2008 F150 Towing Capacity Guide (with Charts)

If you have a 2008 Ford F150 and need to know the towing capacity of your truck you have come to the right place.

Here you will find all of the GCWRs and max trailer towing weights suggested by Ford. The information here is taken in combination with the 2008 Owner’s Manual and 2008 Ford Trailer Towing Guide Brochure.

The 2008 F150 has a max trailer towing capacity of 5,100 – 11,000 lbs for all automatic transmission trucks. In order for the F150 to accommodate these weights, the F150 will require either the Heavy Duty Trailer Towing Package or the Trailer Tow Package. Without these packages, a trailer should never exceed 5,000 lbs.

The 2008 F150 trucks with a manual transmission have a towing capacity of 2,400 – 3,700 lbs.

Ford says that the tongue weight for any towing should be no more than 10% of the trailer weight. So without a weight distributing hitch, the tongue weight cannot exceed 500 lbs.

Trims

There are 8 trims in the 2008 F150 series. The main difference between these trim levels is the options available and the cosmetic additions that can be added (Source). Each of these trim levels has various package options, bed lengths, cab sizes, and engine types, but this post will not go through all the options.

• XL
• XLT
• FX4
• FX2
• Lariat
• King Ranch
• Harley Davidson
• STX

Cab and Bed Sizes

The cab types in the 2008 F150 are regular/standard, SuperCab and SuperCrew.

The regular is a single-row seating cab, while the SuperCab and SuperCrew can support two different rows of passengers.

The SuperCab is slightly smaller than the SuperCrew in both length, rear-seat space, and rear door sizes.

Bed Sizes

There are three main bed sizes for the 2008 F150. These include the short, standard, and long bed.

The short bed is 5.5 ft, the standard bed is 6.5 ft, and the long bed I 8 ft.

Not all bed sizes are available with every cab size or every trim. Since the regular cab is the smallest, it can accommodate both the 6.5 ft and 8 ft bed sizes.

The SuperCab, as the middle option is available in all three cab sizes.

And the SuperCrew, being the largest is offered in the 5.5 and 6.5 ft bed sizes.

There are some flareside and styleside trucks, but that doesn’t impact the towing capacity of the vehicle in this guide.

Packages

Ford states that a max trailer capacity of 5,000 lbs should never be exceeded unless you have one of the two packages listed below.

Heavy-Duty Payload Package (Code 627)

• 17 in high capacity steel wheels
• heavy-duty shock absorvers and frame
• upgraded springs & radiator
• 4.10 axle ratio

This package is only available in the XL and XLT Regular and SuperCab models with an 8 ft bed and a 4×4 5.4 L engine.

Trailer Tow Group/Trailer Tow Package (Code 535)

• 7 wire harness
• 4/7 pin connector
• hitch receiver

Towing Capacity by Engine

To determine the towing capacity of your vehicle, you need to know the:

1. engine type
2. bed size
3. cab size
4. drivetrain
5. axle ratio

If you know all of these items, then move on to the next section by engine to determine your towing capacity.

If not:

1. Start with the VIN decoder from Autozone to determine the engine in the vehicle
2. measure the bed size with a tape measure to determine whether you have a 5.5, 6.5 or 8 ft bed
3. The cab size should be evident by whether or not you have two rows and if the back doors are full-sized
4. Drivetrain should be determined with the VIN as well
5. The axle ratio will be listed on the side of the driver’s door on the certification sticker

The image below will should you where you can find the axle ratio on this sticker in your car.

You can also see your GVWR for your vehicle here to determine your payload capacity.

Related: What is GVWR?

4.2 L V6

The 4.2 L V6 engine is the smallest engine offered in the 2008 F150 trucks. It has a hp of 202 and a torque of 260 lb.-ft.

This engine is only a 2 wheel drive vehicle but does come with automatic and manual transmissions.

The automatic transmissions in the 4.2 L engine in the 2008 F150 series have a maximum towing capacity of 5,100 – 5,700 lbs. The manual transmissions only have a max towing capacity of 2,400 – 3,700 lbs.

Compared to the 2008 models, this year has 100 lbs less towing capacity for the automatic transmissions than are listed previously.

4.6 L Triton V8

The middle engine offered in the F150 is the 4.6 L Triton V8 which has 248 hp and 294 lb.-ft of torque.

The 4.6 L V8 engine is only available with an automatic transmission and has a maximum towing capacity of 5,600 – 7,200 lbs.

5.4 L Triton V8

The 5.4 L Triton V8 is the largest and most powerful engine in the 2008 F150 series. With the most power, it has 300 hp and 365 lb.-ft of torque.

The 5.4 L V8 engine in the 2008 Ford F150 has an automatic transmission and has a maximum towing capacity of 5,100 – 11,000 lbs.

Compared to the previous year of 2008, this year has nearly 1000 lbs more towing capacity.

2008 F150 Towing Capacity Chart

The following chart is from the trailer tow guide from the Ford brochure. If there are any differences between this document and what’s listed before, what is there is simply the information that came from the owner’s manual (which is the most reliable source).

2008 F150 5th Wheel Towing Capacity

Ford does not offer any kind of 5th wheel towing hitch, so in order to use your F150 for 5th wheel towing, you will need to get your own hitch installed.

In need of a 5th wheel hitch? The item below is the top-rated hitch on amazon, go check it out!

Payload Capacity

There is no clear way that Ford lists the payload capacities of the 2008 F150. The best way to check the payload capacity is to find the GVWR listed on the certification sticker listed on the inside of the driver’s side door.

There is information, however on the maximum cargo weight (or maximum payload capacity) on F150 trucks with the Heavy-Duty Payload Package (see table below).

All models below are only available with the 5.4 L Triton V8 engine.

	GVWR	Payload Capacity
Regular Cab 4×2 4×4	8,200 lbs 8,200 lbs	2,684 lbs 2,337 lbs
SuperCab 4×2 4×4	8,200 lbs 8,200 lbs	1,889 lbs 1,542 lbs

Rear Step Bumper Towing vs Hitch Receiver Towing

Towing always requires some type of hitch, but the Ford F150 can allow for bumper towing.

This means that a ball hitch can be installed on the bumper of the vehicle and doesn’t necessarily require a fully installed hitch receiver. In either case, for conventional towing without a weight-distributing trailer hitch, the towing capacity cannot exceed 5,000 lbs and the tongue weight on the ball cannot exceed 500 lbs.

This equates to a 10% tongue weight for all trailers.

This means that all of the listed towing capacities above for everything over 5,000 lbs require a weight-distributing trailer hitch is required with a properly installed hitch receiver.

	Weight Carrying Trailer Capacity (Max Tongue Load)	Weight-Distributing Trailer Capacity (Max Tongue Load)
Rear Step Bumper	5,000 lbs (500 lbs)	–
Hitch Receiver	5,000 lbs (500 lbs)	1,100 lbs (1100 lbs)

Additional Resources

• Ford F150 Towing Capacity (Current year & links to all years)
• 2008 Ford F150 Owners Manual
• 2008 Ford Trailer Towing Guide

Conclusion

Though this guide provides good guidance on how much you can tow with your 2008 F150, you should always calculate your own towing capacity.

Not sure how? Read: How is Towing Capacity Calculated? Here you will find a helpful calculator as well.

You’ll still need the GCWR, which should be appropriately listed here, but you should double-check the manual before you make a final decision.

Ford makes an assumption that there is a 150 lb passenger to make the maximum trailer weights listed in their manual.