Tow Guide
01-20-2018, 12:12 PM
#11
5.0 DOHC V8
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: The southern California sardine can
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bossman1
any suggestions?
any suggestions?
And, it is my humble opinion that any 1/2-ton pickup should avoid towing much more than 10,000 lbs, unless it's a load of small-diameter pipe on a flat trailer. With maximum towed weight it is imperative to avoid also power-sapping aerodynamic influences.
01-20-2018, 12:13 PM
#12
Grumpy Old Man
Hi, bossman1, and WELCOME tp F150Forum.
Sorry to rain on your parade, but I suspect you want to know the truth.
Right. If your F-150 is a 4x4, your GCWR is 11,200 and your tow rating is 5,100 pounds. But even that 5,100 tow rating assumes absolutely nothing in the F-150 but a 150-pound driver and a full tank of gas. Any other weight in the truck - passengers, pets, tools, anything - reduces the towing capacity.
The Harley Davidson trim F-150 was designed as a Saturday night show-off vehicle. It was never intended to be used for towing or any other form of work other than hauling a cute young thing or two or three.
GCWR minus 5,100 tow rating means your empty truck weighs 6,100 pounds with nothing in it but a skinny driver and a full tank of gas. Other trim lines have GCWR of 15,500 and tow rating of 9,500, so the empty truck weighs 6,000. So the added bling of your HD trim adds only about 100 pounds to the weight of the truck. So it's not the bling of the HD that reduces the GCWR - it has to be the suspension.
If you want to tow a 9,000 lbs or heavier trailer without being overloaded, then jack up the old Saturday Night Cruiser and run a heavier-duty truck under it.
But if you'll settle for an 8,000 lb max trailer weight, then that's probably achievable. Just be sure you tow with a good weight-distributing hitch, and don't even think about trying to tow a fifth-wheel RV trailer or gooseneck livestock trailer.
Your 3.73 gear ratio is fine. 4.10 or even 4.30 might be better for climbing mountain passes, but I wouldn't spend the money until after you have experienced a lack of torque when towing up a grade.
You need upgraded front and rear springs and shocks equivalent to at least the stock springs and shocks of the base F-150 with XL trim. And you may need to change the tires and wheels to get tires that can support more weight on the pickup axles. The tires and wheels from an F-150 with the heavy duty payload package (HDPP) will do the job. Yeah, I know, the HDPP wheels are designed for work and not showing off on Saturday night, but they will handle the hitch weight of your 8k trailer just fine.
And you also need to add more cooling capacity for tranny and engine oil, and perhaps for engine coolant cooling capacity. You can add the stock tranny cooler and engine oil cooler from the Max Tow Pkg to handle the heat from the tranny and oil, or plumb in equivalent aftermarket heat exchangers. Then you should have enough payload and cooling capacity to tow an 8,000-pound trailer. If your engine coolant temp gets too high when towing up steep grades, then you'll probably also need to upgrade the radiator to one with more cooling capacity.
Sorry to rain on your parade, but I suspect you want to know the truth.
Right. If your F-150 is a 4x4, your GCWR is 11,200 and your tow rating is 5,100 pounds. But even that 5,100 tow rating assumes absolutely nothing in the F-150 but a 150-pound driver and a full tank of gas. Any other weight in the truck - passengers, pets, tools, anything - reduces the towing capacity.
The Harley Davidson trim F-150 was designed as a Saturday night show-off vehicle. It was never intended to be used for towing or any other form of work other than hauling a cute young thing or two or three.
GCWR minus 5,100 tow rating means your empty truck weighs 6,100 pounds with nothing in it but a skinny driver and a full tank of gas. Other trim lines have GCWR of 15,500 and tow rating of 9,500, so the empty truck weighs 6,000. So the added bling of your HD trim adds only about 100 pounds to the weight of the truck. So it's not the bling of the HD that reduces the GCWR - it has to be the suspension.
ill like to increase that capacity to tow a heavier travel trailer like 9,000 las or more. Is that possible with modifications/changes/ what gear ratio should or should i change that too? and anything else I should do like suspension wise with leaf springs?
But if you'll settle for an 8,000 lb max trailer weight, then that's probably achievable. Just be sure you tow with a good weight-distributing hitch, and don't even think about trying to tow a fifth-wheel RV trailer or gooseneck livestock trailer.
Your 3.73 gear ratio is fine. 4.10 or even 4.30 might be better for climbing mountain passes, but I wouldn't spend the money until after you have experienced a lack of torque when towing up a grade.
You need upgraded front and rear springs and shocks equivalent to at least the stock springs and shocks of the base F-150 with XL trim. And you may need to change the tires and wheels to get tires that can support more weight on the pickup axles. The tires and wheels from an F-150 with the heavy duty payload package (HDPP) will do the job. Yeah, I know, the HDPP wheels are designed for work and not showing off on Saturday night, but they will handle the hitch weight of your 8k trailer just fine.
And you also need to add more cooling capacity for tranny and engine oil, and perhaps for engine coolant cooling capacity. You can add the stock tranny cooler and engine oil cooler from the Max Tow Pkg to handle the heat from the tranny and oil, or plumb in equivalent aftermarket heat exchangers. Then you should have enough payload and cooling capacity to tow an 8,000-pound trailer. If your engine coolant temp gets too high when towing up steep grades, then you'll probably also need to upgrade the radiator to one with more cooling capacity.
Last edited by smokeywren; 01-20-2018 at 12:19 PM.
01-20-2018, 07:39 PM
#13
Bossman1 - Apologies for not welcoming you to the forum on my first response. Welcome and I hope you find this a useful resource.
I think it would be helpful if you could post pictures of the door stickers on your truck. This will give us an idea of how much payload and rear axle capacity you have remaining. If there is enough in the ratings to make it work, then heavier springs / shocks and extra cooling should take care of it. If there isn't enough in the ratings to make it work, you'll be illegal no matter what you do other than recertification. And that costs more than trading for a different truck.
I think it would be helpful if you could post pictures of the door stickers on your truck. This will give us an idea of how much payload and rear axle capacity you have remaining. If there is enough in the ratings to make it work, then heavier springs / shocks and extra cooling should take care of it. If there isn't enough in the ratings to make it work, you'll be illegal no matter what you do other than recertification. And that costs more than trading for a different truck.