Tomorrow I am going to be hauling an engine weighing just under 2000 lbs in the bed of my 2006 5.4L 4X4 for about 600 miles. Suspension is stock but I have my VMP towing tune installed. Any words or adivce or tips for my trip? How hard will this work the truck? Should I take it out of OD on the expressway or just leave it and let it shift how it wants? This is the first time I have actually really worked the truck so any tips would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

Make sure your rear tires are inflated to the max rating on the sidewall, move the engine as far forward as it will go in the bed, go ahead and leave it in OD, keep it down to 55 mph, and try to take smooth roads. You are going to be over GVWR and rear GAWR.

The *BEST* advice is to use a utility trailer to haul it. That will keep everything under ratings easily.

 

Thanks for the advice. I'll check my tires tonight. It is going to be mostly express way the whole trip...I90 through NY and Ohio so it will be flat. Hopefully no one will bother me on the GVWR or GAWR. Even though I'll be over GVWR I should not worry about the truck at all? Ford builds these trucks to do this so I think it should be fine. Thanks again.

 

The truck will handle it easily, but the rear end may ride pretty mushy, hence why you should avoid rough roads. The engine won't even know it's back there, even my V6 does quite well with a loaded bed and a enclosed 5x8 trailer. The classic definition of a "1/2 ton" truck is a truck that can carry half a ton. Today's 1/2 ton trucks can carry a lot more easily, but 1 ton will officially put you over ratings.

 

I made the trip today and it went well. We took our old engine and swapped it for a rebuilt one. I think the engine was a little closer to 3/4 ton than 1 ton so that probably helped out. Round trip was about 650 miles. I ran between 60 and 70 mph the whole trip down mostly I90. Once up to speed the truck only shifted out of OD a couple of times each way while on cruise.

The thing that bothered me the most was gas mileage. I am trying to understand what happened. My average over 16,000 miles unloaded with a VMP performance tune is 15.2 mpg. I drive about 75% highway daily to work. On the trip to Ohio with the engine heading west into the wind on I90 and VMP towing tunes I got 16 mpg over 330 miles. On the way back home with the wind at my back and VMP towing tunes I got 18.5 mpg over 320 miles! Would the towing tune really get me that much better mileage than the performance? Does this make sense? The only real difference I know of is that I accelerated and decelerated very slowly with the engine in the bed and normally I get on it a lot more when empty. I figured that driving easy would be offset by all that weight though and that my mpg would be no better than empty. Any other ideas of what could be going on?

Pics:

hoisting engine onto truck with A-Frame.


White tractor with engine removed.


Loaded and ready to go...not squatting too bad...1.5 to 2 inches so the truck looks level.


Engine Loaded. Rear squatted between 1.5 and 2 inches so the truck looked about level.


New (rebuilt) engine strapped down.


New (rebuilt) engine strapped in.


New (rebuilt) engine strapped in, ready to go. Squatting about 2 inches.

 

Good job, you positioned it properly in the bed.

Try running your towing tune on a daily basis and see what you get for mileage.

 

as far as the mileage I bet it's cause you were more careful on the throttle