Truck & Trailer Advice - Upgrade?

Lady_MCSE · 11-12-2009, 12:51 PM

When I got back into horses five years ago, I shareboarded for a while then made up my mind to buy a horse, so I started with buying a truck, then a trailer, then the horse. I think my plan went pretty well except for the fact that I got a trailer which is a little oversized for my truck. At least I kind of think so.

Truck: 2002 F150 5.4 Liter V8 "Triton" engine with factory tow package. 4x4. Should be able to haul 7000lbs (maybe it was 6500??). Had about $1200 worth of equipment installed to pull this trailer, including electric brake controller, hidden gooseneck hitch, and airbags to make the thing level while hauling.

Trailer: The only number I remember off the top of my head is on a sticker inside the trailer saying 3500lbs empty trailer weight. I don't know the details of GVWR or GAWR or GCWR.

Loaded Weight of trailer: I figure around 6000lbs. The horse weighs 1650lbs. I try to limit what else I carry, do not have it too loaded down ... one tack box, 2 bales of hay, a bale of shavings, a saddle, and some halters\bridles.

I do not take this out too often. I wanted to do local day-trips for trail riding and some overnight camping trips. Never materialized, and probably won't anytime soon. So the majority of my driving has been moving from one barn to another or recent trips to a Veterinary hospital.

I knew for sure the day I bought the trailer that I would never be headed out for mountains with it, but my trailer repair shop just advised me to limit the air conditioner use, keep an eye on the heat guage, and have fun. But in my recent trips I have noticed that for even slight (but long) inclines, I might drop from 55mph down to 45mph very easily, and the engine has to work very hard to keep up with traffic. I have also noticed that in high crosswinds, I can feel like the trailer is steering the truck. In addition, I have this constant worry that if I ever lose a tire in the back, I could be in for some serious trouble.

So now I have it in my head that I should upgrade the truck to an F250 or F350. I know I would also want diesel because of fuel economy and dually because of the gooseneck.

I simply cannot afford to put more money into a newer vehicle. My current one blue-books at around $9,000. So if I were to look for an F250 or F350 in the $9,000 range, I would be looking at getting something that's probably a mid-1990's or earlier.

For those of you who haul frequently, don't take into account how frequently I haul or the type of hauling I've been doing, just give me your gut reaction on:

a) Is this current setup what you would consider to be unsafe?

b) Would you pursue trading out the current vehicle for more power and tow features, but at the cost of being older equipment?

Hideaway · 11-12-2009, 01:45 PM

I don't think I would consider it unsafe, although the steering the truck thing is a little scary. Sounds like you've done a lot to make sure it's safe.

If it were me, I'd upgrade. I'm not sure you need the dually, I was even advised against it as it's more likely to get stuck if you're on anything but pavement. With that being said, I now own a dodge dually.

I also have a 1995 Ford F250 gas and that truck has been very good to me except in transmissions. I went through two and working on the third thanks to rushing a horse up and down hills several hours to the vet hospital.

I love that truck just as much as I love my dodge except, my dodge purrs to me.

HeatherSarah3 · 11-12-2009, 07:17 PM

Your truck is not made to haul that kind of weight. Although you certainly CAN. Its not ment for it. I haul my stock trailer with a triton v10. Hauls like a freight train but KILLS on gas mileage

. Im working on buying a deisel now. Good luck!

Edited to add: I didnt even answer your question

1. I dont feel it is unsafe, so long as you have trailer brakes. 2. Yes, I would trade it in for an older stronger model. JMO Oh and with tandom axels on the trailer it wont be the end of the world if you lose a tire.

Ike · 11-12-2009, 07:49 PM

I'll second HeatherSarah3. Pulling close to the limit for your truck is working it pretty hard. On the other hand, if you don't pull often or far I wouldn't put 'must buy a new truck' on my to-do list.

Couple of suggestions:

don't pull in overdrive

use tow/haul if your truck has it

make sure the rear tires are aired up. I air mine to the max that is listed on the tire. Make sure the front tires are aired up to what the truck says they should be. and the trailer tires

Buy TRUCK tires when you need new ones. Many 1/2 ton trucks come with car tires for the better ride.

Buy the stiffest most heavy duty shock absorber.

all of this will make the truck more stable but it wont help your lack of power issue. Keeping with the same truck you can add horsepower and/or gearing in the rear end. Most trucks can have a plug-in box added that will increase the power, some significantly. Some have different settings so you can return it to stock when you aren't towing (better mpg) as well as a ton of other options. Rear end gears, most trucks if they don't have a factory towing pkg will have gears for best mpg. Swapping gears is a big job (and not cheap) and you'll want someone that really knows their stuff because speedometer and antilock brakes will need to be reset.

In the end it's your call. The up side is that you know the truck you have and if you do trade you always run the risk of getting someone's problem child. On the other side, by the time you'd add a box, shocks, and better tires you could have upgraded.

Diesel. I own one and I love it. If I was buying now I wouldn't buy one. By the time you spend the extra $$ to get one and factor in double the under hood maintenance and the risk of really big $$ if something like a injection pump fails ($3,000 on my truck) they don't make sence unless you drive a ton of miles... ie 30k+/year.

I think an dually would be way overkill but once you tow with one you'll be sold.... until you try to park on wal-mart's parking lot. A lot of parts are also more expensive on the larger trucks.

hope this helps....

mingiz · 11-12-2009, 08:24 PM

I had a F250 CC SB SD with the 5.4 in it When I got my first 3h slant with 4ft Dr it handled it fine on the flat but taking it to the mountains and on big hills it would lose power and would run with high rpm's and sounded like it just wanted to scream. I upgraded the truck to a F250 SD ext Cab4x4 SB 6.0 Diesel, I now pull a 3h SL with 8ft LQ with out a problem and I go to the mountains often. If you can swing it go diesel you won't regret it...

BarnBum · 11-12-2009, 11:28 PM

I agree with the above. Your current truck cannot handle that GN and the weight. The big thing is that your truck will not be able to STOP. Waay too much weight. If you plan on keeping the trailer, you should go to a F250 at least. In the pic able, that truck is squatting bad !!!!!!!!!!!!

Lady_MCSE · 11-14-2009, 01:31 PM

Thanks everyone for your input ... I read thru it all and I guess I will proceed with trying to get something that is stronger, if older. My biggest concern there is I will be taking on someone else's headache.

Dually getting stuck - Hmm, that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. But I have been in three different situations where I needed the 4x4 to get out, so I'm thinking I want my next truck to also be 4x4.

Gas Mileage - fully loaded, I get about 8mpg.

Without doing a lot of research, I had heard that diesel is better economically for hauling.
Overdrive - always off when I haul.

Tires - always check the tires cold before I haul. I keep them at the manufacturer's recommended psi.

Plug-in Box - I believe I do remember my trailer maintenance people telling me something about that, possibly replacing the rear axle with something that increases the gear ratio? ??? But they said it was a good truck for now, don't mess with it until necessary.

More questions:
So, do you think I have significantly "damaged" my existing truck by hauling this rig? It has towed it about 1500 miles total in four years, mostly flat level highway at 55mph, don't like to go faster with it. I ask this partially for resale disclosure, and partially as information if I were to keep it.

Lady_MCSE · 11-14-2009, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BarnBum

I agree with the above. Your current truck cannot handle that GN and the weight. The big thing is that your truck will not be able to STOP. Waay too much weight. If you plan on keeping the trailer, you should go to a F250 at least. In the pic able, that truck is squatting bad !!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sure that would be true without the electric brakes. But as it is outfitted currently, I have no trouble stopping. And Jacques can attest to the fact that I did have on REEEEEAAALLY ugly slam-on-the-brakes situation on one of my returns from Wisconsin. I felt horrible for him, but was quite impressed with how well it did stop.

Ike · 11-14-2009, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BarnBum

If you plan on keeping the trailer, you should go to a F250 at least. In the pic able, that truck is squatting bad !!!!!!!!!!!!

we must be looking at different pic's.... It's squatting but not that badly.

Ike · 11-15-2009, 12:12 AM

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