moend

I think if you are using the truck for towing only then why not considering F250. I know you can two with F150 but am not sure if they meant to do this all day long. I just recently pulled a u haul trailer from Houston, TX to Bismarck, ND almost 1500 miles and i would say the trailer was 6000 lbs and i felt it back there and the truck use to down shift on every little hill, it did't bother me because it was a one time deal but i will hate to do it all year long. Now my dad have an F250 and i towed the same trailer with his truck and boy oh boy that sucker pulled the trailer like it wasn't even there no down shifting and it picked up speed way faster than the F150. Just my 0.02
Good luck
Moe

zx12-iowa

Part of your story has to do with power which is the 5.0 s weak spot down low. A better engine like 6.2 or ecoboost will fix that and match or beat a super duty. Suspension is a different story.

montanaman

The rear suspension is a limiting factor - so I installed a set of SuperSprings, and the rear end behaves itself. I'm pulling 11,000 lbs with my 2011 XLT, 5.0, 3.55LS, OEM trailer brake controller - no problems

moend

I saw a guy pulling a bobcat with F150 and you can tell the his rear suspension where suffering

Needs tires

If your thinking about towing anything over 8000 lbs I wouldn't screw around with a f150 I own one with the max tow pkg and a 153 inch wheel base 373 gear Eco boost and tow a race car trailer . It tows fine it's 28 feet long and weighs over 10000 lbs . It's all good until something happens it pushes that f150 like it was made of paper . It's fine around 55 to 60 mph but if you loose the trailer brakes kiss your *** good by . I lost two of the brakes towing home from a race I ran over a piece of tire in the road and it tore one of the trailer brake wires . I lost 2 of the brakes on the rear axel . I needed to make a hard stop for a guy who ran a stop . I stood on the brakes and just missed him . I lost the brake pedal it boiled the fluid I was going about 60 mph down hill ! I pulled over and the front brakes were smoking and were so hot it turned the rotors blue . Just saying don't screw around with a 150 it's the best truck I ever owned and wouldn't trade it for any dodge or Toyota . But it has it's limitations . So now I call it my wife's truck . The 250 or 350 ride like a truck and suck up fuel it depends how much towing you do if only once and a while the 150 is great but every week like I do it's not a good idea . I can't say enough about the ecoboost it just keeps pulling and pulling its amazing !!!!!!

moend

True these trucks are capable motor wise but suspension and brakes that is a different story. I bet you these motor can pull 20000 lbs no problem actually the old F250 has the 5.4 the same found in the F150 higher trim level

montanaman

There's a lot of truth here - simple physics, a 5800# vehicle cannot stop something weighing over 8000#, plus it's own weight, very effectively without trailer brakes.

I'm in the rental business, and you'd be surprised how many companies rent out skid steer and mini-excavators, on a trailer to people without first checking their truck for a trailer brake controller. I saw a guy who rented a 14' Dump trailer, filled it with dirt, and the first intersection he came to he was pushed all the way through it by his load. Almost killed himself.

We are really spoiled nowadays, with F150's built as beefy as F250 were years ago, with a 300hp V6 BASE engine, compared to 160hp 351M & 400M gass guzzlers from the 70's. In 1995, my buddies F250 had a Fuel Injected 460, that got 7 or 8 mpg, and only made 350 hp.

superdave150

Let's boil it down to the essence: the real difference between a "light-duty" (F150/1500) and a "heavy-duty" (F250/F350/2500/3500) comes down to 1.) longevity, and 2.) extra margins for extreme conditions. In engineering circles this is often referred to as the "duty cycle."

You can option-up a light-duty truck to do about as much towing & hauling as a heavy-duty. Maybe even more (my F150 has bigger brakes and more payload than some of my friends' diesels!!!). But the OEMs know what they are doing when they publish the ratings for a particular vehicle. If they say a truck is rated to tow just 7000lbs then dang it there must be some very good reasons for that!

My wife's Edge and my F150 both have roughly 300HP, so why is one rated to tow 3X times more ??? Can't I put airbags on the Edge and tow the same??? NO! What is the difference? I tell you, the difference is in cooling & lubrication & bearings & axles -- all things that contribute to longevity & margins. I might get away with using the Edge to tow 10,000lbs for a while, but we all know the poor Edge wouldn't last.

Likewise my F150 is happy to tow 6K or even 8K for a while but seriously, if I wanted to tow/haul something really big or in rough conditions (Alaska Highway, Davis Dam) I would look for something designed for a heavier duty cycle.

Things work best when you "right-size" the tool to the job.

smurfs_of_war

Well put

zx12-iowa

These truck can pull up to their ratings all day everyday. Many do. 25% of my miles are towin 5-10k lbs like I did in my last f150. Read a diesel board and those guys towing this same weight replace parts as well.