5.0GN tow

This is my first topic here, but I have been towing with Fords since I was 16 years old, everything from dump trucks to SUVs and lots of F150s. I have owned 12 and used a lot more at work. I am a Ford guy through and through, with family that is retired from Ford and some still working there. My new 13 5.0 is the best pulling truck I have ever owned, and yes I know about the eco, I own one in a Lincoln MKT and it tows very well. I tow our 19 foot boat with the Lincoln for more passenger room. I just find the 5.0 to be simply incredible. While I love towing with the 5.0 Ford does not seem to want to admit how good it is. I posted the info below in another thread, but let me know what you think of it. Check out the charts and see if it makes sense to you.

I am confused a bit about the ratings for the 5.0, it seems Ford is sandbagging it a bit. If you look all GCWR of all the engines comparing 4X4 to 4X2, the 5.0 is the only one that drops in rating by more than the 2-300 lb difference of the curb weight difference and most do not drop at all or increase with the change to 4wd. Even the 3.7 stays the same and the max towed weight only drops by a couple hundred pounds. The 5.0 in SC goes from 14900 to 13500 GCWR with 3.55 gears just by going to 4wd, this makes no sense at all when compared to the others across the board, makes me wonder if it was a typo that has been carried forward since 2011. If it was supposed to be 14500 instead of 13500 then the tow rating would be closer to 9100 vs 7800 which makes more sense when you look at the numbers. Just some observations I made when looking over the numbers. I currently pull a 3 horse GN trailer with 2 medium size quarter horses and all our gear aboard, and it weighs in just about 7000 on the nose. The truck I have is within its ratings to pull my trailer, but feels easily capable of much more than its rated for. Just wanted to add, that contrary to what I expected no airbags were required when using the GN trailer I tow now, the truck sits level with the trailer hitched up and all gear aboard, so if you have a medium weight GN trailer give the 5.0 look.

5.0GN tow

2013 F150 STX 5.0 3.55 rear with 2004 Sooner 3201 3 Horse Slant. Towed weight with 2 horses and gear for a weekend show is 7K.

Feathermerchant

Does it look like the GVWR drops to accommodate the Ecoboost? I know Ford likes to sell Ecobosts.

5.0GN tow

That would be my guess, the numbers when compared to the other engines across the line from 3.7 to 6.2 all stay the same or close to it for GCWR some even increasing when going to 4wd from 2wd for same cab configuration, except the 5.0. It just does not make any sense at all unless its done to force people in to the ecoboost.

Feathermerchant

Years ago I talked to an engineer about towing ratings and automatic/manual transmissions. She said that since GM made their own automatics and outsourced their manuals, they would always give the auto a higher tow rating.
Now that SAE is going to be used, maybe the ratings will be more objective. That will cause Ford to make some changes if they want the Ecoboost to have a higher rating in the same truck. I really think both engines are very closely matched. They just operate in different RPM bands.

5.0GN tow

I agree, that they are really closely matched. I just wish Ford would admit it, but they make more money on selling ecoboosts

PawPaw

I guessing you'll have a tire problem on the rear of the truck first...that's if those are stock P rated tires. The 32V 5.0 is a peppy little engine but it's torque curve is not the best for towing heavy loads. 3.73's or 4.10's maybe would help.

5.0GN tow

They are stock tires, but pin weight on this trailer is pretty light, under 1000 loaded. I figured I will wear the stock tires out first. It really tows very well, just pulled in some pretty good hills this weekend with two horses on board and the whole family with all our gear for the show. It seems to handle the weight with ease. The trailer is set up to get very heavy with a GVWR of 16K plus, not sure where you would get 12k of weight in it, it would have to be draft horses and lots of water. Sooner used to make all their trailers on the big frames and axles of the really big trailers, but that makes them last a long time used as light as we use it.

While we were in the hills I locked out 6th, but it never dropped below 4th, an only went there a few times. I really like towing with this truck. It never heated up at all either the transmission gauge or the engine temp gauge, so I am pretty happy with how its done over about 2k miles of towing so far.

PawPaw

My '11 that I had was a 5.0 with the 3.55 LS rear...it was a 4x4 Screw and the thing was rated 7,700 lbs towing. With the 3.73 rear it jumped to 9,300 lbs. Crazy jump right there!

5.0GN tow

Yep you are correct there, what stumps me is how the 4X4 only adds about 200-400lbs to the weight of the truck per curb weight listings, but drops tow rating by 1700-1800 on the 5.0SC, but by only 200-400 on all the other engines and even on the RC 5.0. Its really weird that its that specific the 5.0 SC models. They only weigh a couple hundred pounds more, but see 1400 lbs of GCWR drop and 1700lbs tow rating drop. These models are pretty popular, and for it to be so specific and drastic, it has to be marketing, since simple math as related to other models with 5.0 motors and the other motors seems to make any other explanation hard to buy.