When I first met my ex-husband, he had an F-150.  The road out of our house was dirt, and had two fairly steep "dips" - about 100 yards down, then back up.  The F-150 couldn't really handle them.  We had to have a running start down the hill in order to get back up the other side, or the truck would lose traction.  (The horses learned to sit back on the butt bar for that first part, as they knew they were going for a *ride*).  

 

Then we got an F250 with a big engine.  The first time we went down that drive, the horses set back, waiting for the run downhill.  Nope - took it nice and easy, then climbed up the other side with no problem.  The F250 had the power, weight and traction to handle the road, where the F150 didn't.  The horses looked really confused that first time.  Guess the figured somebody had finally fixed the road.  :)

 

On Jan 28, 2009, at 4:55 PM, marybenstover wrote:

My old '65 F100 short bed would pull anything.  I used to pull a four horse up Donner Summit (that's Tevis for you non Californians --- 0 to over 8,000 feet) and it would pull anything.  The problem with small truck and a lot of load is the clutch----which I replaced 3 times...........mb

 

 

----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Lewis" <mlewis73@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Michelle Aquilino" <michelle.antoinette@xxxxxxxxx>, ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2009 4:45:38 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific
Subject: Re: [RC] Towing Vehicle

 

I towed with an F-150 for several years and had no trouble other than that the engines were underpowered (should NOT be a problem for most folks--I had a base V6 on one, a '98 model, and an EFI 302 in the older one).  The old truck was slightly more competent than the '98 but needed add-a-leaf springs for even the small 2-horse bumper pull trailer I pulled back then.

 

The newer trucks should do just fine with similarly sized trailers, even *small* goosenecks that are within the payload rating.

 

 

Mike

Bad spellers of the world, untie!

----- Original Message -----

From: Michelle Aquilino

To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2009 11:07 AM

Subject: Re: [RC] Towing Vehicle

 

I've read a couple mentions against the F-150, which is the vehicle I tow with.  Are you saying it's not even ok with just a 2-horse bumper pull?  My trailer is about 3000 lbs empty, and I have yet to put two horses in it.  I'd love to have bigger truck, and I'm sure it would provide a lot more security, but there's just no way I could afford to keep two vehicles for towing and commuting separate...  I do drive incredibly cautiously though when I'm towing, so hopefully luck will continue following me :-/

-- 
"Don't breed or buy while shelter animals die"