Regular Tow + Brake Controller vs Max Tow Package
06-07-2016, 11:50 PM
#42
Grumpy Old Man
Per the 2015 RV and Trailer Towing Guide, that truck has tow rating of 12,100. To have a tow rating of 12,200, you'd have to trade your SuperCab shorty for a regular cab long bed. Your SuperCab shorty does have GCWR of 17,100.
... but it has a heavy duty standard towing hitch rated at 11,000 lbs. when used with a weight distribution hitch. I want to tow 12,200 lbs.
Average tongue weight of a tandem axle travel is 13%. 13% of 11,000 pounds is 1,430 pounds. Does your wet and loaded F-150 have 1,430 pounds available payload for tongue weight?
I call FORD and the dealer is telling me that Ford put an 11,000 lb. hitch on a pickup that can tow 12,200 because once I load the truck down with drunken sailors and beer kegs I'll be at my max GCWR of 17,100.
Your hitch rated for 11,000 pounds max trailer weight is also probably rated 1,100 pounds max tongue weight (TW). Good luck in trying to find a tandem-axle trailer that when grossing 11,000 pounds has TW of less than 1,100 pounds.
Bottom line: The 12,100 tow rating is not your limiter. The 11,000 max trailer weight of your receiver is probably not your limiter. Your limiter is probably the actual payload capacity available for hitch weight, and if that max hitch weight (tongue weight plus the weight of the physical shank and head of your WD hitch) is more than the TW rating of your receiver , then the TW rating of your hitch is the limiter. So determine your actual limiter before you waste time and effort demanding a receiver you cannot use without overloading your F-150.
If TW is the limiter because the receiver is rated to only 1,100 pounds TW, then you need a receiver rated for at least 1,250 pounds to tow a TT that grosses 11,000 pounds. If you want to tow a TT that grosses 12,100, then your receiver must be rated for 1,575 pounds or more TW. Ford parts has a receiver rated for 1,500 pounds TW that is standard on a SuperDuty dually diesel, but it probably won't fit your F-150.
Even the heaviest-duty aftermarket receiver won't handle the hitch weight of a 12k trailer. Here's the closest available receiver available for an F-150:
https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Hit...leid=201643993
Note that one is rated for:
- Maximum TW when used with weight distribution: 1,200 lbs
Last edited by smokeywren; 06-08-2016 at 11:18 AM. Reason: add bottom line.
08-25-2018, 02:35 PM
#43
You have to dig deeper into "tow rating". It tells you the max weight of a trailer you can PULL without overheating anything in the drivetrain. But the fine print says you should never exceed the GVWR of the tow vehicle. And the tow rating ignores the GVWR (payload capacity). In order to pull a 10,000-pound TT with an F-150 without exceeding the GVWR, the F-150 would have to have no options other than engine and rear axle ratio, and nothing in it but a skinny driver. Nobody tows a TT under those conditions.
It's just not a travel trailer centric rating. They should limit all towing to 6,000 lb because of the fact you choose to load your truck heavy, use an overweight WDH and pull a trailer with a high pin weight? Some of us would prefer to be able continue to pull our 11,000 lb trailer without being prohibited because of the way your trailer is built and you use your truck.
08-25-2018, 02:52 PM
#44
You have to dig deeper into "tow rating". It tells you the max weight of a trailer you can PULL without overheating anything in the drivetrain. But the fine print says you should never exceed the GVWR of the tow vehicle. And the tow rating ignores the GVWR (payload capacity). In order to pull a 10,000-pound TT with an F-150 without exceeding the GVWR, the F-150 would have to have no options other than engine and rear axle ratio, and nothing in it but a skinny driver. Nobody tows a TT under those conditions.
It's just not a travel trailer centric rating. They should limit all towing to 6,000 lb because of the fact you choose to load your truck heavy and pull a trailer with a high pin weight? Some of us would prefer to be able continue to pull our 11,000 lb trailer without be prohibited because of the way your trailer is built and you use your truck
