mountaineer model 277rls

[Montana_5139]

found a great deal on a 277rls 2004, weight 8080 hitch weight 1620.
currently have a 04' ford f150, 5.4 eng. 4x2, 3.73 ratio, 9900 towing capacity. have airlifts in rear end. will this t/v handle this 5whl?

[Charlie]

Kim-
I had a '96 Chevy 5.7L with 3.73 rear gears and pulled a 28' Cardinal that had weights about the same that you mention here. Where I live is very flat and the truck would handle it around here OK up to about 60MPH , but when I got into the Hill Country up around Austin it really struggled. I traded the truck with only 65000 miles on it for the PSD that I am driving now simply to have more pulling power. I am not saying that your truck will not pull the trailer, but I don't think you will be happy at performance.

[derfr]

My previous trailer had almost exactly the same real weights as you mention. I was pulling it with a GM 2500 (not the HD)with the 6.0L engine. This setup was "adequate", but I was not happy. I do travel through mountains quite a bit and this caused me much despair. I first bought the Chev D/A and was very happy then. Now having the Mountaineer I am ectatic. I do not feel you will be happy with the F150 for that trailer. The main reason is that the engine may be powerful enough for much of your travel, but the rest of the truck from brakes to suspension will undergo much more rapid wear. By the way, those weights do not sound like real weights from a weigh scale. The published weights in literature and on the sticker on the cabinet door are usually vastly understated.

[jpkelpe]

We had a chevy 150 for our first 5er--24 foot light weight--it worked OK in flat lands but the mountains were a different story--got rid of that for a 2500 chevy gaser and it was much better but still was a little struggle on the hills at Branson, MO. The deisel is far superior to anything else we had.