Tow for 5.0TA

[cpaharley2008]

So today is ok, but not tomorrow?

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Dave,
If there is a Niagara meet, you bring the Cedar Ridge mash and I'll bring the Yuengling Light, we can then dangle Alf between the two of us.........

I’m game . I’ve been banned from my daily trip to the grocery store, hardware store and gas station. I’ve had the same $162 in my wallet for three months. My main recreation has been mowing and working in the garden. I used to hate drinking alone but it’s looking better every day. Tuesday will be my big day for the week. I’m going to get my second shingles shot and stop at the bank drive up deposit a couple checks. Hope my bank girlfriend is working and that my mask doesn’t set off an alarm. I feel like Jesse James. ( who once pulled off a robbery in Iowa, by the way.)
Iowa Dave

[gbaglo]

Don't know why, but that second shingles shot causes more pain than the first ( at least mine did ). So, make sure you don't get it in your beer-hoisting arm.

[Vermilye]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

I’m game . I’ve been banned from my daily trip to the grocery store, hardware store and gas station. I’ve had the same $162 in my wallet for three months. My main recreation has been mowing and working in the garden. I used to hate drinking alone but it’s looking better every day. Tuesday will be my big day for the week. I’m going to get my second shingles shot and stop at the bank drive up deposit a couple checks. Hope my bank girlfriend is working and that my mask doesn’t set off an alarm. I feel like Jesse James. ( who once pulled off a robbery in Iowa, by the way.)
Iowa Dave

Our drive thru is the only thing open. We do have the ability to phone in a photo of the check to do deposits...

I'm housebound other than walks - eye surgery on Tuesday, and they don't want me near anyone, mask or not, after getting my Covid test.

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

Don't know why, but that second shingles shot causes more pain than the first ( at least mine did ). So, make sure you don't get it in your beer-hoisting arm.

I had the same amount of shoulder soreness from both shingles shots, but I felt a “bit off” the day after the second one. I checked and found I was running a fever which got up to 101.5° by late afternoon before it started to drop. Back to normal on the second day after, shoulder less sore. It wasn’t until day four that all the soreness was gone. Unfortunately, beer didn’t alleviate any of the symptoms!

[PM15283]

Originally Posted by PM15283

Have been towing with a 2014 Sierra 5.3 dbl cab (2018 5.0ta), but just replaced with a 2020 Sierra 3L diesel (10speed tranny). So smooth we forget we're towing. Gas is cheap, but diesel goes a very looonng way!

Two 2K long trips including mountains and flatlands, all at 65mph. Avg. approx. 17 - 18 mpg. Engine barely broken in.

[BritCanuck]

Originally Posted by PM15283

Two 2K long trips including mountains and flatlands, all at 65mph. Avg. approx. 17 - 18 mpg. Engine barely broken in.

Mind if I ask what your availability payload is according to your door sticker, and which model you have? Thanks

Chris

[UncleTim]

Originally Posted by C&G in FL

Unfortunately, beer didn’t alleviate any of the symptoms!

How much did you apply?

[Oldtimer]

Originally Posted by C&G in FL

I Unfortunately, beer didn’t alleviate any of the symptoms!

I let Johnny walker ease the systems when I got the shingles shots

David

[PM15283]

Originally Posted by BritCanuck

Mind if I ask what your availability payload is according to your door sticker, and which model you have? Thanks



Chris

Sorry to keep you waiting! Max payload is 1480. 2020 dbl cab SLT 3L turbodiesel.

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by UncleTim

How much did you apply?

Copious amounts!

[Natilie.RTG]

OK Dumb Blond question. Researching replacing old pick up with newer one for 5.0 one day. Understand many F150s, Rams out there. I see most are using 3.5L EB engine for Ford.
My question is are most using 4x4 or 4x2. Old trucks 4x2s but this time it'll just be me so maybe 4x4 just in case I get into a mud island like someone posted happened to them in Louisiana recently. Thanks

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by Natilie.RTG

OK Dumb Blond question. Researching replacing old pick up with newer one for 5.0 one day. Understand many F150s, Rams out there. I see most are using 3.5L EB engine for Ford.
My question is are most using 4x4 or 4x2. Old trucks 4x2s but this time it'll just be me so maybe 4x4 just in case I get into a mud island like someone posted happened to them in Louisiana recently. Thanks

I have an electronically locking differential on a 4x2. Why? Because I live in Florida where it doesn’t snow almost 100° of the time and I have no desire to be RVing if I need to wear more than a T-shirt with, at most, a sweat shirt over it. And I do not go off of paved or gravel roads, and the occasional hard packed roads of other composition. For the added cost of a 4x4 tow vehicle, the fighter insurance rate, and the reduced fuel efficiency, 4x4 makes no sense for MY NEEDS. The locking differential I have used 2 times in 9 years in situations when I thought it might be needed. Once was backing up a moderate hill on gravel to hook up the trailer after a week’s camping. The second time was when it rained in a campground in Illinois and we were in the “lower 40.” Leaving with the trailer in tow required ascending a short muddy incline with an immediate 90° at the top. This precluded a “running start.” While I have never needed to be towed from any spot that 4-wheel drive would have extracted me, I figure that what I have saved by not purchasing a 4x4 tow vehicle would have easily covered several calls for towing. So, hopefully you can see a though process here.
You need to envision how, when, and where you will be towing and using your trailer, weight the advantages versus the mostly financial disadvantages of a 4x4, then decide what is right for you. Also, consider what you will want to do with the truck when not towing. A 4x4 may be worth more when traded in and especially on a private sale, but If you plan to keep the truck for a long time resale value should not be an issue.

[cpaharley2008]

Welcome Natalie,
I see this was your first post, welcome to our little group.....

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Natilie.RTG

OK Dumb Blond question. Researching replacing old pick up with newer one for 5.0 one day. Understand many F150s, Rams out there. I see most are using 3.5L EB engine for Ford.

My question is are most using 4x4 or 4x2. Old trucks 4x2s but this time it'll just be me so maybe 4x4 just in case I get into a mud island like someone posted happened to them in Louisiana recently. Thanks

Welcome.

Getting a 4x4 all depends on where you will use the truck. Living in Calgary it is near essential for use in the winter, but pulling a travel trailer I have used it maybe dozen times in the past decade. Of all the pickups in lots here you would be real lucky to find a 2 wheel drive.

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by Natilie.RTG

OK Dumb Blond question. Researching replacing old pick up with newer one for 5.0 one day. Understand many F150s, Rams out there. I see most are using 3.5L EB engine for Ford.
My question is are most using 4x4 or 4x2. Old trucks 4x2s but this time it'll just be me so maybe 4x4 just in case I get into a mud island like someone posted happened to them in Louisiana recently. Thanks

Hi: Natilie.RTG... If your into ordering a truck built to spec's 4X2's are avail. If buying off the lot already built it'll probably be a 4X4. Seems the dealers like 'em that way... more profit, not a hair colour issue!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[cpaharley2008]

Just remember your campsite situation can change overnight and you may need 4x4 sometimes...

[HarleyD]

Originally Posted by Natilie.RTG

OK Dumb Blond question. Researching replacing old pick up with newer one for 5.0 one day. Understand many F150s, Rams out there. I see most are using 3.5L EB engine for Ford.
My question is are most using 4x4 or 4x2. Old trucks 4x2s but this time it'll just be me so maybe 4x4 just in case I get into a mud island like someone posted happened to them in Louisiana recently. Thanks

We have a 2016 F-150 3.5 EB, perfect for towing our 5.0TA. We have the 4X4 because it is our ski vehicle in the winter. We have had a couple of instances with previous rigs where if we did not have 4X4 we would have had to ask for help. As good as they are Good Sam could not get to us quickly in the middle of Utah, in the sand pit along the highway just South of Blanding that served as my temporary urinal. For men, "the whole world can be a urinal". Quotation from Jacques De Lormie.

[brroberts]

Most people will say 4WD. It depends on you, your driving skills, and how you set your vehicle up. I bought my 1998 2WD Chevy 2500 in Anchorage, Alaska. I moved to northern Nebraska in 2012, and northern Kansas in 2014. I have never needed 4WD. There were 3 times when it would have been easier, but not necessary. I still drive that truck. I just ordered a 2WD Ford Ranger for summer delivery. I still don’t think I need 4WD, but some people say they do, and if it works for them, then I’m okay with that. I will also keep my 2500 for times I need a truck. Only you can decide what you are comfortable driving. I will tow my Escape locally with either vehicle. We will now start doing our longer trips in the Ranger simply due to the age of the Chevy. I think you can travel comfortably in any F150 you choose if you keep in mind its capacity ratings.

[Centex]

Originally Posted by Natilie.RTG

...
My question is are most using 4x4 or 4x2. Old trucks 4x2s but this time it'll just be me so maybe 4x4 just in case I get into a mud island like someone posted happened to them in Louisiana recently. Thanks

Welcome to the forum, and not at all a dumb question at all IMO. Methinks it's no so much a function of the particular trailer you tow.

Yep, lotsa folks enjoy having 4WD, but there's also a huge number of folks that tow trailers of all sorts with 2WD making years of great memories without getting 'stuck'.

We ought to recognize that folks with 4WD occasionally get 'stuck' too (there's plenty of situations where the problem isn't 'number of drive axles' but 'lack of tire traction' even with 4 turning). There's limits to everything and exercise of prudence required for all.

Methinks the decision comes down to personal comfort / confidence level, budget, potential payload tradeoffs, etc.

Personally, not living or towing in 'snow country', I've been towing RVs and farm utility trailers for decades, always with 2WD F1-2-350's having a 'limited/non-slip' rear differential of one sort or another (Ford's axle technology has evolved over those decades).

Yep, there have been a very few occasions over the decades when I made an ill-considered 'read of ground surface' and needed a tug-assist (never while towing an RV thankfully!); and yep, there's been a very few occasions where my humble 2WD provided the needed tug-assist for a 'stuck' 4WD pickup .

But yeah, 4WD will get you out of some situations that 2WD will not.