I am curious if I am crazy here...I have the above truck w/3.55 ratio. If I put a 3.73 or 4.10 ratio on this truck, increase the tow hitch weight limit to a 12,000 lb hitch, could I pull ~11,000 lbs 100 miles, 6 times per year, safely at 60-65 MPH?? All are 4 lane roads. Trailer has electric surge breaks & truck has sway control. Any other ideas to increase towing capacity of this truck? I don't want to purchase an F 250 Heavy Duty if I can avoid it for two-three more years!

Looks like 9,600 with what you have.
http://www.ford.com/assets/pdf/towin...vF150sep09.pdf

I have never asked. Will a Ford dealer change the gears on a truck that left the factory with a different ratio?

and if somebody cuts you off/pulls out in front of you??

I don't know about Ford yet. I was planning to call my dealer tomorrow & inquire.

If someone suddenly cuts me off and/or pulls out in front of me does it really matter what truck I have?? Honest question. The trailer has electric surge breaks. When we have hauled with a chevy 2500HD 6.0, 4.10, the truck did great & trailer breaks also as trailer would pull the truck to a stop quickly.

Maybe not to you but to the insurance agency it does. It might be the difference of you losing everything you own in a law suit or them saying...."yeah some DBag cut you off"

The fact is if you are over the GVWR and get into an accident the insurance can walk and they probably will. Maybe I am Debbie Downer and a worry wart but I don't know why so many people have fairly high dollar toys and risk the liability. If you have the expendable income to afford a nice thing then you have some assets to risk. IMO the tow ratings are marketing crap and I think just running at the max rating of the tow vehicle is crazy. I once owned a Explorer once that was rated to tow 5500lbs and I towed 5k with it and it was exhausting and un-safe IMO. I stopped doing that as soon as I could.

I had the exact truck with 3.73 gears FX4...Trust me, and this goes for all the 1/2 tons.. Do not pull more than 9k. First off, they all lack in low rpm torque to get the load moving..you will have your foot planted 80% of the time, which will yeild terrible mileage...and lastly....braking safely is another sore subject with more than 9-10k on a 1/2 ton.
I know they all say they can pull the load...try it first..I traded my 10 F150 and Dodge hemi back in for 3/4 tons..Good Luck..

A 1/2 ton should only be able to pull about 7-8k safely..