WdstkRider

chimmike

You can't. The max trailer weight number is "When properly equipped". The more options you have, the higher your curb weight and lower your payload.

you're not factoring in payload rating and tongue weight either, which is important.

Salesman …… potential sale..... you know the rest.

SixShooter14

also a similar reason why the front and rear GAWR exceed the GVWR....as with all the ratings, you're not supposed to exceed any of them.

suppose you removed the spare tire, bed, and back seats from your truck. Now your curb weight is much lower. But it doesn't change your max tow or any other ratings.

kbroderick

He's probably right in that you could pull 11k off the lot and into the street, at which point it becomes your problem and his commission. As noted above, the trailer max number is "when properly equipped", which probably means that either (a) there exists (at least on paper) a variation of your truck with different option packages that has a sufficiently lower curb weight to pull that much weight without GCWR, or (b) someone goofed on the tables. Either way, it's largely irrelevant, because as chimmike pointed out, you're far more likely to be payload-limited than GCWR-limited. It's been covered ad naseum in this forum, but very rarely does a half-ton pickup have enough payload to handle the tongue load that would be required for it to pull a trailer at its maxed-out rating.

Just for comparison, my truck is rated for something north of 11k as a Max Tow 3.5 (I can't recall if it's 11.something or 13.something, but it doesn't matter). However, with the payload of 1806 pounds that my truck had from the factory, putting my *** in the driver's seat and nothing else in the truck, I could theoretically tow a 11,738-pound trailer (at 13% tongue weight, allowing 100 pounds for a WDH). In the real world, with some mods, the recovery gear and supplies I keep in the truck, etc., I actually have about 1200 pounds left after I sit in the driver's seat. That comes out to 8461 pounds at 13% tongue weight and drops dramatically if I have a passenger in the truck and a cooler full of cold beverages in the back (or if I needed 15% tongue weight for the trailer to behave).

acdii

Read the fine print, which is actually clearly posted on the Ford website now.


Anything more than what is shown above has a much lower rating.

However there is one caveat to this,

BlackBoost

Here's how to get closer to the maximum tow of your truck

1- Remove the bed

2- Make sure it's a regular cab
3- Go on a diet
4- Don't carry anything else in the truck, also, remove passenger seat
5- Remove rear window and doors

Then you might get close.

Seriously though, the issue is that you'll always hit your payload limit before you can haul a trailer of X size, unless you use a toad.

smokeywren

Trailer tow rating = GCWR minus the shipping weight of the truck when it left the assembly line, minus the weight of a full tank of gas, and minus a skinny driver.

So if your tow rating is 11,300 and GCWR is 16,700, then your truck with full tank of gas and a skinny driver weighs 5,400 pounds as equipped when it left the assembly line. I don't know where you got the curb weight, but it has nothing to do with tow rating.

2012 FX4 SuperCrew with short bed, 3.5L EcoBoost engine and 3.73 axle ratio and max tow pkg has GCWR of 17,100 and tow rating of 11,200 for a truck weight of 5,900 pounds when full of gas and nothing in the truck but a skinny driver. I suspect the 2011 is the same. Therefore your numbers are suspicious.

PULL, yes. But tow without being overloaded? Not likely.

The GCWR is a good indicator of the weight your drivetrain can pull without overheating anything in the drivetrain, and without being the slowpoke holding up traffic on hills and passes. But the GCWR is not the limiter as to how heavy a trailer you can tow without being overloaded.

Most salesmen are lying scumbags, just trying to close the deal on selling you the trailer. Ignore them and do your own math.

There are several weight limits you should not exceed with your F-150.

GCWR
GVWR
GAWRs
Receiver hitch weight capacity
Bumper hitch weight capacity

GCWR is the max weight of the combined rig, truck and trailer. GCWR minus the weight of the empty truck = tow rating.

GVWR is the max weight, including hitch weight, on the two axles of the F-150. GVWR minus the weight of the truck = payload capacity.

GAWR is the weight on one axle. rGAWR is the max weight in the rear axle.

Receiver hitch has 4 weight capacities, tongue weight (TW) with and without a weight-distributing (WD) hitch, and gross trailer weight with and without a WD hitch.

Your F-150 has a ball mount in the rear step bumper, sometimes called a bumper hitch. But since you cannot use a WD hitch with that ball mount, it has only two weight capacities, TW and gross trailer weight without a WD hitch.

You should never exceed any of the weight capacities of your F-150. Most likely the first limiter will be the GVWR, but sometimes the limiter is the rGAWR, and sometimes the limiter will be the receiver .

Assuming that GVWR will be your limiter, then to determine the max trailer weight you can tow with YOUR F-150, you need to determine the payload capacity available for hitch weight. YOUR payload capacity available for hitch weight = GVWR minus the weight of the wet and loaded F-150, ready to tow a trailer to the campground. "Wet" means full of gas. "Loaded" means loaded with everybody and everything that will be in it when towing. People, pets, toolbox and tools, campfire wood, toys, grill and fuel for the grill, lawn chairs, generator and gas for the generator, EVERYTHING that will be in the F-150 when towing.

Subtract the weight of the wet and loaded F-150 from the GVWR of the F-150 and the answer is the payload capacity available for hitch weight. Subtract 100 pounds from the payload capacity available for hitch weight and the answer is the payload capacity available for tongue weight (TW) weight. Divide the payload capacity available for tongue weight (TW) weight by 13% and the answer the max weight of any normal travel trailer you an tow without being overloaded.

bikendan

#1 newbie RV mistake: Believing the Dealer!
IF PROPERLY EQUIPPED, a F150 can tow 11,300 trailer. but i'm willing to bet that your truck is NOT PROPERLY EQUIPPED.
you need to check the 2011 Ford towing guide and see what your truck is really rated for.

waltheraustin

Even if properly equipped, no f150 should be towing a bumper pull or 5th wheel travel trailer. I couldn't imagine how stressful it would be.

Like2Hike

Since Ford advertises that a properly equipped F150 can tow 13,200#, what would you think that 13K critter could look like? Your statement eliminates two of the most popular things people pull.