The F-150 has slowly evolved into a light-duty truck capable of hauling a heavy-duty sized load in recent decades.
Becoming Heavy Duty
It's no secret that both light-duty and heavy-duty trucks have experienced tremendous progress in terms of towing power over the last several decades. Today's trucks are more capable than ever as a result. But what's particularly interesting to us is the fact that the modern-day F-150 is far more capable than Super Duty trucks from just a few years ago, a fact that was recently explored in-depth by Car & Driver.
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1990
Going back 30 years, it's particularly interesting to note that while towing numbers have improved drastically, payload figures have not. A 1990 F-350 was rated to carry 6,685 pounds, which is around double the 2020 F-150's payload rating and not much less than the new Super Duty's 7,850-pound rating. But things get a little more interesting the further we dig.
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1995
Five years later, a '95 F-250 equipped with Ford's straight-six cylinder engine and manual transmission was rated to tow 3,200 pounds, which is less than some crossovers can pull these days. A top-of-the-line F-350 with the 7.3-liter diesel had a max tow rating of 10,000 pounds, a figure that the F-150 was capable of exceeding by 2010 when equipped with the 5.4-liter V8 and Max Payload package (11,300 pounds).
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2000
Super Duty trucks started to enjoy some big increases in tow ratings in the 2000s. In the first year of the new millennium, the rear-wheel-drive F-250 regular cab with a 6.8-liter V10 and 4.30 rear gears could tow 14,500 pounds with a fifth-wheel. The F-350 dually, on the other hand, had the lowest tow rating of 7,500 pounds, a figure that even the new Ranger can equal.
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2007
By the mid-2000s, the Super Duty could tow up to 15,000 pounds with a conventional hitch or up to 19,200 pounds with a fifth-wheel and the TowBoss package. But 2004 is the sweet spot for our comparison. Then, the Super Duty towing numbers ranged from 6,800 pounds up to 13,400 with a conventional trailer, which is essentially identical to the 2020 Ford F-150.
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2020
As such, we can say that today's F-150 is as capable a hauler as heavy-duty trucks build just 16 years ago. And that's a pretty amazing factoid. Who would have thought that today's trucks would reach such heights, even the ones that aren't necessarily built to be long-distance, heavy-duty haulers?
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Looking Forward
And this is just the beginning. The 2021 F-150 will come with even more power and towing capability, especially in terms of the new PowerBoost hybrid model, which Ford says will tow at least 12,000 pounds. We wouldn't be surprised to see at least one trim level of the new F-150 hit 14,000 pounds. So perhaps we shouldn't call it a "light duty" pickup anymore.
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