How Much Tongue Weight Can An F150 Handle?
Do you ever wonder how much tongue weight can an F150 handle? Despite the manufacturer’s ambitious claims, it is recommended to keep tongue weight on F150 between 500lbs to 1220lbs.
First of all, you made a great choice by trusting the Ford F150 to be your towing partner. It has an impressive loading capacity along with a robust engine. But it can be a little confusing to calculate the exact tongue weight. Don’t worry. We are here for you.
We have prepared this tongue weight guide for your new F150 and described the rules of calculation as well. So, if you are ready, let’s go.
How Much Tongue Weight Can An F150 Handle?
Before we explain the ideal tongue weight, let’s discuss how much tongue weight can an F150 handle. It’s important because you can only calculate the tongue weight based on a vehicle’s payload capacity. In this case, an F150 can handle up to 5000lbs load efficiently.
However, it doesn’t mean the vehicle will break if you ever have to carry 6000lbs of payload. But it would be best if you didn’t cross the 5000lbs threshold to be safe and avoid accidents. Also, remember that the weight of the passengers and other supplies are included in this capacity.
Suppose a vehicle can manage a load of 2000lbs and the total weight of all the gear and passenger is 500lbs. That means you can only load 1500lbs more into the trailer.
Now that we know about the payload capacity, what tongue weight can my truck handle? Well, your F150 can easily manage a tongue weight of 500lbs. The formula tells us that the tongue weight should not exceed 10% of the maximum payload capacity.
Since, the payload capacity is 5000lbs, the max tongue weight for this load would be (5000×10%) = 500lbs. In the case of a 5th wheel, the tongue weight would be 15% of the trailer’s load. So, the tongue weight will be (5000×15%) =750lbs.
That being said, not every F150 comes with the same engine. So, the highest loading capacity will differ for every model. For example, the 2015 F150 tongue weight can go up to 1210lbs because of a higher payload capacity.
Also, check out the ford 7 pin trailer wiring diagram for the right trailer support.
What Will Happen If The Tongue Weight Is Too Much?
It’s a genuine question that pops into our head as soon as we calculate the ideal Ford F150 towing capacity. Well, you have to be very careful not to exceed this weight range at any cost. The tongue weight is more than the ideal range. It can cause accidents like tire blowouts in the middle of the road. Moreover, when you drive down a steep road, the extra weight would push the vehicle faster.
Now, that doesn’t mean having too less tongue weight is good. In fact, if the weight is not significant, the trailer will keep swaying. It gets harder when you try to take turns. The vehicle will move more than it should be and cause danger to other drivers on the road.
Here is an easy trick to never go above the ideal limit. Find out the weight of your F150 (6000 to 7000 pounds) and then subtract the weight of the towing vehicle from it. Don’t forget to include the passenger’s weight as well. The result will be your ideal range of tongue weight for the specific F150.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How Much Tongue Weight Can A 2016 F150 Handle?
The maximum loading capacity of a 2016 F150 is claimed to be 12000 pounds. So, the maximum F150 bumper hitch capacity will be (12000×10%) = 1200lbs. However, experts suggest keeping the weight within 600 pounds.
How Much Tongue Weight Can A 2017 F150 Handle?
The 2017 F150 has a towing capacity between 5000lbs to 12200lbs. So, the maximum tongue weight you can get is 1220lbs. Make sure to stay under this ceiling to keep the vehicle safe.
What Happens If the Tongue Weight Is Too Heavy?
In this case, it will overload the tires as you ride. Taking turns and controlling the speed become harder than usual. The worst can be a sudden tire blowout because of excess pressure. The rear tires suffer the most, though.
Conclusion
Despite being so trendy with all of its features, Ford decided to embrace a conservative approach when it came to tongue weight. So, don’t get swayed by their marketing. It’s very important to question how much tongue weight can an F150 handle?
In this article, we tried to give you an overall idea regarding how tongue weight should be calculated. However, every model is different. So, you must take the engines into consideration while before hitching it with a trailer.
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James Noah
Ah! Driving your King has no twist when you have zero knowledge! Yes, Noah is here with his core experiences about trucks, cars, suvs and atvs. Working as a cheif editor for Automasterx to make you satisfied with solid data driven post.