Ford Super Duty pickups to regain maximum towing title

[Poltergeist]

The never-ending battle of heavy-duty pickup truck one-upmanship continues with Ford's announcement that it will increase the maximum trailer tow rating on its 2011.5 F-350 and F-450 Super Duty models to 17,500 pounds. Not coincidentally, General Motors nabbed the maximum conventional trailer rating at the beginning of 2011 with the latest versions of its Chevrolet Silverado HD and GMC Sierra HD with ratings of up to 17,000 pounds.

Of course, to pull such massive loads, any fullsize truck needs to be properly equipped, and in the case of the Ford, that means a 6.7-liter Power Stroke V8 diesel (400 horsepower and 800 pound-feet of torque), a Crew Cab, dual-rear-wheel chassis and a weight-distributing hitch. For those keeping track, GM says its trucks can pull their maximum loads with a standard weight-carrying hitch. Thanks to all for the tips!

At the start of 2011, the Ford Super Duty's maximum conventional tow rating stood at 16,000 pounds when properly equipped. What led to the increase? Speaking to PickupTrucks.com, Ford spokeswoman Anne Marie Gattari explained that a frame change made back in August of 2010 will work together with a new hitch design that will go into production on Monday, February 7th. So there you go.

Naturally, we expect a suitably quick response from General Motors, and possibly even Ram.

 

[THEFERMANATOR]

17,500 pounds from a bumper pull style hitch, and I thought the GM's went to 17,000 because that is all that a class 5 2 1/2" receiver hitch is DOT approved for. It still won't change the fact that the GM outran em towing, outruns em empty on the gragstrip, and GM STILL spanks em from a rolling start race. So they are gonna try and one up em on tow ratings that you have to buy special hitches and trailers just to use.

 

[Jscherbs]

and i bet it still gets rolled on by the dmax. its just no match, titles can say anything. when it lacks performance the title is useless.

 

[TeaBagger2006]

thats it, im buying a fe...i mean ford

 

[Subman]

The one thing I can say about the 450 Ford anyway with that heavy duty upgrade to 10 lug wheels, massive under carriage etc. It can pack a lot weight more than I would want to put on a GM pickup, especially since they (GM) have discontinued some of the bigger models. If I had a heavy duty camper I'd want a Ford to haul it, not a Dmax even if I did get passed by a Dmax going up a hill.

 

[RKTMech]

Aren't they getting close to different driver license classifications at that weight?

 

[duramaximizer]

I think campers are exempt like RV's. I disagree subman, with that new exhaust brake of GM's, I would feel extremely comfortable after reading pickuptruck.com / dieselpowermags reviews. They are one heck of a machine.

Heck we grossed 27,160 pounds with a 2008 model 3500 and it would have been the same comfort level with another 5 thousand pounds. The slowest we went up any hill was in PA Turnpike at 72mph with an Edge on 1. One of my favorite experiences was passing a Prius Hybrid the look on their face was priceless.:roflmao: Otherwise we set the cruise on 78 mph and it stayed right there 95% of the time.

 

[Bryce418]

The 2011 dmax really is a much stouter truck than previous years if you compare a 10 to an 11 there is no doubt they can handle way more load.