noobs towing question

[oneblackTJ]

so i have a 1990 ford f150. 302 with an auto. it hasnt has the best life it has approx150k on it and does need some work.my quesion is do you think I could towmy tj on a trailer with it. btw it is also 2wd. I know I would have to keep it out of O/D but is ther anything I should do or do I need to llok at a different truck.any help would be great.

[Guest]

It'll do it just fine as long as you don't want to enter any drag races with the TJ in tow.

Keep the auto out of OD, and make sure it has an auxiliary transmission cooler. If not, pick one up for $30 and run it. Make sure your brakes are good, hitch and hitch mounting points are solid, and proceed with common sense.

[oneblackTJ]

so how long of a trailer should I look for? I was thinking one just big enough for the jeep or is there a stadard size to look for?

[Guest]

16' tandem with dual 3,500 lb axles is the most common. I used to tow my old YJ on a 14' trailer and it was very sensitive to balance. Just make sure you get one that is actually intended for car hauling duties rather than a utility trailer. Also make sure it has electric brakes and you get a brake controller installed in the truck. If you can, get one with 5,000 lb axles because after you account for the trailer weight itself, the 3,500 lb axles are just barely adequate.

Car haulers usually are channel or box tube construction, whereas utility trailers are angle iron. They simply aren't very strong, usually are only marginally wide enough, and I think there is some concern about what happens to them in the event of an accident. That said, I towed on my father's 14' utility trailer for quite a while and everything was fine. I may have just gotten lucky though.

Also, I don't know about KS, but in MO you have to get proper tags for the tow vehicle. In MO 12,000 lb tags are probably sufficient, as that's what I have on our Durango because I used to tow with it.

[Guest]

In addition to having the vehicle tagged properly for the gross weight you will also need to tag the trailer.

[Guest]

In order to get the balance in the ball park. You can take a 4' 2x6 pr or other equally strong board, put one end on a bathroom scale, put the other end on board/ boards till its level with the scale end. Put the trailer jack in the center of the board that has one end on the scale. If you double the weight on the scale, that will tell you what the tongue weight will be in relation to where the Jeep is on the trailer. Then mark the trailer where the Jeep needs to sit for towing. Typically its 10% of the gross trailer weight. Since half of the board is on the scale, the other half is supported, it halves the weight applied to the scale.
So 250lbs on the scale is really 500lbs of tongue weight.

Wally

[got flx]

Why does everyone always say to tow out of OD?

I can see if it wants to search for gears on hills but otherwise you should just use every gear you have. I have towed for years with autos with no problem. biggest thing is to keep them cool-below 200 degrees.

I have heard theat the OD gear is smaller and weaker, but when your going 60mph you are not stressing it as much as first gear off the start.

Just my opinion.

[Guest]

Why does everyone always say to tow out of OD?

I can see if it wants to search for gears on hills but otherwise you should just use every gear you have. I have towed for years with autos with no problem. biggest thing is to keep them cool-below 200 degrees.

I have heard theat the OD gear is smaller and weaker, but when your going 60mph you are not stressing it as much as first gear off the start.

Just my opinion.

Completely agree!

The only time I take my truck out of OD is when approaching a big hill (like in the Flint Hills) that I know will cause a down shift. It's easier on the tranny to down shift on flat ground than it will on a steep incline while it's being dragged down.

[oneblackTJ]

so im thinking bout lowering my f150. do you think it would affectmy towing?

[Guest]

so im thinking bout lowering my f150. do you think it would affectmy towing?

How much and what method?

Their are a bunch of slammed 1ton dually that tow. If properly set-up it won't affect the towing capacity.

[cjmoon]

i towed with that exact set up. definitely use an external cooler. Bigger the better and temp gage wouldn't be a bad idea. i got my truck with 150k and rebuilt the tranny at 160k and then motor let out at 198k it was a contractors truck before i got it and then i used it for my lawn care business and then flat towed and then with a 16' utility trailer.

Get one with brakes on both axles. I used over drive pretty much all the time. Never with the cruise control though. i would get going over the speed limit down hills and not punch it real hard up hills and it wouldn't shift. if it did shift i would click OD off finish the hill and then get back into it to keep it from shifting to much.

Not to try and talk you out of it. but after towing with a diesel i will never go back to a 1/2 ton with a trailer that weighs more than it. The newer ones aren't bad. my buddy has pulled mine set up with his 08 chevy 5.3 it didn't do to bad.

[rjh]

I agree. After towing with my 3/4 ton I'd never go back to pulling with my 1/2 ton unless it was my only option. I'd probably not go wheeling rather than trailer with the 1/2 ton again.

[audioguy1]

X3 on the never going without at a least a 3/4T. I don't think you're going to like towing with that truck. The 302 is WAY uinderpowered to pull a truck, trailer and Jeep if you get into any hills with it OD or not. Not saying it can't be done, but check the tow rating for that truck, it probably isn't rated for that much wieght. just my .02

[cjmoon]

i pulled KC to manhattan for three years before it gave up. but let me make the statement that it never left me stranded. even when I cracked the head. I knew I had issues because it was running rough. a common thing as I had melted down three spark plugs over the course of two years. It wasn't that this time.

I left manhattan and noticed a huge power difference. got 7mpg and never had it in overdrive on once took three hours to get back to KC some times in second gear. compression tested showed very very low on one cylinder. This was over the winter break so it was cooled and no over heating problems. valve had a chunk missing from it. and the head was cracked. found a cheap replacement head and put it back in. post compression test was lower than the others but not bad. i think running on 7cyl pulling hurt it. it ran great after the fix but he next time i towed it started smoking with in 6 miles and i turned back went home and decided to part the truck out. wasn't worth fixing in my eye's

it is very possible to tow safely with breaks on the trailer. you want the trailer to stop you not the truck stopping the trailer... but it is taxing on the 302. I wouldn't plan on going cross country. got about 11mpg normal with trailer. and about 14-15 hwy with 3.55 gears and 31" tires load C

[MR.CLIFFORD]

Their are a bunch of slammed 1ton dually that tow. If properly set-up it won't affect the towing capacity.

If it even remotely made sense to tow what we tow to where we tow it with something like that I'd do it in a heart beat! 8)