Tow with a Ford 302?

hbc2

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2007
Location
Siler City North Carolina
I bought an E-150 high top conversion van, thinking I can tow with it and sleep in the back. It has a 5.0 with an 8.8 rear and 3:55 gears. I realize it will be underpowered, I considered air bags and regearing to 4:10, but wouldnt really want to sacrifice the fuel mileage for the rest of the year. I can sell it and get a similar van with a 5.4 for about $1500 more for about 30 more hp. Any thoughts?
 
for a tow rig their both gonna be turds no matter what you do to them. yes 4.10 gears will help a lot and may not be any worse on gas. no matter which you decide to go with be sure to not overload the tires and brakes are going to be an issue as vans dont want to stop.
 
With the E150 I'd be more worried about brakes vs pulling performance.

What size/weight trailer are you using and what rig are you hauling?

Where do you plan to travel to?
How many trips per month/year ?
Do you have prior towing experience? (This can be good and bad depending...)

I know its probably not the cheapest answer but I would look for a newer and/or heavier van. E250/E350 They will typically have heavier brakes/axles optional or standard.

If you do keep the E150 - Minimally I would:
Make sure you have a good receiver hitch.
Re-gear
Add a huge tranny cooler and fan.
Have brakes on BOTH trailer axles.
Make sure your vans cooling system is up to par for the summer time.

Strongly consider using a Weight Distributing (WD) Hitch. - I'm a huge fan of them and if you search on my name in the tow section, I talk about them when I can.


I tow with a G3500 - 'Cargo Camper' I have a write up in here somewhere.. Vans are great tow rigs and you can get a huge bang for the buck, IF you use the right one.
 
What I can add to what Mike and Chris have said is
I towed with J-10 for years. It had a 304 and 3.54 gears. So similar power.
The exception was I was running a manual 4 speed.
It was a slug on the up hill grades, did Ok on the flats.
I did have breaks on both axles, to aid in stopping.

The advantage to a van to tow with is that you do not have to have a weighted tag.
That said, I would do as Mike said and look for a 3/4 ton or a one tone van. Even if it's not a conversion van, it's so simple to make it a nice comfortable place to sleep/camp.
I did tow with a E-250 for a while, to be honest, I miss it. But it had a big 460, sucked on fuel, but never an issue with over heating or stopping.
 
Tow with my 302 all the time. Has no ass going up hills. But mine's built for top end being the only saving grace. 7,000 rpm in second gets me up the hills but geez! 390 coming soon...
And yes, brakes are the concern. I just have to drive safely. As long as you have disks, I haven't had any issues with single piston but use manual gears extensively. Also, if running stock rear springs, add a top leaf or two with eyes cut off. And space out those front coils for some front support. Rear sway bar is a good thing. Other than that, my truck is a poster truck for towing with a 302. Been getting er done for 16 years now.
 
It came with a "light duty" towing package,a medium size tranny cooler, and it already has a reese hitch and brake controller. I pull a TJ on a 7x14 double axle trailer with brakes, the Jeep fits with little room to spare. I've got a 97' F250 with a 7.3 that I normally tow with, I'm just toying with the idea of a camper van. I would only use it 3-4 times a year. I had a E-250 cargo van with a 4.6 and 4:10 gears, it would tow ok except for the hills. The only 3/4 ton conversion vans I found were Chevys with a 350, I'm not sure if they had bigger brakes because they had 5 lug wheels.
 
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