Josh Manning

Truck has 272k miles on it
previous owner said new motor/trans
im guessing 4.8 again, not 100% sure but i would assume


So i towed a 1998 Expedition 4wd 5.4l on a 2000 + pound trailer two hours on my bumper and it did fine besides the hills.
and a 1967 4 door dodge coronet for 6 hours up and down I81 and it was easy
i live in Tennessee in a subdivision on the hills, two of my hills you can barely walk up without being hunched over.

So the hills i would be at wide open at 2k rpm going about 9-10 mph and it wouldnt go any faster of course, and it struggled with the expedition.. Other than that, interstate, redlights, braking, etc were all fine.

Im thinking of hauling a 2012 f150 crew cab but going over 12 hours, plus a motorcycle in the bed, and maybe a weigh machine in the bed of the f150
lets just say 5500 pound f150 + 300 motorcycle + 250 pound weigh machine + 2200 pound trailer so about 8300 pounds total

Will the 4.8 do it fine ? any recommendations? i know the expedition and trailer weighed over 7800 pounds and i feel it did it fine

Matt_pound

That's a really small engine to be hauling that much, but it could probably do it, something like a 5.3 or a 5.7 vortec from the older trucks would handle it much better. You should probably get a transmission cooler installed because it will probably get really hot going up the hill, maybe get an oil cooler too if it doesn't already have one, it may seem like a lot but it'll be worth it over a blown tranny. Also, what gears is the truck running? Maybe use third instead of drive as well so it doesn't up/down shift as much as well as keep temps down. The most important thing is to just watch your temps very closely. If it's going to be a 12 hour drive definitely install a tranny cooler.