Towing with a 4.6l Ford F150

[OKEyra]

I am looking at used F150's. I was wondering if any of you all tow with the 4.6l v8 and if so how does it do on power and gas mileage. This is the smaller ford V8. Would you recommend it for an 18' fiberglass bass boat.

Thank you for your response.

[LiveToDrive76]

I used to tow a 16ft Smoker Craft with a 4.6l F150 2wd from Oak Harbor, WA to Banks Lake in Eastern WA 250 miles. This is maybe a two thousand pound boat and trailer,prob about 500lbs lighter than yours? It towed just fine over the mountains gas was cheap back then don't remember MPG. I have since owned a Silverado with a 4.8 that was easily more powerful and got better gas mileage. I now own a 5.3 that's even better. All 2wd trucks and I always pull 65-75MPH(speed limit 60-70). If your just using it to tow and your concerned about MPG I recommend getting a 2wd I've never had a problem pulling a boat out and I've had to make my own ramp a few times even with my 20ft Viper Coral(heavier F&S boat).

[CatFan]

My experience with the smaller standard V8s is that they get no better mileage when towing and minimally better mileage when not towing than the 5.3/5.4. Not worth the loss of performance.

[Tritonbmc]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CatFan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My experience with the smaller standard V8s is that they get no better mileage when towing and minimally better mileage when not towing than the 5.3/5.4. Not worth the loss of performance.</TD></TR></TABLE>

CatFan hit it on the nose. I used to get 17 mpg with my 5.4, and had many friends who got worse with the 4.6 towing.

[OKEyra]

Thanks for the replys! BBC always has good advice

[menoceros]

Just remember . How often will you tow compared to just running around town?
That engine is perfectly capable of towing the boat. I had one in my 2000 Expedition and was happy with it and I got 2 mpg better mileage than another co-worker who had a 1999 Expedition with the 5.4. So considering that I drove 37,000 miles before I lost the vehicle in Katrina I towed my boat for 600 of those miles that means I got 1-2 mpg better mileage for the other 36,400 miles. You figure what I saved.

[TR21Bassin]

I've got that engine in my F150 and tow my TR21 with no problems. I get around 17mpg running around town and about 12-13 towing my boat.

For me the increased cost of the bigger engine is not worth it. Several friends have the bigger engines and the mileage far outways the loss of power. I tow 65-75 with mine all the time and have no problems keeping up with them and the mileage is very close when towing. When not towing I get 2-3 more MPG.

Charlie

[skeeter03]

I have an 05 F150 4.6 4*4 and tow a skeeter sx190 around with no problem, except for the gas milage being around 12MPG

[Phoenix Ed]

I pull my Nitro NX750 with an 03 Supercrew with the 4.6. No problems whatsoever, mileage is around 12-13 pulling and I kick the overdrive off on hilly terrain. I also found that running premium gas makes a big difference. Now that the truck is approaching 100K in miles, I am going to go with a K&N intake, electric fans, programmer and catback duals to warm it up a bit.

I pulled a 21ft Aerolite Cub with it last week and ran 65 the whole time, about like pulling a billboard down the road.

Good luck on your search.

[bkeenom]

Stay away from the 4.6. I had one for about a month. I would get around 10MPG pulling to the eastern lakes (Eufaula, Gibson etc.) My wife's trailblazer with the 6 cyl gets about 15 doing the same thing.

[repdept]

Great motor & truck
I had a 4.6l in a 150 it got 18-19 all around driving & 14 + or - 1 towing a 20' boat