I could use some help here. I'm working towards upgrading my current truck, because it's getting some years on it, and I could use a little more towing capability. However, finding the right truck is proving to be elusive.

My current truck is a 2016 XLT supercrew with the 2.7. Current payload is 1425. Not sure why it's so low to be honest. I have the moonroof and the sport package, but that's about it. I added Timbrens to reduce the sagging of the rear, and that helped a lot.

I tow a 22 foot boat regularly, but the current truck handles that fine. Probably not getting a larger boat to be towed in the future.
I also tow a livestock trailer with animals and bedding, etc. The livestock trailer is 14' long, and probably weighs about 3000# empty. Full of animals and bedding or what ever can add up to an additional 4000#, so 7000# total.. The tough part about livestock is that sometimes they move in the trailer, and there's suddenly more weight on the hitch, and the front end gets light. Had that happen last year at 55 mph. Not fun. Going around a curve at the same time too. Nearly pissed my pants.
Last but not least, once a year or two I tow something random. Last year it was my neighbor's 34' camper. Never ran out of power, but you could tell the rear end of the truck wasn't happy.

I'm looking at new to me trucks, and seeing payloads and hitch weight and towing capacity all over the place. All 3.5 ecoboost crew cabs 4x4. 2021 and newer because of the cam phaser issues. 2.7's don't have the payload, and the HDPP on 2.7s is absent around here.

2021 XLT Payload 1902. Hitch weight 700 towing 7000
2022 Lariat Payload 1716 hitch weight 1130 towing 11,166
2022 Lariat payload 1659 hitch weight 1359 towing 13, 590
2024 XLT payload 1895 hitch weight 1040 towing 10400

I feel like I need the highest payload, but that truck (the 2021) has the lowest towing capacity.

Forgot to mention, I don't want an F250. Well, I do, but it won't fit in my garage, and I don't want the poor fuel mileage, etc. I don't tow often enough to need a 3/4 ton, but would like to get the right truck.

Thoughts?

 

F150s with the 2.7 all have lower payloads than the 5.0 and 3.5. Partly due to thinner chassis rails as the axles are similar. So either 5.0 or 3.5. 3.5 has better torque than 5.0.

Rear end ratios vary as well. You can tell what the rear end ratio is on any truck by looking at the monochrome sticker on the B pillar by the yellow one you got the payload numbers:

Axle codes and ratios:

• L5: 3.15 ratio
• L3: 3.31 ratio
• L9: 3.55 ratio
• L6: 3.73 ratio

I commonly tow 5500lbs and often more. You are well within the trailer weight limit I would set for an F150, which is 8,000lbs which allows your truck to have a decent enough load of people and their stuff. I would encourage you to get the 3.73 ratio with the 5.0. The 3.5 commonly comes with the 3.55 ratio so moving to 3.73 is less mission critical, especially with its greater torque at lower rev speeds. There is also another sticker on the underside of the tow hitch talking about hitch weight. I didn't know about that one until recently.

 

The 2.7L just had lower GVWR's, a lighter frame, smaller axle and lighter duty springs than a similar optioned 3.5 or 5.0 truck. The only way to get the 2.7L to be equivlent to a normal 3.5/5.0 truck was to get the 2.7 Payload Package which put the heavier parts on and increased the GVWR.

The hitch weight and towing capacity is generally limited by the payload capacity and/or the towing package that is optioned on the truck. To get maximum towing, you need the max tow package with the 3.5L. But even then the payload of the specific truck may limit its actual tow capacity to lower than the advertised maximum.

in 2024 the max tow package disappeared and became the tow/haul package and then there is an additional max tow axle that can be optioned on top of the tow/haul package to get to the highest ratings.

My suggestion is the find a lightly optioned XLT with either the 5.0 or 3.5L and equipped with the max tow package(tow/haul package for 2024+). This will give you the beefiest axles/springs/frame/etc that you can get with a normal F150. If you want to be really crazy you could try to find a 2021-2023 F150 with the heavy duty payload package. This would put the payload around 2500 lbs for a supercrew 4x4.

 

Are you using a weight distribution hitch? The experiences you are describing make it seem like you are not. You should be using the WDH for the livestock or the neighbors 34' camper. That would keep the front axle loaded and planted.

Timbrens dont do anything to keep the front axle weighted, it just makes the truck look better while being overloaded.

 

Strongly agree with others advice here, especially that with a half-ton nearing max capacity you really need a weight distribution hitch, and that half-ton towing limit based on vehicle weight/wheelbase is effectively 8000lbs... you don't need to worry about a tow rating "difference" of 10k or 13k lbs, it's meaningless. In fact adding the "max tow" package to some trim lines actually reduces payload which means you must carry nothing at all in the truck to take advantage of it.

 

Id highly suggest getting the HD RAS and a set of remote reservoir rear shocks and new boingers in the front struts to match which ever truck you decide.

 

A couple of things. Not interested in a 5.0. Strongly prefer the low end torque and low revs of the Ecoboost.
I didn't use a WD hitch on the camper because it was a one time thing and I was going 10 miles on quiet two lane roads. If I was planning on going further, I would definitely use a WD hitch.
I've never had a problem with the livestock trailer till last summer, and it was just that one time. I also though that you couldn't use a WD hitch with a livestock trailer, but I'm not sure of that. That's something I need to look into and get hooked up.

My overall goal is to have a truck that's more capable when those one time moments show up, because it seems to keep happening that way.

I didn't do a good job of asking my actual question. Out of the four trucks that I listed, and given the info I gave, I probably want the one with the highest payload, even though its the lowest towing capacity, right?

 

Lariats are a higher trim package than XLT's. They have more options added to them and the empty truck weighs more. The GVWR will be the same but the lighter trucks , (the XLT's), will have more payload. As others have said the real world max you should tow for most 1/2 ton trucks is around 7000-8000 lbs. Of the trucks you're looking at I'd probably choose the XLT that I liked best.

If you look at the specs most 3/4 ton aren't rated to tow that much more than most 1/2 tons. The difference is payload. Most 1/2 tons are in the 1700-1900 lb range. Most 3/4 tons have 2500-3000 lbs payload. You CAN tow 10,000 lbs with a lot of 1/2 tons, but the limited payload means you can't take your friends and a bunch of other gear with you in the truck. A 3/4 ton will tow 10,000 lbs and you can take 3-4 of your 200 lb buddies along with several hundred pounds of other cargo in the bed.

 

out of the 4 listed, I’d get option 4, 1895 payload. Based on your numbers I assume it’s got a better towing package then the first one?

The small amount of payload between 1 and 4 isn’t that much.

as most stated, you usually max out payload before max pull weight.

I don’t know about the livestock trailer so no hope there. If the hitch weight can shift and change, not sure if a WDH will work, might make it worse

 

Ive never seen a horse trailer allow for movement of the horse Im assuming horse of course