Towing with a 5.4 F350

[david36]

Anyone out there pull a 25-30' 5th wheel with a 5.4?
Reading the other forums I get the feeling it is a mistake to buy anything but a diesel.

Thanks

[DirtFarmer]

Hi David-

I've never owned, nor even ridden in a truck with a 5.4. But I've owned several small block Ford's from previous years and will offer what I've learned with them:

A good question for you up front is what part of the country do you live, and where will you be towing?

Under ideal circumstances, small block gas trucks will pull a trailer like you describe pretty darn well. That is, on level ground, at relatively low elevation and with no head wind. Worst case, you might have to run in "straight gear" (1:1) out on the highway, running moderately high rpm constantly and burn more fuel.

But with a strong headwind, or throw in even moderate hill climbs and you may not have enough to keep in straight gear. That's when things are a real PITB. A mountain pass in the Rockies, and you'll shift down two or three times and scream up the mountain in low gear at very high rpm. It's weird, but if you drive all day and everything is fine and then hit a 10 minute steep climb in the mountains, it's the aggravating mountain climb that you'll remember! FWIW, I didn't do too much better on the mountain passes with a 460. The high elevation really seems to sap the power.

Again, my experience with gas trucks is a little dated, but the torque specs of today's 5.4s are close to the old 351's and definitely less than the 460's.

From what I hear, the V10s are pretty close to the 5.4s in fuel mileage and not too much more money up front. With the 25% larger engine, that may be a better choice, especially if you will be towing regularly.

Good luck with your new truck, no matter what it is!

Mark

[crewzer]

David,

The GVWR for a 5.4L V8 w/ the 4.10 axle is 15,000 lbs. If your 350's curb weight is 6,000 lbs, that'll leave 9,000 lbs for passengers and cargo in the truck, plus the weight of the loaded trailer. A 25 - 30' 5-er may weigh 6,000 to 10,000 lbs, so you'll have to factor that into the equation.

My truck has the 5.4, AT and a 4.10 rear. Loaded up and with my 3,250 lb pop-up camper attached, it grosses about 10,500 lbs or so. I've driven it from sea-level in VA to ~9,000 ft in NM. Personally, I think 12K is the maximum for this truck in that range of environments.

The V10 is a bargain. The extra ~$500 buys you more power, torque and GCWR (minimum 17,000 lbs), and some other goodies, including a bigger main radiator (2 row vs 1 row), a tighter torque converter (2:1 vs 2.2:1; less heat) and, in the SC or CC, a stouter differential (3 pinion vs 2).

My brother's truck is virtually identical to mine, except he has the V10 and 3.73. His trailer and load are about the same, and the overall mileage penalty seems to be about 1 mpg.

HTH,
crewzer

[shume]

David,

My experience is with the E series, but may be of some help.

I had a 2001 E350 12 passenger van with 5.4l and 3.55 axle. This van averaged 12.95 mpg in just over 10K miles w/o towing. I did use it to tow our travel trailer one time, about a 275 mile trip, and averaged 8.9 mpg. This trip included pulling a 4000 ft pass over the Cascades over and back. I estimate the GCW at about 12,500 lbs. This is over the factory rating of 12,000. This engine/axle combination performed adequately while towing under the conditions described. If I were going to run solo with it all the time I would have been more than happy with it.

I traded up to a 2001 E350 12 passenger van with 6.8l and 4.10 axle to get more towing capacity, 18,500 lb GCWR. In 7200 miles it has averaged 12.12 mpg under similar conditions as the V8 van w/o towing. I have towed the travel trailer for about 4000 miles and have averaged 9.0 mpg while doing so. The longest trip with the trailer was about 3500 miles from SW Washington to Colorado. The trip included a climb over Red Mountain Pass in SW Colorado, which is right at 11,000 ft. The GCW on this trip was 15,000 lbs weighed. I have very been pleased with the performance of this van.

With the mileage penalty of less than 1 mpg I would definitely get the V10 again. Though I might opt for the 3.73 axle and the 16,000 GCWR since I don't think that it is possible to reach the 18,500 lb limit afforded by the 4.10 ratio without significantly overloading the rear axle of the tow rig. If you do very much towing at high elevation I don't think you would be happy with the V8, it would probably get you there but it would be significantly slower.

YMMV.

Daddio

[westport]

My uncle has a 97 F150 4x4 with the 5.4V8. He pulled a 25 foot 5th wheel and never complained too much. Only the big long hills would give him trouble. I would say that he was happy with that setup. Then he sold my wife and I that camper and he bought another 25 foot 5th wheel, but this time it was about a foot wider, a foot taller and had a dinette slideout in it. I don't know if was the added frontal area of the taller and wider camper or the weight of the slider, but his truck was now reaching it's power limit. Know he was overheating his engine on the long hill climbs and going alot slower. Flat ground towing was okay but I know that he was really struggling everwhere else and he was definetely looking for more power in his next truck purchase. I just found out last night that he was on his way to purchase a 2000 superduty with a diesel.