What problem? My loaded XLT is rated for 1,551 lbs. That is fantastic for a half-ton truck.

Seems like the problem is folks buying trim levels of vehicles that may not be capable (according to the manufacturer's specifications) of what they need or at least expected. I did my research and purchased a truck and specific model with features accordingly.

If anyone is upset about the capacity of their vehicle, they only have themselves to blame unless the vehicle was a gift maybe.

 

 

My 1998 f150 4x4, 5.4l, reg. cab., 8' bed came with 3 week leaf springs in the back from the factory. 3 leafs are great if your driving a V6 shortbed, but silly in a 5.4l v8. I wasn't able to tow or haul much without the dreaded rear end sag. (My 1987 s10 4cyl had 4 leafs)

To fix this I installed 2 extra leaf springs on each side and a set of 3 overload springs on top. Nice stiff ride unloaded, nice and level when pushing the lawyer set limits. The truck handles heavy loads and the suspension is much more stable feeling around turns. What it should have been from the factory to begin with.

Since I need a hauling / towing cap. in the majic space between a 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton. I could either buy a light 3/4 ton or a heavy 1/2 ton. After punishing the f150 for several years the next truck will be a 3/4 ton for sure.

 

06 FX4 Screw at 1,457. I can pull my enclosed trailer w/family of 5, full tank of gas and still have about 4-500 lbs to put in the bed.

 

A truck be it your XLT or a lariat or a king ranch Chevy, Dodge, GM, Toyota or Nissan suffer the same problem as any other truck where payload decreases when you add more options. WHat im saying is this problem is not unique to the Fords. They al make a heavy truck with low payload and low towing capacity. But it's the chioice of the buyer to make sure it's within the range they need.

 

I could take either Bertha or Bathsheba on a date.

Or I could give the entire starting Ethiopian basketball team a ride to the YMCA,
including two bench players.

 

Give them a choice. Either the two bench players or their basketball.

 

I think your a little hard on the boys...
a) 99% of dealers are not aware of sticker, never mind they'd actually tell you.
b) Not everyone wants a XLT.

Despite what many keep saying here, they are not all the same. IF you exclude crew cab... True, but in Crew cab form the GM max tow option has an advantage... Depends on options, but it'll be a fair bit higher. Why? 7,300 gvw and the truck is lighter. In real world towing, will it handle a heavy trailer better.... NO, but it will be legal where the Ford is not.

I think 1,551 is acceptable, but not fantastic. Example:
You buy a travel trailer weights 6,000 lbs. Well below the "max tow rating" of 11,500 pending config. So lets say the tounge weight is 750 dry. Some are lighter some are heavier on tounge pending layout. So now you fill the camper with all the gear. Now tounge lbs is 900. So 1,551 - 900 = 651. less yor weight dist hitch thats 50lbs = 600 less your wife thats 120 = 480 less your two kids age 4 and 6 less 85lbs = 395lbs, less the bbq and the bikes and the gear you put in the box of your mighty F150 @ 250 lbs = 145lbs less the 25 lbs you the driver weight over 150 due to the fact you eat = 120 less the heavy rubber bed mat you put in your bed and the mud flaps and the tool kit in case your buddys Ram breaks down and less the bug visor and all the cr@p you and two kids keep in the truck while travelling and...... your over weight. Oh and less your full tank of fuel? And I forgot the campers propane tanks on the hitch are now full, and the firewood you brought from home to burn in the campfire to save a few $$$..... Anyway you get the point. Its EASY to get over even 1,551lbs. And the guy pulling that trailer would never imagine that he's over limit as every day he sees the Ford commercials with Dennis Leary shouting about his boat and the boat passing him and the 11,500 tow limit, the HIGHEST in the industry blah blah. Never mind payload, rear axle hes way over....

Is the Ford the best truck to tow with... YES. No debate here. Are the payload ratings low for the way most guys(sorry XLT guy) would option them out.... YES.

Should FORD build the 8,200 GVW SCrew with the nice looking 18" wheels. YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

6000# tow rating for the 'most capable' dodge? Come on now, where the heck did you read that? Everybody knows darn well the 150's tow rating smokes everybody else, but it ain't quite that bad.

Most capable ram 1500 should be a base 4x2 Reg Cab 8' bed which is rated for 9000# towing and 1770# payload. A 6.4' bed gives a couple hundred pounds more towing, but at the expense of a lot of payload.

My extended cab 4x4 is rated for 7550# towing and between 1300 and 1400 payload. can't recall the exact number off hand. If I had the low gears, I'd be at 8550# towing.

A laramie crew cab with 3.55 gears and 20" rims (which is usually the truck given out for testing) has a 6300# tow rating. Swap out the 20" rims for the 17"s, and you get 1000 pounds. Swap out the 3.55 gears for the 3.92s, and you get another 1000, taking the laramie crew cab 4x4 5.7 crew cab up to 8300# tow rating.

Hats of to ford, they figured out a way to work the numbers out really good. Yes, you could legally pull that much in theory, but only if it's something like a farm wagon with zero tongue weight.

 

Perhaps you should go to the ram site and check for ya self. The Ram has rear coils now and the Ram has taken a massive hit to it's max tow rateing. Im not sure the exact number but i know it's in the 6000 figures amount. When compaired to Ford max which is 11000 something means the Fords smoke it in that department. Rams never handled trailer well before the reduced towing capacity and now they are gonna be even worse. If you love a bit of rear sag then the Rams the truck for you.

 

I saw an '09 Ram on the road today and the *** end was almost dragging on the ground. Whatever he had back there you couldn't see it over the bed rails. Maybe it was a couple bags of dog food?

 

The Ram is rated as having a max of 9100 lbs towing and 1850 payload, but its the same as the F150, the more options it is equipped with the less the payload rating.

 

Right im confussed. I just done a comparison build and a Ram crew cab vs the Screw f150 same spec 4x2

Max tow rateings

Ram 5500lb's
F150 11,300lbs


But what im confussed with is that Dodge are using something called H.D Cooling package which increase the tow rateing from 5500lb at a standard 11k HD rateing to 8500lb on a 14k hd rateing. They have rateings from 10k,11k,12k,13k,14k and so on. But you cant upgrade the HD rateing on the build and price?? Perhaps this is why Popularmechanics didnt like the tow rateings because it cant be configured for any good payloads? This HD Cooling things has me confussed big time.

 

Shifty_85's truck is on that thread...

 

9100 Lb rating is only available in the regular cab, with 17" wheels and 3.92 axle

http://www.dodge.com/bodybuilder/200...mlupseries.pdf