Another truck towing question

Morgan3820

Morgan3820

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I found a semi-reasonably priced F150 super crew. It is a rental sale vehicle.
It has the 5.0 L which is fine for me. But it has the 3.15 rear. Ford towing table say that it’s good for 9100 pounds. anybody else have this rig and tow with it?
Trucks have become less and less available. So I’m trying to think outside of the box. Would this be a bad idea? Towing towing a 4500 pound utility trailer long distance
 
I dont have that set up but the general rule is to stay within 80% of tow capacity. So in that regard you will be fine. The 5.0 has plenty of power so that's not an issue. 3.15 gears will give good gas mileage without towing but while towing you might have to lock out the high gear. I tow a 30ft RV and you'd be surprised what you see people tow with. My main thing is having the brakes to stop it.
 
For what you plan to tow I am sure it will be fine. Does it have the 10 speed trans or the 6 speed? The rental sale is what would give me pause. They always seem to feel like they have twice the mileage they actually do so hopefully the price is right. Depending on the year they had an optional 36 gallon fuel tank which I doubt a rental truck will have but would be very handy when you are towing.
 
Assuming it has the 10-speed transmission it will be fine. I think the higher gears were 3.55 with the 5.0L, so not a world of difference.
 
Morgan3820 said:
I found a semi-reasonably priced F150 super crew. It is a rental sale vehicle.
It has the 5.0 L which is fine for me. But it has the 3.15 rear. Ford towing table say that it’s good for 9100 pounds. anybody else have this rig and tow with it?
Trucks have become less and less available. So I’m trying to think outside of the box. Would this be a bad idea? Towing towing a 4500 pound utility trailer long distance
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Heh, that's close to rating on my 2012 with a 5.0 and 3.73 rear so I doubted that could be right but I looked up the 2023 models up and I guess that's where they're rated. Heh.

Rule of thumb I've always heard you want at least 20% more towing capacity than your actual trailer weight. So applying that, you're fine. We tow that much with our truck all the time.

Side note, I keep thinking about going to an F-250 but seeing the tow ratings on a properly configured half ton these days I'm having second thoughts. 80% of a 13,000# tow rating will probably cover most of what I'll ever do.
 
I think it'll be fine, based on the weight, and having driven or owned a few Ford pickups. Every one I've driven, auto or manual, has always had a first gear that was plenty low, and the new autos have smooth and closely spaced shifts. So don't beat it up and it'll be fine. My bet is that on flat land you'll forget the trailer is there...which actually is a bit of a risk in and of itself.

The concern in the old days, past brakes, was transmission overheating when driving through hills. No idea if that is still a concern with modern transmissions.
 
Just finished towing an approximate 4500 pound trailer from PHX to Houston with my 2016 F150 with the little 2.7 Ecoboost. 1267 miles averaged 14.6 mpg and Fords have a tow selection mode…I averaged 74 mph so basically cooking…the 5.0 probably would have done it better as my 4wd is maxed at 7600 pounds…I love the truck but it’s been a long day and will unload the trailer tomorrow.
 
What year model? I was only aware of 3.31, 3.55, and 3.73 rear ends on F-150s. I personally have the 3.55 and have no complaints.
 
Mine has the 3.73 rear end…stupid fast 0-60 for the setup and better than any non raptor truck that year.
 
I would recommend staying away from buying a vehicle that served as a rental at any point during its life if you can help it. I’ve worked at a rental car company before and have horror stories about how customers treated them and how the company maintained them.
 
nrm2430 said:
I would recommend staying away from buying a vehicle that served as a rental at any point during its life if you can help it. I’ve worked at a rental car company before and have horror stories about how customers treated them and how the company maintained them.
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I share your concern, but there is not much out there available.I have heard bad things about everything, especially even buying new. Private sellers want the moon. Used car Dealers aren’t any better and then add on thousands in BS fees on top of the advertised price. I hear that a wave of repossessed vehicles are coming but that would be the last way I would want to buy. A new base model supercrew 2wd is $50K! The three year old rental with 65,000 miles on it would be about half that. If you can come up with a better option, I would love to hear it.
 
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Better option than spending 50k on a new 1/2 ton? Seems too easy for me, but I wouldn't buy a new vehicle.

I would look for an older truck, perhaps even as old as a 2005 depending on the exact model, and then go through it. I would do any deferred maintenance, replace all fluids, have a trusted mechanic look it over, and once we're convinced it's ready, drive it anywhere.

The 2005 Chevy 3500 dually Duramax I have now was 3 years old with a bad motor when I bought it. I put in a Duramax motor out of a topkick truck. It continues to serve me well today. I bought that truck for 7k.
 
I would agree with Forane, on this one. The biggest ticket items on a vehicle is the engine / transmission. Figure out what that will run to replace in the worst case scenario. $10k? Then look around for something used that would be in the price range where if you had to replace the engine or transmission you'd still come out ahead. The older vehicles are out there that would exceed your needs. Or, beat the rush and buy one that does need an engine already. The deals are usually better, and you wind up w/ a fresh engine and a more capable body vehicle (not to mention maybe better features) for probably less than you were looking at for a new base model.
 
FORANE said:
Better option than spending 50k on a new 1/2 ton? Seems too easy for me, but I wouldn't buy a new vehicle.

I would look for an older truck, perhaps even as old as a 2005 depending on the exact model, and then go through it. I would do any deferred maintenance, replace all fluids, have a trusted mechanic look it over, and once we're convinced it's ready, drive it anywhere.

The 2005 Chevy 3500 dually Duramax I have now was 3 years old with a bad motor when I bought it. I put in a Duramax motor out of a topkick truck. It continues to serve me well today. I bought that truck for 7k.
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One of my best friends has a shop and Lift. He literally can fix anything, well just about anything. I need a rebuild engine. He can do that. I want to change the rear axle ratio, he can do that.
 
Analysis paralysis. Any 1/2 ton truck from the big 3, a Tundra, or an Titan/Titan XD is going to tow a 4500lb trailer. You will want the factory tow package for the transcooler, Class IV hitch, and integrated wiring.
 
Sounds like what you really need is a ….wait….wait for it…..a toe truck. o_O
 
TCABM said:
Analysis paralysis. Any 1/2 ton truck from the big 3, a Tundra, or an Titan/Titan XD is going to tow a 4500lb trailer. You will want the factory tow package for the transcooler, Class IV hitch, and integrated wiring.
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Agreed, one of my many shortcomings. I hate making a mistake involving money.
 
That sounds like a perfectly fine setup for what your looking for. the trade off on those lower (numerically) gears is that it will likely have better fuel mileage empty and slightly worse mileage towing. Like others mentioned above, make sure it has the factory towing package for the cooling, wiring, and hitch etc. Also, since its a former rental spend a few extra bucks and get a dealer to do a very thorough pre-purchase inspection. It never ceases to amaze me that people don't do this when buying a used car/truck.
 
I agree, buying anything right now is not the best financial choice. As long as people spend their money like it's worth nothing, it will be worth nothing. While there can be comfort in having a truck under warranty while taking big road trips, older trucks are just dead simple and cheap to repair. I use a 2005 Chevrolet gas Dually to haul my truck camper and boat. It was a Diesel I bought with a bad engine. I sold the trans out of it and swapped the diesel power train out for a 6.0 gas one. Sure it doesn't perform as well but it still gets the job done. What really matters though is that I could replace my whole engine for what a minor repair on a modern diesel would cost. There is no variable valve timing to worry about, no excess emission junk. There isn't much I can't fix on the side of the road with a simple tool kit. Every auto parts store has anything you could need for it. The seats are more comfortable than the new trucks and it's feels smaller to drive which is a good thing.
 
Warlock said:
Just finished towing an approximate 4500 pound trailer from PHX to Houston with my 2016 F150 with the little 2.7 Ecoboost. 1267 miles averaged 14.6 mpg and Fords have a tow selection mode…I averaged 74 mph so basically cooking…the 5.0 probably would have done it better as my 4wd is maxed at 7600 pounds…I love the truck but it’s been a long day and will unload the trailer tomorrow.
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I have heard that the 2.7 L can do amazing things. Do you know offhand what your rear axle ratio is?
 
3.73 rear end and gets 23 mpg at 70 mph on the Highway unburdened. The 2.7 really is an amazing package when only light to medium towing is required on occasion.
 
TCABM said:
Analysis paralysis. Any 1/2 ton truck from the big 3, a Tundra, or an Titan/Titan XD is going to tow a 4500lb trailer. You will want the factory tow package for the transcooler, Class IV hitch, and integrated wiring.
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I agree.

I-40 runs through Gallup. Just about everyday I see 1/2 ton pickups with the bed full, pulling the largest U-Haul trailer with the rear bumper a few inches off the ground, and the front suspension stretched at the upper limits. In other words severely over loaded. And still trying to hold 80mph. Watching these vehicles sway back and forth and trying to stay in their lane scares the crap outta me.

I am guessing most of those folks think a 1/2 ton can be loaded with everything and still be safe. And it can be if folks stay within the max load limits and balance the load.
 
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