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Old 09-08-2019, 01:00 PM   #1
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Truck modifications

In order to tow a 5.0TA, does the truck need to have some extras such as a transmission cooler, equipped with HD suspension, etc?
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Old 09-08-2019, 01:47 PM   #2
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In order to tow any Escape, pull behind or 5th wheel, the vehicle, truck needs to have a tow package which includes heavy duty cooling, braking, and alternator. Suspension upgrades depends...
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Old 09-08-2019, 01:49 PM   #3
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It depends on the truck but normally, yes, it would have a transmission cooler plus a way to determine if it is overheating. After market coolers are Ok provided that it is installed well.
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Old 09-08-2019, 02:35 PM   #4
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To tow just about any fifth wheel you should have a tranny cooler, enough payload to carry you, passengers, whatever you want to carry in the truck bed, the trailers pin weight, and the hitches weight. Some trucks require suspension mods, some need mirror extensions.

Tow package to include the receiver, wiring for 7 pin connector, and a brake controller.
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Old 09-08-2019, 07:38 PM   #5
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To tow the trailer, the truck needs to be rated to handle the total loaded truck and trailer weight (GCWR), the trailer weight, and the load of the trailer and everything else carried in the back of the truck (limited by GVWR and rear GAWR). To reach those ratings, it may require an optional towing package, an optional payload package, or maybe no optional equipment at all (because any Escape trailer is light compared to the base towing capacity of typical pickup trucks).

Every conventional automatic transmission vehicle has a transmission fluid cooler. Vehicles rated for particularly high towing capacity tend to have a larger or additional transmission cooler, but even the owner of the vehicle might not know if it does or not. In contrast, most don't have a readily available display of transmission fluid temperature, in case you want to check... but they still have temperature sensors which are monitored by the transmission control computer, which may only respond to extremely high temperature.

You can try to do a better job of designing and equipping the truck than the truck's manufacturer, but in most cases just buying one which is properly designed and equipped makes more sense. So no, if your truck is rated to tow the 5.0TA you don't need to add a transmission fluid cooler. Yes, you can buy the wrong truck and add stuff to it if you want.
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Old 09-08-2019, 08:16 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChuckPK View Post
In order to tow a 5.0TA, does the truck need to have some extras such as a transmission cooler, equipped with HD suspension, etc?
What are you planning on towing with? In my case I was more limited by the max cargo weight. That weight includes people, pets and anything else carried in the truck front or back. That was one reason I chose the Andersen hitch.
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Old 09-10-2019, 05:30 PM   #7
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What are you planning on towing with? In my case I was more limited by the max cargo weight. That weight includes people, pets and anything else carried in the truck front or back. That was one reason I chose the Andersen hitch.
I haven't bought the truck yet but it will likely be a Toyota Tundra or the Ford F150. I believe either should be able to do the job.
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Old 09-10-2019, 08:44 PM   #8
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I haven't bought the truck yet but it will likely be a Toyota Tundra or the Ford F150. I believe either should be able to do the job.
A Tundra with the 5.7L V-8 will pull any Escape trailer with safety and ease, and it will be easy to configure a new F150 to do the same. You might have to do some extra math if you are one of the first to buy the Escape 23' that's in the works.
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Old 09-15-2019, 02:07 AM   #9
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Looking at Ford's towing guide, it's pretty hard to find a configuration of the F150 that wouldn't tow any current Escape model easily. The 3.3L non-turbo V6 does seem to be rather down on power and would be cutting it close with the 3.55 gears. A few of the largest most-luxurious lowest-capacity trim levels might be cutting it close on payload for the 5.0TA, but still room for 2 people and a bit of gear.
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