Ride the Lightning: How well does the Ford F-150 Lightning tow? | Live thread

Nockenwelle said:

I thought this thread was about this:

Which probably sucks at towing since they won't haul more than one medium-build buddy and a spare set of tires in the back, but might actually do a burnout with a trailer.

2nd gen Lightnings actually tow reasonably well.  Unlike most of the sport trucks they didn't get their tow rating totally neutered, so it's still either 5K or 7K pounds.  Friend of mine used to tow his Miata to track days with one, and one day when he broke the Miata he took the truck out for the last sessions of the day. :)

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

one day when he broke the Miata he took the truck out for the last sessions of the day. :)

Once when I tracked my Stalker V6 Locost, a friend's car blew it's engine. I had a hitch on the Stalker for a tire trailer which I used to tow his car home. Stupid, I know, but how much fun is life if you never do anything stupid?

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

Nockenwelle said:

I thought this thread was about this:

Which probably sucks at towing since they won't haul more than one medium-build buddy and a spare set of tires in the back, but might actually do a burnout with a trailer.

2nd gen Lightnings actually tow reasonably well.  Unlike most of the sport trucks they didn't get their tow rating totally neutered, so it's still either 5K or 7K pounds.  Friend of mine used to tow his Miata to track days with one, and one day when he broke the Miata he took the truck out for the last sessions of the day. :)

 

There were a couple landscaping companies around here who used them as tow rigs.

I thought that was odd until I was tasked to put a crazy 408ci engine in a Dodge 3/4-ton plumber's van.  He explained that his wife would not let him have a motorcycle or a fast car so he was modding his work van.

Ever accidentally break the tires loose in a Dajiban from a 50mph roll without downshifting?

 Gotta go with the 1st Lightening strike...

Then again I'm more of a 454SS fan.

dps214 said:

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

Keith Tanner said:

I would expect the Lightning to suffer less towing in an urban environment or when there are hills because it can recapture energy that an ICE cannot. 

One thing that I've found interesting is that EV trucks seem to lose a greater percentage of their range when towing than ICE trucks do.  My F-250 goes from 14-15 mpg unloaded to 10-11 when towing my big, heavy, aerodynamic brick of a trailer, call that around a 40% hit.  Reports I've seen of Lightnings and Rivians sound more like a 60% hit.

I wonder how much of that is due to the fact that the EVs can't do regen on the trailer brakes?

The problem is you're comparing to a vehicle that gets crap mileage to begin with. [b]The ICE f15s do 20+ unloaded and 8-10 with an enclosed trailer, which is in the same ballpark of range loss.[/b]

As for 0-60, our 3.5eb could out accelerate most normal traffic to about 40mph while towing a 7k lb enclosed trailer, so I'd guess the lightning would do even better.

You may want to check your numbers.  My '96 C1500 Silverado Ext Cab would get 20 on the highway, and 14 pulling my Spec Miata, which would mean a little less than 33% drop.

In reply to racerfink :

Different kettle of fish.  Those SBCs would get not so very good low load economy in order to be more efficient when loaded.  Not a bad compromise for a truck engine.

I am 99% sure that a 96 would have the port fuel injection setup, but the TBI systems were even worse.  IIRC the TBI couldn't even idle or run at low loads at stoich, had to be a fair bit richer.  I have no idea how Chevy limped those over the emissions standards.

In reply to JG Pasterjak :

Don't leave me hanging... Did the laptop arrive? Did our super hero save the day? Was the integrity of 3rd grade education maintained? 

John Welsh said:

In reply to JG Pasterjak :

Don't leave me hanging... Did the laptop arrive? Did our super hero save the day? Was the integrity of 3rd grade education maintained? 

What John said!

And is really "idling" in an EV? 

Maybe 8k# was more than the truck could stand and he never made it home. Kids went on a rampage and finger-painted the halls! Dogs sleeping with cats, frogs falling from the sky!! Oh, the huge manatee!!

I wonder if the heat generated by moving a heavy load eats up power trying to keep batteries and motors cool. 

I turned in my final wrapup after a successful (?) test drive. It should be on the site today. Long story short, it's an amazing, amazing tow vehicle, it just can't do it for very long.

Did you perform the same test without the trailer as a control, to see if the estimated range was identical to the range you experienced?

In reply to JG Pasterjak :

So exactly what every other Lightning test has found.