lug the motor so thats where i opted to tow on 5th gear. maybe down the future towing in other states, i'll tow using 6th gear going 70mph since i'll be at 2000rpms then. don't know if these trans like to be in OD while towing though.
all in all, i'm very happy with my decision from going from a 2006 5.4 f150 to a 2011 3.7 f150, both being a screw cap. i only averaged 14.5mpg with my daily commutes with the 06 and now i'm averaging 20mpg with the 3.7. the 2011 3.7 motor serves me very well. and with the towing thing, the heaviest thing i'll ever tow is with the mustang on a trailer like i just did. nothing ever will be heavier, sometimes i tow a small trailer with a rented snowmobile but thats only 2000lbs. i'm a super happy camper here,
not sure how the truck would perform with the stock tune though.now, i just need to buy my own trailer and quick renting one. here's a quick link to how the set up looked like.
and a little after racing husband/wife happy moment with the truck/mustang on trailer!!
Last edited by xoliex; 08-22-2011 at 12:52 AM.
08-22-2011, 12:46 AM
#2
Just to show you guys how much fun i had that day!
i had a good day racing knowing my truck wouldn't have a hiccup or struggle towing my street/strip car on the trailer.
you'll see here, that i need FULL SLICKS cuz my drag radials still spin in every gear. and i need to stop being lazy and disconnect my swaybar.
you'll see here, that i need FULL SLICKS cuz my drag radials still spin in every gear. and i need to stop being lazy and disconnect my swaybar.
08-22-2011, 05:56 AM
#3
That's awesome. I had doubts about towing a car with this but it's good to see it can be done. My brother will be happy to know, now he doesn't have to pay to get his project car towed around.
08-22-2011, 09:20 AM
#4
Senior Member
good to hear the v6 has enough muscle to get the job done. I would have gotten a v6 if they had the one I wanted on the lot. I'm happy that I got into the 5.0 because the gas mileage suprised me.
08-22-2011, 07:24 PM
#7
Devil's advocate
Those trailers are just shy of 2100 lbs. I towed a Honda Pilot (4500 lbs) on one here a while back.
I'd like to have the 6 speed on mine instead of the crap ratio 4 speed.
I'd like to have the 6 speed on mine instead of the crap ratio 4 speed.
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08-22-2011, 07:54 PM
#8
Nice Stang
08-22-2011, 09:25 PM
#9
08-22-2011, 10:29 PM
#10
very happy with this motor. and not to mention, i got 17MPG towing going there and 16.5MPG on the way back. thats is freaking awesome numbers towing. hell my old 5.4 barely got over that dry.
Last edited by xoliex; 08-22-2011 at 10:34 PM.