1/2 ton engines to avoid? Engines to pick?

[325BH]

Originally Posted by bob caldwell

I think the new Fords also have a new standard feature coming.....a heated tailgates!.....so your hands don't get cold when pushing off the road....

So original...

[Chargerman]

GM is coming out with a tailgate within a tailgate. About the stupidest thing to come since the tailgate ladder.

[Cumminsfan]

Originally Posted by Chargerman

GM is coming out with a tailgate within a tailgate. About the stupidest thing to come since the tailgate ladder.

It's for 5th wheel owners.

[Chargerman]

No it isn’t according to how the present it. They claim it helps in hauling items by showing different configurations.

[Chargerman]

If it was for fifth wheel owners they can smash the small one just as easy as they can smash the big one when they forget to put it down but it will now cost thee times more to replace it.

[Bob_C]

Originally Posted by 325BH

So original...

Light'n up.....

[photraveller]

I was looking at a F150 as a tow vehicle until a friend pointed out Ford's towing restrictions in the owner's manual:

2018 F150 Owners manual page 288:
Make sure to take into consideration trailer frontal area.
Vehicles not equipped with the Trailer Tow Package or the Heavy Duty Payload Package should not exceed 11 ft² (3.4 m²) trailer frontal area.
Vehicles equipped with the Trailer Tow Package or the Heavy
Duty Payload Package should not exceed 18 ft² (5.6 m²) trailer
frontal area.


So let me get this correct, a brand new F150 truck that is supposed to be able to tow multiple tons, can't tow an 8' wide trailer that is taller than 1.3ft or 2.3ft tall !?!


What are owners suppose to tow? Sheet steel?

Steve

[Cumminsfan]

Yes and no.
Per Fords towing guide. should be in the owners manual.
Base Vehicle Frontal Area (36.6 sq. ft.) Without Trailer Tow Package or Payload Package
55 sq. ft. Any Powertrain with Trailer Towing Package or Payload Package and
Trailer Towing Ratings Between 5,001 and 7,700 lbs.
60 sq. ft. Any Powertrain with Trailer Towing Package or Payload Package and
Trailer Towing Ratings 7,701 lbs. and Greater
75 sq. ft. All 5th-Wheel and Gooseneck Applications with Any Powertrain with
Trailer Towing Package or Payload Package

[Cumminsfan]

Dbl post

[photraveller]

Cumminsfan, Yes I found those numbers in the 2018 towing guide that you mentioned. Though that guide is for the entire Ford truck family.

For some reason, between 2017 and 2018 Ford changed the numbers you quoted to the numbers I quoted in the F150 specific owners manual.

2017 manual: 36 & 60 but in the 2018 manual it is 11 & 18

So I have to assume that the owners manual takes priority over the general guide. Especially since this was a new change.

Steve

[Cumminsfan]

It is interesting that no one ever mentions frontal ratings when someone asks about what their truck can tow. I never paid much attention to it.

[RPr]

You are buying a truck not the engine, every "package" has its intended use and engine choices. Decide what you want the truck to do, pick the package and engine needed for the job. Never hurts to pick the largest engine option.

I have met a few that were not happy with their choice when not towing.

You will get 10 mpg average almost regardless of the engine. We have had good luck with the 3.5 L E-boost in our F-150, towing a 25 ft. TT.

[tuffr2]

The frontal area is a huge deal. The frontal area could be the genesis of trailer sway.

The trailer areodynamic front caps help alot but I wish they did better.

[96 Softail]

If "frontal area" is so much a concern, why mess with a 1/2 ton? Just go 3/4 ton diesel and be done with it.