New F-150 with 13,200 lb tow rating!

[KC10Chief]

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 a 2002 F-250 with the 7.3L diesel and I don't think the tow rating was much more than that. That truck had a lot more torque though.

So anyways, I realize that I'd have to be insane to try and tow 13,200 with my new truck. I'm no stranger to towing. We want a travel trailer. It's me, my wife and our 12 year old daughter. I didn't want to spring for a 3/4 ton or more right now since I'll be using this truck on my commute and I need it to fit in my garage. HA! The 1/2 ton made the most sense. When we had a travel trailer ten years ago, we used it all the time. I suspect we will be in it at least every other weekend. Probably camping within 100 miles of home which is Oklahoma City. It's fairly flat around here but there are some hills.

I've always kind of told people who don't know anything about towing, to never exceed 80% of your vehicles tow rating with a gas motor. For my truck though, that's over 10,500 pounds! That just seems excessive to me for a 1/2 ton truck. These newer trucks with smaller turbo gas motors are different. It has 470 ft pounds of torque and is currently the most powerful half ton you can buy right now including the diesel trucks. The Raptor has a little more torque but a much lower tow rating. I realize a lot of the tow rating is based on the frame, brakes, etc.

(TLDR) What I'm looking for, is a realistic number to stay under for my truck and the GVWR of the trailer. We are already trailer shopping. Most camping will be around here in Oklahoma but maybe a couple of longer trips of 1,000 miles or more every year.

[Tachdriver]

Any chance you can trade in for a higher payload truck? I know you will take it in the pocket book but the benefits will far out weigh (no pun intended) the money spent.

As some of the posts above me say....you are out of payload unless you go with a very small TT, under 5000lbs fully loaded (6000 lbs is pushing it).

Here is the quick math..

Assuming 13% of 5000lbs fully loaded your 13% hitch weight will be 650 lbs...
Same assumption for 60000lbs...= 780 lbs.

All this assuming 13% and no more...etc. An 8,000lb TT will yield 800 to 1200 lbs taking up your payload.

Something to think about.

[Swell1]

I have a 2016 F150 w/max tow package. I pull a 30' trailer with a gross trailer weight of 8300 pounds. I pulled close to 5000 miles last year without any issues. There are only 2 of us in the truck and I don't haul much of anything in the truck box. I use a equalizer WD hitch with 4 point sway control. The gas mileage is poor when pulling the trailer. I average in the 9 - 9.5 MPG range.
Hope this helps. Good luck

[Desert_Captain]

If your trailer only weighs 10,000# your tongue weight should be 1,300# {13 percent} + another hundred pounds for the weight of the weight distribution hitch = 1,400. that leaves you nearly zip {64#} of available payload off of the door sticker of 1,464.

Therein lies the rub, regardless of what Ford states is the towing capacity you will run out of payload every time long before reaching that magical {Mythical?} number.

BTDT: My 2006 F-150 SuperCab with the 5.4L V8 had a towing capacity of 8,600# and a payload rating of 1,464. My 22' TT with a GVWR of 5,600 and a normal load of my bride, the dog and I along with some tools and firewood left me with just 200 pounds of payload despite being 3,000# under my alleged tow capacity.

Good luck!

:C

[JIMNLIN]

The payload on my truck's door jamb says 1,464.

That a very low payload so most likely (assumption) your truck has a 3800 RAWR. RAWR is what carries most if not all the load on the bed and hanging on the rear bumper. RAWR is on the drivers side door post certification sticker.
No doubt the 3.5 EB engine has enough power to tow 13200 lbs however your truck doesn't have enough RAWR to carry the hitch load from a RV trailer that size.
The F150 has 5 different rawr packages from 3350 lb up to 4800 lbs.
The 4800 rawr would have no problems carrying hitch loads from a 13k TT.

You have the truck so load the truck and drop by a local CAT scale and get the trucks separate front and rear axle load numbers.
Now look at trailer's that the loaded hitch weight plus all the other necessary stuff that you carry in the bed doesn't overload RAWR = tires/wheels/rear suspension.

[noteven]

Super_Dave wrote:
I wonder if the new zillion speed transmissions are increasing tow ratings?

They do in a Kenworth.

I’m far from a towing expert- probably less than 150,000 miles of light duty towing - more experience with class 8 trucks - but any light duty truck I’ve had is way happier towing at about 50% of max excited tv ad best in class ...

[GordonThree]

spud1957 wrote:
In order to have a 13,200 tow rating you need:

4x2 Super Crew
157" WB
Max Trailer Tow Package
20" Tires and Wheels

If you have all of those attributes then you have 13,200. If you don't all four, then the tow rating it is less. Could be as low as 10,000.

and a very light weight driver, as the solo occupant, with no luggage

otherwise, how do you get 10% tongue weight within the payload spec?

[FishOnOne]

Super_Dave wrote:
I wonder if the new zillion speed transmissions are increasing tow ratings?

No but they sure are improving towing performance.

[Grit_dog]

10klbs is a good number to stay under.
Payload? Meh. Within reason, it’s about duty cycle. To a similar extent as bigger trucks, payload is limited to the truck class rating minus wet weight of the truck. Which may not be actually overloading anything but the sticker. That for you to calc though if you’re interested.
If you’re asking these questions, you aren’t that well versed in vehicles and towing, so just keep er within your tow rating by that 20% or so like you mentioned and have fun camping!

[spud1957]

In order to have a 13,200 tow rating you need:

4x2 Super Crew
157" WB
Max Trailer Tow Package
20" Tires and Wheels

If you have all of those attributes then you have 13,200. If you don't all four, then the tow rating it is less. Could be as low as 10,000.

[ScottG]

That's within 500# of my Dodge (13,700).

[KC10Chief]

Sorry! I forgot to include the payload. The payload on my truck's door jamb says 1,464. I'm figuring that two adults, my daughter, possibly a friend of hers, and two small dogs, that's 600 pounds of payload gone. Leaves me with 864. I don't really want to be at the maximum abilities on my truck either. I always wait to fill water tanks until I'm at or very close to my destination.

Another thing I'm considering is the length of trailer. Especially living in Oklahoma. Also to be considered is the storage unit place I use. A 36' indoor storage unit is $130 a month with electricity. Not a bad deal. A 50' unit is $365 a month! Don't ask me why the drastic price difference. Anyways, I am looking to stay under 36' total length, obviously. HA! One of the floor plans I really like is the Keystone Cougar 29BHSWE. We like having a king bed and there's two bunks in the back. It's 6,900 pounds dry according to their site. 1,900 pounds of cargo capacity though. I know from previous experience, that things start to accumulate in a travel trailer. HA!
https://www.keystonerv.com/travel-trailers/cougar-half-ton/floorplans/29bhswe-travel-trailer/

[Beentherefixedt]

Super_Dave wrote:
I wonder if the new zillion speed transmissions are increasing tow ratings?

Of course they are. This is how it's done. If you look at the big trucks, class 8 tractors. Most now have 10 speeds, but those that haul really heavy loads still use 15 and 18 speed transmissions.

The problem in towing IS PRIMARILY one of overcoming the initial forces that keep the load static. Once rolling it's a much easier proposition.

Now this F150 has proved what I have maintained for a very long time. That our pickups are underrated purposely and can tow much much more than the manufacterer claims.

In addition to the fact that there is a 1.5X safety factor built in if you look at the horsepower and torque ratings and the weight percentage between the class 8 tractor and it's max load (GCVW) the math will reveal the physics at play. Compare that to the weight of your pickup to the overall GCVW you tow. You will find that your pickup and trailer has a much much larger percentage differential.

Our pickups are now at almost Half of the torque of a class 8 truck designed to haul a GVCW of 80k lbs the horsepower is even closer. My Ram TDSL making 385HP Vs class 8 engines putting out a range between 400 and 500HP.

Frames are the next most important factor and the average pickup frame is, despite being designed with FEA (finite element analysis) to maximize strength where necessary and lighten the structure, are still much much stronger than needed for the Tow and Haul ratings.

Of course there is a limit, but in real terms we are not anywhere near what our trucks can realistically safely haul.

What we have is a marketing tool for carmakers that drive buyers up market to ever bigger and more powerful (Read Expensive and profitable)trucks. Ford is taking a swipe at this paradigm and it's about time.

[LanceRKeys]

Every trailer out there seems to be advertised as “half ton towable” you should be fine with anything your dealer sells you !

Simply amazing numbers from a half ton. I’m not going to tell my 7.3, it may just get jealous.

[Super_Dave]

I wonder if the new zillion speed transmissions are increasing tow ratings?

[Lwiddis]

Very impressive number and I wouldn’t max that with a 1/2 ton but as others have asked, what’s the payload?