Did you get your truck yet? I'm anxious to hear how you think it rides. I've had caps on a couple trucks before. With my last truck I went with a hard folding tonneau cover. I'm not sure if I will get a tonneau for this next truck, but I know I won't go back to caps.

 

Agreed with pretty much everything except this. I have the 3.73 with max tow and my mileage (empty) has been fantastic.

 

I've got the EB & 3.73 rear & I'm getting 18.3 mpg (8k miles). That's not bad, I'm good with that. Plus I gotta lead foot. This aint no smartcar!

 

Not yet...sometime next week.

 

I'll get mine at the end of January. Max tow & HD payload EB.
I opted for these packages for TT towing, camping and hauling wood / landscape supplies. The non HD payload is close to that of a station wagon.

 

I mentioned above, but my wifes car is a WV Passat Wagon - door sticker 1060lbs payload. I guess that mean's its a half-ton

I saw that sticker on the 5.0 HD Payload 157" on ford-trucks.com 2228lbs Wonder if the EB is lighter than the 5.0? I'll be very happy with 2100, anything over that will be gravy. My 2500HD was 3200, but I paid dearly in gas mileage.

 

The screw 4x4 6.5' bed HD will have around 2,200 lbs of payload, give or take, after options. I have recently seen a 2012 HD payload 5.0 XLT, it's sticker showed 2,228lbs.
Funny, my wife drives a Passat wagon as well, and I think the payload is around 1,100 lbs. And a while back I saw a guy post his yellow door jamb sticker here (it was a 2011 Lariat I think), and it showed 1,150 lbs. That's why I said "similar to a station wagon". It really is in some cases.

To be honest, I am very surprised that the HD payload and max tow options are so rare. Without, you can't really use much of the bed very well, and travel trailer towing is very limited as well. These options make it a capable truck IMO.

 

I have a 2011 xlt ext cab 8 foot box , Ecoboost with heavy payload and max tow . Payload is 2289 . I load my 1100 lbs camperette on the back and tow a utility trailer with ATV and camping stuff. Truck rides super smooth on highway and on gravel roads too. I inflate the tires to 65 and 60 when loaded and back off to 55 and 50 unloaded. Compared to a light duty it will be harsher but way more capable .

 

So I don't pretend to know if this is possible, but couldn't you swap out the hubs or something to 8 lug so that the odd 7 lug wheels could be replaced if you wanted to?

17" diameter seems pretty small... well by 2011 standards anyway.

 

There are aftermarket rims that fit the 7 lug pattern. They even sell ugly black ones