New F-150 As A Tow Vehicle

[Coast Ranger]

Anyone had any experience with the new F-150 with the max tow package? Dragging 14,000 lbs. and 3,250 payload on a 3.5L V-6? A friend got one and absolutely loves it. His mileage is better than my Tundra. But I can't help thinking I should have my head examined for considering a used truck for $75,000. At the risk of breaking the forum, what's going on in the tow vehicle world these days?

[TowPro]

the 3.5 V6 has 400HP and 500 ft lbs of torque.



I just bought a new lariat and it seems like a great truck so far (for way less than $75K. Mine does not have the max tow package so its only rated to tow 9500.
I did get the tow tech package. Love the 360 camera. I have not towed with it yet but looking forward to trying the backup system (why, because its there)

[Mike134]

Originally Posted by TowPro

I have not towed with it yet but looking forward to trying the backup system (why, because its there)

You'll LOVE the backup system. Makes backing up a short trailer (think snowmobile/utility) down a long driveway a piece of cake.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Coast Ranger

Anyone had any experience with the new F-150 with the max tow package? Dragging 14,000 lbs. and 3,250 payload on a 3.5L V-6? A friend got one and absolutely loves it. His mileage is better than my Tundra. But I can't help thinking I should have my head examined for considering a used truck for $75,000. At the risk of breaking the forum, what's going on in the tow vehicle world these days?

There are literally thousands of 3.5 Ecoboost F150 threads/posts just on this Forum alone. On the F150 forums, there are tens of thousands.
Those numbers you quoted are for a specifically spec'd two door regular cab F150 with the HEAVY DUTY PAYLOAD PACKAGE, which is the Unicorn F150. The Max Tow package alone, doesn't give you that amount of payload capacity.
My 2014 F150 SCREW 3.5 Ecoboost with the Max Tow package has only 1828lbs of payload capacity.
Mine is a wonderful tow machine for my trailer. I LOVE the truck. BUT it doesn't have the HDDP so it's not appropriate for towing a 5th wheel.
And yes, your question is going to break something!

[njfishing]

I have a 2018 Lariat max tow 3.5 and there is no way any f150 is going to come close to handling 3250 pounds of payload. Mine is super crew 4x4 loaded and I’m at 1522.They do have a payload package but even that is not going to get you anywhere close

[Coast Ranger]

Originally Posted by njfishing

I have a 2018 Lariat max tow 3.5 and there is no way any f150 is going to come close to handling 3250 pounds of payload. Mine is super crew 4x4 loaded and I’m at 1522.They do have a payload package but even that is not going to get you anywhere close

It also surprised me to read that. But I can't imagine Ford would publish a claim like that without it being close to accurate.

https://www.ford.com/cmslibs/content...Info_Oct20.pdf

The $75,000 price tag was the cheaper of two used models available when I did a quick search a couple weeks ago. New? Who knows. A friend in Pittsburgh ordered a new F-150 at the start of the pandemic. A year and a month later he cancelled the order and took a more ordinary model off the lot.

[KMP44]

The motor is a beast, but the 6.2 or the 7.3 in 3/4 ton would get you similar numbers with a true HD truck that's easier to find and probably less money - and my 6.2 with the 4.30 gears was an awesome daily driver when not towing.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Coast Ranger

It also surprised me to read that. But I can't imagine Ford would publish a claim like that without it being close to accurate.

https://www.ford.com/cmslibs/content...Info_Oct20.pdf

The $75,000 price tag was the cheaper of two used models available when I did a quick search a couple weeks ago. New? Who knows. A friend in Pittsburgh ordered a new F-150 at the start of the pandemic. A year and a month later he cancelled the order and took a more ordinary model off the lot.

Look at the notes under the spec numbers, specifically #2.
As I said previously, those max payload capacity numbers are for a regular cab, 4x2, 8ft bed F150. It says the 5.0 v-8 but the same applies for the 3.5 v-6 Ecoboost, to get the 3,000lbs+ payload capacity.
But rarely does the normal consumer buy a truck like that. They one with all the bling, like a Lariat or Platinum. They tend to have much lower payloads because of the extra weight of the bling.

[njfishing]

All the manufactures play the same marketing game with their theoretical towing specs. In order to get to the spec you have to order a stripped down 2 wheel drive 2 door fleet vehicle with rubber floors and the HDPP.

[jwfrede]

Originally Posted by Coast Ranger

Anyone had any experience with the new F-150 with the max tow package? Dragging 14,000 lbs. and 3,250 payload on a 3.5L V-6? A friend got one and absolutely loves it. His mileage is better than my Tundra. But I can't help thinking I should have my head examined for considering a used truck for $75,000. At the risk of breaking the forum, what's going on in the tow vehicle world these days?

My experience has been that none of that matters for towing. It's the wt of the truck and even more the brakes that are limiting. Based on my 2016 F150 ecoboost I would estimate a max trailer around 8000 lb for that truck. Since the payload is way up for this year(my 2016 is around 1850) maybe they improved the brakes. Of course, I head out to the Rocky Mtns each year and that is the real challenge. I guess if I just tooled around the SE and Florida I might go a little higher.

My brother smoked his brakes (literally) on the long down hill out of Death Valley NP, I think its 9% grade for 6 miles. Had to get new brakes for his 2016 F-150 ecoboost. Pulling 7500 lb trailer. Trailer brakes were properly set(about a 4 on the 0-10 scale, enough to slow down quickly from 25mph on the flat). He should have pulled over a couple of times for an hour or so to let the brakes cool off. He's going to buy an F-250, whenever he can actually find one.

The best thing about the ecoboost is the great mileage not towing and the great torque for towing.

[JimMorrell]

From my experience, the F 150 will have no problem towing your trailer, however, the trailer weight is probably on the edge of "barely" when you discuss chasi capability. Once you load the trailer up I think you are going to want the heft of an F 250 to keep the trailer from telling the truck "where to go"!

[Tundra 2014]

The 14K and #3250 payload is F-350 territory in reality. Look at the sicker of the driver's side door of the specific truck your are looking at. My diesel F-350 SRW LWB payload is #3240. Equipped like most people buy and dealers have on lot.
The max payload numbers TV manufactures quote are for base basic models. Same is true of the RV unloaded weight, fictional number for all 3 off my RVs not even close to CAT scale.

[GFD47]

You didn't actually say you're towing 14,000...looks more like a "Wow!" statement about the listed capacity of the eco-boost.
I wouldn't tow 14,000 with an F-150, mostly for the handling and braking. Now that I've experienced Ford's diesel engine brake, I wouldn't tow 14,000 with any 150 or 1500 gas engine.
We did the Utah NP's 3 or 4 years ago with an F150 V-8 and 6-speed, covered some of the same territory last fall with an F350 and 10-speed. What a difference! Lots of time spent waiting for hot brakes to cool on the trip with the F150. The engine brake did all the work on the second trip, including into Death Valley, which we did not do on the first one.
If you have or are thinking about 14,000, go bigger on the truck. If you plan to tow something that heavy through the mountains, go diesel for the braking.

[hwfahs]

Originally Posted by Coast Ranger

Anyone had any experience with the new F-150 with the max tow package? Dragging 14,000 lbs. and 3,250 payload on a 3.5L V-6? A friend got one and absolutely loves it. His mileage is better than my Tundra. But I can't help thinking I should have my head examined for considering a used truck for $75,000. At the risk of breaking the forum, what's going on in the tow vehicle world these days?

I have a 22 F150 4x4 with the heavy tow package and love it. We have been gone for 6 weeks and have no complaints.
I ordered my truck in Nov 21 and received it
Feb 22. I don't know what model your looking at but I didn't pay anywhere near what you're quoting for my XLT.

[aircommuter]

Why don’t you want the electric model? Rated for 10,000. One actual test showed it went 95 miles with a 6000 lb trailer before it was done, with a 10,000 lb trailer you might get 70 miles. Just stay close to home and carry a generator.

[Ken-m]

Originally Posted by aircommuter

Why don’t you want the electric model? Rated for 10,000. One actual test showed it went 95 miles with a 6000 lb trailer before it was done, with a 10,000 lb trailer you might get 70 miles. Just stay close to home and carry a generator.

Your kidding right ?

[Ken-m]

The true 150 Hd is a unicorn, it has a heavy duty frame , completely different frame than 99.99%of the 150s on the road. Everyone says they have the hd towing package, they don't they have the towing electronics package . I have a Flagstaff 25Fbls and use a F250 . Most F150 don't even have true truck tires .

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by hwfahs

I have a 22 F150 4x4 with the heavy tow package and love it. We have been gone for 6 weeks and have no complaints.

I ordered my truck in Nov 21 and received it

Feb 22. I don't know what model your looking at but I didn't pay anywhere near what you're quoting for my XLT.

The F150 doesn't have a heavy tow package.
I believe that there are 3:

1. Standard Tow Package
2. Max Tow Package
3. Heavy Duty Payload Package(which automatically includes the Max Tow Package)

[aircommuter]

Originally Posted by Ken-m

Your kidding right ?

Of course. I forgot to mention that is with 100% charge not 80% as they advertise the charge time for.

[flyflotrtim]

the 3/5 ECO is a great engine and I am very comfortable towing with it. For a trailer of 14,000 lbs I agree that a 3/4 ton or heavier would be my choice.