cdru

2014 XLT f150, 4x4, crew cab, short box, 3.55, 7350 gvw, with tow package, 5 liter v-8 rated to tow 7700 lbs. Friend has 2010, club cab, 5.4, 4x4, f150, 7850 gvw, rated to tow 8800 lbs. Why would a lower HP and torque truck tow more? Is it because of the gvw ratings? Does his have heavier frame, or just heavier springs? Thanks, cdru

Bhudda454

Expert opinions to follow, however the "club cab" weighs less than a "crew cab". Also all the extras from package options reduce your capabilities.

smurfs_of_war

Its the cab configuration that gets you, but there is also the fuzzy math numbers game that manufacturers play a bit. In 2010 the 5.4 was the "big hoss" towing motor (excluding the 6.2 which was rare) so they reserved the higher towing figures for it. A lot of what you see is marketing at play.

brulaz

And, for Travel Trailers (TTs) anyway, it's your tongue weight and the truck's payload that will hold you back, more so than the tow ratings.

With TTs you want more than 12% tongue weight to combat sway. With a 7700# TT, 12% tongue weight is 924#. If all you have is 1500# payload and a big family with lots of gear in the truck, you could have issues.

My TT has over 15% tongue weight, close to hitch receiver's max rating of 1150#. Luckily I have a high payload, over 2000#, as I carry lots of gear in the truck.

So don't worry about tow capacity, unless you want to haul a flat-bed trailer loaded with bricks. Payload, and possibly rear GAWR, is the limiting factor for TTs and "half-ton" trucks.

cdru

Thanks for the replies. Our travel trailer weighs in at 5000 lbs. fully loaded so I am not concerned about towing it, just curious as to how they rated a less capable engine to tow more than the 5.0. Thanks, cdru

acadianbob

And the 5.4 has a much flatter, usable torque curve than the 5.0.

But the engine is not the determining factor as previously posted.

brulaz

Actually I'm wondering, now that Ford has gone over to the SAE towing standard tests for the 2015 trucks, whether the old tow numbers would change using the new, standardized methods? Would be interesting ...

smurfs_of_war

It would be interesting to see if they did, but I doubt they would that much. The tow rating is a piece of the GCVWR, which is derived from a battery of tests to on the driveline given a particular trailer weight attached to a particular weight truck. It doesn't take into account payload or anything. This to me is the curious item because under no circumstances could the old 5.4 hold a candle to the ecoboost, 5.0, Hemi or any of those- yet the ratings seem to think otherwise. To me that means that either a: they seriously played games with the tow ratings for the 5.4 or b: they are sandbagging the 5.0. The engine, transmission, differentials and their performance make up this rating.

Boulevard

Truth? FORD underrated anything with the 3.55 diff in order to upsell the 3.73 and underrated the 5.0 in order to upsell the 3.5 ecoboost. This combines to make the 5.0 engine with the 3.55 diff look anemic and smurfsofwar is dead right when he calls it 'marketing at play'. Lets examine. 300 pounds extra weight due to cab size is not going to drop your tow capacity by over 1000lbs, the 3.55 and 3.73 diffs are virtually identical and so have no impact and the 6-speed tranny allows the 5.0 to easily spool up to optimum RPM. FORD has been running this scam for years and people are still falling for it.

brulaz

The max 2015 tow ratings are out. They are based on the standardized SAE tests. 3.5L EcoB gets 12,200# and the upgraded 5L V8 gets 11,100#. Not sure, but I suspect both are with the 3.73 that comes with the HD Payload package.

The SAE tests may not be all that meaningful, depending upon how and where you tow, but like the EPA mileage numbers they do provide a basis for comparison.