2001 6-cyl F-150 towing

these trucks always had the manual transmission tho...cannot speak for the durability of the Automatic~

I agree with Roy....tongue weight makes all the difference.

yes of course I wouldn't use anything other than a horse trailer for my horses. The vehicle is indeed a manual transmission (which is what all my cars have been also). Thanks for your reply!

yeah... just get some black tape and cover of the lights if they come on but in his estimation it is totally OKAY~ does not take a champion achiever at the ASVAB (armed services vocational aptitude battery) to know the physics of the situation here ... sry I didn't know you had a friend that said it was ok

oh wait ... you told someone else to cover it with black tape or buy a Toyota and the problem would go away correct? sry my bad! lol

Wow everybody, didn't mean to start a flame war with a simple question. And FWIW I ***am*** a Ph.D. physicist but that does not make me a mechanic. In any case I have told my dad that the truck probably won't do and he should just sell it instead of giving it to me. On the rare occasion I need a truck (for something other than hauling my horses) I can rent one cheaper than paying insurance on one that won't do the primary thing I'd want it for. Meanwhile I'll get along fine with my little Honda Civic and my Harley :)

...also here in New Mexico there is nowhere I could go that does NOT involve lots of mountains so even a marginal tow vehicle won't do.

I agree! 100%

I went to see the cowboy today and his 6-cylinder is NOT used for the horse trailer....no guts--no glory....you got no money and no choice what else you gonna do? buy a stronger vehicle...that's what~

"black tape" is a joke...comes from cartalk (if you ever listen to that show)...why am I explaining these things? think that was a Hyundai too~

Believe I said this was Possible...not preferred....you'd want a 4X4 for solid contact with the ground if given the choice...obviously~

so when you said ''okay...this is possible, in fact seen this done with a FORD 6 cylinder~~the trailer has to be a "horse trailer" placing the weight squarely on the four trailer wheels and your concern would be only the tongue weight....about like hauling a big Car~ probably would not want to go on the freeway with the horses, but should work okay" was the wrong answer ? that's how this started! you gave a unsafe answer without any thought that is what made me read more. the more I read the more I laughed. so no in my opinion you should stick to what you know. sounds like you are or maybe should be a politician trying to tell everyone what you think they wanna hear. you say you talked to management and you are trying to black ball me from the site because I told the truth! not a problem black ball me.

he seen it done weekly and he is the car guru but now you should have a 4x4 with a V8 to keep to the ground...lol did your cowboy that you seen do it tell you that? flip flop back peddle because im the guru guy. black ball that judge soe!

If your dad's truck is a plain vanilla 6 with no special towing package, If memory serves, you are going to max out on towing weight at about 2000 pounds, maybe a little higher.

Yeah, that's about it. He seemed shocked when I told him I wouldn't be able to use it for anything and how low the towing capacity is. But his knowledge of automotive things does not even extend to considering whether the question needs to be asked (so I guess I'm a step ahead if only that). I told him to sell it and enjoy the proceeds. I am not in a position where I can afford to buy a truck (heck, with two horses to feed and vet and shoe, I can't even afford a skateboard) so I will continue to just have my trainer haul my boys when needed. Thanks everyone for the feedback!

I've been poor and still am poor and to work with what you've got is the cowboy/farmer way of doing things....an egg in the radiator of black pepper of the tractor will get the job done....you have to work with what you've got, is all I'm trying to suggest to you...and am not encouraging you to be irresponsible, but get the right tools for the job, or the job will not get done...my pal (the cowboy has a lot of vehicles (4) and two daughters who have two horses each, plus his own horse too....as THE means of transportation a hundred years ago, you'd think they'd be a little more forgiving of sharing our roads....with a horse~

Yeah, I'm not poor in terms of technical poverty but I can't be going buying trucks when I have vet bills to cover and am trying to get out from under previous vet bills. I do not like owing any money on anything to anyone (other than the mortgage). Dad thought this truck would be helpful but I don't think it will, especially given that if you are dealing with marginal equipment you have to be much more skilled at what you are doing - and I have no towing skills nor the time to get really really good at it. I have a full-time job at a national lab and although I ride several times a week, the horse(s) only get hauled once a month or so for showing. It's probably better (and cheaper) to just pay my trainer to haul them. I need another vehicle like I need a hole in the head, but if it were one that could actually do a job that needs doing that I cannot already do for myself, I might consider it. I used to ride with the Sheriff's posse but gave that up because I can't haul my own horse so was always at the mercy of someone else's schedule. Maybe after I retire some day. :)

good luck charrowe, if the truck needs and is gonna keep needin' I'd suggest that you sell it while you're ahead in this affair~ good luck and god bless~

judge roy, ive seen my father in law use the black pepper trick in his radiator and it worked.i also had an older gentleman tell me that he put saw dust in the oil of a worn out transfer case and that he got a few extra months out of it.like u said sometimes u got to make due with what u got.

thank you for chiming in, Colin....charrowe New Mexico is some beautiful country...My wife and I on our way to California almost quit our journey if it weren't for the frigid nights...shortly after the Lloma Prieta earthquake in 88 or 89 was a good time to buy~ we lived in Oakland for fifteen years then when Mom's neighbor house went on sale, we unfortunately decided to have another "Wisconsin death trip" which asserted that California is the end of the rainbow (figuratively) a person who can speak English with any degree of proficiency will always have a job in the San Francisco Bay Area....trapped by the insanely beautiful weather...will never leave here again~

You're right, it can be pretty cold here in Santa Fe. I did my first postdoc in Wisconsin but that was after having lived fourteen years in Fairbanks, AK, so it seemed fairly tame. I love the Bay Area, I'm there for a week every december for a professional society meeting. Funny you mention Loma Prieta (which was '89). I'm a seismologist. Cheers.

movin' back we found that 15 years of a "core" neighborhood paid off as the house we spent 120 thousand on was now worth 250 thousand and rising~...so when we got back to California up in the town of Clearlake found an affordable place in the Cheapest place to live in California....the fresh Calistoga water piped out of the side of highway 29 is such a beautiful thing...no one stickin' their hand out....free...hard to believe such beautiful things exist anymore....gift from mother earth~ there is no streetlights...but you can see the Moon and stars that you didn't know were there....as the price for not having those streetlights~

a bit disconcerting the Cal-Pine industries has been enjoying GEO-thermal energy since the 1960's....the cost is earthquakes...because they are "fracking" with waste water to get steam to run the generators...the poor folks nearby have daily earthquakes....goes with the territory....wonder if anyone cares to share the bounty of mother earth....such as free power? greed as a virtue~

kind of glad that 6th street in Clearlake (former stomping grounds of the POMO) is so untouched 6th street has a strata of metamorphic rocks that pave the street~ I hope they never find my secret places~

Wow, that's pretty cool. It's always nice to have secret places. I used to have one on the south rim of the Grand Canyon. When I started college it was in Flagstaff and I used to go to the Canyon a lot to my special spot where I'd watch the shadows, the ravens riding the thermals and just listen to how big it was. Nowadays it's too crowded with tourists.