4.9 F150 vs 4.0 XJ as tow vehicle

[stephenspann27]

I had an early 90s 4wd F150 4.9 (300) auto SWB single cab offered to me. The offer still stands but I don't know if I will ever accept because my wife would require me to sell the XJ..
I'm kind of getting interested in travel trailers etc.. and that's the only thing that is making me reconsider taking the truck.

F150 makes 160hp and 265 ft lbs and weighs I'm guessing 4,300-5,000 lbs?
Xj makes 180ish hp and 225 ft lbs and weighs 3,100 ish lbs stock.


There are a lot of elements that play roles in a vehicle's ability to tow..
Mainly gearing, torque, hp, brakes, wheel base...

The F150 would definitely handle tongue weigh better.. sway.. and possibly braking.

Finally to the point:
If we just focus on towing power, F150 vs XJ..
The Xj has a slight edge on the F150 when it comes to HP.. but the F150 has 40 ft lbs more torque. My question is, do you think that the XJ weighing 1,500 to 2,000 lbs would narrow the gap between the F150 and XJ when it comes to towing power?

Again, I realize the truck would be a much safer, and pleasant vehicle to tow with.. i'm simply talking about towing power right now..

 

[southernrebel20]

The 4.9L Ford is an awesome motor, they used them in everything from generators to pumps to trucks. They even came in some F250's. I had one a few years back and am still kicking myself for selling it. I know everyone says the jeep 4.0 is reliable, but the 4.9 Ford motor is even more so. If I were going to tow regularly I would take the Ford all day long over the Jeep. Put some lower gears in the Ford and it will pull stumps all day long.

 

[stephenspann27]

I will probably end up getting a boat before.. or instead of a travel trailer.. and the XJ should tow that just fine.. if I already owned something I needed to tow.. I'd go for the F150.. but I'm just thinking about the future... Also, I daily drive my XJ and get 16-17city and 20-21mpg hwy.. with the F150 I'd be lucky to get 15mpg..

 

[warwagon98xj]

you absolutely cannot tow with a half ton you have to have at bare minimum a dodge 4500 with the cummins and 5 turbos, 10" exhaust a 250 hp shot of nitrous, cng injection dual cp3 lift pumps and race injectors

 

[Johnnie Walker]

Do NOT listen to this guy ^^
If anything build a budget stroker for your XJ or get some gears for it. Depending on how far/where you are going to tow the XJ will do just fine. Do not even bother with an older half ton to do the work.

 

[green8052]

you absolutely cannot tow with a half ton you have to have at bare minimum a dodge 4500 with the cummins and 5 turbos, 10" exhaust a 250 hp shot of nitrous, cng injection dual cp3 lift pumps and race injectors

Freaking hilarious!!!!!!

Go with the truck, it iwll handle braking much better than the jeep. The truck weighs more and will get pushed around less by what you are towing. For example i have towed my wrangler with a grand cherokee and with a half ton ram and i would take the ram all day long. Both get up to 90mph but the ram will stop it a hell of lot better and feel safer do it.

Terry

 

[BigPete]

towing is not all about if you can get it going. it is about how it handles while towing and **stoping**. A travel trailer has alot of surface area for the wind to push it around, so it's going to push a the lighter vehicle around a whole lot more and cause some serious butt pucker. point of this is use the vehicle that is built for towing even if it is slower of the line.

 

[JumpinXJ]

you absolutely cannot tow with a half ton you have to have at bare minimum a dodge 4500 with the cummins and 5 turbos, 10" exhaust a 250 hp shot of nitrous, cng injection dual cp3 lift pumps and race injectors

:confused1


I tow 3000lbs with my XJ every other weekend.

Before the lift/32s I could tow at 75mph with no problems. (wouldn't recommend it)

after the lift/32s I tow at 55 or I get bad sway.


As far as power, my XJ has abone stock motor. It pulls up the cajon in 2nd at 55 or 3rd at 70 with no problem. I would have to recommend the XJ for towing.

Now as far as f-150 horsepower. I believe horsepower is a factor of weight vs. rotational torque. If the weight goes up, effective power drops.

A good APPROXIMATION is ~10lbs=1hp
it's all realtive to the total weight...

I could move 100lbs with 1 hp... I just wouldn't do it very fast

take sportbike ~500lbs ~125hp = 4lbs/hp
remove 10 lbs = 3.92lb/hp
add 1 hp = 3.97lb/hp
this means it takes 1hp to move 4lbs. You're better off removing 10lbs. Then trying to add 1hp.


Now an XJ
~3000lbs /180Hp = 16.66lb/hp

remove 200lbs
2800 / 180 = 15.55lb/hp

add 20hp power
3000 / 200 = 15.0lb/hp

to try and remove 200lbs would be substantial in an XJ, but to gain 20whp wouldn't be too bad of a challange.


Remember horsepower is a derivitive of torque and weight. If the f150 has more torque, it has more power. It just has so much more weight that it's effictive horsepower drops. F-150 will pull the boat out of the launch ramp easier, but the XJ would tow it on the freeway easier.


I'm not gonna calculate the f-150, but it appears the ford *might be better suited for towing.




*this is my opinion, please research yourself before carrying forward.:rof:

 

[stephenspann27]

I was talking with a co worker who has been camping for years. He showed me a 16ft model camper online that he used to own. It is 8.5' high, and weigh's 2,400lbs. He said the one he bought new in '05 weighed 1,800 it was aluminum rather than the fiberglass that is now used. His tow vehicle at the time was a 2002 honda odyssey minivan. If a 200hp minivan can pull it, my XJ can.
I think rather than switching to the F150 I'll just get a smaller lighter, shorter camper. I'll also be towing a boat some of the time.. and its nothing the XJ can't handle.
My wife has a 2003 Ford Escape with the 200hp V-6 and it actually tows great. I've pulled some pretty heavy loads behind it and it doesn't seemed to be working hard at all.

However, her Escape has 90k miles on it and is on the original tranny. It does have a sizable cooler on it, but I don't want to shorten the life/stress the tranny by towing a big load. If I blow up the tranny in my XJ its no big deal.. I have a spare.. if I blow the tranny in her Escape it will cost me $2,500ish..

 

[warwagon98xj]

sorry about that comment before i just wanted to head off the guys that think you need a 50000 dollar 1 ton diesel to tow anything biggest thing when i used to tow with my xj is invest in atleast a set of sway control bars for the trailer even the hf cheapies will do something