Hi Evan,
I tow with a '92 Ford E-150 conversion van that has the 5.8 liter engineand
E4OD transmission. My trailer is a 21' '53 Airstream that weighed 4000last
time I weighed it but that has likely crept up to at least 4500 sincethen.
Because my van is a conversion van, it has the high top and alot of"extras"
which really pile on the weight. The last time I weighed it (same timeas the
trailer) I was on a trip and the van was filled up including my wife,3 kids
and lots of stuff. The van weight was 7000 lbs. This thus gave me aGCWR of
11,000 lbs, which is theoretically well under the rated 13,000 lbs.
However, when I have traveled out west I have found that this rig hadsome
performance limitations such that I have significantly added itemsto boost
performance. These items include rear air springs, Billstein gas shocks,MSD
6A ignition system with manual spark control, custom free flow exhaustsystem
including Flowmaster muffler, K&M air filter, large 22000 lb ratedtransmission
cooler, electronic shift smoother, etc. I also had the van evaluatedon a
DynaJet during a lot of these modifications and saw about a 20% + increasein
hp. I have also always used synthetic motor oil and have recently switchedto
synthetic transmission fluid (all Mobil 1).
I presently have 145k on this van and it seems to be running prettywell
although I replaced the transmission last fall. I am about to go ona 10 day
trip to FL (leaving tomorrow night) towing the trailer and have justfinished
checking everything out and it appears ready to go.
However, with all this said I must admit that this vehicle has beenone of the
least reliable and poorest quality of any vehicle I have ever owned.When
everything is working properly it is great, but the when and if makeme
question the quality.
Owning a full size conversion van is almost a must for traveling withchildren
for extended periods of time but the next time I purchase a van I willlikely
consider a 3/4 ton model. I am also not sure about whether to go backto a
Ford although of all the new vans they do seem to have the better selections.
Tom H.
Evan Prytherch wrote:
> Hi gang,
>
> Currently we're towing our 1972 31' International with a full sizedFord van
> packing a giant 460 V8. The transmission is a 3 speed automatic.
>
> We're considering a 1993 Ford E150 with a 5.8 V8, 4 speed automatic
> transmission and a factory towing package.
>
> Is this enough vehicle for towing our Airstream?
>
> Thanks in advance for your comments.
>
> Regards,
>
> Evan Prytherch
> writing on 3/30/99
> at 8:49:10 pm