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Old 08-17-2019, 11:09 PM   #1
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Towing an F-150 with an E-350

We want to tow our F150 with our Four Winds 24F. We also would like to put our Gold Wing in the back of the F150. Is there any one out there that does this? If so what tow package are you using to hook up the F150 to the E350 chassis (in this case a Four Winds) and what are you using to get the Gold Wing (or any other heavy pig motorcycle) into the bed of the F150?
Thanks in advance
Stu & Nina Stoner

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Old 08-17-2019, 11:56 PM   #2
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Wow, that seems heavy to tow. As far as loading the Gold wing into and out of the bed of a pickup the only thing I would suggest is a loading dock.
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Old 08-18-2019, 12:10 AM   #3
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Yeah the only thing that would say you can't do that is the weights: Weigh all your vehicles (F-150, Goldwing, and the 24F) and add them up. If the sum total is larger than the 24F's GCWR (18,500 lbs for a 2020 24F) then no you shouldn't (not going to say can't but the weight limit is there for a reason).

F-150's curb weight is between 4000 and 5000 lbs, Goldwing's weight is around 800lbs. So you're looking at towing between 5000 and 6000 lbs (swagging it here). You may be able to, the real question is the 24F's weight (you can take it to a Cat Scale and have it weighed). (If you have a more recent 24F then you likely have an 8000lb hitch so that probably won't be the limiting factor.)

All of the above is assuming you want to tow the F-150 four down (since its either 4wd or rwd you can't dolly tow it).

For a comparison (it may sound like one but it kind of is) we've towed a C-Max Energi behind our Axis which is an E-350 (11,500 lbs) pulling a 3900 lb car on a dolly (200 lbs or so) without issue.
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Old 08-18-2019, 01:44 AM   #4
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Why can't you dolly tow a 4x4 Ford?
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Old 08-18-2019, 02:48 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by ducksface View Post
Why can't you dolly tow a 4x4 Ford?
Well I suppose you could if you had a manual transfer case that you could put in neutral (or it had the "neutral tow" feature on the automatic transfer case).

It would be best to check the owner's manual to be sure.
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Old 08-18-2019, 03:08 AM   #6
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Why can't you dolly tow a 4x4 Ford?
Because the transfer case is not designed to have a 60+ mph difference in speed between the front and rear driveshafts.
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Old 08-18-2019, 03:32 AM   #7
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Originally Posted by ducksface View Post
Why can't you dolly tow a 4x4 Ford?

Why would you want to?

Are you thinking it would be less expensive than flat towing? I suppose a dolly could be cheaper than brake system and tow bar, but flat towing seems better overall.
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Old 08-18-2019, 10:35 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by 16ACE27 View Post
Because the transfer case is not designed to have a 60+ mph difference in speed between the front and rear driveshafts.
Certainly true with my Jeep... 4 up or 4 down are the options... and in general what I have seen for 4WD.
Motorhome’s guide seems to read as 4 down for F150, but the owners manual is final say - without aftermarket changes.
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Old 08-18-2019, 11:37 AM   #9
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From the 2019 owner's manual for the F-150:

Two wheel drive vehicles:
Quote:
You cannot tow a two-wheel drive vehicle with any wheels on the ground as vehicle or transmission damage may occur. You must tow your vehicle with all four wheels off the ground, such as when using a car-hauling trailer.
Four wheel drive vehicles:
Quote:
You can only tow a four-wheel drive vehicle with all wheels on the ground by placing the transfer case in its neutral position and engaging the four-wheel-down towing feature. Perform the steps outlined in the following section after positioning your vehicle behind the tow vehicle and properly securing them together.
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Old 08-18-2019, 03:17 PM   #10
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We’ve been towing our 2018 F150 4x4 4 down behind our Palazzo for some time now. You just go through the switching to 2 high to 4 low 5 times to put the transfer case in neutral and your good to go.

We use the Blue Ox hitch and Aventa tow bar. We also opted for the Air Force braking system since the MH has air brakes.
The newer F150s are pretty lightweight I’m not sure there’s any metal on the thing, I know the body is aluminum. I think a lot of SUVs probably weigh as much as this truck does. Towing it only reduces our MHs overall mpg by about 1 to 1.5 mpg less.

Once you get the hang of it, you can perform the entire hookup and tow procedure in less than 5 minutes.
Assuming weights not an issue for you the f150 is a great toad vehicle.
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Old 08-18-2019, 04:12 PM   #11
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We’ve been towing our 2018 F150 4x4 4 down behind our Palazzo for some time now...
Your RV is much larger, and has a much higher towing capacity...
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Old 08-18-2019, 05:46 PM   #12
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As Jamie pointed out, that in itself shouldn’t be the limiting factor. The E-350 shouldn’t weigh more than 12,500 pounds in the first place, or it’d be overloaded.

And since GCWR should be 18,500 pounds (should also be confirmed), that leaves at least 6,000 pounds for toad and motorcycle.

And if you believe Thor, the hitch should be good for up to 8,000 pounds. That too should be confirmed.

Unless there is something different about the motorhome in question, it should be OK as far as ratings are concerned. Obviously one of the first steps should be to weigh the motorhome and also the bike. If pickup is heavier than expected, it may be possible to take some weight out of MH by unloading unnecessary items in order to remain within GCWR.
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Old 08-18-2019, 06:54 PM   #13
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The truck and thw "Wing will use up all of the 6,000 pounds that you mentioned...
What about everything else that needs to be stored in the rig?
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Old 08-18-2019, 07:28 PM   #14
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It doesn’t work that way. The Gross Vehicle Weight Rating includes the motorhome and all cargo. That GVWR should not exceed 12,500 pounds regardless. However, if motorhome is under the maximum allowed weight, then it can tow even more.
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Old 08-18-2019, 08:36 PM   #15
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Also check the hitch limit. Probably 8,000 lbs but maybe only 5,000
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Old 08-18-2019, 10:10 PM   #16
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Originally Posted by Chance View Post
It doesn’t work that way. The Gross Vehicle Weight Rating includes the motorhome and all cargo. That GVWR should not exceed 12,500 pounds regardless. However, if motorhome is under the maximum allowed weight, then it can tow even more.
I was referring to the GCWR .
It's going to be pretty darn close to maxxed-out!
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Old 08-24-2019, 07:01 PM   #17
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You’ve got a lot of good information above on towing the F150, but I encourage you to study the load rating of your tailgate, then go to YouTube and type in “Tailgate fail motorcycle”....
Your ‘Wing may weigh more than you think. Some of them have gone over 1k, depending on year and equipment....
Good luck in finding the right solutions!
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Old 08-24-2019, 09:54 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stustoner View Post
We want to tow our F150 with our Four Winds 24F. We also would like to put our Gold Wing in the back of the F150. Is there any one out there that does this? If so what tow package are you using to hook up the F150 to the E350 chassis (in this case a Four Winds) and what are you using to get the Gold Wing (or any other heavy pig motorcycle) into the bed of the F150?
Thanks in advance
Stu & Nina Stoner

We are not answering question other than how to load the Gold Wing in the truck...Ron has a Yamaha 1100 dresser and he would not consider getting it in the bed of his F150 4x4 … he does have a rail which he uses for his Suzuki dual sport 650 and that is a bit tricky in itself...he has been doing it for years and knows what he is doing. Now, he doesn't even do that...we bought a Jeep !!
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Old 08-25-2019, 06:18 PM   #19
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Originally Posted by howzball View Post
We’ve been towing our 2018 F150 4x4 4 down behind our Palazzo for some time now. You just go through the switching to 2 high to 4 low 5 times to put the transfer case in neutral and your good to go.

We use the Blue Ox hitch and Aventa tow bar. We also opted for the Air Force braking system since the MH has air brakes.
The newer F150s are pretty lightweight I’m not sure there’s any metal on the thing, I know the body is aluminum. I think a lot of SUVs probably weigh as much as this truck does. Towing it only reduces our MHs overall mpg by about 1 to 1.5 mpg less.

Once you get the hang of it, you can perform the entire hookup and tow procedure in less than 5 minutes.
Assuming weights not an issue for you the f150 is a great toad vehicle.
We also tow a 2018 f150 behind our 2019 Miramar. The 4x4 crew Lariat is just under 5,000 lbs, our old Expedition was just as heavy and it was 2WD. We had a drive shaft disconnect on that.
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Old 08-26-2019, 01:06 AM   #20
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We have been towing 2017 F150 with E-450/ 30ft Chateau. Our F150/STX weighs in @ 4000 lbs, so no issue with pulling it. There is a procedure required( in F150 OM) to configure the transmission for 4 wheel towing. No big deal.
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