F150 Towing Experiences?

[CaptainGizmo]

Boy, I've done some searching and reading a lot of posts out there. Sure a lot of folks throwing grenades about this, including someone saying that "Ford surely doesn't intend Neutral Tow for towing behind an RV."

Gotta love "experts" who spew such untruths and probably don't own one, let alone read the manual.

Allow me to address this "rumor" now. Here is a DIRECT excerpt from my Raptor Supplement:

Hmmmm, kinda shoots that guy's claim, doesn't it?

 

[MapNerd]

Certainly. The owner’s manual is the vehicle’s bible. I don’t trust what anyone says about does it tow, does it not. I trust the owner’s manual. I just wish the owner’s manuals would stipulate whether or not the vehicle’s battery needs to remain charged to avoid damage. Few owner’s manuals ever give this consideration.

 

[CaptainGizmo]

Certainly. The owner’s manual is the vehicle’s bible. I don’t trust what anyone says about does it tow, does it not. I trust the owner’s manual. I just wish the owner’s manuals would stipulate whether or not the vehicle’s battery needs to remain charged to avoid damage. Few owner’s manuals ever give this consideration.

I'll go with a "Pertinent Negative" here, John. If FORD didn't warn you, then there's no need for concern or procedure.

 

[redbaron]

If you don't have an adjustable dc voltage supply, then get a 12v lawn mower battery to swap in, and out a moderate 12v load on the battery. Keep it in place until battery measures 10v when not under load.

 

[texskeet]

Ford has a new bronco coming. I have ordered one it said it is flat towable it better be.

 

[MapNerd]

Ford has a new bronco coming. I have ordered one it said it is flat towable it better be.

Bronco will be flat towable. It shares its architecture with the Ranger which is also flat towable in 4x4 powertrains. However, it appears Ranger may also be subject to the same strange behavior of shifting to 2H is battery drain event occurs while towing. While it may be unnecessary, I’d recommend installing a charge line. Cheap insurance imo. If it still happened, Ford couldn’t claim it was because of the battery.

 

[MapNerd]

Maybe Steve, but i

I'll go with a "Pertinent Negative" here, John. If FORD didn't warn you, then there's no need for concern or procedure.

Maybe Steve, but I’ll take the $150 charge for a charge line to eliminate Ford’s ability to cite that as the cause should it occur. Seems an awful lot better than an $8k charge for a trannie plus another few grand for a transfer case.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

I don't drive fords, I don't like them. But I can understand some of this problem. I towed an S10 with alarm installed. I forgot one of the keys in the truck and shut the door. What that means all keys were in the truck. The alarm locked the door because the key was in the thing in the unlock position so the steering would turn the way it must while towing. The alarm sounded and thankfully I had many witnesses that It in fact was my rig.

This is a star saying yes if the steering needs to remain unlocked the key must be in the truck, but not in the ACC position.

As for the truck going into park when the power is low. What a great Idea!!! Consider your truck on a hill. You leave the lights on and you run the battery down. The trans unlocks instead of locking. Take your choice and consider where the truck will end up.

I do however have an issue with the amount of though that it seems went into the solution. The sequence for in gauging the flat tow should disengage the computers desire to lock the wheels.

A Note here. My RAM truck had a recall after complains, and a death. Seems that because the transmission has such low friction it is hard to remember the truck is in park/gear. As drivers slipped out of the truck thinking it was in park the truck drove away. The solution was to reprogram the trans to shift into park if driver side door was opened. I can only assume that the problem is also a cure. My guess is learn the sequence and don't deviate from it and you will be OK.

 

[DKRITTER]

We have a 2019 F150 4x4 and have towed over 10,000 miles in the last two years with zero issues.

I have a Blue Ox Avail tow bar and their Patriot II braking system. Ran power to it from the battery and have gone as much as 3 days w/o starting the truck.

 

[PartTimeRVer]

I know this is an older thread but WOW some of the stories. I am not sure if people are using breaking systems with their toad vehicles or not. I have always been worried about battery drain as I heard stories-- and not just ford. I have a tow charger permantly wired to my battery and pinned to my 7 pin connector. I am constantly charging my battery while I travel. Thanks for help reaffirming my fears.