Hi all, brand new to the forum.

My wife and I are pretty much set on the '09 F150 Lariat SuperCrew to be our tow vehicle. We will be towing cars for open track days and rally/rallycross racing (starting with an open trailer, but may graduate to a closed trailer some day).

I am pretty set on a 4x4 with the Max Tow package (3.73 LSD rear end) and integrated trailer brake controller.

I think the only decision we have yet to make is 5.5' bed vs. 6.5' bed.

Using the builder on Ford's site, it says the towing capacity for the 5.5' bed is 11,300lbs. and the towing capacity for the 6.5' bed is 9,600lbs. When I look at the Ford tow guide I am not seeing the same thing and I am confused: http://www.fordvehicles.com/trucks/f150/features/specs/

Again, there appear to be 2 different entries for the motor, transmission, and rear end configuration that I'm looking at.

The 5.5' would be much nicer to drive/park around town, but would prevent me from eventually pulling a gooseneck enclosed car trailer. On the other hand, it looks like the 5.5' bed truck can handle an extra 1,700lbs?

 

Welcome to the forum Jard.

I think the 6.5ft bed version can tow exactly the same as the 5.5ft bed version but the 5.5 can hold about just short of 100lb more. Both are rated to tow 11,300lbs. But watch what wheels and tires you gor for as this can drop your rated limits.

 

5.4l 3:73 with max tow package the only real difference you would see between the 5.5ft and 6.5ft box is you can't pull a 5th with the 5.5ft box.

 

Thanks!

I am assuming the 18" wheels let you keep the max rated limits?

I am not really interested in the 20" wheels (just sounds like more expensive tires to me).

 

Dont qouted me on the wheels but i think nearly all 20's are a standard weight rateing. My truck gets knocked down from 1500lb payload to 900lb paylod just because of my 20" rims. Check with dealer about your tire choice as i know they offer quit a few.

 

Thanks, and I was leaning toward the 6.5' box for that reason...until I started getting confused about the tow ratings.

I would like to have the ability to pull a 5th wheel/gooseneck.

 

Where did you find the towing rating in the build and price?

I've been confused by this too. I'm getting 11,100 max towing on a SuperCrew 4x4 6.5' bed 3.73, and another entry for 9,600 max towing on the same configuration. The 5.5' bed is 11,200 and 9700. What is the difference?

 

max tow and conventional tow

if the truck doesn't have max tow package then you base it off of conventional tow capabilities 9700

 

Where does it state that?

"Conventional towing" means you are not using a 5th wheel trailer. It doesn't say anything about requiring the max towing package.

http://www.fordvehicles.com/trucks/f150/features/specs/

What I want to know is how you get the different tow ratings for the same configuration?

 

Max tow package gives the truck a higher tow rating. The standard tow package gives a 9600 for the 6.5 bed and 9700 for a 5.5 bed. The tow rating are not even listed on the actual truck in the lot. I had to have the dealer go through several books to get the tow rating. I opted for the standard tow setup with a 6.5 bed. Just finding a super crew with a 6.5 bed was hard. They only had 1 dark blue pearl in california with a 6.5 bed. Took a while to find it. I was told that less than 5% of the super crews are made with a 6.5 bed. Not many people want that long of a truck. Dealer could have been blowing smoke up my a#$.

 

This makes sense.

Although, every truck I have seen that has the 3.73 in it has the Max Tow package. It's just confusing that they list it twice for the same rear end when it seems like it's not an option but standard with that rear end?

 

I don't think your payload gets knocked down, unless there is something in the fine print like the AWD Limited and Harley's had in 2008. Certainly, they derate the tow capacity. I'm living this dream right now. My 2008 F-150 Screw I bought for a concession to a Superduty for towing my travel trailer. I carefully selected the items to keep towing up and the payload. I went with 20's, but put LT tires on for towing purposes. Well, the charted 1,640 pound payload is what ultimately is killing me. The truck actually came with a 1,329 pound payload after it was built. The PAYLOAD is something the original poster needs to watch. A trailer hauling a car will probably weigh in at close to 6,000 pounds, and the proper tongue weight should be between 600 and 900 pounds. Take that off the payload, deduct passengers and gear, and you may find you're heading into Superduty territory, like me.

 

All trucks with the 3.73 are max tow packages. You cant get 3.73 without it.

 

Thats what i thought until i looked into it. I checked the tire rateing and the platinum with the 20's has a standard tire load rateing but to get the full payload i need the tires with a higher load rateing. Problem is they dont make them in that tire size. Ford did confirm that with the platinums standard wheels are a lower rated capacity. But with the proper options it's 1500 not 900lb. you do have to watch how you build these trucks if you want full payload and towing.

 

All FX4's come with 3.73 gears and the standard trailer towing optioin. The max tow package is still an option on that truck.