KubotaMann

According to the dealer, Ford towing guide and a Google search there are 5 different weights I can tow. I am confused The truck I am currently looking at is a 2014 F150 FX4 SCREW 157'" WB, 3.5 Ecoboost, 6 speed with 3.73 axle it has "Max Tow Package".

What weight can I safely tow with an equalizing hitch?

Thank you kindly in advance.

chimmike

the max tow package is a terrible misnomer, and I have beef with it. Ford should've named the heavy duty payload package the "max tow" package as it applies better.

As for what you can tow, it's explained ad nauseum in this section in pretty much every other thread. Read around for 5 mins or so and you'll quickly find out how to figure out your exact towing capacity.

mass-hole

As he said, Ford's tow "rating" and what you can actually tow with the truck safely are two very different things. I have a 2014 157" Max-tow truck as well and realistically, I am probably limited to ~7500-8000 lbs despite the 11,100 lb rating due to low payload.

tcp2

I think the 3.73 axle only came on the HDPP trucks in 2014. Do you have 7 bolt wheels? Can you post a picture of your yellow door sticker? The main limitation for many trucks is the amount of payload (including hitch tongue weight) that ends up being the limiting factor, not the posted maximum on Ford's website.

smokeywren

Assuming the 2014 towing guide is the same as the 2012, then your GVWR is 17,100 pounds and your tow rating (max trailer weight) is 11,100. So to tow an 11,100 pounds trailer without exceeding the GCWR of your F-150, your wet and loaded F-150 ready to tow, including a quality weight-distributing (WD) hitch, must weigh not more than 6,000 pounds. If your wet and loaded F-150 weighs more than 6,000 pounds, then your actual max trailer weight will be less than 11,100.

But that's just the GCWR and tow rating. You must also not exceed the GVWR, rear GAWR, or hitch weight rating of your receiver hitch.

Your stock receiver hitch is probably rated for 1,130 pounds max tongue weight (TW). Travel trailers and cargo trailers average 13% of gross trailer weight as tongue weight. So the max trailer weight your hitch can safely tow is not more than 8,692 pounds.

Your GVWR with max tow is probably 7,350 pounds. Assuming you keep the gross weight of the wet and loaded F-150 down to 6,000 pounds, that leaves 1,350 pounds for max TW, which is a max trailer weight of 10,039 pounds. But if you haul a small family and their stuff plus some camping supplies in the truck, then your F-150 will probably weigh more than 6,500 pounds. That would leave 850 pounds for max TW, or a max wet and loaded trailer weight of about 6,500 pounds.

You rGAWR is probably enough to handle the hitch weight of a 6.5k trailer, so let's concentrate on GVWR and ignore rGAWR for now.

So what weight can you safely tow without being overloaded? Certainly not 11,100 pounds, or not even the weight limit of your stock receiver hitch. GVWR (and the resulting payload capacity) is probably you limiter. So the wet and loaded weight of your F-150 determines the max trailer weight you can tow without being overloaded. IOW, the payload capacity available for hitch weight.

So what does that mean for you? You're not going to find a definitive answer in any brochure or website, because nobody knows the weight of family and stuff you will haul in the truck when towing. Because you don't have the truck yet, all you can do is guess and hope.

If you can look at the truck, there is a yellow sticker in the driver's doorjamb that shows payload capacity. Guestimate the weight of all the people, pets, tools and everything else that will be in it when towing. Subtract that weight from the payload capacity and the answer is the payload capacity available for hitch weight. Subtract 100 pounds from the payload capacity available for hitch weight to get payload capacity available for TW. Divide the payload capacity available for TW by 13% and the answer is the max trailer weight you can safely tow.

Now for the bad news. My 2012 F-150 4x2 EcoBoost was overloaded with just me and DW and two dogs and a toolbox and 650 pounds TW. Not severely overloaded, but overloaded over the GVWR. I don't like being overloaded, so I ordered a new F-150 with similar specs but with max tow. Payload capacity on my 2012 F-150 SuperCrew 4x2 with 6.5' steel bed was less than 1,400 pounds. Payload capacity on my current 2019 SuperCab 4x2 with 6.5' alloy bed and 3.5L EcoBoost engine is 1,904. So I won't be overloaded now when towing my TT.

mass-hole

11-14 the 3.73's were standard on Max-tow package. 2015 it switched to 3.55's

acdii

Two step simple math. Step one, take it to a scale and weigh it with you and passengers who may be with when towing and a full tank of gas. Subtract that from the GVWR on the white sticker.

Step two, take that residual number and divide by .13. That will tell you how much you can tow.

The only caveat to this is any cargo added to the bed subtracts from that residual number and the towing capacity. Anything added to the bed needs to be subtracted from the ball.

jp360cj

Look at page 15 in the 2014 Towing guide..https://www.fleet.ford.com/resources...TTgde_Sep9.pdf . On the far right is the Supercrew 6.5ft bed (157" wheelbase) 4x4. Then go down to the 3.5 EB and 3.73 axle and you'll have 2 options for GCWR. 15,500# GCWR is for the regular tow package and the 17,100# for the max tow. This the most combined weight (truck + trailer + people+everything in both truck and trailer) your truck is weighted for. The listed tow rating is the GCWR - curb weight of truck. The more options your specific truck has, the more it weighs and the less it can tow. So ignore the tow rating and focus on the GCWR. Smokey walks you through calculations to give you an idea of what you can carry.

As for what the max tow package is...for 2014 is got you a higher GVWR (i.e. higher payload), higher RAWR, higher rated hitch, 3.73 gears, and the US version came with tow mirrors (optional for Canada)

The Max Tow would have a GVWR of 7650 or 7700. Adding 300# of tongue weight capacity would be ~2300# of trailer capacity.

bikendan

NOPE. my 2014 doesn't have the HDPP, but it has the Max Tow parkage. it has the 3.73 rear end as part of that package.