In about a year my family and I are looking to purchase a 5ver, We are thinking in the 30-35 foot range. We currently have a Prerunner Cherokee along with 3 quads and a dirtbike. What im trying to figure out is if my truck 1999 7.3L F250 superduty extended cab (See picture below) will be enough to tow a trailer big enough to fit the toys we have. I would much rather purchase a new dually but that is out of the question right now. My truck in currently paid off and the possibility of selling it is very slim right now. So I would like to make some modifications in the next year to hopefully make my truck capable to tow a trailer.

Heres what is currently done to the truck

6 lift
Air bags in rear
Full gauges
Turbo back exhaust
AIS air filter kit
315/75/R16 BFG All terrains load D
Procomp wheels
Brake controller

Future Mods

New deaver springs to set lift at 4 inches
Bigger trans cooler
Larger trans pan & diff cover
John woods trans upgrades
TS 6 position chip
E rated tires (if needed)

Would it even be possible to tow a trailer in the 30-35 foot range and still be safe?? Are there any other mods I should be looking into. Any help would be awesome.

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What you have now will work fine. You have the best motor Ford ever put in a pickup. The stock trans cooler should be more than enough with the mods you have on your truck. You should have no trouble towing a 30-35 foot trailer. You might be at the max for your tires. The air bags should help with having the lift on the truck. If you’re going to tow a 5th wheel a long bed would be better but you can get a sliding hitch to make up for that and after you blow out the back driver’s side window once or twice you’ll always remember to slide it back.

I tow a 33' attitude 5ver with an 02 F250 crewcab. Because your a extended cab, you'll probably be even closer to legal weight than me so i see no problem with it.

As far as you mods, looks like your going in the right direction with all your plans. Maybe look into any brake mods.

Thanks for the reply guys,

I was just reading another thread about the bed clearance and saw a post about busting out a window!!! If I bust a window or two ill still be cheaper than a new (to me) truck!!!! I forgot to add that I currently have Powerslot Cryo rotors in front and non cryos in the rear both with pads. Probably the best modification I have done. Im very happy with my motor, the only issue I have had is a cam sensor and I only have 112000 miles on the truck.

Another ? Will the short wheelbase tow any different than the longer crew cabs??? I know the 5ver's tow better then the tag trailers but how does wheel base affect towing????


Again Thanks

Will

regear ur differentials if u havnt done so....... btw nice rims

Start lookin for a deal on a superglide hitch. It slides automatically and you'll save the window. I found one for 500.00 on here once when we were gonna use our Dodge to tow a 5er.

2 Guys in our camp have the same truck as you and one tow 40' ww (crew cab), the other has a 37' ww (extended cab). Both say the truck does just fine. They both have airbags to help out. The sliding hitch will save you back window.

It shows that a maximum loaded trailer weight for a 99' f-250 4x4 is 13,400lbs
http://changingears.com/Ford-1999-Towing-Guide-Partial.pdf

Great info I think im gonna ad the gearing to the list but that may be at the bottom. I spent all night looking into the SuperGlide and ill definitely be going with the automatic because i will forget to unlock it!!! Now I am excited, can't wait to step up into the 5ver world. Our 1979 Class C works great but it will be alot nicer and make for a happier wife!!! Thanks for all the info.

Will

I've been looking at 5er's for awhile , the one question I have is should the hitch be rated for more then the trailer rating ?

One trailer I'm looking at is rated at 13,500 lbs . shold I get a 15 k hitch ?

If the trailer gross's @ 13.5k you will be good with a 15k hitch.

You are definitely headed in the right direction....however, let a guy who has traveled the path help ya out some.

Started out same as you, but had a FS30 when I purchased buggy. Towing friends Moho out of the sand blew torque converter, so John Woods and I became buddies. A John Woods trans is the best thing you can do for your truck, and add the DP Tuner while there. If you are lucky, they will tune the chip for your truck...night and day difference overr anything else out there.

The 35's..unless you regear for the trailer, they are gonna chew up your horsepower on the grades..not to mention, they are not rated for the 5'er load. Going to E's means a heavier tire..I dropped my lift and went with 33's, makes a big difference, but the ride when inloaded gets harsh.

DOing the trans pans will help on the uphill part..do it when JOhn Woods does the trans, will save you dinero later. Also, it will run cooler, and go full synthetic.

Another thing, the brake mods you did are right on! Yet, adding an exhaust brake is a margin of safety that will make you breath a lot easier.

Lastly, understand that goign 65 up the grades with a 5er will be thing of the past..especially with a WWW.

Good luck and have fun out there

if you keep the 35" tires, re-gear to at least a minimum of 4:30 gears.

cant go wrong with a john woods transmission on a ford.