Hi I'm new here and am need to buy an F150, I am on a time crunch and need to buy today got lost in 30 page threads on some of my questions. So hoping someone here can help

looking at 2011-2018 F 150, trying to figure out how to determine what towing package(regular or max) whats in the tow packages, axles, payload etc these used trucks have called Ford directly and several dealers no one could give me good info on how to figure my questions out,didn't call me back, or just didnt care.... unreal. If you ask a salesman they seem to want to BS it to sell you a truck.There are 1000's of used 150's in my area so it is tough to weed out what ones are candidates.

Towing a 30 foot toy hauler best guess is that loaded up it is 9-10K, just sold my tundra as the payload on it was rated low and it got 6-8mpg when towing. So I am looking for a F150 with a higher payload , tow rating,etc Going with a Supercrew and either bed length is ok with me. From what I can tell the 5.0 is not rated high enough until 2015 and up, not sure what changed. I have all the axle codes and now where to look for those, but am unsure on the following

how can I determine if the truck has the the regular tow package or max package? the ford towing guide lists a lot of GCWR as well, any idea where that is listed/

how about payload capacity or payload package?

from reading it seems there are a few different rear end sizes, how do I know if I have the bigger one?, don't tow the trailer all the time, but do not want to beat this thing to death when I do.

this will mostly be a daily for my wife, so mpg is important to. Are certain gears and engine combos the est for mileage and tow rating.

does the 5.0 or ecoboost 3.5 get better towing mileage?

Any help or recommendations are appreciated, can't wait to own one of these trucks. THX

 

figured out the payload, duh forgot about the sticker with the tire info. would be nice to know how to tell if I wasn't looking at the vehicle in person, thx

 

looking at 2011-2018 F 150, trying to figure out how to determine what towing package(regular or max) whats in the tow packages, axles, payload etc these used trucks have called Ford directly and several dealers no one could give me good info on how to figure my questions out,didn't call me back, or just didnt care.... unreal. If you ask a salesman they seem to want to BS it to sell you a truck.There are 1000's of used 150's in my area so it is tough to weed out what ones are candidates.

Pretty big range of trucks, you will see a higher payload number on 2015 and up as those are the years they went aluminum

Towing a 30 foot toy hauler best guess is that loaded up it is 9-10K, just sold my tundra as the payload on it was rated low and it got 6-8mpg when towing. So I am looking for a F150 with a higher payload , tow rating,etc Going with a Supercrew and either bed length is ok with me. From what I can tell the 5.0 is not rated high enough until 2015 and up, not sure what changed. I have all the axle codes and now where to look for those, but am unsure on the following

how can I determine if the truck has the the regular tow package or max package? the ford towing guide lists a lot of GCWR as well, any idea where that is listed/

etis.ford.com Also depending on year you can look at the sticker on the hitch. Regular Tow will be 11,xxx max WD Max tow is 12,xxx. If I was looking at towing 9k - 10k I would find a maxtow or even a HDPP truck.

how about payload capacity or payload package?

It's on a yellow sticker on the drivers door jam.

from reading it seems there are a few different rear end sizes, how do I know if I have the bigger one?, don't tow the trailer all the time, but do not want to beat this thing to death when I do.

Almost everything I looked at was the 9.75 rear. ETIS will list this, but you can also tell by looking at the pumpkin. Google image search the differences are pretty easy to spot.

this will mostly be a daily for my wife, so mpg is important to. Are certain gears and engine combos the est for mileage and tow rating.

If you are towing heavy go 3:55 gears in the 3.5 EcoBoost or 3:75 in the 5.0. Lucky for you the MaxTow package comes /w the 3:55 from the factory.

does the 5.0 or ecoboost 3.5 get better towing mileage?

Get some popcorn and sit back and watch the replies. I like the way the EcoBoost tows, others prefer the 5.0. Both are very capable, the EcoBoost uses lower revs and boost to make power the 5.0 will use higher RPM's.

Any help or recommendations are appreciated, can't wait to own one of these trucks. THX

 

Hi, daleboot , and welcome to our campfire. It's already noon here, so good luck in getting an answer in time for you to buy a truck today.

Jeff did a good job answering most of your questions. I'll expound only on the above requirement.

A 10k toy hauler is going to overload most F-150s. They make F-150s with enough payload capacity to tow that trailer without being overloaded, but dealers rarely stock new ones so you have to order it. And used ones are as rare as hen's teeth.

Payload capacity will be the limiter as to max trailer weight you can tow without being overloaded.

Assuming you don't want to be overloaded when towing, then here's the drill:

Consider moving up to an F-250 or F-350 SRW. Plenty of payload capacity for towing that trailer, with no restrictions as to options or trim, so you can get a Lariat or fancier trim without worry about overloading the tow vehicle when towing a 10k trailer. Used SuperDuty SRW CrewCabs with the shorty bed are plentiful, so easy to find one that meets your needs. DW will have no problem driving it as a daily driver - my DW drove our F-250 diesel longbed all over the place for 10 years with no problem.

For F-150s:
2015-up only, so you get the lighter-weight body with more payload capacity.

XLT or XL trim. The fancier trims include things that increase the weight of the truck and reduce payload capacity. Try to find one with 1,800 or more pounds of payload. Running boards and tailgate steps are heavy, so try to find one without those heavy options. Leave the heavy rubber bedrug at home when towing.

3.5L EcoBoost engine. That's the best towing engine Ford makes because of the higher torque.

And if possible you want the max tow pkg. That includes the 3.5L EcoBoost drivetrain, much-bigger gas tank, 3.55 e-locker rear axle and increased cooling capacity needed for towing a trailer. How can you ID the max tow pkg? The easiest way is to look at the weight sticker on the frame of the receiver hitch. Max tow receiver will have tongue weight capacity (with a WD hitch) over 1,200 pounds. Less than 1,200 pounds is not max tow.

2WD weighs about 400 pounds less than 4WD, so it has more payload capacity. If you can get by without 4WD, you'll have a better chance towing that trailer without being overloaded.

 

Totally agree Smokey. 9 - 10k imho is F250 territory. Perhaps he can make it work but a 3/4 ton platform would sure make it more comfortable.

Our F150 tows our 7k boat ok, but we only tow about 10 miles to and from the ramp. When we made the 200 mile trip from where we bought her to the lake I spent the $100 and rented a F250 /w the powerstroke from Enterprise. The wife and I laughed as we passed people going up hill with the boat behind us, just simply a totally different towing experience. If we towed the boat home every weekend we would have a gas 250. Just because it can doesn't always mean it should imho.

 

awesome, thx guys.

Looking at the Ford towing guide 2011-2014 3.5 ecoboost with max towing all list the 3.73 gears, then 2015 and up they list mostly 3.55 for the higher towing capacity.

Did they change anything else that would affect this or did they do more research/testing and decide to rate the 3.55 at the same or a bit higher as the 3.73?

As for payload, I have seen stuff online listing 2012-2014 at up 1900-2000,2015 and up at up to 2300 but saw something say 2011 up to 2,700, does that 2011 number right?
Also so marketing stuff for the F150 states up to 3,000 pounds somewhere, that seems to be a ridiculous number.

I guess I didn't specify I was looking at 4x4 and supercrew which I guess lowers it as well. definetely looking for the higher payload models.

 

Gen1 EcoBoost was from 2011 - 2016. Gen2 was new for 2017 model year and upped torque and hp numbers as well as the 10 speed. I am not sure why you are seeing 3:73's in the older trucks. I am totally happy with my 3:55's think you would be as well.

Those payload numbers are grossly inflated. They are usually for an XL truck /w no options. Get into a well optioned crewcab XLT or Lariet and above and you are looking closer to 1600 - 1700lbslbs. The only truck /w a chance of getting into the 2000's is the HDDP (Heavy Duty Payload Package) build. As Smokey said they are very rare and usually are a dealer order.

 

yah i know what you guys are saying about the 1/2 ton limits, but this unit is mainly going to be a daily driver for my wife and we only take the trailer out 5-6 times a year so I couldn't justify a third vehicle and didn't want a gas gusling 250 with the 6.2L and could afford a decent 250 diesel.

This will definitely be an upgrade for me as I towed this trail probably 2500 miles plus with a 2008 tundra( had plenty of power to do so) just got horrible mileage and I educated myself a bit to find out towing wasn't just about the tow rating(which was 10,800) on the tundra. The payload on my tundra was 1300 pounds so if I can get another 500 payload, better mileage, more power, etc I am going to be satisfied..... for now that is. Also considering getting rid of the toy hauler so don't want to buy a truck based around that.

 

Cool, sounds like you are doing the research to make a good choice. I love my EcoBoost, there are times I wish I had the V8 rumble but we have a 6.2L in the boat so that gets me my fix.

Just go in knowing the EcoBoost is a lot of Boost and somewhat limited on the Eco. I see about 18mpg on the highway and thats with the cruise set at 75mph. Buddy of mine has a 10 speed and sees maybe 1 to 2 mpg better /w the same driving habits so that could be a worthwhile upgrade if you can find a newer truck.

The EcoBoost makes up for the lack of rumble when it tows, pulled our 7k boat up the ramp and out of the marina at 2,250RPM. No screaming V8 at read line just some turbo whine and tons of low end torque. Honestly pulled it better than our aunts 2009 2500 /w a cummins.

 

got the towing capacities from this site https://www.fleet.ford.com/towing-guides/, around page 20. double checked and all 2011-14 that were rated around the 11K max show 3.73 gears with the max tow package, think it listed 500-1000 lower for the 3.55 in those years. That changed in 2015 and the 3.55 was rated a 100 pounds or so higher. The max rated doesn't show an increase of more an a few hundred pounds until 2018 when it jumped to 13k.

would be nice to know if something really changed or if they just got more date and increased the 3.55's rating.