First a bit of background. I'm currently driving an 07 Yukon Denali with a 6.2L V8. I'm using it to haul both my family and the travel trailer during camping season. The engine is a beast and I have no issues with power, but I've always felt that I'm just pushing that SUV too much given the 7000+ lbs I'm pulling.

I've been searching everywhere for a max tow F150, but without window stickers it's really hard to find what it has. I did find two 2016's that seem close. They both even have the optional tow mirrors, one has the longer bed. Unfortunately, I just asked the dealer to send me the stickers in the door jam and they both have over 7000 GVWR, but the max payloads on the tire sticker are both around 1600 lbs. The part that bugs me, is that's the exact same payload capacity I have on my Yukon!

Am I getting any sort of upgrade here? Is the payload all being limited by the stock tires and if I upgrade to something E rated maybe that fixes it?

I guess what I really need is the original MFG window sticker, but it seems that is not something open to the public.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions. I really love the truck and 3.5EB seems amazing, but it's hard for me to justify the upgrade if I'm seeing no gain in payload!

 

Welcome to FTE!

You are correct. Not an upgrade for payload. If you are pulling a 7000 lb trailer, you may be in the hunt with an F150 depending on the tow package etc.

Putting on E tires won't change the numbers on the sticker.

Some dealers allow you to look at the window sticker on line. But it's only going to give you the GVWR, which you already have, along with the usual options list.

The answer for more payload and easy 7000 lb towing is: F250.

Put another way, do you prefer to run your vehicle at 90 to 100% of capacity, or closer to 50-70%?

 

Yes, that's a good way of looking at it. I guess from my perspective, I'd love to run my truck at 50-70% in average. So, when I'm hauling kids to soccer practice etc, I want the smooth ride of an F150, and I'm ok pushing the truck harder during the summer camping season. That said, if I'm trading all my extra seats inside my big Yukon for a flatbed that I can't actually put anything in due to payload limitations, that's an issue.

I guess I'm just confused why an aluminum frame, 3.5EB would have the same payload numbers as this huge steel SUV with seating for 7 people.

 

Who said anything about an aluminum frame?

 

Having owned a 08 yukon Denali xl the payload was just under 1400 lbs. The f150 you are looking at must be a well optioned truck to only have 1600lbs available. I got very lucky on mine with 1893lbs of payload with a 157wb and max tow. When ford dropped weight they also dropped GVWR across the board. Also the 157wb trucks with the HP frame also run the same curb weight as the previous generation trucks.

 

What 85e150six4mtod and ford390gashog said above ^^^^^^ plus:

It doesn't fix what the suspension, frame, wheels etc. were designed to carry. That having been said, I always put LRE tires on my [half-ton] SUVs and pickups.

I don't do it in order to carry extra weight. I do it to buy margin on whatever I do with the vehicle over the life of the tires. For example, I throw my family in my full-size SUV along with the dogs and some camping junk and a trailer on the back. Then I go for a long drive through the desert or mountains or etc. I'm probably within a couple hundred pounds of the vehicle's rating . . . and with LRE tires I'm still a thousand pounds away from each tire's rating. Lots of margin. Later, several years and tens of thousands of miles down the road when I do the same thing, I will be doing it on tires that have never really had a lot of stress in their lives and still won't when I'm all loaded up. Margin.

They ride a little harder than standard, but they also handle better.

The funny thing is, LRE tires for these sizes tend to be only a little more expensive than standard tires, at least in my area. I don't know why everybody doesn't do this.

 

Where is this aluminum frame rumor coming from? This is the second thread I've read today where it was stated the F150 has an aluminum frame.

 

Source? Not too sure about that one...

 

Sorry, that's me being naïve. It's an aluminum bed right?

I guess at the end of the day my main factor is what to optimize for. 80% of my usage is a kid carrying family truck. It just needs to get me and my family to soccer practice safely AND comfortably. If it's a choice between working my engine 80-90% or 40-50%, I guess that depends on the season. If I'm camping in the summer, I'm ok pushing the truck, but the rest of the time I don't need a stiff 250 and would prefer the smooth ride and EB V6.

However, if after upgrading my truck my payload goes from the 1400 on my Yukon to 1600 on an F150, it's a bit hard to justify the upgrade.

So here's my real question. What is realistically the best payload number I can get on a Lariat or better F150? Coming from a Yukon Denali, my wife is quite attached to things like the heated steering wheel etc. Problem is, every time you add an option, payload drops!

 

Generally, the F-150 maximum payload is going to vary between 1600 lbs and 2300 lbs (I'm rounding for sake of discussion). The more you option your truck, the lower the number will be. However, you should be able to get a Lariat that's not "decked out" in the 1800 lb zone. If you got a simple XL you could get closer to that 2300 lb number.

 

 

The frame section on a HPP 156.8 is 6.28 cu inches vs a 145wb truck is 4.95. The standard frame is .087 while the HPP 156.8 frame is .11. The HPP frame is 28% heavier than a standard frame and the center frame is 9inch high rails compared to 7 inch on the standard. While they are not mirror image weights they are not far apart either. The biggest weight difference is the 18 is a STX and the 14 was a lariat with sunroof.

My 2014 F150 156.8wb max tow package had a 7350 GVWR and a factory payload of 2060 lbs - Cat scales showed near accurate at 5,360 lbs base curb weight.

My 2018 156.8wb max tow with HPP has a 7050 GVWR and a factory payload of 1893 lbs - Cat scales showed right around 5,218

 

1800 in a lariat is only going to happen in a 2wd super cab, 2300 in a XL only happens on a 163wb 2wd supercab (need that combo to get the 7000 gvwr) or else the trucks come with a 6400 or 6600 gvwr unless the HPP 7850 package is selected.

 

No more HDPP on lariat, also the payload package downgrades max towing capacity ironically according to Ford's towing capacity sheet.