Advice on dinghy towing a truck please

Yes, he was talking about "dragging" a new 2014 4 x 4 F150

EydieG wrote:
Thought you would all get a laugh out of this. We were talking to a Ford dealer about a truck and he says "this one is a 4 x 4 so you can put it in neutral and drag it behind the thing" "drag it behind the thing"? :)

EydieG,
We're assuming that "he" was talking about "dragging" a 2012 or newer 4x4, F-150 series, correct?
Scott

Thought you would all get a laugh out of this. We were talking to a Ford dealer about a truck and he says "this one is a 4 x 4 so you can put it in neutral and drag it behind the thing" "drag it behind the thing"? :)

EydieG wrote:
We have a 1999 Dutchstar DP. We have only owned it for about 2 years and so far we have towed our Ford Taurus on a dolly. We now plan to buy a truck and are getting so much conflicting advice on this we decided to turn to the experts :) We need a truck comparable in size to the Ford F150 because we will at times be towing a boat with it. Other times we will want to tow it behind our coach. We had one Ford dealer tell us that all new vehicles could be towed four down. After some research, we found this isn't true at all. (If buying new we will purchase a Ford, used could be other makes.) The truck will have to be automatic but other than that we are kind of confused on what we need. 2Wd or 4Wd New, used, what years.. etc? I have read several owner's manuals and looked at the towing guide for several years, but I would like to hear from folks who actually tow or have in the past towed a truck. Thank you so much for any advice!!!

EydieG,
Well, You're getting lots of advice. It still amazes me that even many dealerships are "clueless" on towing some or, most of their vehicles. Ford, in its infinite wisdom, lost out on years and years worth of sales of it's popular F-150 4x4 to the "dinghy" towing folks out in RV land due to the fact that they didn't allow for the electronically shifted, transfer case, to have a "NEUTRAL" position. It was done like that, all the way to 2011.

Then, one day, someone at Ford, came up with a great idea, "LET'S MAKE OUR F-150 4X4, FLAT TOWABLE". And, in 2012, they made the tiny change to it's transfer case and, vuuualllllllllllla, the F-150 4x4 is now flat towable. Now, can any F-150 4x4 manufactured prior to 2012 be changed over so that it, can be flat towed, not to my knowledge.

So, in the used market, the GMC, the Chevy and, the Dodge, all in the 1500 series 4x4 automatics, can all be flat towed. It's useless to print out all the procedures for actually putting them into towing status here because, there are minute changes in those procedures, from year to year and model to model. So, if and when you pickup a pickup for towing and, you know for sure, BY READING THE OWNERS MANUAL of the intended truck, that IT IS FLAT TOWABLE, then and only then, do you need to know all about what that particular truck's detailed procedure is for readying it for flat towing.

Now, with all that being said, we've towed our 2011 GMC Sierra 1500 4x4 Extended Cab now for about, 8,000 miles and have been thoroughly satisfied with all aspects. And that means, towing it with our '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with the C-7 330HP CAT. It does just fine in and on, all roads with the exception of grades. And just about every coach on the planet is going to slow down, on most real grades, towing a full sized truck. No biggie.

On a recent trip, ours slowed down to about 50 on some grades and, as low as about 38-40 on others. Again, no biggie, we still got to our destination. And, on many of these trips we take, we also carry a 2008 Honda Goldwing which tips the scales at just about 900 lbs. The lift, which is used to load the bike, called a "Rampage" is right at about, 275-300 lbs. So, we're tugging about 6,500 lbs. cruising on down the road and, again, it works great.

It's really nice having a truck for a toad. It allows for all kinds of options. Yep, it's not a puddle jumper small toad like many tow and, in some cases, I envy them but, it is what it is and, we're happy. You gotta do what you gotta do to accomplish your purpose. Setting up the GMC with base plates was a snap. I did it in about 3/4 of a day. I also did the wiring for the lights which, also took about 3/4 of a day. I'm one that utilizes the stock tail lights as toad lights because I want following drivers to see the exact same thing in tail light action when towing it, as they see when it's being driven. It's a preference thing.

So, anyway, good luck and hope you find what you're looking for.
Scott

rk911 wrote:

EydieG wrote:
...Depending on which generation you are, think Eydie Gorme :)

Steve Lawrence & Edie Gorme! great duo.

And she did have the same spelling as me, actually that is where my mom got the spelling for my name :)

Generally speaking, if the transfer case shift has a NEUTRAL position, the truck is probably towable four down. There are always exceptions.
I don't know of ANY 4X4 vehicles that can be towed on a dolly without removing the rear driveshaft.
I personally don't know of any automatic transmission 2 wheel drive pickups that can be towed four down without modification. I suppose there are some.
I tow my Dodge Ram 1500 4X4 with a fiberglass topper on it behind my gas (Ford
V10) motorhome. I recently made a trip across the Continental Divide (Marias Pass on U.S. Hwy 2), no troubles. No, I do not know what the truck weighs.
When you find a vehicle you like, read the Owners Manual. Look for "R4ecreational Towing"/
Good luck.

EydieG wrote:
I was kind of hoping not to have to look up the owner's manual for every type of truck.

Remco Towing has an excellent database of what vehicles can be towed and what modifications are needed in order to make others towable. This should keep you from having to look up owner's manuals for each one.

since you don't have the truck yet, be sure when you narrow down your search you check the owner's manuals to see what is required to tow 4 down. that is the only valid source and the only source that will allow you to spar with the dealer if it falls through.
there are various guides, trailer life, etc. that will give you ideas where to look but to be safe, read the owner's manuals and do not buy anything that required modification to tow, such as tranny pump, drive shaft disconnect, etc.
bumpy

EydieG wrote:
...Depending on which generation you are, think Eydie Gorme :)

Steve Lawrence & Edie Gorme! great duo.

I was kind of hoping not to have to look up the owner's manual for every type of truck. We have just started looking and are considering both new and used so kind of wanted advice on what kind Make and model can be towed 4 down. We will definitely be buying a truck not an SUV for this purpose anyway. By the way, I know my name confuses a lot of people, been there my whole life, but I am the wife. Depending on which generation you are, think Eydie Gorme :)