What a joke, everyone seems to be afraid to use their truck like a truck. If it's rated for 6,500 then use it up to 6,500. Ford rates it to keep it on the safer side for people that aren't used to towing stuff and that way they can make sure that they won't have to fix something under warranty because someone abused it. The original tranny cool will work just fine, no sense in spending money on something that isn't needed. The 4.6 has plenty of power to pull the 6,500 pounds easily. I have a 2001 F150 supercrew and have already pulled about 14,000 pounds(without the truck) with a total of 19,440 pounds (including truck and trailer). My truck doesn't have any performance mods and the suspension is all stock. The only things I have done to it was replaced the air filter to a washable K&N filter and the rear shocks to heavy duty monroe shocks and modified my hitch a little. I'll even include a link to my photobucket to let you see that I'm not just saying stuff to to get you wondering. So just go and use your truck for what it was designed for. Besides, if you wanted to be worried about what you could haul with your truck, then you should have bought a chevy. http://s603.photobucket.com/albums/t...tor840/Towing/

 

Ralph, there is a huge difference between hauling 14k pounds on a farm at 30mph than 5000 pounds on the highway with thousands of other people at 70mph.

 

The loads I haul are mostly on highway, it pulls just fine at 55 mph. Those large loads were of scrap metal that went 60 miles away to the scrap yard. I just don't understand why everyone seems to be worried about using their truck for what it is rated for. My truck gets used all of the time, I even send out oil samples once a year to see how the drive train is doing and it always comes back perfect. I have no oil leaks, no tranny problems, which is stock by the way. As long as you perform your regular maintenance schedule you will be just fine. If you plan on hauling a lot as I do, then get load E tires. But if my 2001 supercrew will pull 14,000 pounds then your newer f150 will pull just as good if not better. Hauling at 70 mph isn't a big deal even for larger loads, you just need to use common sense.

 

Common sense dictates that you don't exceed the ratings routinely. If something bad were to happen, you will have a big liability issue if you were found to be overloaded.

 

I see people pulling home made trailers all the time that are more unsafe than my large loads on a heavy duty trailer. Those are the people that are liabilities, not the ones that take extra care to secure their large loads and do pretrip checks on the truck and trailer. Another thing that bothers me is when people haul loads with undersized ball and ball mounts. Mine is a solid 2 inch ball mount rated at 20,000 lbs with a 2 5/16" ball rated for 30,000 lbs. I also have 5/8" grade 80 steel plates welded to the hitch on the truck with 16,000 lbs rated d-rings. I would rather go overboard on the accessories for my hitch to make it a lot safer. You must also know the limits of the truck, ratings are under rated to keep your average joe in safe limits. Have you ever noticed how there are light duty tires on half ton trucks when you buy them, it's because most people want a truck to haul light stuff and don't want to have a harsh ride. I swap mine for load E tires because they can be loaded heavy without the worry of overheating and blowing out from too much stress, they also improve swaying and cornering because the sidewalls are much thicker. Now, you may think that I am a liability, but I will have to say from all of the things I do to stay safe while hauling, I use a lot of common sense and make sure that I take care of my truck to keep it safe. Of course, my next truck will be an F-350 being I'm starting to pull heavy loads more frequently.

 

One of my friends eventually burned out his tranny at 100K miles plus about 5 sets of front brakes pulling a 6500 lb travel trailer with a 97 F150 4.6 (3.55 gears). That was pretty close to the towing limit.

The mountain passes here in BC are long and steep, especially where you live. That said I think it's all in the way you drive it. Take the long hills in second gear, put your fav tunes on and kick back for a long slow trip.

Before I got my 150 last year I pulled 1500 lbs with my 4 cyl Subaru wagon-the car itself loaded with 5 people and gear over several steep mountain passes in very hot weather. It's towing capacity is 2400 lbs. I took the hills at 60-70 km/h with the engine doing 4000-4500 rpm in 35 degrees celcius weather and had no trouble with heat. I also shut my AC off on the passes and rolled the windows down.

It's all in the way you drive it.

 

Did the Gotts mod last night,truck seems to like it.Filled up with 89 octane chevron today and definate improvment in acceleration.Starting to do some reading on the Edge Evolution tuner,have'nt read any info yet on the gryphon.

On my way down to Vernon to discuss the leaving the trailer at Mabel for the season tomorrow.Truck will be loaded with split fir on the way down.Will see how the Monty Creek hill goes RB

 

Good point on how you drive it.
I took the trailer up the No 1 bypass here in town the day I picked it up.
70kmh at 3100rpm in second gear,30"C heat the hill is about 4-5km long and the coolant temp gauge did'nt move from normal.
I will keep the AC tip in mind.RB

 

Well two 100 highway mile plus hauls later I am happy with the little 4.6 that can!!
Gotts mod and fresh K&N probably helped alot.
First trip was loaded with about 750lbs of firewood on board,Ithe truck went up the longest hill holding 90kmh{55mph} at just under 3000rpm.
Yesterday I hauled the 4200lb travel trailer out to the lake,I had about 35 gallons of water on board along with most of the camp goodies.Probably closer to a 5000lb tow.Truck held 60kmh{30mph} at 2500rpm in 2nd gear up the same long hill and 55mph was'nt too hard to hold at 2200rpm in drive for the rest of the trip.Both days were 28'C or about 85'F plus in temp and the truck temp never climbed at all on the hills.RB

 

ruttinbuck,

If you are looking at the stock temp gauge, then it won't move until your water temp is over 220* at least.... I have aftermarket temp gauges for the water and trans temps and the stock gauge will sit at it's appointed spot from between 150* and at least 210* (as that's the hottest my AM gauge has gotten to..)

If you were only pulling 2500 rpms in second gear going 30 mph up a hill, your torque converter might not have been 'locked'.... This will generate a ton of heat in the trans fluid. If this grade has hwy speed limits, then IMO, it's better to pull some higher revs on the engine (3000-3500) and maintain about 50 mph and be in "locked" second gear... Your trans fluid will appreciate it!

Just my experience towing a #5000 TT in the hills on hot 90* days..

Mitch

 

Can you explain "locked" better Mitch.
The only way I could see going up that hill at higher revs would be in first gear,can't see that happening at much more speed than I was carrying.
Point taken on the temp guages,I will do some research on aftermarket clusters.RB

 

The TC will lock and unlock in 2nd, 3rd, 4th gears. In each of those gears, there will be an ever so slight change in rpms when going from unlocked to locked. This can be anywhere from a 200-500 rpm difference. When locked, the TC is just like a clutch in a manual transmission. When unlocked, it's like what would happen if you slipped the clutch slightly. Just a way to allow the engine to gain some rpms and not 'bog' while in that gear.

The downside to this is that while it's slipping, it's the fluid that is now solely engaging the transmission so it heats that fluid up really fast. Same as when you slip a clutch, you heat up that clutch plate really fast...

If you manually put the gear shift into 2nd and mat the pedal going up the hill, you will see and feel the TC lock up. Now the trick is to keep up your momentum so you can stay in locked 2nd. You want to let off some on the pedal, but keep enough to hold at least 50 mph. Your engine needs over 3000 rpms for it's peak power numbers.

Even if you leave the gear shift in D, it won't go into 1st until you drop below 30 mph or so.

The only time I've need 1st gear to get up a hill is this long hill in my neighborhood to get home. It's at least a 8% grade and the speed limit in the area is only 35mph. I can hit the hill doing 45, in third, but it'll go into second really quick and then if it's in D, it'll go into first and then I'm going 25mph and pulling like 4000 rpms! But, if I put the gear shift in second, it bogs way down and won't unlock because the pedal is matted, then you have to manually pull it down into first to get the rpms up again. (I avoid that hill when coming home with the trailer now!)

It's hard to visualize in writing, but it just takes time with your rig and knowing what it likes and doesn't like while towing and just time behind the wheel with a trailer in tow helps too... I've been towing stuff since I was a teenager with just about every combo out there, except for a SEMI so this stuff is just 'natural' to me...

Mitch

 

The 4.6 thrives on RPM's - and needs them to put out any kind of power. Remember, it's really a car engine. Don't be afraid to wind it out.

 

I agree. the mighty 4.6 isn't afraid.