When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Has anyone ever noticed how nonsensical Ford's frontal area restrictions are?
No-Tow Package (Rated:5000 lb) - 36.6' (Same as base truck).
A 4x4 has slightly more frontal area (height and tire size) so can't pull any trailer. A 4x2 can't tow a bass boat because the trailer fenders, tires and boat sides stick out increasing frontal area.
Maximum frontal area for any F150 towing a non-fifth wheel is 60 sq ft. A typical full size travel trailer is close to 80'.
.
I wonder if this stuff is written just to give a convenient warranty out because I don't know anyone that abides by it.
I add the question: what do you measure when calculating frontal area? There isn’t frontal wind resistance in the area between the body sides below the tailgate except there is drag along the sides. For my purposes, frontal area calculation should subtract that area.
How do you calculate front area of a boat since most boat hulls are inherently aerodynamic with limited windage except from windshields and trailer components sticking out, and within the windstream?
According to Ford it's the total frontal area of the combination. IE the vehicle + any trailer area that extends past it's outline.
The area where it would get in and hit the nose of the trailer behind the truck would be part of coefficient of drag as opposed to frontal area.
That brings up the point that a wedge type snowmobile trailer would be much less draggy than a square front enclosed car trailer even though it has the same frontal area. No real allowance is made by Ford for this.
I wonder if this stuff is written just to give a convenient warranty out because I don't know anyone that abides by it.
Nonsense. How do they know what you are towing?
What they are doing is covering themselves from liability by putting restrictions in place for lesser vehicles.
If they did not put it in writing, sure as the sun rises, some guy with a 3.3 L engine in a regular cab would hook up humongous travel trailer and then complain when his front wheels are off the ground, because Ford did not tell him he could not do that.
That legalese is because Ford has to legally protect themselves from the idiots below.
What they are doing is covering themselves from liability by putting restrictions in place for lesser vehicles.
If they did not put it in writing, sure as the sun rises, some guy with a 3.3 L engine in a regular cab would hook up humongous travel trailer and then complain when his front wheels are off the ground, because Ford did not tell him he could not do that.
That legalese is because Ford has to legally protect themselves from the idiots below.
The 60' does not apply to the 3.3,L. They don't have a high enough tow rating to apply for that category. It does restrict the 3.5EB Max Tow to trailers smaller than a typical travel trailer though.
The only true way to figure frontal area is if you know the trailer CoD, Coefficient of Drag. The F150 frontal area is somewhere around 36 sqft. Unless you are towing a flat faced semi trailer behind, you won't know the actual frontal area without the CoD of the trailer to determine the actual FA. I'm sure someone somewhere being a math genius can give the formula on how to figure it out.
One thing, up until the Superduty shared the same body, the 2015 and up F150 had more frontal area than the SD for towing due to the aerodynamics built into the body to direct airflow out the wheel wells and create frictionless air bubbles.
Did the F150 have a physically larger frontal area than the F250, or was this just what they put on paper? The whole purpose of the vents is to reduce drag on the front wheels/tires, which would reduce effective frontal area. Just wondering where the larger frontal area comes from.
As it is stated in the RV and trailer towing guide...
"Exceeding these limitations may significantly reduce the performance of your towing vehicle"
It does not say void your warranty.
What it should say is...
"Exceeding these limitations may significantly increase the fuel consumption of your towing vehicle so don't come whining to us about it"
As it is stated in the RV and trailer towing guide...
"Exceeding these limitations may significantly reduce the performance of your towing vehicle"
It does not say void your warranty.
What it should say is...
"Exceeding these limitations may significantly increase the fuel consumption of your towing vehicle so don't come whining to us about it"
Exactly! Besides EPA doesn't have towing fuel efficiency.
05-24-2020, 12:35 PM
Ford Nonsensical Frontal Area Restrictions
