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Old 03-27-2006, 07:07 PM   #1
torirn1
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Please help. So new to this! Really want a new 3124 kb but need to know if I can pull it or if it will pull me. We live in louisiana and would be traveling to FL, AL, Etc. No mountain traveling for now. I have a 2006 Ody but have a friend who is selling a Ford E150 6Cyl van. It has a towing limit of 5000. I called the TM factory to get the weight of the options I wanted and they came to 207 pounds. I added that to 3100 for the TM, 70 for propane and battery, 160 for full tank of fresh h2o, 500 for the family. It all added up to 4037 pounds. I figured 240 for a full tank of gas and 500 for stuff that we would pack...4777. If I ensured a class 3 hitch, weight distributing hitch, transmission cooler would i be ok. We would mostly be using sites that had hook ups. Any help would be great as I have confused myself with reading and researching for hours. Thanks in advance. Tori
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Old 03-27-2006, 07:44 PM   #2
cmc211
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Tori, From what I see you will be fine. Looks like you are well in your limits
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Old 03-27-2006, 09:09 PM   #3
Doug W.
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My brother has an Odyssey and he has a tent trailer. He said it had to have the trailer towing package. He towed it from Texas to my mother's in southern Missouri. He said he would not do that again unless it was for a weeks vacation instead of a long weekend. It had some trouble with the hills in southern Missouri.

I have an E-150, but it has the 5.4L V8. I bought a used 2005 3124KS last week in Pheonix and brought it home to Missouri. The E-150 has 6500 lbs towing and even with that I wish I had a few more ponies under the hood for a couple of the mountain grades out west. Still I was passing most other vehicles pulling trailers.

Other that that it towed like a dream. In Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, I could leave it in overdrive and set the cruise and only the big hills caused it to kick out of overdrive. I would say you would not have any problems, except with the smaller motor, you might need to disable overdrive (button on the gear shift). I think mountain travel would be okay if you did not mind loosing speed going up hill.
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Old 03-28-2006, 06:05 AM   #4
Gateway
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Stay away from full sized vans(Ford E150, Chev/GMC G1500) with a V6, you will never be happy with one.
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Old 03-28-2006, 08:28 AM   #5
Bill
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gateway
Stay away from full sized vans(Ford E150, Chev/GMC G1500) with a V6, you will never be happy with one.
Gateway, you need to provide more info behind your recommendation, or else that was a useless post. Please follow up.

And torirn1 posted
Quote:
Really want a new 3124 kb but need to know if I can pull it or if it will pull me. We live in louisiana and would be traveling to FL, AL, Etc. No mountain traveling for now. I have a 2006 Ody
You should use the Search tool to look for discussion on the Odyssey. There has been quite a bit of it.

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Old 03-28-2006, 08:03 PM   #6
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I can't find any data on the E150 with the V6, Ford no longer offers this combo.

The Chevy Express 1500 with the 4300 V6( the same engine used in the Astro van) has 195hp/260ft/lb and a stated towing capacity of only 3900 lb. The V6 powered van is alright for hauling a load of kids around town but is under powered on the freeway. The dry weight of the van is over 5300lb, that is a lot to move with a V6. By going upto the next engine, the 5.3 V8 you get 295hp, 330ft/lb and a stated towing capacity of 6300/b all with the same EPA mileage rating as the 4.6 V6.

I have driven both at a dealer(the V6 van was a bare cargo van) and you could feel a huge difference between the V6 and V8 even in these empty vans.

If you do look at the V6 van, I'd reccomend trying it and then driving a similar model with the 4.6 or 5.4 V8.
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Old 03-28-2006, 10:35 PM   #7
Doug W.
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Here are the tow ratings on a 2003 E-150 with the V-6 right from the TM site:

2003 Ford/Lincoln/Mercury VAN Econoline E-150 PV 4.2L V-6 4700

I will admit that I would definately want a larger engine to tow in the mountains, but back east he should be fine. When I was towing in TX, OK and KS, it towed like it was not even back there even with cruise set and overdrive. The TM is also only slightly larger than the van, so you get very little drag from the trailer. My mirrors on the van are 3 inches wider than the TM. About all that is higher that the van is the AC unit. With overdrive off, I think will be fine, except for sloosing some spped on steep grades which he will see few of back east.

I know I was doing fine with my 5.4L in the mountains except two times when some 18 wheeler decided he just had to pass another 18 wheeler when he was going maybe 30 or 35. I needed to get a less steep grade before I could get it back up to 65 to 75. I could keep it about 65 except for those two problems. That said I have had the experience of pulling with an under rated vehicle. I had a Coleman PU that weighted 800 lbs empty and about 1200 lbs loaded. I took it to the mountains of CO with a Ford Ranger with a 4 speed manual and a 4 cylinder. It worked fine, but I will admit I was going 30 or 35 on the steep grades in second gear. Of course I was not dumb enough to get in the left lane if I came up on a vehicle going slower than me, I just stayed behind him.
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