Re: Towing capability
After a lifetime driving trucks of ALL sizes, most terribly under-powered and some short on available speeds in the transmissions, towing a 14,000# trailer behind a 305 V-6 powered pickup in the hills and mountains out west would a very, VERY slow process. I think a medium duty truck would make more sense, bigger engine, bigger cooling system, bigger tires & BRAKES! You can't expect to increase hp in your current truck without increasing all the other systems that the truck has, like gas tank size, more HP takes more gas, I'd look for a diesel. Bigger radiator and cooling system, brakes, axles, transmissions.
If you were pulling a 14,000# trailer around off road no problem, but trying to not be an impediment to other traffic around you would be almost impossible. I've pulled trailers with around 3000-4000# with a similarly sized and powered truck, F-150 300-6 and NP-435 4-speed, and got along fine for 5-6 miles of level road. But 14,000#in hills would have best been handled with my 320 hp Cummins powered White semi-tractor. I did pull a trailer around 12,000# 200 miles on day about 12 years ago with my '96 F-250 Powerstroke on fairly flat Interstates thru northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. Once I got into 5th gear I never had to downshift on a hill. My 7.3 PSD was 210 hp, 425 #/ft torque. 3.55 gears.
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