Zales0574

Can I get some help in understanding how much my truck can tow? I seem to be coming up with different numbers and I just want to make sure I get the correct capacity.

I have a 2015 F150 4x4 Lariat 6 1/2 ft bed

These are the two stickers on the inside driver door:




I then looked in the manual and found this page: My engine is the 5.0L V8 and the 3.55 axle ratio, so I believe the GCWR is 14,500lbs


I then found this page listing towing capacity, my truck has the 157" wheel base, which is the very last column.



So my question is the tag on my truck says the GVWR is 7050, but the listing from the above picture which I found through Ford says the maximum loaded trailer weight I can tow is 9100lbs.

Which number is correct? 7050lbs or 9100lbs? Or am I just reading this all wrong and neither is the correct towing capacity?

Thank you for your help.

Here are some pictures also of my hitch and my plug ins if this helps any:

Nighthawk87

You can tow 7,893 lbs

Zales0574

Okay, how did you come up with that number? I've never even seen that number before.

Thank you.

meathooker

It would be easy to figure out the ratings if it was an XLT.

acdii

The easiest way to find out is to load the truck up with the people and gear you would consider taking with when traveling, and hit a scale. Subtract that weight from the GVWR on the white tag, which on yours is 7050. The balance is how much tongue weight you can carry, subtract from that the weight of the hitch, between 80-100 pounds. Now you have a true TW. That would be 15% of the GVWR of the trailer in question, and that is your True towing capacity.

You can consider a fudge factor by using 13% instead, but try to stick to that if you can so you don't overload the rear axle.

smokeywren

You're confusing payload capacity, tow rating, GVWR, and GCWR.


Your GCWR of 14,500 pounds is the max combined weight of the rig when wet and loaded on the road, without overheating anything in the drivetrain, and without being the slowpoke holding up traffic on hills and passes. But GCWR doesn't consider any other weight limits, such as GVWR or GAWR or hitch weight rating.

Tow rating is GCWR minus the weight of the empty truck. Nothing in the truck but a full tank of gas and a skinny driver. So tow rating is overstated, and usually severely overstated.

Your GVWR of 7050 is the maximum weight on the axles of the truck without overloading the suspension, tires, wheels, frame or brakes of the F-150. GVWR is usually the limiter as to how heavy a trailer you can tow without being overloaded.

Payload capacity on the door sticker is GVWR minus the weight of the empty the truck.


Neither one.


The 7050 is the max weight on the 4 tires of the truck when sitting on a CAT scale. including hitch weight of any trailer, but not the weight on the trailer axles.

The 9,100 is the overstated MAXIMUM tow rating. Note that word maximum. You can tow a trailer that weighs 9,100 pounds without being overloaded only if you do not exceed any other weight limits of the tow vehicle. But considering the other weight limits, your real world tow rating is probably around 7,000 pounds.

What you want to know is the payload capacity available for hitch weight, which is GVWR minus the weight of the wet and loaded truck ready to tow, and loaded with everybody and everything that will be in it when towing, then subtract another 100 pounds for the weight of a good weight-distributing hitch. The payload capacity on the door sticker assumes no weight in the F-150, so you would have to estimate all the weight in the F-150 to use that sticker payload capacity.

Divide the payload capacity available for hitch weight by 0.13 (13%) to get an estimated maximum trailer tongue weight you can tow without being overloaded. As acdii noted, 13% tongue weight is average, but some TTs have up to 15%, so if you want to be pretty sure you won't be overloaded, then divide the payload capacity available for hitch weight by 0.15 (15%) instead of 13%.

Trying to estimate weights without weighing the truck on a CAT scale often means you'll be overloaded when on the road with the wet and loaded trailer. So plan on loading the truck with everybody and everything that will be in it when towing, drive to a truck stop that has a CAT scale, fill up with gas, then weight the wet and loaded truck. Then subtract the actual weight of the wet and loaded truck from the GVWR of the truck and you'll have an accurate payload capacity available for tongue weight. Subtract another 100 pounds and the answer will be the payload capacity available for hitch weight of a normal travel trailer.

rodsterinfl

I would like to help on this. I have been led astray by salesmen and almost made a purchase mistake until my towing need was redirected to a different truck by the sales manager of a dealer after the salesman gave bad info and was corrected in front of me. This info also refers to max tow package- assuming that the maximum towing capacities are attainable, otherwise, the limit is 5000# for trailer weight w/o a towing package.

Here is my lesson and I pass it on to you regarding payload and towing.

PAYLOAD:
F150 trucks are 1/2 ton trucks. Keep that in mind 1/2 ton equals 1000#. Remember that when a salesman tells you it will haul 2-3000# in its bed! Just an FYI. That said, they will haul more but the details tell just how much. Ford makes it simplified for the customer. Example, in the 2017 F150 Manual pp. 249-50 it states that payload includes cargo items loaded in, people and tongue weight. They even show this graphically with nice pictures! Just in case it is missed, they mention again on page 250 just before the warning that states tongue weight is subtracted from payload capacity. The hitch has two capacities - a regular hitch capacity and a weight distributing hitch capacity. The numbers are on the hitch.
F150s are stickered with a load label identified in the manual p.249 - the one with the tire information and the all-telling sentence that reads, "The combined weight of occupants and cargo should never exceed..." This figure is THE PAYLOAD figure. That is what the truck can carry. The problem with trying to figure the truck payload capacity from the GVWR is that Ford has what is called an ARC weight or "additional reserve capacity". This is not a published weight because ARC weight is used for options. It is the percentage weights that some are posting but it is not really to be counted as available. Example, my 2017 F150 on the window sticker says 6750# GVWR package. That is the base build. Then there is the truck's weight including ALL OPTIONS factory added to subtract including gas weight (full tank as Ford does). The ARC weight is a part of that too but the only way to know offhand just what is left to use for payload is that sticker. The load sticker is the guide for putting people, stuff and trailer tongue kingpin or bearing weight on the truck. The F150s load up to around 1900 or so pounds depending on what trim or configuration you have. The door sticker is specific to the truck. Your sticker says 1811#. This is cargo, people and only the tongue weight of a trailer - all bearing weight on the truck's axles along with the truck.

TOW RATING:
The tow rating is less technical. The charts simply assign a pull weight based on a trucks engine and rear axle configuration. It does not include the tongue weight but it does relate to trailer gross weight and the GCWR of truck and trailer max weights. See the chart on this one - much more straightforward than payload. Your truck configuration is rated to tow (pull) 9100#.

The confusion?
Some people try to figure payload from the gross weights but the problem is the fudgy numbers like the unknown ARC weight that can be 600-800 or so pounds and mixing up payload with tow rating. This can be tested with a CAT scale weigh-in. My '15 F150 Lariat on paper was said to weigh just barely over 4950# but the cat scale was 200# greater empty and with only a half tank of gas. My load sticker read max payload 1720#. The problem is that if I used the 6800 = GVWR that truck had subtracted from the GCWR of 17000 listed for its configuration all the numbers didn't jive. It gives a false payload and towing rating is less than the chart. BTW the towing rating for the configuration is 11,900# with max tow but figuring it off of GCWR is 10,200 towing and a payload of somewhere near 2254# (based only on base weight of the truck without any options). Use the sticker for payload and towing guide chart for tow capacity. Some dealers use the order sheet weights for the weight of the truck but if you check it out (CAT SCALE), your truck probably weighs up to 600 or so pounds more than the order sheet! I believe that the sheets are based on base weight. This aligns with the facts related to sticker load rating and the Ford manual and makes them accurate. Smokeywren has it right as well I believe.

Sawdust102

I didn't read all the posts. but here is the simple answer, judging by your hitch you do not have the hd towing package. So the simple answer is 5000 lbs.

rodsterinfl

What Sawdust posted is true. There is a tow package and a max tow package.
From the 2015 Towing Guide p.4.
"F-150
• For trailers over 5,000 pounds – Trailer Tow Package or Max Trailer Tow Package"

kbroderick

I believe in Ford parlance, the "Heavy Duty" towing package is the standard towing package, and "Max Tow" is a step above that. So as long as the hitch pictured is a factory hitch, the truck in question has at least "Heavy Duty" towing (it's not just a bumper-mount hitch).