Tow Vehicle Improvements
I'm a little concerned about pulling our travel trailer out west and being able to pull up steep grades. I have a 2010 F-150 5.4L and was considering making a couple of power improvements like a cold ...
Forum Discussion
I also own a 2010 ford F-150 with Max Tow. A lot of people here are unaware of the 6 gear ratio transmission on the 2009+ F-150. It has a deeper 1st gear than the old 4 speeds and a higher overdrive as well in 6th gear. So it has more startability for a given rear ratio and it spins at a lower speed when on the highway. If you already have the max-tow package, you should have a very large transmission cooler on the front of your rig as well as a power steering cooler. The 2010 is also the year when they first started using E-fans for the radiator (09 still had the clutch fan). So you will have even more horsepower free compared to the previous 5.4's with less drag on the crank shaft.
The biggest thing you can do though is make sure you have the most up-to-date programming for your powertrain. I recently flashed my PCM and the transmission no longer hunts like it used to. It bangs right through the gears when hauling things and it firmed up the shifting and throttle response.
I personally upgraded to larger 34" tires as my truck came stock with P-series tires on 20" rims. Went form 275/55R20 to 275/65R20.
I originally used a leveling kit on my truck and strongly disliked how it wallowed through the turns and squirmed when hauling rock and dirt with the P-tires. I upgraded to Bilstein 5100's all around and it removed all the wallowing and the truck hauls its GVWR with out the wallow in the turns, it's more like driving a BMW in that its firm but still absorbs the bumps.
I upgraded to LT tires to be able to handle the load when hauling dirt and rock. Rear axle is maxed at 4050 lbs and the P-rated tires were rated to 2400 lbs a piece, but many tire books say to remove 10% of capacity on P-series tires for trucks so that's only 2160 a piece. I didn't like the idea of going around a turn any speed and shifting too much load to a single tire so LT tires made more sense to me. In combination of the Bilsteins, it seems to ride really close to stock minus any wallowing so I think it'd be a good upgrade to consider.
I'm personally just starting the hunt for an RV myself and hoping to buy in the next year or two. Lots to take in here!
The biggest thing you can do though is make sure you have the most up-to-date programming for your powertrain. I recently flashed my PCM and the transmission no longer hunts like it used to. It bangs right through the gears when hauling things and it firmed up the shifting and throttle response.
I personally upgraded to larger 34" tires as my truck came stock with P-series tires on 20" rims. Went form 275/55R20 to 275/65R20.
I originally used a leveling kit on my truck and strongly disliked how it wallowed through the turns and squirmed when hauling rock and dirt with the P-tires. I upgraded to Bilstein 5100's all around and it removed all the wallowing and the truck hauls its GVWR with out the wallow in the turns, it's more like driving a BMW in that its firm but still absorbs the bumps.
I upgraded to LT tires to be able to handle the load when hauling dirt and rock. Rear axle is maxed at 4050 lbs and the P-rated tires were rated to 2400 lbs a piece, but many tire books say to remove 10% of capacity on P-series tires for trucks so that's only 2160 a piece. I didn't like the idea of going around a turn any speed and shifting too much load to a single tire so LT tires made more sense to me. In combination of the Bilsteins, it seems to ride really close to stock minus any wallowing so I think it'd be a good upgrade to consider.
I'm personally just starting the hunt for an RV myself and hoping to buy in the next year or two. Lots to take in here!
