Hello All,

New to the Forum and hopefully about to become a new owner of 2011 F150!

Specifically, I'm looking at buying a 2011 crew cab with the 5L V8 and 3.55 axle ratio, but am concerned the 7200 lb. GVWR will not allow me to tow a 5000 lb. boat trailer, even though the truck is rated to pull 7700 lbs.

If GVWR = trailer tongue weight + curb weight + passengers and cargo:

Curb weight of truck = 5716 lbs.
4 adults @ 180lbs per = 720 lbs.
Trailer tongue weight = 750 lbs. (estimate based on 15% of trailer weight)

Total = 7186 lbs.

That is 14 lbs. shy of the GVWR before putting any gear in the bed of the truck! On top of that, I am concerned because I live on top of a mountain with fairly steep grades for several miles.

Will the F150 get the job done on a consistent basis without straining the truck?

I plan on fishing at least every other wknd April through October and will be towing an average of 100 miles per trip.

Thank you in advance,
Joe

 

You need more truck, get the heaviest towing package offered. You can't get max tow with a 5.0 but you can get a package significantly more capable than that. If you do live in the mountains, consider a EB or 6.2 with max tow.

 

IMO, you won't have that much TW for a #5000 boat... Boat trailers tend to get away with a lot less TW by the nature of design and how it hauls a boat..

Figure on around 5% - 10% at most..

I tow a #5000 TT with a 14 year old F150 with over 220,000 miles on it... I think a 2011 with a 5.0 in it will be okay with a #5000 boat..

Enjoy!

Mitch

 

A 5000# boat will have only about 300# of tongue weight. Travel trailers are 10% - 15%, boats tend to be closer to 6%.

Also, the truck likely weighs more than you think. My '09 King Ranch SCREW 4x4 weighs 6170 with a full tank of gas (6370 with me in it). You can tell the weight of the specific vehicle by looking at the GVWR and Max Payload sticker by the driver's door and just subtract.

You can also see what the difference between the 7200# GVWR and whatever the next step up is (7700# for '09) and bolster that component. For the '09, the only difference is an extra leaf spring in the back, which came with the 20" tires anyway (although the GVWR sticker didn't reflect this). I added Firestone air springs to mine, and have no worries about the 7500# travel trailer that I will tow this year.

 

Agree that no boat trailer will be 15%. However, I highly recommend the Max Tow package on that 2011 F-150. It will give you 7650 pound GVWR, select shift transmission (allows you to limit the automatic's gear range among other things), and the Ecobosot engine which not only has more torque from 1700-5000rpm than the 5.0L has at it's peak of 4250rpm, it does not lose as much power at altitude as the naturally aspirated engine.

 

Thank you for your responses, I appreciate it.

I was wondering about that 15% number myself, so I glad to see many of you think that number is high for a boat trailer.

I am going to look at the options you suggested and see if I can afford them.

Thanks again,
Joe

 

Don't confuse "Gross Vehicle Weight" (GVW) with "Gross Combined Vehicle Weight" they are two different numbers.

The GVW is the truck as it sits with passengers and cargo loaded aboard.

The GCWR is the loaded truck with the loaded trailer hitched up to it. You can find what your truck is capable of pulling by looking under the hitch and reading the warning sticker attached there. Here's the one on my truck:



Notice there are two weights provided. One is the standard hitch with a rating of 5,000 lbs weight and 500 pounds tongue weight and the other is is you use a weight distributing hitch. On my truck that is 11,500 and 1,150 tongue weight.

I am pretty sure all F150 have a Gross Weiting of 7700 lbs but if it has a tow package, it also has a Gross Combined Weight Rating.

 

Those numbers are only the hitch capacity, not the truck capacity.

 

That's true they are.

But I probably did not explain myself too well. The GVW of 7700 lbs, is not the gross combined vehicle weight rating.

Here's the 2011 Ford Towing Guide:


2011 Ford Towing F150

That manual says that the 2011 F150 with a 5.0L engine 3.55 gear has a max combined vehicle weight rating of 13,300 lbs..

I was using the hitch picture to illustrate that you definitely need a weight distribution hitch to tow a trailer that weighs more 5,000 lbs.

 

Thank you for your input and the photo of the sticker.

I am much more confident now that the 5L with 3.55 will tow the 5000 boat trailer without a problem.

I do need to educate myself on trailers though, as I do not know the difference between a weight distributing trailer and a non-weight distributing trailer.

 

It is just a hitch, or hitch replacement. It does not specifically any specific trailer. Reference material.

For a 5k-ish boat, just hook up the 2" or 2 5/16" ball on some kind of ball mount and drive.

 

Well, you should use weight distribution if the tongue is over 500#. You may want to get the tongue weighed - just drop the tongue wheel on a scale and see what it says.

 

First of all you'll have to use a weight distributing hitch for any hitch weight over 500 lbs. Using a weight distributing hitch will leave the full weight on the hitch but distribute the force of the weight through out all axles, front and rear tow vehicle and trailer axle.

After curiously watching for years on members at RV.Net weigh their rigs, usually about 30% of the hitch weight 'force' gets distributed to the trailer axle, which leaves 70% of that weight force on your tow vehicle's suspension. You would have about 525 lbs of weight force on your vehicles suspension. Now this isn't the law as depending on your vehicle, you could have the full force but from what I've seen, 70% is the norm. Also this includes the 100 lbs of weight that the weight distribution hitch weighs. So you shouldn't need to take that into account.

Now, welcome to the world of 1/2 tons. You could get a heavy half ton or a 3/4 ton but it all depends how much you drive, if you could handle the extra fuel useage those models would get with a gasser. Or you could get a diesel but then your at an $8000 option.

BTW, the Max Tow rating is a bit fishy from my findings. While the GVWR goes up to 7650 lbs in an EB Screw 4WD, it's axle ratings only go up by a mere 200 lbs in the rear. The front axle rating isn't upped at all, by accounts of weight stickers posted in the 2009 -2011 forum.

Now the 2010 Max tow went up to 475 lbs more in the GVWR but the front axle gained 150 lbs and the rear gained 200 lbs. Then you have the additional weight of 75 lbs from the added components. So you have 112.5 lbs on the front axle and 162.5 lbs on the rear axle. Of course you'll never use the full combined axle ratings, if you don't exceed the GVWR in most cases. However I see the axle ratings here being exceeded before the GVWR is even reached. Ford should had give the truck 4050 lbs axles in the front and 4150 lbs axles in the rear so that the GVWR could be acheived before matching the axle ratings. So obviously, this is no heavy half ton or 3/4 ton in disguise.

Also the Max tow package as posted, only has a 1150 lbs hitch weight rating, while my standard tow package has a 1050 lbs hitch weight rating. You only gain 100 lbs. which should be at least 1250 lbs for the trailer weight increase.

Not sure if anyone ever paid attention, but the Max Tow package isn't all it's cracked up to be mechanically.

BTW, my truck as optioned from the factory is 5770 lbs (GVWR - Tread Act Sticker Payload rating = 5770 lbs. I added a 50 lbs Extang Solid Fold Tonneau Cover and a 20 lbs Bedrug Bedliner. So I now have a 5840 lbs truck with 1360 lbs of payload.

Our family and cab gear weighs 700 lbs, subtract 80 lbs if a friend doesn't come along. That leaves 660 lbs left for tongue weight. 660 lbs/ 70% = 943 lbs total hitch weight. Now I have to subtract that 100 lbs of weight distribution hitch weight to find my max trailer tongue weight. I now have an actual trailer tongue weight of 843 lbs. Now a travel trailer usually has a 13% tongue weight but can be 14%. At 13% that gives me a 6485 lbs "LOADED" Camper. 843/ 13% = 6485. Now usually with water, trailer gear, clothe, food, camping gear, you usually add 1000 lbs to the dry weight of the trailer. Also, most trailers will require options and that's on an average of 200 lbs. So I'll need to subtract that 1200 lbs from my "loaded" weight of 6485 lbs to give me a dry, unoptioned camper weight of 5285 lbs. With an ultralight trailer made for 1/2 tons, that's a 27' to 30' camper with slide out. My current trailer is not an ultralight, but a full height, full weight trailer and it's 22.5' long at 5000 lbs loaded. Now if I were to get a trailer with a 14% tongue weight, I could tow no more than a 6021 lbs "loaded trailer" or a dry, unoptioned 4821 lbs trailer.

You just have to keep your trailer within your trucks capability. It can be done.

I could tow a lot heavier trailer just by keeping us family and guests come separately, and by not filling the trailer with 350 lbs to 400 lbs of water.

I couldn't afford to drive a gasser 3/4 ton truck and I couldn't afford to buy a diesel 3/4 ton truck so I have to make do with a truck that fits my life. Besides I really like my 1/2 ton and it's smaller size.

Just bringing up the reality of towing with a 1/2 ton truck.

 

A 5000-ish pound boat is not likely to have 500 pounds of tongue weight like RVs and enclosed cargo trailers.

 

Thank you all for your input.

Mike, regarding this statement:

"I see the axle ratings here being exceeded before the GVWR is even reached. Ford should had give the truck 4050 lbs axles in the front and 4150 lbs axles in the rear so that the GVWR could be acheived before matching the axle ratings. So obviously, this is no heavy half ton or 3/4 ton in disguise."

-- Where did you get the axle ratings info?
-- what do you think the true GVWR is if this is the case?
-- how are so many people towing 7000 lbs trailers with these trucks?

Thanks again,
Joe