Moore08

The 6.5 foot bed will help out a lot in stability when pulling next to the trucks rated capacity. I have the 5.5 foot bed and sometimes I wished I had opted for the 6.5, its always better to have too much bed than not enough. The fords sit more level than the gm trucks with a trailer on them

Truck owner

My 2013 EB Maxtow 6.5bed with off-road pkg. has the rear sit up alittle when at rest so when I hook up the boat it drops the rear to sit level and is perfect for towing with no nose high riding when towing. I don't know if this was the plan but it sure works out well. I think when you add a lift/level kit it causes the rear to get lowered when towing.

sure_mac

We have a 2011 Ecoboost Screw with Max Tow, 3.73 and 5.5' bed. While I think the 6.5' bed looks better, more proportionate, we needed to keep it short for drivability and parking in the garage (this is my wife's daily driver).

As far as towing goes, my take away from previous discussions was that the 2 primary benefits of the Max Tow package were the telescoping mirrors and the added payload capacity.

1-the mirrors are fantastic when telescoped for pulling our camper, but I even like the extra visibility for daily driving. The only downside is that they are wide even when "in" and they must be manually folded in. This makes getting in/out of parking ramps a challenge (some garages too, I'd guess).

2-I don't recall the exact number, but I thought our payload capacity went up about 250 pounds with Max Tow (presumably owed to an extra rear spring, or stronger springs or ?). Anyway, few of us are likely to pull 10-11,000 pounds. But even a moderate sized camper/boat carries significant tongue weight and then add the weight of 4-5 people, a bike rack with bikes, cooler, generator or whatever in the bed. Those extra 250 pounds are priceless.

My 2 cents,
Allan

kidastra

iTrader: (1)

Right, that's why a lot of people do leveling kits so it sits level when not towing.

Truck owner

I agree the lift kits look great and wish I could do one but since I tow every weekend I chose not to, I equally didn't like the fact my rear would be lowered and front end lifted trailering down the road. Damn if you do and Damn if you don't!!

Prosper

I swear, is there not a salesman out there that will look for what I want? I tell them crew, Eco, 4x4, max tow, 6.5 and they always flake...sell me what I want!!

banddirector

Which is exactly why I got the Scab and the 6.5 bed. I may not have all the passenger room of a Screw (which I don't need; I need the bed space more), but the truck fits in the garage - - barely ....

AlienAbductor

I am curious if anyone can post a picture of the larger transmission cooler that comes with the max tow package. I have an FX4 Ecoboost with the standard tow package and wanted to increase my trans cooling while pulling heavy up steep mountains in this Arizona heat. I called Ford service and parts departments and neither one could find a part number for the upgraded trans cooler. They only list one part number for the standard trans cooler. I even called Tasca Auto Parts and they couldn't find anything other than the standard one on the FX 4. They checked all possible configurations for an F150 with every engine and could not find a different cooler than the one I have.

Can anyone confirm there is a better trans cooler? Or does the Max tow only have bigger mirrors and an extra leaf in the back? If anyone could post the two part numbers for the trans coolers that would be great also.

Thank

Tunaman

not a ford owner today, always was and may be again, but your question is pretty basic. As for towing, I'm an old truck driver and I believe in over kill when it comes to towing. Is Max Tow absolutly neccessary? Probably not. Remember, in the 70'2 everyone was towing fifth wheel campers up to almost 40' with 3/4 ton trucks with 6 ply tires, not even dualies. These old campers were lots heavier than todays. But today if they have a 30' most people think they need 1 ton heavy duty dualies! I personally will have the Max Towing on any PU I own.
As far as the bed, I have a 5 1/2 ft bed on the quad cab, similar to ford crew cab. Even with the short bed in todays parking lots where the spaces are set up for these pregnant skate boards the wheel base is plenty long enough. Now occasionally I buy a few pieces of lumber, 8". We simply slide it in over the tailgate with the tailgate up and go home. The 6 1/2 ft bed wouldn't be any better for 8' lumber, just an example. It's all in what you like and want. Personally, I like the look of the 5 1/2 ft bed better. Tried out a chevy in 08 , crew cab, 8' bed, felt like a school bus. Good for contractors hauling 4-5 guys and a load of lumber and equipment but not for me. The dealer doesn't care wether you like the truck or not after you buy it, don't forget that, he's gonna push what he has the most of. Why does he have the most of something? Maybe no-one wanted it!! Good luck.

thiggins

As far as I can tell, ( I also have an FX4 with the standard towing package) the only difference between the standard towing package and the Max Tow, is the addition of the towing mirrors and an upgraded rear bumper. ( Who tows on the rear bumper anymore ?...) Really, it's just the mirrors that might be useful.

The added leaf spring belongs to the HD Payload package (627).

Read about all that here in the towing guide.