Im new to the truck scene considering I've only owned Subaru's since I could drive. I just picked up a 2012 Eco and i think it may have the 3.15 gears. Im not at home yet but wanted some insight. I have been reading off and on while here at work about the pros and cons of lower (numericaly) gears and I'm getting a little sick to my stomach. I may have the 3.31's? I'll check later.
Anyways im looking at a few Camping trailers for my family. We have been looking for something that will sleep my wife and I, one other adult (her mom) and my three young boys. We have found three trailers that we would really like to get and the weight on all are around the 7,000-7,600lb mark. We will be camping twice a month year round and will travel through small foothills and one decent grade (San Luis Obisbo grade) to and from our destination. My question is, can I switch my gears to the 3.55 or 3.73's if i have a 4x4? is there a more cost effective way in increasing my tow capacity? I know the truck has plenty of tow power considering I have towed it through the Grape Vine with a large car trailer and a Mitsu Evo 9 in tow with absolute ease! I'm just conserned with the Transmission and the brakes. I do have the tow package though... Will i be fine with just upgrading the ECU with a programmer or will i need to swap out to larger gears?
To elaborate on my stupidity, I thought at the time that I was getting a truck with the 3.55's, the truck was transported in and my wife went down to sign for it and bring her home. After about three months of owning her I could swear I finally looked at the paperwork and saw that she signed for this truck without the gears I thought I had asked for. Dealer is playing stupid nd wont work with me.

My appologieze for being such a douche..

 

You need to find out exactly what gears you have. If it is the 3.15 gears then you won't be towing much weight at all. The 3.31 gears are not much better for towing. You can change the gears and if it's 4x4 then you need to change the front and rear. It won't be cheap and if your going to do it then definitely go with either 3.73 or 4.10 gears. Are those trailers weights you mentioned dry weights or GVW ratings? My only question is if you were planning on towing with the truck why didn't you go with the max tow pkg or HD pkg that are setup for towing and heavy payloads. These little motors can tow a TON!!! But there biggest downfall is there lack of payload and you will end up going over you're trucks GVWR and RAWR before even coming close to your tow rating.
You need to find out your payload rating. So you can figure out how much tongue weight you can handle from the trailer. Look on the yellow sticker on the inside if the drivers door and it will tell you what your allowed for payload.

 

3.15's are not availible on a 2012 4x4. You really need to find out what you bought. So you can determine what you need to do.

 

Thank God it isnt the 3.15's. I'm almost certain its the 3.31's. I'll check the sticker again tonight. Unfortunately I workong hours and just took a short glance at the sticker last night. All i rememnber seeing was 7,200lbs.. guessthing that is the max weight that the tires can support? I'm not at all intellegent with this stuff. I' asked my wife to pull the paperwork and look it over to see if the gears are listed there too. I looked in my owners manual and it said do not tow a trailer weighhing more than 5,000lbs. Where the Hell am I going o find a traler that weighs less than 5,000lbs? That is rediculous. The trailer weights I listed above were the Gross weights of the trailers. I beleive I have the Max Tow pkg. It came with a trailer Brake and a class IV hitch, I dont know if it might be a regular tow pkg. I'll be able to look at it more on Sunday.

So lets say it is with the 3.31's.... What is your best estimate of the heaviest weight I can Tow? Do you know where I can find 3.73's for my truck and what I can estimate I would pay just for the parts? I do all my own work.

 

Before we can nail this down, we need to know:

1. Standard, extended, or crew cab
2. Bed length
3. Axle ratio (what is the AXLE code on the door jamb sticker?)
4. 2wd or 4wd (you already said 4wd, right?)

Whatever it is, regearing will not increase the capacity and may cause warranty issues. There is more to the capacity than just gear ratio.

Axle ratio is no longer as critical as it used to be because the 6 speed transmission has a nice low 1st gear.

If you do in fact have the "Max Tow" package, it's probably going to have 3.73 gears.

 

The max tow pkg does come standard with 3.73's and 4.10's as a option. But the max tow pkg also comes with the elephant ear telescoping mirrors, bigger radiator, bigger transmission cooler and a higher rated hitch.

 

The easiest way to tell if it's has max tow is look at the mirrors (unless it is a used truck). If they are huge it has max tow. If they are smaller it does not have max tow. 5000 lbs tow limit is for a truck without any tow package. Don't get all worked up, until you figure out what you have. It really is very simple, we know you have a 4x4 so you have to have at least a 3.31 rear end. You haven't let us know what your numbers are on your door jamb so nobody here can help you since there are too many variables that haven't been revealed. The 7200 number you indicated is probably the GVWR. The is the most your truck can hold. To figure what your gross vehicle weight is add the weight of your truck, all of the gear and gas in it, all of the people in it, and the tongue weight of your trailer.

There are only two radiators and tranny coolers for the ecoboost engines. One for trucks without tow and one for trucks with a tow package. The radiator size does not increase from a regular tow package to a max tow package. This was discussed in the thread about the ecoboost overheating.

 

It looks like even if you do only have 3.31's, your max is at least 8000#. HOWEVER - you are going to run out of GVWR (payload) before you hit the max tow ceiling. If you have 6 people in the cab, that's going to eat up a HUGE portion of the payload.

Looks like your GVWR is 7200#, what's the max payload on the sticker? THAT is the number you need to be concerned with, and gears will NOT increase that number. The tongue weight of the trailer counts against the payload, and average tongue weight is 12% of the trailer gross weight.

If you are looking for that big a trailer, you may want to start looking for a decent trade on a F-250. Gas engine is fine, you don't need a diesel.

 

It has the smaller mirrors... I looked on the sticker at least 5x's now and can only see the GVWR of 7200... There are two other #'s of 3750 and 3850 for front and rear.. How many towing packages are out there? I have the trailer brake, a tow package and trans cooler. Where exactly is the max payload? I was under the usumption it was 14000lbs. The sticker states WB: 145 INT TR: MS R: 5. Axel:27 TR: 6 ect ect.. The yellow sticker states Amex vehicle occupancy of 6 with a wt of 1405lbs. I will have 5 ppl in my truck myself weing in at 190, my wife at 110 and my two sons, 45lbs and 30lbs. My truck is never filled up on gas I might just put in 20gal max. And I'm not packing for a week I'm packing for a weekend which is only enough items to fill up a small suit case. I was researching and found that my particular gear and 5.5" box Eco with the super crew cab and class IV hitch has a max tow rating of 8,200lbs. I found a trailer that weighs in at 6,370lbs with no fluids. That is with propane and two batteries along with everything I saw in the trailer, stove, fridge ect... I'm assuming this to be within my capacity yes? It is the 2013 Couger 28RBSW.
If I'm not looking in the right areas for my correct #'s please tell me where else to look. Thanks for everyones input.

Ps I believe the 5,000lb max tow is for trailers without a class IV hitch? As in a small pocket hitch only attached to the bumper and not the frame...?

 

I have the same truck with 3:15 gears, you are good for 8,200 trailer..........

 

No you don't (unless it was modified or an error from the factory). The 2012 4x4 does not come with 3.15 gears. You might have the same truck in 4x2 which does come with the 3.15 gears.

 

Now this is stuff we can work with. Small mirrors means you only have the smaller tow package, not the max tow package. There are two tow packages offered from Ford. There is the regular tow package, which you appear to have. That comes with the extra coolers and the bigger hitch receiver. Then there's the Max tow package, which as far as we've been able to tell on these sites comes standard with a better rear end gearing as well as stronger suspension and the larger tow mirrors as well as the extras that come with the standard tow package. I'm not sure, but somebody will be able to clear it up, if the max tow comes with the trailer brake.

According to the 2012 F-150 brochure you have three possibilities for tow limits for a truck 145" long. 8500, 8300, or 8100. I see you have the short bed, so my guess is you probably have the super crew cab. That would mean your tow limit is 8100lbs. I can tell you I just went to the dump this weekend with just me and one kid. I was on 1/4 tank of gas my 4x2 SCREW short bed weighed in at 5740. Between me and the kid we weigh in at 370lbs.

It appears your axle code shows you as having a 3.31 rear end.

I think you will be fine with the 6300lbs trailer. Assuming the 12% tongue weight specified on this thread. That should put you just short of your GVWR. The MIL might have to ride in the trailer though.

 

double post

 

Yes, 4x2.........

 

Do we have a problem answering questions?