mshiff62

Alright so I have a 2004 F150 5.4, 3.55 rear, 35" tires, rancho adjustable shocks, cai, and exhaust. It has 105K on it, and the trans was rebuilt at 70K with a bigger torque converter. I tow about every 3 weeks with a horse trailer that weighs about 3,600#, about 500# of stuff, and a horse that weights 1,200#. So, we have roughly 5,500#. I will be making a trip from SC to MD towing this next week. I wanted to see what kind of prep you all take before towing. I know I am going to do these things below, and feel free to add anything else you guys think will help!

-Oil change with with full synthetic and 1 bottle of the lucas oil.
-Bottle of lucas fuel system cleaner.
-Grease all front end componets.
-Check/fill front/rear diff's.
-Check trans fluid.
-Check air pressure in tires- with expansion going that far what kind of pressure should I run, they are 35" X 11.5 tires.
-Is there anything to add to the coolant to help with keeping it running cooler- anybody use anything before?

*Note*, there is a mountain in Virginia that has a 7 or 8% grade and goes up for about 4-5 miles, I normally just run my truck with O/D off pulling this trailer as it is, other then that being off, any other suggestions for going up this mountain, (Other then stay in the truck lane)?

It takes me around 3 hours to get to this mountain so I figured once conqured, I will stop at say a Cracker Barrel and eat and let the truck cool down, the horse has to stop and be given water and what not every 3 hours anyway. So in a 8 hour trip I will stop about 3 times. I know this is a lot but I just wanna make sure my ducks are in a row before I give it the go. Any and all input is greatly appreciated guys!

rikard

I would skip the oil additive it isn't necessary. Check all the springs and shocks for damage. Check the brake system on the trailer and truck. At the very least I would change the transmission fluid if it hasn't been done in the last 30k miles and would change it regardless after the trip. If you haven't already I would consider adding a large aux transmission cooler.
Don't worry too much about high tire pressure. The cold tire pressures on the sidewall should be followed or whats in the manual. I always go by whats on the tire. Get one of those infrared non contact thermometers (cheap one) to monitor the tire temps, once you have one you won't know how you towed without it.
Give yourself and the horse plenty of time to get there.
Have a good trip
Regards
rikard

maxpat82

a vehicule cool down better while running on the highway then stopped at a restaurant.

I towed My 7000lbs travel trailer for 1000miles straight and get through hills.(have done 4000miles in 3 week and the 1000miles was the last leg coming home)
Didn't do anything to the truck before and everything went well. As usual.

I'm the kinda guy that think that changing too much stuff on a good running vehicule is looking for trouble.
Check but if nothing needed, don't change anything...Do all your maintenance..comming back from this trip!

mshiff62

I will have to look for one of those infared thermometers!

And wow that is a lot of miles, this trip is only 536 miles. I do have to say hauling a 1200lb animal that is moving around in the back can be quite challenging vs something that is dead weight like a camper.

I checked everything tonight and all looked good except my trans fluid was a half quart low. Will do the oil change tomorrow and that should wrap it all up. The rest is just a Prayer!

And yes I thought about leaving the truck running and taking the remote lock fob into the resturaunt with me so the fluids could return to normal operation temp and keep cycling.

maxpat82

I said running like cruising on the road...not idling!
idling is the worst thing.

smokeywren

Full synthetic motor oil is a waste of money. Use any major brand of dino motor oil that meets the specs in your Owner' Guide. And skip the Lucas snake oil.

Another waste of money


Be certain you use the correct diff lube, per your Owner'sGuide. And if you haven't done it lately, then go ahead and change at least the rear diff lube while you're at it.

If you haven't drained and flushed the ATF in the last year or so, then now is the time to do it. But I'm talking about a complete drain and flush using nothing but new ATF to flush with. Simply draining and refilling the pan with new ATF doesn't do much good, because that changes only about one third of the ATF. Since you're a fan of synthetics, then synthetic ATF is the place to spend your extra money. Synthetic ATF can handle a lot more heat without deteriation than dino ATF.

Adapt the following procedures to change the ATF. Your tranny is similar to the 4R100, except it holds a little less ATF in the pan. So measure how much ATF comes out of the pan when you drain it the first time, then use that amount when refilling the pan with fresh ATF in the next two or three flush cycles. (I changed the ATF in a '92 F-150 with 5.8L engine using those procedures, and it worked like a charm, and used less than the 20 quarts of new ATF required to do it right on a 4R100 tranny.)
Changing ATF in a 4R100 tranny

Find the load/inflation table for your size tire, and go by that. I don't see one with your exact size tire, but assuming your sidewall says 3,000 pounds @ 50 PSI, here's the one for 35x12.50x17:

PSI . max weight on each tire
--- - -------------------------
25 . 1875
30 . 2155
35 . 2405
40 . 2625
45 . 2840
50 . 3000

Weigh the wet and loaded rig on a CAT scale, divide the axle weights by two, then be sure you have at least as much PSI in the tires as required by the load/inflation table. In your case, I'd probably run 50 PSI in the rear tires and 40 PSI in the front tires, unless the load/inflation table says that's more than 10 PSI too much.

Nothing works better than fresh concentrate antifreeze mixed 50/50 with distilled water. Yes, that's distilled water. Tap water has too much junk in it,

1. If you haven't repacked the wheel bearings on the trailer lately, then do that before you go. Burning up a wheel bearing on a road trip is no fun. Been there, done that.

2. If the trailer tires are more than 4 years old, then replace them with new tires before you go. Use the best of the take-offs as your spare trailer tire/wheel. Trailer tires can look brand new, but if they're more than about 4 years old they are likely to fail on a long, loaded, high-speed trip like you plan.

3. Pump the trailer tires up to the max PSI on the sidewall. And be certain to check the PSI in the spare tire to be sure it's pumped up all the way too.

4. Throw a floor jack in the bed, along with a sheet of plywood of at least 1/2" thick, and about size 2-foot by 4-foot, to use as a jack base - in case you have to change a tire in a muddy ditch while out in the middle of nowhere. But if you often haul horses, you probably already knew that. Yes, I've been there, done that too. I never go more than a few mile from home withut a foor jack and jack base - just in case.

mshiff62

Wow thanks for all the great info!
Few points to hit since I posted this:

-Tranny was rebuilt, bigger torque converter and bigger valve body about 30k miles ago. It has to run synthetic tranny fluid now, so that all was replaced.
Tranny however was about a 1/4 quart low (Never had to top it off since the tranny rebuild.)

-I'm gonna do a coolant flush at my buddys shop once I get to MD, just topped it off for now.

-Trailer tires are only 2 years old, bearings are only a year old; just gotta give them a shot of grease before I go, got a good spare, whole full truck toolbox full of tools, compressor, welder, etc.

-Right now my truck tires are at 42 in the front and 48 in the back. I think that should be good. My tires say max load 3,680# @ 65 psi.

-I went ahead and did a 5w-30 quaker state defy synthetic oil change, poured half a bottle of sea foam in the oil and half in the fuel tank, for what it's worth.

-Rear end on truck was rebuilt about 5k miles ago. Did new axle bearings/seals, new pinion seal (was leaking terribly), new pinion shaft (it was cracked) and rear has synthetic gear oil and friction modifier in it, per the rear specs.

I think I'm good to go now, even brushed out the bugs off the front of the radiator!

smokeywren

I hope you checked th tranny fluid level with a hot tranny. A cold tranny will give you a false reading. The "cold" line on the dipstick is not reliable, but the "hot" line is. You need to drive at least 20 miles without a trailer or 10 miles with a trailer to get the tranny warmed up to operating temp.

mshiff62

Yes it was checked after I had drove about 30 mins down the highway back from work. 1/4 quart was added and voila! May be just how much I tow, run highway, and run it with O/D off a lot. Who knows but everything is set and were good to go, leaving saturday morning! Thanks for all your advice guys!

Greg_8507

I pulled a boat that was about 6,000 lbs and 28 ft or so long from Marlington WVa down to Beaufort SC with a 02 5.4L. Other than brakes, i didn't worry about much else(because I keep up with regular maintenance). If you have a good 50/50 water/antifreeze mix, you really won't get any better than that with your coolant. Most important thing to keep in mind i think, is when you start coming up on steep grades, keep your RPM's reasonable and your O/D off. Your engine and Trans temps my stay low, however if your exhaust gas temps get high you will burn up your exhaust valves. your truck will still run, just not as well. Make sure you have plenty of gas money, it's going to be an expensive trip.