2001 Ford F-150 safe towing capacity

First, it is not about power. F-250 and F-350 of that vintage had the same engine and had that axle ratio as standard equipment. They may even have had the same GCWR, which might have meant the "maximum tow rating" could have been a few hundred pounds less, or GCWR might have been a little higher on the SuperDuty because of a bigger cooling system.

The 4.10 axle option usually raised GCWR about 3500 pounds for the 6.8 V-10, over the 3.73, but did not raise it for the 5.4 V-8. Ford was using something else as the GCWR controlling factor with that engine. Changing from 3.73 to 4.10 with the 4.6 V-8 (on the 1/2 ton) added only 500 pounds to GCWR, so axle ratio is not a magic bullet for tow ratings.

What it is really about is the ability of the truck to carry the tongue loads from the trailer along with the other "cargo" i.e. people and their stuff. I.E. 4800-6000 GAWR on the rear for F-250 and SRW F-350, depending on spring options.

So what you need to be concerned about, within the 5000-6000 pounds of trailer you are probably rated to tow (varies with weight of truck), is how the tongue weight adds to the load you are carrying.

That takes doing some arithmetic with your loads and and what the trailer adds. Something at 3500 and under is almost certainly going to be OK, but 4500 is going to depend on the results of load calculations, and there are tradeoffs.

I had a midsize SUV rated to tow 4800 pounds or carry 1600 pounds, but if I was carrying 1600 I could tow nothing because I had nothing left for tongue load. If I was carrying 1200, I could tow about 3000 pounds of trailer. If I was alone, carrying almost nothing, that's when I could tow 4800.

Now I have a one-ton van (13,000 GCWR) that can tow almost 7000 when empty, or carry close to 4000 pounds, but can't do both at the same time. But if I can compromise to carry 1500, I'm still good to tow 5000-5500. Those are the kinds of calculations you need to make for almost any tow vehicle today, until you get up to Class 4 and larger trucks, where tow ratings assume the truck is loaded to GVWR (including weight on hitch).

Welcome to the forum!

2X what Marty said

Additional commentes embedded in the quote of your post below in red

ctbrew1 wrote:
Hello foks first time post, I would appreciate any help I can get.

I have a 2001 Ford f-150, 5.4L Supercab,4X4, 3.55 LS axle. GVWR is 6500 lbs, Front GAWR 3600 lbs Rear 3550 lbs, factory hitch.

This is the 'small' half ton, as half tons span this range of GVWRs
+6K GVWR (small end), +7K GVWR (mid or regular half ton) and +8K GVWR
(or fake half tons)

I am looking to buy either a smaller travel trailer or pop-up in the near future, and am having trouble deciding what type of camper I should get based on how much I can tow. After reading several horror-story posts on buying too much trailer for the truck, I was looking for a realistic number for the maximum weight of a trailer my truck can comfortably handle.

This is all about the OEM's specifications (ratings/limits) and staying
below them. As it's all about the worst day out there when Mr Murphy
crosses your path. Either you have the right sized stuff and properly
setup...or not. No time to go back to the store for proper stuff or
re-setup. Either it's there or not

Mainly to manhandle the whole setup during that worst day out there

I do not have a lot of experience towing and I admit I am a bit of a nervous nelly with towing so I would like to be on the conservative side. I am guessing that around 3500 lbs dry weight is the most I should be considering....? I am leaning toward the larger (12" - 14") pop-ups right now.

'Dry' and 'Curb' weights are derived from their respective base models,
AKA stripper models. Some think that since not offered for sale these
models, nonsence...but that is the only way then can do it and stay
competitive in the 'King of the Hill' marketing contest...and...
the general buying public drives this because they mainly do NOT
understand how the ratings system works...see below diagram

Rarely do I give the "no you can not", or "sure you can", but provide
the metrics on HOW2 figure it out yourself. Best to go out and actually
weigh your TV empty and fully loaded. That is the only way to know
where you are in reference to 'your' TV's specifications/ratings/limits


The only one responsible for the setup is the driver. Not the one who
bought and setup it up...if someone else is driving. The driver gets
any tickets/etc. Also, decide which advice you will take, as there is
no skin in the game on a freebie forum like this one. You can have
a hundred copies of the 'sure you can' and they will have no liability
nor warranty for you.

Again, as Marty says, you can be over the limits just by loading
in your family/pets/ice chest/wood/toolbox/etc BEFORE hooking up
All TV's can have this problem, but the lower GVWR's a higher percentage
because they have lower ratings.





Tow numbers


This is a good thread on the 'base' or 'curb' weight of a TV means
Listed base weight?

BenK wrote:
Your 'base' vehicle weight will be the 'curb', without any options nor
cargo. Pounds/Kg factored by wheelbase

6087 / 2761 (135-in.)
6406 / 2906 (155-in.)


This is the MTWR (Max Two Weight Rating)
Pounds/Kg factored by wheelbase/engine
Note that this is derived from a 'curb', but yours weighs more than that
So the MTWR is pound for pound less that it is over the curb weight

9700 / 4400(135-in. w/ 6.0L)
10000 / 4536 (135-in. w/ 6.6L)
9300 / 4218 (155-in. w/ 6.6L)
9700 / 4400 (155-in. w/ 6.6L)

Here is the link to your van's GM specification page

2013 CHEVROLET EXPRESS PASSENGER VAN SPECIFICATIONS



This image might help you see how the various weights and ratings
interact with each other

howmuchcanitow howmuchshoulditow

How about this answer, If I was to put my family of 6 in your truck, I would have NO tow capacity! that is correct! At the end of the day, what you can tow safely will depend upon the payload of the tow rig, AFTER you put people, pets, other gear etc in it. If you have no payload after this, you can not generally speaking, safely tow a trailer. This is true from small trucks, ie the 4 banger midget trucks, up to 5 and 6 axel semi's with 80-100K gvwrs for the truck alone!

Best way to figure out max trailer for me, has been take remaining payload, divide by the % hitch wt I need, and I have the max trailer I can safely tow! If one has 1000 lbs, divide by .10(10%), and you have a max 10K trailer. if you are pulling a heavy pin wt 5w at 25%(.25), you have a max trailer of 4000 lbs. ALL for the same truck.

I also take a ratio I learned about many years ago, of no trailer bigger than 2x teh grawr of the tow rig. SO if you have a 4K grawr, then no trailer larger than 8K lbs. WHich might be less than the above figure, or more!

There is no simple way to say what is safe or not. As one can also be under the gcwr grawr etc etc etc, and still be cited for towing an unsafe trailer if it is swaying more than IIRC 12-18" per side from center. You will also not be able to move the trailer until you show the LEO that the trailer can pull in a straight line!

There is a LOT to safe and sane towing that many do not tell you, know about etc.

Marty

Anything with dual axles you need a WDH. Your receiver is only rated for 500 pounds without it and the weight lost on the front axle will affect steering and handling.

Since you have a 4WD, don't bother changing axle ratio. $1500-2500 for no value on a 13 year old truck. 3.55 is fine. Overdrive off. Save the pennies for a new enough truck with 6+ gears.

Read the tow specs for your truck. If you don't have them get them from the manufacturer.

Tow Guide

These replies are kind of surprising me, indicating that maybe I can tow more than I expected. Most of the TT's I've been considering have been around 4500lbs dry weight, around 25" long. A few questions: how much does the axle ratio affect towing and is it something that can be changed without swapping for a new axle? and how does that affect gas mileage? Finally I suppose I would need to get a weight distribution hitch also. Thank you for your help!

We just upgrade from a truck like yours. It towed our 4670 dry, 6200 wet trailer fine but slow on the steeper grades. We used a w/d hitch with sway bar. It was getting up there in miles and had a cylinder spark plug issue on our way camping last month so we bit bullet and bought a new truck. Got it fixed and selling it now.

I had a 2003 Supercrew 5.4L/3.73. It towed my TT at 6500-ish pounds loaded very well. 4.10 seems like the engine would have been more comfortable, but we did fine. 5k dry high walled should be fine in the truck is in good shape. Going with anything high walled has compromises. Way more fuel and worse performance pulling those two sheets of plywood through the air, but far fewer things to set up and better access vs. popup/low walled. Change all your fluids.

My trailer is 7880 GVWR. Tows fine but slows significantly on 7%+ grades, especially at higher elevations.
Lots of hunting between 2nd & 3rd with 3.55 so I changed to 4.10 ratio.

Conventional tow 2wd Ford rated that truck at 8400 lbs, 4WD at 8000 lbs

Based on my ol' F150 (similar to yours) I did fine at 7000 lbs (loaded). Which is a reasonable sized trailer.