summerboy1958

Hi F150’ers. I need some help. I am looking for a “new to me” tow vehicle to allow for towing a heavier boat, up to ~7000 pounds (BM&T, wet). The truck I am looking at is a 2001 F150, 5.4l, Super Crew cab, Lariat, automatic, 4x4 with the tow package and higher GCWR.

Ford’s 2001 tow guide indicates a max trailer load of 7700 pounds, but down in the notes area it indicates that the frame mounted hitch receiver has a weight carrying capacity of 5000 pounds max and a weight distributing capacity of 8800. This same info is shown in the 2002 guide, but not later guides.

Since I have never seen a weight distributing hitch on a boat trailer, am I correct in assuming that this truck will only haul 5000 pounds or less? My current vehicle can do that.

Thanks for helping me get this straight.

smokeywren

The following is what "boat people" tell me.


Ignore the max trailer weight for towing a boat. Concentrate on the max tongue weight (TW) without a WD hitch.


A max TW rating without a WD hitch should be about 500 pounds. Boat trailers are normally loaded to about 7% to 8% TW, and some even less. So divide that 500 by 0.08 and the answer is 6,250 max gross weight of boat and trailer without overloading your receiver. Or with bigger outboard engine(s) your TW might be only 7% of gross trailer weight. 500 divided by 0.07 = 7,143.


So you should be able to tow a 7k boat trailer without exceeding the TW rating of your receiver. But you'll be right up against the TW limit so be sure you weigh the tongue with a tongue weight scale before you decide to drag that much weight with your F-150.


I'm not a "boat person" and I don't buy that logic. Ford says your TW should be at least 10% of gross trailer weight, and they don't make any exceptions for boat trailers. So with a 7k boat trailer, the TW will be a lot more than 500 pounds, and thus requiring a weight-distributing (WD)hitch.


Yes, WD hitches are available for trailers that have surge brakes. Check out Equal-I-Zer hitches.

summerboy1958

Great feedback. Thanks. Any idea why the towing requirements changed in the 03 tow report? They don't mention the need for a wd hitch.

jp360cj

I doubt the requirements actually changed, just the wording of the tow guide, which is a marketing tool. Even the newest F150 still have the 500/5000 hitch limit without a WD hitch.

summerboy1958

Thanks

WXman

^^^^^ This. Towing ratings are largely marketing rather than true engineering.

A good example is how on my generation of truck, Ford said that if you went from 3.55 to 3.73 axle ratio, you could magically tow 2,100 more pounds. As if 150 RPM, which isn't even detectable on the tachometer, magically lets you pull an additional ton. LMAO. Sounds like a really awesome way to sell $300 ring and pinion options to new customers, doesn't it?

summerboy1958

If i go look at this 01, are there any known hot spots that i should check. I know the owner, i work with him and he lives up the street. He is pretty **** about his "stuff", but he doesn't know everything.

WXman

Seems like those models had some kind of issue relating to the doors, but I can't remember exactly what it was. Sheetmetal failures or rust or something.

summerboy1958

His has a rust spot on the passenger quarter panel