I tow with a 2004 F250 (5.4 gas) The only reason I haven't moved up to a 35 or 38 is because I will have to buy a newer diesel. You would have to be insane to pull the 12,000 lbs it is rated for. But, it will do 80 all the way to Florida with 6500 #'s, and rides like a champ when you put a piano in the bed as well !

Nobody on this site has EVER said my boats big enough. I will never get a bigger one.

With that in mind, buy the biggest truck you can afford.

Then when you upgrade, you don’t have to buy both a new truck and boat at the same time.

That is the best advise I have heard yet

All bs aside. The new 3/4 1 ton trucks aren't really rated for weight but more for ride quality. Whatever you get if its a newer truck will need airbags or Tembrens to handle that much weight. Its not the engine so much as the suspension. Any of the newer gas or diesels will tow that weight. Just remember that if you go gas gears are your friend. I had a true 3/4 long bed with the V10 but I had 4.30 gears in it. It would tow anything my diesel will tow today. The only draw back was if you rode in it for any length of time empty there was a good chance you were going to be pissing blood. If it was loaded it rode like a dream. If you look at the old 60 and 70 model big trucks they didn't have but about 2/3rds of the torque these new trucks have but they had the gears and lots of them. If you can get away with a single wheel then go that route but your going to have to put bags on it and maybe not push it as hard as you would like. Flat ground you can drop the hammer. Hills and curves and rough bouncy roads your gonna have to take it easy. Theres no doubt a dually is the way to go but damn it sucks having to park them in big cities. My long bed 4 door kicks my ass bad enough when we go out of town and need to park. A dually id just have to call a cab.

i hate it when my boat's too big.

I know the commercials tout a 12,000lb or so towing capacity with the right equipment but trust me at 9000# or so of what your towing you want b at least a 250, and to feel better a 350 for sure or the equivelant Dodge or Chevy. I tow my 35 Fountain with a 350 but also have a 150 that I tow my sleds with at half the weight and would never think of towing the boat with the 150 even though by the specs it's rated for it. It just wouldn't feel good

😎

Fords V6 ecoboost twin turbo is rated at 13,200 lbs. It will pull it but you better beef up the suspension, have the tongue weight set right or add a weight distribution hitch, make sure the trailer has electric brakes and in A 1 shape, and I'd swap the rotors on the truck and replace them with drilled slotted with ceramic pads from R1 concepts. A 300 mile trip is a lot, especially a few times a year. I'm not a Ford fan BUT that's the ONLY 1/2 ton truck capable of doing it. It made me a believer. If you've never driven it or towed with it, don't put it down till you try it. In the end, today's trucks pull much more than yesteryear's trucks of 10 years ago. Also, the big 3, when they list the towing species, it's easily 15% under what it can pull for safety reasons.

Insane...a few bags of cement in my 2019 and the front wheels bounce....sorry, you're out of your mind. Don't listen to this guy, you'll be dead and take out some poor citizen with you. The truck is a POS for anything other than groceries.

I had a 2016 Toyota Tundra and could pull my 11k dump trailer easily but not legally. One day I was pulling and got caught in a really heavy rain. It rained so hard the water wasn't draining fast enough off of the roads causing thick puddles all over. Several times I was hydro planing and getting pushed all over the road. Sometimes and in many instances you dont realize how important the weight of the tow vehicle makes when pulling heavy.

In a perfect situation the F150 will tow your boat. In an unperfected worse case scenario you are going to want the added weight of the 3/4 ton or 1 ton. Think about that long and hard before you make your decision. Rain, cross winds, tire failure, locust, emergency braking etc. etc.. Murphys law will at some point and time kick your ass. Best to be prepared for it.

My wife and I use to buy new vehicles every year. Now we buy used with 20k to 30k max miles and save approximately $25k off of the original purchase price. Good luck with whatever decision you make.