2001 Ford F-150 safe towing capacity
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. I...
Forum Discussion
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).
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).
