I have a 2000 F-150 XLT and am wondering how much
weight I can pull. The owners manual gives me a towing guide
but it is confusing to me. I have the 5.4 Triton with the 3.55 limited slip rear axle and the class III towing package. I am in the market for a travel trailer, probably no bigger than 22ft long. Will this truck handle this? Or should I think about trading up to a F250 with the Powerstroke? I would love a 250 but I can't justify the cost right now. Any advice would be appreciated!! Thanks.

 

Depending on how much it weighs decides if you can pull it. I don't have an F-150 but my guess is with that combo you should be able to pull that trailer.

N700MS

 

I had to do a quick read on my BF's Ranger to see if it would pull a U-haul with a ball hitch bolted on the bumper, and it is confusing.
He of course had never intended on towing with it, that's what my F150 is for, but mine isn't a 4by, and we were up north in the winter time so . . .
Anyway, there are three weight limits to look at. The first one you want to pay attention to is GVWC gross vehicle weight cpacity.
You need to weigh the Truck with all the stuff and people you will have it in while towing. Then you will find that a F150 is already close to it's GVWC. "Ouch!"
You also have to look at the other two figures, because I think you have to add what your loaded (just the truck now, but with all your stuff in it) Truck weighs to one of them, to see how much it will be under the total towing capacity. The difference is what you will be looking at in a trailer, and honestly, I doubt it will be a 22' long one.
Once you get over that pain of realisation and start looking at F250's you will shortly notice that the Truck itself weighs more, (about 600lb 2by and 900lb for a 4by) so you will not have substantually increased your towing capacity. Most people end up looking at 350's, or smaller trailers.
Don't rip me to shreads on this one, I am going by memory here. I've
not towed anything with my F150, I just got the tow package for the oil and tranny cooler, resale value, and to displace 'the hit' when rear-ended. The last time I towed anything was with a 1979 F450, called a one ton, that would pull a fully loaded four horse trailer while hauling a camper in the bed! Trucks were considerably cheaper than cars back then, because they weren't very popular, so one could afford way more Truck for the buck.

Good luck!

Built Ford Tough Andthensometoo!

 

One tip I know for sure is: Do not depend on the trailer dealer to sell you what you can legally pull. :-X23 They will sell you what you can (just barely) legally afford.

Built Ford Tough Andthensometoo!

 

The towing charts are very confusing. I have a 98 F-150, 5.4, 3.55 ls, E4OD, with the Class III tow package. With this combination the truck can tow 7,000 lbs. You have to look at the towing capacity (7,000 lbs. in my case) the hitch capacity (5,000 lbs. for a class III frame mounted) the load on the hitch(tounge weight),which should be no more than 10% (500 lbs.)of the hitch capacity unless you use a weight distributing hitch setup, and the gross vehicle weight rating. After you look at all this then you are supposed to pick the lowest available capacity and not exceed that number.

Ah, the hell with it... I tow a 2000 pound trailer with a 4000 pound tractor on it. That's 6000 lbs., which exceeds the hitch capacity of 5000 lbs., but is well under the truck's towing capacity. I have brakes on both trailer axles and a brake controller in the cab. I have had no problems with this set up. The truck doesn't even know that the trailer is attached. I am sure that I am exceeding the tounge load (500 lbs.) on the hitch, but I try to keep the trailer well balanced. If you keep the towed weight below 5000 lbs. and the tounge weight below 500 lbs. you should have no problems. If your trailer weighs more than 5000 lbs. you should upgrade to a class VI hitch, or add the weight distributing hitch (called spring bars) to your trailer tounge. For more information visit with someone that sells hitches and is willing to really talk to you.

 

I own a 2000 F150 XLT SC 4X2 with the 5.4 and trailer tow package. I have pulled my 25 ft camper over 10,000 miles the past two years without any trouble. You shouldn't have any problem with you 22 ft trailer.