David70

I have done a decent amount of searching both here and through general internet searches.

My mother (retired) currently has a 2wd Nissan Titan that has about 170k miles on it. Purchased with 40k on it and put 80% of the miles pulling a TT. I think the tow rating on the Titan is about 9500 lbs. and her trailer probably weighs about 8000 lbs. She travel alone (helps with payload in truck) and needs another truck with a higher capacity.

She (with my help) is considering a year or two old Supercab (or Supercrew), Ecoboost V6, 2wd, 3.73 Axle Ratio, 145" Wb and Max Trailer Towing Package. From the charts this gives a GCWR of 16,900 and the Maximum Loaded Trailer Weight of 11,300 (from Ford).

First, when looking at a used truck, how do you know it has the 3.73 and Max Trailer Towing Package with it. Second, anything wrong with our thinking.

Since getting what we want and used can be a challenge, is there anywhere you can put the VIN in and get the above? I haven't found anywhere that lists the Axle Ratio or whether it came with the Towing Package.

djfllmn

iTrader: (1)

window sticker will tell you what you need to know...fords certified pre-owned window stickers pretty much tell you everything

93Cobra#2771

iTrader: (2)

There is also a ford website that u pit your vin andit show you exactly what the truck is equipped with.

You may find that for a 1000 or so more dollars, with current incentives a new truck won't be much more than a year or two old truck.

You need to know the tongue weight on the trailer so you can spec your cargo capacity. Some floor plans can have very heavy tongue weights.

Max tow with 3.73 is great choice. However, they are few and far between on the used market. Why? Because they are few and far between on the new market.

If you are within the cargo capacity (yellow sticker inside drivers door jamb) then you should be fine.

If you go with xcab over a screw, you will have even more cargo capacity.

I'm going to assume the trailer has around 1000# capacity, and a max tow truck should have 1700# cargo.

If its a very heavy tongue weight, or she has lot of firewood and such, then a HEavy duty payload package truck is the ticket.

But I really think AAC tow truck will do it for you.

David70

I appreciate the replies but they don't really tell me all I am looking to find out.

Even if you're right, it requires us to buy a CPO from a dealer. It also requres us to visit every dealer and see every truck when the truck we are looking for will probably be hard to find. I will go this weekend to one of the local Ford dealers to see if it is on the document.

I read and will look into the rest of the e-mail you posted and appreciate it.

I found a VIN decoder - http://www.therangerstation.com/tech...VIN_Codes.html, found a VIN and it tells me the following -

4th position of the VIN - GVWR Range of 6,001-10,000. How can I tell the tow rating which seems to be dependent on the axle ratio and Max Tow Package?

With Ford building roughly 500k F-150's in the years we are looking for, it shouldn't be impossible to find the used combination we are looking for. Also, she may have to go to more than a year or two old and at some point I am assuming the used truck (especially from an individual) should be cheaper than new.

93Cobra#2771

iTrader: (2)

This is the vin decoder I'm talking about. It will generate the window sticker the truck was sold with. Replace the vin at the end of the link with the vin you are looking at.

http://services.forddirect.fordvehic...FW1EV5AFA32072

Visual clues of max tow? Tow mirrors, brake controller are good indicators.

RightYouAreKen

Tow ratings aren't the important number, it's payload you need to worry about with a tt. The loaded tongue weight plus all people and cargo in the truck should not exceed the payload rating on that particular truck. It will vary according to options. A loaded tt should have 10-15% weight on the tongue, so you'll run out of payload before you run out of tow rating with most half ton trucks.

acadianbob

X2. Max Tow gives you about 350 extra pounds of payload capacity so that is an important option. Max Tow has the big mirrors; that's the easiest way to tell. And Max Tow requires 3.73 gears. So, there you go. Good luck.

brulaz

Think my truck is just what the op is looking at.

With the 2050# payload, the main factor will be the 4050# rear GAWR.

Look on the door. GVWR should be 7500#, rear GAWR should be 4050#.

Wonderful truck.

Oh ya, max tow came auto with 3.73 lim slip diff.

David70

Thank you, this will help a lot in the internet search. Can weed out a lot of trucks without actually driving to see them. The more particular we are about getting exactly what we want, the more helpful this may be. We also don't have to rely on the salesperson to tell us what it came with.

Ok, so looking at a used truck sold by an individual, how do you determine the payload (assuming GVWR is needed)? Now with the VIN decoder above we can if we have a computer but wonder while looking at the truck.

So she drives by herself, with stuff in the truck and bed all together so payload in the truck is about 300 lbs. If you add in a 6000 lb. truck and an 8000 lb. trailer I think this makes the GCWR about 14,300 lbs. and with the 10% tongue weight I have a payload of only about 1,100 lbs. Based on only worrying about the payload it seems like almost any truck will tow the 8,000 lbs. When hauling a heavy trailer I can't see how the axle ratio isn't important (or at least helpful).

From the chart, the 4x2, ecoboost, with the 3.15 axle ratio has a GCWR of 14,000 lbs and a tow rating of 8,600 lbs, the 4x2 ecoboost with the 3.73 and Max Tow has a GCWR of 16,900 and a tow rating of 11,300. If she will be towing the trailer 80% of the time (around the country) it seems like the GCWR, Tow Rating, and axle ratio should be important. Taking the Tow Rating from 8,600 to 11,300 seems like a big jump.

Thank you for the information, in the last couple of months I (never needed or purchased a truck) have gotten a lot smarter about what is available.

smokeywren

2011-up F-150 has the max payload on a sticker on the doorframe.

Wrong.

My 2012 F-150 SuperCrew EcoBoost has "tow rating" of 8,400 pounds, but with my TT that grossed only 4,860 pounds I exceeded the GVWR of the truck by 100 pounds. Sure, the EcoBoost can pull 8,000 pounds, but without Max Tow or HD Payload options it cannot haul the hitch weight of even a 5,000-pound TT without being overloaded.

2011-up F-150 4x2 with EcoBoost engine and regular tow pkg: GVWR = 7,100. Add Max Tow pkg and GVWR goes up to 7,600 or 7,700 pounds. Or enough payload capacity to add over 3,000 pounds to my TT weight. So instead of 4,870, my TT could weigh close to 8,000 pounds before I was 100 pounds overloaded. If I need to tow more than 8,000 pounds then I also need the HD payload pkg which adds another 500 pounds to the GVWR.

On a 2011-up F-150, the axle ratio doesn't add payload capacity unless you get the 3.73 E-Locker which with EcoBoost engine comes with the Max Tow Pkg, or the 3.73 limited slip which comes with the HD Payload pkg as well as the Max Tow pkg. With 3.15 vs 3.55 axle ratio, the tow rating goes up, but the payload rating does not. So you cannot tow any more with the 3,.55 than with the 3.15 because of payload restrictions.

To repeat, ignore tow ratings and axle ratio. Worry about the GVWR, which results in payload capacity. Payload capacity is the limiter for F-150s towing tandem-axle TTs or cargo trailers.