towing with 1/2 ton

I have a friend who is a retired RV salesman. That is what he did all his life. He towed a medium/large fiver with his F-250 for years before deciding to go out west. Driving through the Rocky Mountains, he went up a medium grade, crested the top, and went down a steep grade into the valley. When he tried to make it up the steep grade on the other side, the truck couldn't pull the fiver. He turned around to go back to find another route, and the truck couldn't pull the grade the other way either. He ended up having to trade his truck for a bigger truck to get his fiver out of the valley.

Moral of this story, don't use trust a marginal set-up.

Always use your tow haul {that is what it is there for} and you will be fine. I had a 2006 F-150 SCab with the 5.4 and towed a 5,600# {fully loaded} TT for 5 years all over the west for 5 years.

Properly inflated LT tires are always a good idea as well.

:C

You’ll be fine! Enjoy your trip.

You've got plenty of truck for that trailer. My suggestion is to make sure you have plenty of BRAKING for that rig coming down the other side. Control your speed at the top. Downshift early to help control your speed. Don't ride your brakes, but give firm steady pressure to scrub speed ONLY WHEN NEEDED, then back off the brakes. Don't be afraid to let your RPM's rise on the way down, use that compression to help slow you down.

Enjoy the trip!

You should have no problem climbing mountains. Just be very careful on the long downhill runs. Some trailers tend to start swerving at higher speeds going downhill.

bikendan wrote:

jrwalw345 wrote:
I will be going to Colorado and have a 2010 F150, towing a 2014 jayco x23b. Just under 4000 lbs dry prolly figure 4700 loaded. I have hauled all over Missouri and it's your typical hills and it pulls very easy. I am wondering what peoples thoughts are towing into Colorado and into mountains. Some have said it's fine go slow, others have said don't do it. Any thoughts from people who have done it?

as long as you have the 5.4, you should be ok.

A 3.5 EcoBoost should do well, too. Non-turbo engines loose power at higher elevations and the turbo on the EcoBoost keeps them going strong as you climb.

Rob

jrwalw345 wrote:
I will be going to Colorado and have a 2010 F150, towing a 2014 jayco x23b. Just under 4000 lbs dry prolly figure 4700 loaded. I have hauled all over Missouri and it's your typical hills and it pulls very easy. I am wondering what peoples thoughts are towing into Colorado and into mountains. Some have said it's fine go slow, others have said don't do it. Any thoughts from people who have done it?

as long as you have the 5.4, you should be ok.

Colorado is tall and it has plenty of windy roads, some of the toughest in the country. But you have a trailer that is a reasonable weight and a late model PU. Fuel injection really helps in the mountains.

I have towed stuff all over CO and WY and I think you will be fine, but some of the roads take some getting used it. Big drop offs with no guard rails are common. Some of the secondary roads are narrow and have truck traffic.

If the truck is in good shape you have exactly zero to worry about with that weight of trailer.
Lived and worked in the CO mountains for 5 years and towed more than that with an 01 F150 and an 08 F150, both 5.4s. You have the 6 speed which is better.
Just be aware when you start running out of air, you may not be able to rip up the passes at 70 mph.