Towing Advice Please - Considering Aftermarket Modifications

Dont do this. Its not worth it and in the end you wont be happy. I tried to do this on a 2016 yukon that wasn't an HD. What happened? I traded it in, lost a boat load of money and bought an HD Expy Max. They only thing that I know of out there that will help with towing that is after market for the Expy is sumo coil springs. I bought them and they are cheap and effective.

My 2 cents is get the springs and the brake controller. And chance it to see it it works for you. Definitely do not get a bigger trailer than you are looking for. Skip on the diff and radiator. You might just have to throttle back and go slow on mountainous terrain. Or with luck, maybe your expy will do fine.

CarlZ, I was in the same predicament you are. Got a great deal on my 2019 XLT, but wanted to tow a camper with the same restrictions you are looking at. I bought a Ford OEM Brake control and installed it.(Had to take it to
My Ford dealer to activate it) Then I started looking for Campers around 5,000 lbs and tongue weight near 500 lbs, allowing me to have <1,000 lbs. of contents. I did it with my Jayco Jay Flight 24 (which is actually 28’ Long bumper to bumper). I towed it on a 3,000 mile trip down the east coast and back with no towing problems. Even pulling it up Fancy Gap Mt. (Virginia), the transmission temperature didn’t get above 210. I haven’t modified anything other than adding the brake controller and adding a weight distribution hitch (on my camper). Good luck with what ever you decide.

Jay Mac said:

Dont do this. Its not worth it and in the end you wont be happy. I tried to do this on a 2016 yukon that wasn't an HD. What happened? I traded it in, lost a boat load of money and bought an HD Expy Max. They only thing that I know of out there that will help with towing that is after market for the Expy is sumo coil springs. I bought them and they are cheap and effective.

My 2 cents is get the springs and the brake controller. And chance it to see it it works for you. Definitely do not get a bigger trailer than you are looking for. Skip on the diff and radiator. You might just have to throttle back and go slow on mountainous terrain. Or with luck, maybe your expy will do fine.

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absolutely do not skip on the radiator cooler. towing does make the power plant run harder, and thus hotter. don't take the chance of burning up an engine. I would strongly advise a trans cooler as well, for the same reason. Hell, if i was doing this, I'd add an external engine oil cooler as well. Come to think of it, I am - i have the towing package already, and I'm still adding the external engine oil cooler.
I can't stress this enough: towing = heat; heat = shortened lifespan... sometimes minutes. trust me on this; once up on a time i had to maintain a fleet of heavy vehicles with trailers. I do know what I am talking about. since we were almost 100% offroad, it was not unheard of to cook an engine even with all the cooling features. towing is hard on the power plant.
FWIW, the hardest towing is in low friction conditions: mud, sand, and such.

joethefordguy said:

absolutely do not skip on the radiator cooler. towing does make the power plant run harder, and thus hotter. don't take the chance of burning up an engine. I would strongly advise a trans cooler as well, for the same reason. Hell, if i was doing this, I'd add an external engine oil cooler as well. Come to think of it, I am - i have the towing package already, and I'm still adding the external engine oil cooler.
I can't stress this enough: towing = heat; heat = shortened lifespan... sometimes minutes. trust me on this; once up on a time i had to maintain a fleet of heavy vehicles with trailers. I do know what I am talking about. since we were almost 100% offroad, it was not unheard of to cook an engine even with all the cooling features. towing is hard on the power plant.
FWIW, the hardest towing is in low friction conditions: mud, sand, and such.

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Joe - So that the OP understands what he's working with. The transmissions are cooled the same between the HD tow and standard with the difference being that the HD tow has a (supposedly) larger radiator, of which the trans cooler is integrated.

Now if you get on the F150 forums, lots of guys have overheating issues but seem to only be in the most extreme cases... Meaning 100*F+ ambient, LONG uphills and high boost for extended periods of time.

If I was the OP and intended to tow near the max of the non-HD's capabilities i would have no problems starting with a brake controller, HD rear springs (probably do bilsteins while I'm in there), sumo springs. From there, a responsible person can monitor the performance of the vehicle using PROPER gauges (not the factory dummy gauges) and upgrading accordingly from there. If OP is experiencing higher than average (mind you these Gen 2 EB motors run 200-230*F pretty commonly) coolant temps go straight to Mishimoto (bypass Ford HD Rad) and get the bigger/high performance radiator. One other things from the F150 forums... drop gears, drop boost and increase RPM if you start getting warm, don't lug the motor at high boost.

This is just my 2 cents.... Remember, none of this makes it legal to exceed factory ratings, I'd be comfortable taking a non-HD to the very limits of it's ratings though based on mods and monitoring above.

almost agree. gauges are essential, and improved suspension, brakes, etc. are a must as is a WDH. However, when it comes to cooling, you are essentially advocating a 'wait and see' approach that gambles on ... what? if we do it your way, we load up and go and then find out we're overheating. After we're on the trip. Now what? dump the load, what?
I'm a big believer in preventative action, i.e., installing the most cooling ability I can afford BEFORE i start towing.

Having said all that, the OEM config is capable of towing a small trailer quite easily. it all comes down to what you're hooking up to. If he's starting to push the factory ratings, then he needs to take a strong look at any and every affordable upgrade. this is a time to get the experts involved... or just get a properly equipped truck to start with. in some ways, you and I are saying almost the same thing...

I am not comfortable taking my trucks to their limits when I don't have to. I want my truck to last forever. I'm not here to find out what it can take; I'm here to get where I'm going without breaking anything. I want to minimize the load on the power plant, suspension, and drive train as much as possible, by dissipating heat, managing the load (brake controller, WDH and such) and so on.

to be clear, this is what I'm doing:

• upgrading the radiator
• installing another, external, trans and oil cooler(s)
• e-fans are a possibility (still researching these - not entirely satisfied as to their reliability and effectiveness)
• improving suspension and brakes (very mild lift, being careful of payload here. I'm up to just shy of 10" of ground clearance, I'd like a couple more inches but I'm not willing to risk the suspension to get it.)
• since I have an 04 with the 9.75 rear, I'm considering a locker in the back and the front, but not the same one. I'm considering Detroit in the back and an OX in the front.
• and yes, a WDH, but not a 4 thousand dollar one. I'm sure that's a great WDH, but I'm also sure I'll never tow anything needing that. Not with an 04 Expy, anway. I'll be towing, at most, a two axle camping trailer in the 25' or so range.

PS. I'm not saying you advocated a WDH costing 4 grand. I just ran across one looking for them and I was shocked. I would never have believed a WDH could cost that much.

I suggest being proactive with the cooling upgrades as well. A lot of the load towing a travel trailer comes from the aerodynamic profile. Whether the trailer is 20 ft or 30 ft, you still have that large frontal area being pulled through the wind. Add to that the fact that you could be towing into a headwind and it's a lot of work for the powertrain. It's worth the upgrade expense to avoid any potential source of breakdown while towing.

joethefordguy said:

I want my truck to last forever.

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I'd just like to point out that the man making this statement is currently driving a 16 year old 5.4L. I'm inclined to think he knows of what he speaks...

joethefordguy said:

almost agree. gauges are essential, and improved suspension, brakes, etc. are a must as is a WDH. However, when it comes to cooling, you are essentially advocating a 'wait and see' approach that gambles on ... what? if we do it your way, we load up and go and then find out we're overheating. After we're on the trip. Now what? dump the load, what?
I'm a big believer in preventative action, i.e., installing the most cooling ability I can afford BEFORE i start towing.

Having said all that, the OEM config is capable of towing a small trailer quite easily. it all comes down to what you're hooking up to. If he's starting to push the factory ratings, then he needs to take a strong look at any and every affordable upgrade. this is a time to get the experts involved... or just get a properly equipped truck to start with. in some ways, you and I are saying almost the same thing...

I am not comfortable taking my trucks to their limits when I don't have to. I want my truck to last forever. I'm not here to find out what it can take; I'm here to get where I'm going without breaking anything. I want to minimize the load on the power plant, suspension, and drive train as much as possible, by dissipating heat, managing the load (brake controller, WDH and such) and so on.

to be clear, this is what I'm doing:

• upgrading the radiator
• installing another, external, trans and oil cooler(s)
• e-fans are a possibility (still researching these - not entirely satisfied as to their reliability and effectiveness)
• improving suspension and brakes (very mild lift, being careful of payload here. I'm up to just shy of 10" of ground clearance, I'd like a couple more inches but I'm not willing to risk the suspension to get it.)
• since I have an 04 with the 9.75 rear, I'm considering a locker in the back and the front, but not the same one. I'm considering Detroit in the back and an OX in the front.
• and yes, a WDH, but not a 4 thousand dollar one. I'm sure that's a great WDH, but I'm also sure I'll never tow anything needing that. Not with an 04 Expy, anway. I'll be towing, at most, a two axle camping trailer in the 25' or so range.

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What is your plan for the trans cooler on the 10speed? I haven't seen anyway to do that yet? It is a heat exchanger and I am not sure how to go about increasing the cooling effectiveness of that setup? would love to hear what you have figured on on that one? What about the oil cooler, what is your plan there? Radiator should be simple enough to find a higher capacity out there I would think. Or are you just talking about your older expedition and what you plan to do with it and not talking about the newer ones?

duneslider said:

What is your plan for the trans cooler on the 10speed? I haven't seen anyway to do that yet? It is a heat exchanger and I am not sure how to go about increasing the cooling effectiveness of that setup? would love to hear what you have figured on on that one? What about the oil cooler, what is your plan there? Radiator should be simple enough to find a higher capacity out there I would think. Or are you just talking about your older expedition and what you plan to do with it and not talking about the newer ones?

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since I don't have one of the newer ones, I am (obviously I thought) either talking about my 2nd Generation or just generally. Why would I be talking about a new truck? I get the OP has one, which I was why I tried to be general in my recommendations. I have no clue, because I have done no research, on how to increase cooling effectiveness for a ten speed transmission, other than the obvious -which we have all referenced - improved radiators and coolers, etc.
I tried to make it clear that I disagreed with the notion of ignoring the radiator as an improvement: "Skip on the diff and radiator." did I misunderstand?

What about the oil cooler? is an oil cooler difficult to buy or add? what am I missing here?
one of my assumptions was that any radiator upgrade meant for a specific vehicle includes the integrated trans cooler. For that matter, why wouldn't any fluid to air cooler, such as an oil cooler, work for as an added external trans cooler simply by plumbing it into the line from the trans to the [whichever] radiator. if no such line exists, then that is a challenge. All I can think of in that case is a radiating fin trans pan, if one exists for whatever model anyone is looking at. I know I've seen such for differential covers. not much, but better than nothing, I would think.