New F-150 with 13,200 lb tow rating!
I just purchased a brand new 2018 F-150 Lariat with the 3.5L Ecoboost motor a couple nights ago. It has the max tow package and the 3.55 gears giving it a tow rating of 13,200 pounds! I used to have...
Forum Discussion
Grit Dog to your point that 1/2 tons are built to handle what they are rated for reliably. My half ton just turned 500,000 miles towing TTs commercially. It happens to be a Ram ED but could have been any 1/2 ton. So many seem to think only HDs are built to work. No they are all built to handle what they are rated for and repeatably for miles and miles with proper maintenance like any larger truck to its rating. My half ton is only rated to max tow 8,800 pounds. It tows between 6 & 8K as daily fare and as obvious to putting on 500k in just short of 5 years done so reliably.
On another note personally I don't care what they print on the payload sticker with respects to towing. Mfg put that their for estimating what you can load in the bed & cab for when you don't have access to a scale.
I use what Mfgs & regulators (SAE society of automotive engineers now all held to J2807) and backed by law enforcement agencies give us to use and legally go by FOR TOWING; max tow rating, max axle ratings, CVWR, (combined vehicle weight ratings) GVWR, (Gross vehicle weight rating) and max tongue weight rating.
Using these tools with a scale on a halfer or any truck set up or WDH/loading adjusted to so that all these are in spec or withing their ratings plus recommended tongue weight percentage the scale slip will show you exactly what your particular truck & trailer set up can tow legally safely & reliably. IE according to Mfgs SAE & law enforcement not just some guy on an internet forum talking about some home made estimate idea toward a payload sticker number. No matter how many times this estimate toward a payload sticker idea is repeated on forums its still not accurate or legal. In fact sometimes its downright misleading. (Misleading because Mfgs recommend a WDH at 5k & up. So with a WDH tongue weight is not static but dynamic as in spread between drive steer and back to trailer axles making even scaled static tongue weight wrong practically and legally)
If this sounds difficult expensive time consuming it really doesn't have to be. IMO its unfortunate that no Mfg or agency is responsible for teaching it and part of why this cobble idea using a payload sticker came to be common. CAT has a free app with locator and generally has scales across north america. As do private truck stops state route state line scale houses and more. CAT commonly charges about $12 & $2 per additional weigh so its not expensive. The 3 numbers (axle weights) on a scale slip 3 pass method gives you all the info you need to make WDH / loading adjustments to make sure your rig is safely set up and legal for towing for your family and other families on the road.
Generally with a half ton (any Mfgr) with appropriate motor and gearing thats 1,000 pounds of tongue weight plus minimal / moderate cab n bed loads which generally translates to an 8k TT. Can some do a little more legaly safely yes and some a little less but you find even when set up right according to scale results that an HD is better suited to handle a TT on anything larger than 8k and regardless it still comes back to setting up your load / rig to be withing spec.
On another note personally I don't care what they print on the payload sticker with respects to towing. Mfg put that their for estimating what you can load in the bed & cab for when you don't have access to a scale.
I use what Mfgs & regulators (SAE society of automotive engineers now all held to J2807) and backed by law enforcement agencies give us to use and legally go by FOR TOWING; max tow rating, max axle ratings, CVWR, (combined vehicle weight ratings) GVWR, (Gross vehicle weight rating) and max tongue weight rating.
Using these tools with a scale on a halfer or any truck set up or WDH/loading adjusted to so that all these are in spec or withing their ratings plus recommended tongue weight percentage the scale slip will show you exactly what your particular truck & trailer set up can tow legally safely & reliably. IE according to Mfgs SAE & law enforcement not just some guy on an internet forum talking about some home made estimate idea toward a payload sticker number. No matter how many times this estimate toward a payload sticker idea is repeated on forums its still not accurate or legal. In fact sometimes its downright misleading. (Misleading because Mfgs recommend a WDH at 5k & up. So with a WDH tongue weight is not static but dynamic as in spread between drive steer and back to trailer axles making even scaled static tongue weight wrong practically and legally)
If this sounds difficult expensive time consuming it really doesn't have to be. IMO its unfortunate that no Mfg or agency is responsible for teaching it and part of why this cobble idea using a payload sticker came to be common. CAT has a free app with locator and generally has scales across north america. As do private truck stops state route state line scale houses and more. CAT commonly charges about $12 & $2 per additional weigh so its not expensive. The 3 numbers (axle weights) on a scale slip 3 pass method gives you all the info you need to make WDH / loading adjustments to make sure your rig is safely set up and legal for towing for your family and other families on the road.
Generally with a half ton (any Mfgr) with appropriate motor and gearing thats 1,000 pounds of tongue weight plus minimal / moderate cab n bed loads which generally translates to an 8k TT. Can some do a little more legaly safely yes and some a little less but you find even when set up right according to scale results that an HD is better suited to handle a TT on anything larger than 8k and regardless it still comes back to setting up your load / rig to be withing spec.
