pres589 wrote: Yeah, I'm calling shenanigans on not being able to tow a four-wheeler with a 4.2/auto F150.
Call it what you want, but we tried with two different trucks, but V6s with manuals transmissions. Of course it would pull it, but not well enough that you would want to for very far. The manual transmssion and lack of power on hills was part of the problem.
And this ATV weighs 2,000 lbs.
I had a 98 5speed 4.2 for 7 years from hs through college and really beat on it like a teenager would and it was plenty reliable. Took an alternator and battery around 95k. If you zing the motor a lot you'll wear out throwout bearings, and the weak spot in the clutch hydraulics is a plastic "release cylinder" that like to crap out at times.
The trans is a Mazda unit m50d which can be a bit notchy but synthetic fluid helps. I always thought the ratios could have been wider as with 3.08 gears first was a little long and 5th was a little short at 75.
It's rated to tow 5000 lbs and had no trouble with our 20 ft I/o glastron when I had to tow it. Factory brake pads were not awesome, I turned the rotors and put a set of duralast gold on and it transformed the brake feel.
Overall a great truck that I'd recommend.
but after doing a little research the tow rating for the manuals is much lower than the autos.
That's only because a ham-fisted asshat can break something he has full control over faster than he can break something he has partial control over. If it weren't for lowest common denominator thinking it would have had a HIGHER rating.
I guarantee when i worked in a trans shop i never saw a 5spd come in with a burned up overdrive after lots of towing, but that was what MOST auto trans came in for. The 4r70 is a great, strong trans behind the v6 but even the best automatic is only as reliable as a 'typical' manual.
In reply to Strizzo: Not sure how yours was rated for 5000lbs. I've got a 97supercab 4.6/5speed with a 3.08. It's factory rating is 1700lbs. I do tow about 3000lbs with it though and it does it just fine. 5th seems fine for me, but 1st is definitely too tall. All the 5speed trucks had miserable tow ratings.
The brake feel on mine was awful as well (like not sure if I was going to have brakes bad) until I adjusted the master cylinder rod out 1/4 turn. Transformed them into something I could trust.
In reply to mblommel:
IIRC there is a TSB on checking ball joints. They have a little bit of play that is normal and it is not uncommon for them to be replaced unnecessarily.
The manual transmission models always seem to have a lower towing rating, which seems odd since I've never known anyone to burn up a manual transmission by towing. It has to do with the manufacturers' concern that slipping the clutch to get the rig rolling from a stop will result in too many warranty clutch replacements.
tpwalsh wrote: In reply to Strizzo: Not sure how yours was rated for 5000lbs. I've got a 97supercab 4.6/5speed with a 3.08. It's factory rating is 1700lbs.
waaat. are you sure?
The standard telco/cable truck seems to be the 4.2 engined E250, probably because they didn't make a four cylinder van or a 4.2 E350. (The 4.2 E250 has the highest GVWR of any of the 3/4 ton van options)
They... work. They're just about unkillable. The only major problems with them are the usual 3.8/4.2 EGR passage plugging issue and the intake gasket issue. The EGR thing is the EGR valve goes to a series of drilled holes to each cylinder, and when some of them plug, only two or three cylinders get all of the exhaust gases, causing a light load misfire. Easily diagnosed and tedious (but simple) fix.
The intake gasket issue is more serious. I've done three 4.2s now that have bent the #4 rod. (It sounds like a rod knock, but it's really the piston hammering the crank counterweight) Ford used the same plastic/rubber composition style gaskets that GM had so much luck with on the 3100/3400 and 3.8 engines, but the Ford cylinder head/port design is such that when the coolant O-ring support breaks, the coolant doesn't leak outside the engine, it leaks into the oil a little, and into the #4 intake port. When it gets cold outside, shrinkage is greater than in the summer. One fine chilly morning, coolant decides to trickle into the intake port instead of drooling slightly... then you try to start the engine with 70-80cc of coolant waiting to slug the cylinder. The rod loses the battle.
So, ah, don't ignore a situation where coolant slowly disappears.
(See? It's NOT because of Dex-Cool, it's just a lame gasket design)
belteshazzar wrote:tpwalsh wrote: In reply to Strizzo: Not sure how yours was rated for 5000lbs. I've got a 97supercab 4.6/5speed with a 3.08. It's factory rating is 1700lbs.waaat. are you sure?
Well I sorta lied, sorta not.
My truck with just me in it weighs 4900lbs, including it's cap. GVWR is either 6000 or 6100lbs. Here's the page out of the owner's guide
it would never even occur to me to consult the owner's manual for a full sized truck and less than a 5000lb load.
^ditto.
Yeah, not ignoring a situation where you lose coolant is really great advice. Getting a bent rod over a gasket leak would piss me the hell off.
I havent followed all the 4.2s ive been around long-term, but i know on my in-laws' 4.2 i only did the plenum gaskets and left the lowers and it's fine at ~265k.
belteshazzar wrote: it would never even occur to me to consult the owner's manual for a full sized truck and less than a 5000lb load.
Yep, crazy ain't it? I've pulled about 3200lbs(1500lb trailer + 1650lb car) with mine and as long as you're not pointed uphill it doesn't seem like a big deal. I don't think I'm compromising safety at all since it has the same brakes, suspension and chassis as what's on the 5300lbs rated truck.
Every time my '77 Rabbit has been at the Challenge, it's gotten there via a '97 F150 4.2L 5 speed. It's my dad's truck, and he bought it in '01 with 92k miles and a bad engine (it was an abused fleet truck). We put a 30k mile engine in it, and I don't think it's gotten anything but brakes and oil changes since then. Oh, and I did change the starter on it a few years ago.
Funny enough, a friend of mine followed me down to the challenge one year in his '01 GMC 1500 4.3L auto, and when I would get up to speed to merge on an on-ramp, he had a hard time keeping up, and I was towing a car.
^because auto. That foolish sucka.
That's odd, that is the page for the 4x4 model (mine was 4x2 reg cab), but I thought it was rated more than that. Fwiw, mine weighed around 4150 with me in it. I pulled about 4-4500 lbs of glastron with it a couple times and it was ok as long as it was on flat ground and in 4th rather than 5th. That gen truck came with 16" wheels instead of 15 because of the larger brakes that came on them, so brakes weren't the limiting factor.
Vigo wrote: I havent followed all the 4.2s ive been around long-term, but i know on my in-laws' 4.2 i only did the plenum gaskets and left the lowers and it's fine at ~265k.
It seems to only happen sometimes. I've seen them at 300k without having been opened.
I'll probably never do another one, since this era of F-150 rots like you wouldn't believe. The last couple I've seen basically had no laterals left on the cab and bed, body held on mostly by gravity and luck.
since the manual was still in front of me, here's another page out of it. 4x2 auto is the same as 4x4 auto, just 200lbs more.
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