2012 F-150 tow rating

PK Camper wrote:
Should I trust the published towing ratings of my 2012 ecoboost at 11,500 pounds. I may buy a larger trailer from 4500 gross to 8000 gross weight. Thanks

There are two stickers on the door of your truck, a white one and a yellow one. Giving us all the weight information on those two stickers is the only way we can start to reliably help with your question. If you want unreliable guesses we can provide about a hundred of those.

If all the planets align...sure.

Back in the real world, odds are other ratings run out long before you hit the max tow rating.

Problem is the "tow rating" is mostly about if there is enough grunt to get the trailer moving.

More often with 1/2ton trucks, the hitch weight and other cargo in the truck push you over payload or rear axle ratings such that in practical terms, you can't tow the maximum.

1/2ton truck payload ratings can run from under 1300lb to over 2500lb...at the upper end, you can likely stay within the ratings. At the lower end, a well fed American family may result in not enough payload to pull a small utility trailer.

PK Camper wrote:
Should I trust the published towing ratings of my 2012 ecoboost at 11,500 pounds. I may buy a larger trailer from 4500 gross to 8000 gross weight. Thanks

The 11.5K rating is a power to pull rating, but not a high walled, broad front RV trailer. Something in the middle of 4500-8000 gross will likely work best, but the upper end is do able. Payload and RAWR are important for best towing.

Jerry

The truck will easily and safely tow 8k. I towed about 10k with my 2012 F150HD and a 7k enclosed trailer with my 2012 F150 Ecoboost 2wd work truck that had 3.15 rear gears. It didn't do it as well as my personal F150 HD with 3.73's truck, but it did do better than the 2011 F150 5.0L with 3.55 gears work truck I had before that. Both of the work truck only had the basic tow package.

If the tow rating of your truck is 11k, then that means you have the max trailer tow package and have a slightly different suspension than the regular F150. This gives you more GVWR and GAWR than the standard F150, and therefore more payload if that is a concern. You are probably between 1.7-2k payload if this is the case. Using the standard 12% tongue weight, an 8k trailer's tongue weight is around 960 lbs which will leave you plenty of rating left over for a small family.

Just for reference and my own experience with a 13 F150 Eco MaxTow..

I had a #5000 GVWR 2003 Prowler Lynx TT that weighed every bit of that GVWR. (I pack heavy on purpose)

Started towing that trailer with a 97 F150, 5.4, 3.55 gears. Did fine for what that era truck was.

Got the 13 and it towed that Prowler with ease. I used "Regular" fuel too. (87 octane).

Fast forward to 2019 and we get a new #7000 GVWR Rockwood.. First tow with it on the same route we have been taking for years with the Prowler, there was a significant difference in it's towing performance compared to what I was used to.

It handled the trailer just fine, I just found I was lacking power for some reason.. Normally, I could take the grades in 4th and have lots of power left and not run the coolant temps too high. (I have an ODBII monitor, so I can see the actual coolant temps, not just the dummy gauge on the dash..)

I found I had to run in 3rd to keep the boost in check and the coolant temps and slow down. I also got worse mpg's than I was used to.

Before the next trip, I ran Premium (92 octane) fuel for at least a full tank, and then pulled the same basic route again (going over I-90 and the pass) and I was back to my expected performance. Back to 4th on the grades and still having to watch the boost and the coolant temps, but very manageable and able to keep the prior speeds and extra performance I was used to.

I also saw my towing mpg's get back to the 9-10 mpg range and even my non towing mpg's seemed to go up an mpg or two.. So, I've been running the Premium fuel all the time now and the truck really seems to like it and the extra cost is not really that big of a deal for me..

Anyway, I have loaded my trailer to where it's at it's #7000 GVWR too, as I said, I like to pack a lot of stuff (full water, more stuff than I'll ever need, but that's just how I roll.. Judge me if you must, but I don't really care. :) )

As said, watch your other weights like payload and especially rear GAWR. I have #4050 rear GAWR and probably pretty close to it when it's all said and done.

Good luck! Mitch

^What Shiner said.
Don’t overthink it. 8klb gross is not too much for that truck.

“and therefore more payload if that is a concern...”

When wouldn’t payload be a consideration, Shiner? OP, what is your max payload?

PK Camper wrote:
Should I trust the published towing ratings of my 2012 ecoboost at 11,500 pounds. I may buy a larger trailer from 4500 gross to 8000 gross weight. Thanks

No you shouldn't trust that 11,500 number. Nearly all 1/2 ton will run out of payload capacity WAY before getting close to the max tow capacity.
Look at your driver's door yellow Tire and Loading sticker. It'll say "Occupants and cargo should not exceed xxxxlbs". The driver is considered as an Occupant. That number is the max payload capacity. It's a good number to use unless you want to weigh the truck on a scale.
That payload number dictates what you can tow.

If you want to tow 11,500 then get a 3/4-1 ton truck.

The truck's tow rating is correct but it's not that simple. You have to use your head and figure out the other ratings like payload and axle weights.
There are many different kinds of trailers: flat bed, dump, horse, cargo, boat, equipment, cattle, and RV. They all have their differences. A hard sided RV trailer is by far the most challenging. They have a huge frontal area, a high percentage of tongue weight, a large side "sail" area to catch wind, and very limited ability to adjust the weight balance. The same truck that might pull an 8,000 pound boat very well might be a struggling hand full with a 6,000 pound RV.
So, yes, your truck can pull 11,500 pounds. If that's a flatbed load of bricks or a dump trailer load of gravel you're probably fine. If you're talking about a hard sided RV I wouldn't even want to tow 9,000 pounds with a 1500 series truck.