smokeywren

The Ford Class IV receiver is rated Class IV only when towing with a WD hitch. Without a WD hitch, it's called a weight-carrying hitch and it's rated for a max of 5000 pounds trailer weight = the same as the weight-carrying ball mount built into the rear step bumper.



We're not talking about tow ratings or GCWR of the tow vehicle. We're talking about the weight limits of the receiver hitch. My Ford OEM receiver hitch is rated for a max of 500 pounds tongue weight or 5,000 pounds trailer weight without a WD hitch. But with a WD hitch, those weights more than double.

mass-hole

If you get no towing package whatsoever, then yes it is limited to 5k. Its not the power thats the issue, its the cooling, particularly the trans cooler that is really important. I'd be really surprised if you found a 3.5 Ecoboost truck with no tow package, but just do the research and make sure it has the trans cooler and you will be fine.

Having test driven the new Tacoma, I wouldnt tow anything with that piece of crap. That engine was awful and was downshifting to 5th just to maintain highway speeds for me. The frontier and GMC Canyon were both solid.

I also think you would be surprised at how close the mid-sized trucks are to the F150's in weight. Its not more than a few hundred lbs for a similarly optioned F150 to a tacoma. Thats why the F150's are getting the same or better MPG's than the mid-sized trucks.

atwowheelguy

There's more in the Towing Package than just a hitch receiver and a 7 pin wiring harness. See the table. There's also an auxiliary transmission cooler and an upgraded front stabilizer bar.

KP Texan

Thanks for the input guys!

I agree, as I wouldn't think of towing something over 5000lbs without a WD hitch. That being said, I don't understand why Ford would even equip an F-150 with 3.5L Ecoboost that could tow no more than 5000lbs assuming it had a Class IV receiver and WD hitch.

Example of truck with Max Tow:
http://www.windowsticker.forddirect....EW1EGXHKC22867

Identical truck with class IV hitch but no Max Tow:
http://www.windowsticker.forddirect....EW1EG0HKE36265

GVWR Is identical between both, but I tried to view GCWR in the owners manual which can be quite confusing:
http://www.fordservicecontent.com/Fo...CA_12_2016.pdf

What is the "Heavy Duty Trailer Tow Payload Package" anyway? I don't recall seeing it on available options, but it is certainly listed under towing guidelines in the manual (pg. 279).

This is all a moot point because I am now only looking for truck with max tow, but I'm just trying to understand it all.

2.7

I was going to post a new question, but my question fits the subject line of this post so I won't litter the board with another new post on this subject.

I traded in my 2.7 a week and a half ago for a 2017 3.5 ecoboost. There is no tow package listed on my window sticker (no 53a, 53b or 53c). However, I do have an auxiliary transmission cooler in front of the radiator, I have a receiver hitch, I have a 7 pin and 4 pin, I have a 36 gallon tank, I have a locking 3.55, I have 7000 gvwr, and when I climb under the back of the truck there is a sticker near the receiver hitch that says tow capacity with weight distribution is 11,000 lbs (which is odd because from the tables I've seen I thought it would be 10,700). Why don't I have a 53a or 53c listed on the window sticker? I'm assuming this is 53a as it did not come with a TBC but I added one and Ford already activated it for me for free.

One more thing, when I run the Vin on Ford ETS, the options show that I have the 9.75 rear end (looking under the truck it does match what I've seen the 9.75 looks like) . My payload on the door sticker is 1863 lbs. The trailer I tow is only 5K dry, so I knew when I bought this truck I'd be more than fine, but the not listing a tow package on the window sticker is odd to me.

KP Texan

And the plot thickens, haha. I'm interested to see what others say.

Can you confirm that your window sticker just lists "Class IV Hitch" like the second window sticker I posted?

2.7

Yes, it just says Class IV Trailer Hitch

I seem to have everything that's on the 53a package and most everything that's on the 53c

smokeywren

They don't. The 5k max trailer weight is WITHOUT a WD hitch. With a WD hitch the max trailer weight goes up to around 11k.

Ford defines a "heavy duty" hitch as one for 3,501 thru 5,000 pounds gross trailer weight. More than 5,000 pounds is extra-heavy duty, or Class IV. The Ford receiver is rated as a Class IV hitch only when combined with a WD hitch. Without a WD hitch it's actually a Class III "heavy duty" hitch.

I don't see the "Heavy Duty Trailer Tow Payload Package" in the order guide. If there is such a thing, I suspect it's a combo of the regular tow pkg 53A plus the 2.7L payload pkg available only with the 2.7L engine. The 2.7L drivetrain is challenged with a tiny payload capacity, so Ford offers to increase the payload capacity a bit with the 2.7L payload pkg. That's no where near the heavy duty payload pkg available with the 5.0L or 3.5L EcoBoost engines, but better than the standard 2.7L payload.

The "Heavy Duty Trailer Tow Package" (without the word payload included) is Fordspeak for the regular towing pkg, order code 53A. Ford has 4 different ways to tow a trailer:

1] Standard ball mount in the rear step bumper, rated for max gross trailer weight (GTW) of 5,000 pounds (or 500 pounds tongue weight, whichever comes first). You cannot use a weight-distributing (WD) hitch with this ball mount because there is no frame-mounted receiver.


2] Optional Class IV trailer hitch (53B), also rated for max GTW of 5,000 pounds or max tongue weight (TW) of 500 pounds. A WD hitch does not increase the max GTW because without a tow pkg you don't have the tranny cooling capacity or other specs necessary to tow a trailer that grosses more than 5,000 pounds.


3] Trailer Tow Pkg (53A) rated for 5,000 pounds max GTW or 500 pounds max TW without a WD hitch, but more than twice that weight with a WD hitch. The trailer tow pkg, which Ford sometimes calls the heavy duty tow pkg (see definition of" heavy duty" above), includes the frame-mounted receiver hitch as well as the tranny cooling capacity to tow an extra-heavy trailer over 5,000 pounds.


4] Max Tow Pkg (53C), still rated for 5,000 pounds max GTW without a WD hitch, but more than the regular tow pkg with a WD hitch.

KP Texan

What you wrote above was pretty much my assumption as well... that is, until 2.7 blew it out of the water with his discovery shown above. Sounds like there might be a tranny cooler on the 3.5 even if the window sticker just lists Class IV Trailer hitch with no other tow package options. He seems to have a heavy duty bumper as well. But, still don't know about the sway bar.

I even looked at Ford's Parts website and only saw one type of Aux tranny cooler for the 3.5 (FL3Z-7A095-A).

2.7

Something else that's odd on mine. When I run the Vin number on Ford ETS it says "less elect locking differential"

But I do in fact have a locking rear differential