Tremor Tow Ratings - Buyer Beware!

[High_Country]

There's been a long discussion in this thread about tow ratings for the Tremor.

402A and Trailer Tow Package-Why?

Hello all, New member looking to purchase a new Tremor here hopefully by spring. I'm a little confused by towing package options on the Ford Build and Price tool. All of the windows stickers I've seen thus far on 402A's have the $1,090 trailer tow package but I'm having trouble understanding...

www.f150tremor.com

And while this other thread started out specific to the 402A package, it has changed (partly my fault!) to be applicable to the Tremor in general. A general tow rating thread seems to be a good idea - maybe someone with CONFIDENT answers will see it and chime in.

Hopefully this keeps someone from being ticked off by finding this out AFTER they've ordered or received their truck.

In short, there is confusion out there - amongst buyers, dealers, and everyone else - about what is required for your Tremor to be rated to tow the advertised 10,900lbs. I won't recite all the info in the other thread - go check it out. There seems to be three basic camps:
1) ALL Tremors are rated to tow 10,900lbs because they all get the same engine, trans, rear diff, hitch, trailer sway control, etc.
2) You have to opt for ONE of the two tow packages (Tow Technology - 17T, or Trailer Tow - 53A) to get the 10,900lb rating.
3) The ONLY way to get the 10,900lb tow rating is to opt for the Trailer Tow package 53A.

If your truck is not rated for 10,900lbs, then it is rated to tow only 7,000lbs.

To be extra-sure, you could certainly just get opt for the 53A Trailer Tow package and be done with it - you're probably covered. It is the more expensive package and most say (including my dealer) the 360 degree camera package is not included in the 53A. So, if you wanted the towing features plus the 360 degree camera package, it's about a $1,000 difference.

There's also no consensus about WHAT the 53A package adds or changes to the truck to give it an almost 4,000lb increase in tow rating (from 7,000 to 10,900). Some say it's a different rear leaf spring pack, some say it may have a different radiator, some have even wondered if it has a different 'heavy duty' rear 9.75" gear set.

Again, there's lots of charts and such included in that other thread - I won't copy them here. However, I will include this pretty complete 2022 F150 order guide (updated TODAY - 1/3/22) courtesy of @Bannerman.

https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/attachments/01-03-22-2022-f-150-order-guide-pdf.35060/?hash=87cfd8f986d72862cc07e1324a7c4b5b

If anyone knows FOR SURE...or darn near... on this topic, there's a lot of folks out there wanting to know!
1) What's it take to get the 10,900lb tow rating on a Tremor?
2) What is actually changed/added to get there?

p.s. - no where on the truck do they physically list the tow rating for a particular truck. All trucks get a truck-specific sticker on the door jamb indicating GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating) which is the weight of the truck, plus the allowed weight of cargo/passengers. This is NOT the the trailer weight rating.

 

[BA73]

There is a whole heck of a lot of confusion out there on this for sure. I was in the camp to spend the extra grand and be on the safe side. My truck has both packages (17 and 53) and says 11,600 on the Hitch. So that's what I'm going with.

 

[PokeAndRun]

There is a whole heck of a lot of confusion out there on this for sure. I was in the camp to spend the extra grand and be on the safe side. My truck has both packages (17 and 53) and says 11,600 on the Hitch. So that's what I'm going with. View attachment 1349

400A, 401A or 402A?

 

[BA73]

402A.

 

[Jstonk]

When I run my vin on my 401A I see 10,900. Is this right then?

 

[MtnMan]

I think we can all agree that Fords towing guide is about as clear as mud on this. It depends on how you interpret their fine print. I read it one way, others read it a different way. No one knows a definitive answer. When I called Ford customer service and provided them VIN #'s for non towing package Tremors, I was told it's still rated at 10,900 pounds.

Annotation # ² says not to exceed 7,000 pounds without the trailer tow package.

Annotations ⁵ & ⁷ supersede annotation ².

I have been told by multiple people (dealers and Ford customer service) that annotation ⁶ (Tremor "package") also supersedes # ² and therefore all Tremors are rated for 10,900 lbs.

Ford states that the GCWR (truck + trailer) is not to exceed the number listed. In the case of the Tremor, Ford only lists one GCWR... 17,100 lbs.

If a Tremor has a GVWR of 7,000 lbs but is only rated at 7,000 lbs towing, wouldn't their published GCWR = 14,000 lbs? Why would a truck that can't exceed 7,000 lbs in weight and 7,000 lbs of trailer have a published GCWR of 3,100 lbs over "max" capacity? I honestly have no idea on this. It's still up for interpretation at this point.

Now, this clearly states that 10,900 lbs towing is achieved by adding the trailer tow package. Fords B&P does not list anything in this package that would actually add to real world towing capability. (Its a backup knob and tailgate LED + Trailer brake controller which can also be added separately) It also does not say what non trailer package tow ratings would be.

 

[Bannerman]

Seems like 53A is also the only way to get Pro Trailer Backup Assist instead of just Trailer reverse guidance, though I don’t know the difference or how towing capacity would be affected by either.

 

[High_Country]

There is a whole heck of a lot of confusion out there on this for sure. I was in the camp to spend the extra grand and be on the safe side. My truck has both packages (17 and 53) and says 11,600 on the Hitch. So that's what I'm going with. View attachment 1349

It’s my understanding that sticker is for the hitch itself - not unique to the truck. But...that’s all part of the confusion.

 

[High_Country]

When I run my vin on my 401A I see 10,900. Is this right then?

@Jstonk - I can’t remember - do you have one of the towing packages and if so which one?
I ran a VIN from a ‘21 Tremor I found on a lot in November - 401a with the Tow Tech package. It said 10,900 as well. This supports either ALL Tremors are rated at 10,900lb or at least those with EITHER tow package are.

 

[High_Country]

Seems like 53A is also the only way to get Pro Trailer Backup Assist instead of just Trailer reverse guidance, though I don’t know the difference or how towing capacity would be affected by

Concur, that document is confusing. If you flip back to the ‘Packaged Options/Emissions’ pages, I think the Tow Tech includes pro trailer backup.

 

[High_Country]

I think we can all agree that Fords towing guide is about as clear as mud on this. It depends on how you interpret their fine print.

Thanks @MtnMan!! One of the better worded posts about this!

I’m leaning more and more to ‘they’re ALL rated for that’. And for my unique case, I doubt I’ll ever hitch to anything over 9000lbs.

If it is in the springs, I could run some airbags to help with squat (might do that anyways) or get different leaf packs down the road). Not feeling like it’s worth another thousand or two to me.

 

[Bannerman]

There is a whole heck of a lot of confusion out there on this for sure. I was in the camp to spend the extra grand and be on the safe side. My truck has both packages (17 and 53) and says 11,600 on the Hitch. So that's what I'm going with. View attachment 1349

Does your window sticker say 17T and 53A? My understanding was that it's one or the other, not both.

 

[Jstonk]

@Jstonk - I can’t remember - do you have one of the towing packages and if so which one?
I ran a VIN from a ‘21 Tremor I found on a lot in November - 401a with the Tow Tech package. It said 10,900 as well. This supports either ALL Tremors are rated at 10,900lb or at least those with EITHER tow package are.

I don't have the number, the window sticker states "Trailer Tow package" and also the "#7000 gvwr package". My window sticker doesn't have numbers or letters for packages.

 

[Thekoop]

This is so confusing. So I have the Tremor 402a on order and it comes with the tow technology package. Do I need to add the other tow package to get the 10,900 tow rating?

 

[deserttremor]

Have my tremor on order and have been reading the forum everyday. Thought I finally needed to chime in on this one.

I have a '22 401a with tow tech only. NOT the towing package

My vin decoder still gives me the 10,900 rating with weight distributing hitch on the ford-trucks decoder.

 

[High_Country]

This is so confusing. So I have the Tremor 402a on order and it comes with the tow technology package. Do I need to add the other tow package to get the 10,900 tow rating?

Well, that’s the question. No one knows FOR SURE. My money is on ‘no - you don’t need to add it.’

 

[Thekoop]

Well, that’s the question. No one knows FOR SURE. My money is on ‘no - you don’t need to add it.’

I’m leaving my order as is.

 

[ATXcellentGuy]

Does your window sticker say 17T and 53A? My understanding was that it's one or the other, not both.

You cannot have both. I went in and worked with the parts manager to figure all this out and he showed me his ordering system wouldn’t let him pick both.

 

[Bannerman]

You cannot have both. I went in and worked with the parts manager to figure all this out and he showed me his ordering system wouldn’t let him pick both.

So which did you pick?

 

[ATXcellentGuy]

So which did you pick?

53A. The tow package and added the cameras. As far as the parts manager and I could tell, that was the only way to guarantee the max tow.