Used F-150 Heavy Duty Payload Package Buying Guide

[McStreamy_]

This is intended to be the ultimate guide for finding a used F-150 with the Heavy Duty Payload Package (HDPP) from someone that’s actually done it. I have spent too much of my life on this research to not share it with the group. If anyone else has tips, tricks, or questions please share! Finding an HDPP F-150 is possible if you’re patient AND willing to travel when you find one. I’m not looking for a debate on tow vehicles, ½ vs ¾ ton, or anything like that. This post is to help people find the elusive HDPP F-150. I have been meaning to post this for over a year and finally got around to it.

Here’s my journey

Back in early January 2020 I had a realization that happens to many of us on this forum: My tow vehicle was undermatched to my Airstream. The payload capacity on our Tundra was too low for our gear loadout and packing style with our 25FB Flying Cloud. So I started the typical research into ¾ or 1 ton trucks, gas vs diesel, etc. I wasn’t satisfied with what I was finding. No doubt a ¾ or 1 ton truck would provide a better towing experience than a half ton, but this truck is also my daily driver. My wife and I work full time and only take weekend trips with a few longer trips throughout the year. We only camp about 30 nights per year. Based on our usage, moving up a class of vehicle seemed like overkill. I measured and an F-2/350 wouldn’t fit in our garage. There had to be another option.

Enter the F-150 with Heavy Duty Payload Package (HDPP).

The idea is that you can get the payload capacity of a ¾ ton truck in an F-150. They even made it in the Lariat trim until 2018! Sounds appealing, right? The problem is that this truck is a bit like the sasquatch. People often talk about it but haven’t actually seen one. I read through countless posts on this and other forums where HDPP was mentioned as an option but dismissed immediately because it was “too rare” or “too hard to find”. Undeterred by this, I set out to find sasquatch.

Hunting for these trucks isn’t easy. It took me 10 months of searching. Admittedly, most of that time was figuring out what exactly I was looking for and then sorting out a way to find it. I eventually broke down and called Ford. I was bounced around a bit, but eventually got connected with a helpful person who informed me that about 1/1000 F-150s they produced were HDPP. Most of them were special orders. Since Ford manufactures almost 900K F-150s per year that means about 900 HDPP trucks per year released into the wild. Honestly it was better than I expected! They still sell HDPP trucks new in the XLT trim, but I already had an SR5 Tundra and figured if I were getting a different vehicle I might as well upgrade the creature comforts as well.

From my conversation with Ford and my own research, I knew there were a few defining characteristics of the HDPP F-150. Ford seems to really want to push buyers with serious towing needs to the F-2/350. HDPP trucks can’t be kitted out as nice as you may want. They won’t even include a built in garage door opener with a HDPP truck. Things you’re looking for that every HDPP truck will have
- GVWR of 7850 (way more than a standard F-150)
- 6.5’ bed
- 3.5L EcoBoost engine
- Only XL, XLT, or Lariat trim levels
- XLT cannot have any higher than 301a package (no offroad package)
- Lariat cannot have any higher than 500a package (no offroad package, no sunroof, no power running boards, no blind spot monitoring, no lane departure assist, etc)
- There is a particular set of wheels that Ford used for HDPP trucks. This will be very important to your search. Photo at the bottom of this post. Until sometime in 2017 they used a 17 inch wheel, and then changed to an 18 inch wheel.

Things get somewhat painful when you actually start your search. These trucks are so uncommon that most dealers don’t even know what it is. I have yet to see a dealer actually advertise that they have an HDPP truck on the lot. Many dealers don’t list GVWR on their websites, which makes searching by that hit or miss at best. There is a payload package that comes as an option with the 2.7L EcoBoost that makes searching “payload package” a waste of time. The 2.7L payload package is not the same as the HDPP. There is technically a dealer search function that your local dealer will have access to, allowing them to do a nationwide search for used vehicles. The problems with this are: HDPP trucks don’t come up for sale every day and the dealer doing the search won’t get paid a dime when you fly across the country to buy a used truck from someone else; and like I said before, most dealers don’t realize when they have a HDPP truck on the lot may not upload it in the system. After the second attempt I could tell that asking the local dealer to do this work with nothing in it for them wasn’t a sustainable option.

Of all the sites that let you search used vehicles I found CarMax to be the best for the filters needed. I think other sites are nicer, but very few let you filter by bed size and engine size. I ran a nationwide search for a 2016-2018 lariat (they stopped making lariat HDPP in 2018 and I didn’t want anything older than 2016), 3.5L engine, 4x4 (personal preference), and long bed. From there you should have narrowed things down to a few hundred results. Next you have to sift through all the listings and look for the wheels in the photo below. These wheels are only available on HDPP trucks. A HDPP truck will not have standard F-150 wheels. I then opened tabs for any wheels that looked close and examined the photos more closely. The CarMax site doesn’t include the window sticker which is what you really need, unless the dealer uploaded a photo of the doorjam stickers to show the payload and/or GVWR. I’d go from the CarMax site to the dealer site (just google the VIN), and then look at the window sticker. A blue background window sticker is a standard order and unlikely to be HDPP. A green window sticker is a special order, which most HDPP are. You’re looking for the line items “HEAVY-DUTY PAYLOAD PACKAGE” and “7850# GVWR PACKAGE”.

Since most of these trucks are special ordered some of them will have strange options. I’ve seen trucks with the HDPP and no towing package of any kind. Personally I would recommend waiting to find one that has HDPP as well as the Max Trailer Tow Package. If you’re already looking for a needle in a stack of needles, why not hold out for the perfect needle? I ran this search several times per week for about 3 months. I finally found my perfect combination in August 2020: A Lariat F-150 SuperCrew with HDPP, max tow, bed liner, tow mirrors, bucket seats, low miles, and accident free. Oh, and 2341lbs of payload!

I live in Tucson and the truck was in Jacksonville. I set up a video walk through with the dealer, verified the window sticker and door jam stickers, and sent them a refundable deposit the next day. A week later I was on a plane to FL to get my new truck! The dealer told me that two days after I put the deposit down, another customer came in and literally begged them to sell him the truck because he hadn’t been able to find a HDPP in the wild. Thank goodness I put the deposit down when I did! The dealer had no idea how rare or desirable the HDPP was to some people until that guy came in and begged them. I would have paid a premium, but they priced it like any other F-150.


Here are two HDPP F-150 Lariats currently listed for sale that I found using the above method today, Jan 23 2022.
https://www.deyarmanford.com/invento...w1eg7jkc75049/
https://www.cookfordcraig.com/used/F...3c72876d31.htm

Hopefully this thread can be of use to one of you who is hunting for the mythical HDPP F150. It exists, and you can find one. Be patient, be diligent, and be willing to travel. I can upload my window sticker or share any other details you may want. Happy searching!

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by McStreamy_

This is intended to be the ultimate guide for finding a used F-150 with the Heavy Duty Payload Package (HDPP) from someone that’s actually done it. I have spent too much of my life on this research to not share it with the group. If anyone else has tips, tricks, or questions please share! Finding an HDPP F-150 is possible if you’re patient AND willing to travel when you find one. I’m not looking for a debate on tow vehicles, ½ vs ¾ ton, or anything like that. This post is to help people find the elusive HDPP F-150. I have been meaning to post this for over a year and finally got around to it.

Here’s my journey

Back in early January 2020 I had a realization that happens to many of us on this forum: My tow vehicle was undermatched to my Airstream. The payload capacity on our Tundra was too low for our gear loadout and packing style with our 25FB Flying Cloud. So I started the typical research into ¾ or 1 ton trucks, gas vs diesel, etc. I wasn’t satisfied with what I was finding. No doubt a ¾ or 1 ton truck would provide a better towing experience than a half ton, but this truck is also my daily driver. My wife and I work full time and only take weekend trips with a few longer trips throughout the year. We only camp about 30 nights per year. Based on our usage, moving up a class of vehicle seemed like overkill. I measured and an F-2/350 wouldn’t fit in our garage. There had to be another option.

Enter the F-150 with Heavy Duty Payload Package (HDPP).

The idea is that you can get the payload capacity of a ¾ ton truck in an F-150. They even made it in the Lariat trim until 2018! Sounds appealing, right? The problem is that this truck is a bit like the sasquatch. People often talk about it but haven’t actually seen one. I read through countless posts on this and other forums where HDPP was mentioned as an option but dismissed immediately because it was “too rare” or “too hard to find”. Undeterred by this, I set out to find sasquatch.

Hunting for these trucks isn’t easy. It took me 10 months of searching. Admittedly, most of that time was figuring out what exactly I was looking for and then sorting out a way to find it. I eventually broke down and called Ford. I was bounced around a bit, but eventually got connected with a helpful person who informed me that about 1/1000 F-150s they produced were HDPP. Most of them were special orders. Since Ford manufactures almost 900K F-150s per year that means about 900 HDPP trucks per year released into the wild. Honestly it was better than I expected! They still sell HDPP trucks new in the XLT trim, but I already had an SR5 Tundra and figured if I were getting a different vehicle I might as well upgrade the creature comforts as well.

From my conversation with Ford and my own research, I knew there were a few defining characteristics of the HDPP F-150. Ford seems to really want to push buyers with serious towing needs to the F-2/350. HDPP trucks can’t be kitted out as nice as you may want. They won’t even include a built in garage door opener with a HDPP truck. Things you’re looking for that every HDPP truck will have
- GVWR of 7850 (way more than a standard F-150)
- 6.5’ bed
- 3.5L EcoBoost engine
- Only XL, XLT, or Lariat trim levels
- XLT cannot have any higher than 301a package (no offroad package)
- Lariat cannot have any higher than 500a package (no offroad package, no sunroof, no power running boards, no blind spot monitoring, no lane departure assist, etc)
- There is a particular set of wheels that Ford used for HDPP trucks. This will be very important to your search. Photo at the bottom of this post. Until sometime in 2017 they used a 17 inch wheel, and then changed to an 18 inch wheel.

Things get somewhat painful when you actually start your search. These trucks are so uncommon that most dealers don’t even know what it is. I have yet to see a dealer actually advertise that they have an HDPP truck on the lot. Many dealers don’t list GVWR on their websites, which makes searching by that hit or miss at best. There is a payload package that comes as an option with the 2.7L EcoBoost that makes searching “payload package” a waste of time. The 2.7L payload package is not the same as the HDPP. There is technically a dealer search function that your local dealer will have access to, allowing them to do a nationwide search for used vehicles. The problems with this are: HDPP trucks don’t come up for sale every day and the dealer doing the search won’t get paid a dime when you fly across the country to buy a used truck from someone else; and like I said before, most dealers don’t realize when they have a HDPP truck on the lot may not upload it in the system. After the second attempt I could tell that asking the local dealer to do this work with nothing in it for them wasn’t a sustainable option.

Of all the sites that let you search used vehicles I found CarMax to be the best for the filters needed. I think other sites are nicer, but very few let you filter by bed size and engine size. I ran a nationwide search for a 2016-2018 lariat (they stopped making lariat HDPP in 2018 and I didn’t want anything older than 2016), 3.5L engine, 4x4 (personal preference), and long bed. From there you should have narrowed things down to a few hundred results. Next you have to sift through all the listings and look for the wheels in the photo below. These wheels are only available on HDPP trucks. A HDPP truck will not have standard F-150 wheels. I then opened tabs for any wheels that looked close and examined the photos more closely. The CarMax site doesn’t include the window sticker which is what you really need, unless the dealer uploaded a photo of the doorjam stickers to show the payload and/or GVWR. I’d go from the CarMax site to the dealer site (just google the VIN), and then look at the window sticker. A blue background window sticker is a standard order and unlikely to be HDPP. A green window sticker is a special order, which most HDPP are. You’re looking for the line items “HEAVY-DUTY PAYLOAD PACKAGE” and “7850# GVWR PACKAGE”.

Since most of these trucks are special ordered some of them will have strange options. I’ve seen trucks with the HDPP and no towing package of any kind. Personally I would recommend waiting to find one that has HDPP as well as the Max Trailer Tow Package. If you’re already looking for a needle in a stack of needles, why not hold out for the perfect needle? I ran this search several times per week for about 3 months. I finally found my perfect combination in August 2020: A Lariat F-150 SuperCrew with HDPP, max tow, bed liner, tow mirrors, bucket seats, low miles, and accident free. Oh, and 2341lbs of payload!

I live in Tucson and the truck was in Jacksonville. I set up a video walk through with the dealer, verified the window sticker and door jam stickers, and sent them a refundable deposit the next day. A week later I was on a plane to FL to get my new truck! The dealer told me that two days after I put the deposit down, another customer came in and literally begged them to sell him the truck because he hadn’t been able to find a HDPP in the wild. Thank goodness I put the deposit down when I did! The dealer had no idea how rare or desirable the HDPP was to some people until that guy came in and begged them. I would have paid a premium, but they priced it like any other F-150.


Here are two HDPP F-150 Lariats currently listed for sale that I found using the above method today, Jan 23 2022.
https://www.deyarmanford.com/invento...w1eg7jkc75049/
https://www.cookfordcraig.com/used/F...3c72876d31.htm

Hopefully this thread can be of use to one of you who is hunting for the mythical HDPP F150. It exists, and you can find one. Be patient, be diligent, and be willing to travel. I can upload my window sticker or share any other details you may want. Happy searching!

Congratulations on finding that F150! You did your research well, and it has paid off! That is a great payload for the 25' AS, and should be great match with a good WDH and Anti Sway. Lots of choices and lots of opinions on that topic also here!

[McStreamy_]

Originally Posted by gypsydad

Congratulations on finding that F150! You did your research well, and it has paid off! That is a great payload for the 25' AS, and should be great match with a good WDH and Anti Sway. Lots of choices and lots of opinions on that topic also here!

Thank you! Hopefully my research can help someone else too. We use the BlueOx for WD/sway control and have no complaints.

[SYC2Vette]

Thanks so much for sharing this. No news to anyone on this forum who has been paying attention that payload ratings are so frustrating for those who really do not want to be forced into a F250/F350/F450 or 2500/3500 GM.

A neighbor has a beautiful F150 with an aftermarket build that includes a lift and heavy duty bumpers with a winch. He was admiring our FC20 and was very disappointed to understand after a visit to the CAT scale that he does not have enough payload left to even handle the TW of an FC20 not counting driver, passengers and camping supplies.

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by SYC2Vette

Thanks so much for sharing this. No news to anyone on this forum who has been paying attention that payload ratings are so frustrating for those who really do not want to be forced into a F250/F350/F450 or 2500/3500 GM.

A neighbor has a beautiful F150 with an aftermarket build that includes a lift and heavy duty bumpers with a winch. He was admiring our FC20 and was very disappointed to understand after a visit to the CAT scale that he does not have enough payload left to even handle the TW of an FC20 not counting driver, passengers and camping supplies.

Imagine my surprise/frustration when I learned about "payload" and found my F150 Platinum 4x4 had 1039lbs max payload, after towing 2 different 25's with it! Life is so fun! (and costly$$)

[McStreamy_]

Originally Posted by SYC2Vette

Thanks so much for sharing this. No news to anyone on this forum who has been paying attention that payload ratings are so frustrating for those who really do not want to be forced into a F250/F350/F450 or 2500/3500 GM.

A neighbor has a beautiful F150 with an aftermarket build that includes a lift and heavy duty bumpers with a winch. He was admiring our FC20 and was very disappointed to understand after a visit to the CAT scale that he does not have enough payload left to even handle the TW of an FC20 not counting driver, passengers and camping supplies.

I had a similar experience with a neighbor who had a lifted Tundra covered in aftermarket add ons. Had no idea that you can't just add and modify anything you want and expect to tow a giant trailer safely.

[Dennis C]

That’s a very helpful guide on how to find a Sasquatch truck! I find that dealers are often uninformed about “regular” trucks. Something as rare as the HDPP is sure to confuse them.

[Mike1111]

Great job on finding that unicorn. Thanks for sharing how you was able to find that vehicle. My only question is how was you able to pull up the window sticker? Like you said, carmax doesn’t offer that and you said you went to dealer site and googled vin??? What dealer site? Googling the vin doesn’t give you a windowsticker. In fact,the only place I can find to get a window sticker was monroneylabels.com for $8.

[McStreamy_]

Originally Posted by Mike1111

Great job on finding that unicorn. Thanks for sharing how you was able to find that vehicle. My only question is how was you able to pull up the window sticker? Like you said, carmax doesn’t offer that and you said you went to dealer site and googled vin??? What dealer site? Googling the vin doesn’t give you a windowsticker. In fact,the only place I can find to get a window sticker was monroneylabels.com for $8.

Mike,

You caught a big typo of mine. Should have said Carfax, not CarMax. Carfax will search a whole bunch of dealers, but you have to go to the specific dealer's website to see the window sticker. I just googled the vin because it will pull up the specific truck on the dealer's site, which is easier than sorting through the dealer's website. Only Ford dealers will have window stickers available, but Carfax searches more than just Ford dealers.

I don't claim this to be the most elegant process on planet earth. But I do know that it's proven a reliable strategy to find HDPP trucks. Let me know if you have other questions!

[DogMomDeb]

You are right McStreamy about looking for that 7850 GVWR. I found out about that when I was still searching for trucks.
The Ford Fleet Towing Guide is something else that really helped me. https://www.fleet.ford.com/towing-guides/
Of course we ended up building ours because we didn't want to spend the time searching for Sasquatch and wanted only the options we wanted.
The 3.5 EB and the 6.5 bed are also must haves to get the HDPP. I really wanted the short bed to fit it in the garage but needed the payload.
Nice work on your part.

[SYC2Vette]

Back in 2021 I tried "building" with the HDPP, and it seemed you could choose either the 5.0 or the 3.5 ecoboost. The guide here seems to show that also.
https://www.fleet.ford.com/content/d...owingGuide.pdf

[DogMomDeb]

Originally Posted by SYC2Vette

Back in 2021 I tried "building" with the HDPP, and it seemed you could choose either the 5.0 or the 3.5 ecoboost. The guide here seems to show that also.
https://www.fleet.ford.com/content/d...owingGuide.pdf

You are correct. And actually the max payload is a bit better with the 5.0. At least in the 2022 fleet guide. I don't know about older F150s.

[McStreamy_]

I didn't even know the 5.0 was an option with HDPP. Thanks for sharing that info!

[Mike1111]

I am looking for a hdpp right now. So it is the wheels that give it away? I know if you go to build a 21 or 22 model right now, you can get HDPP with a different set of wheels. I guess it varies by year though. What year is yours and was it a green sticker or blue?

[McStreamy_]

Originally Posted by Mike1111

I am looking for a hdpp right now. So it is the wheels that give it away? I know if you go to build a 21 or 22 model right now, you can get HDPP with a different set of wheels. I guess it varies by year though. What year is yours and was it a green sticker or blue?

The wheels were the giveaway when I was looking. I confined my search to lariat trim which was no longer an option w/ HDPP after 2018. It's very possible newer models have different wheels than the ones in my original post. My truck was a green sticker custom order but I bought it used.

[DogMomDeb]

Originally Posted by Mike1111

I am looking for a hdpp right now. So it is the wheels that give it away? I know if you go to build a 21 or 22 model right now, you can get HDPP with a different set of wheels. I guess it varies by year though. What year is yours and was it a green sticker or blue?

The wheels on mine are 18". But it is an XLT.

[Njhtran]

I'm also convinced to look for a F150 with HDPP. In my mind, the MPG is a big advantage over F250 & F350. Is my reasoning correct or are there other reasons one would go the F150 HDPP route?

[JJTX]

Originally Posted by SYC2Vette

A neighbor has a beautiful F150 with an aftermarket build that includes a lift and heavy duty bumpers with a winch. He was admiring our FC20 and was very disappointed to understand after a visit to the CAT scale that he does not have enough payload left to even handle the TW of an FC20 not counting driver, passengers and camping supplies.

..nevermind that 'lifting ' your truck is most likely the worst thing you can do to a truck being used for towing.

[Wazbro]

Originally Posted by Njhtran

I'm also convinced to look for a F150 with HDPP. In my mind, the MPG is a big advantage over F250 & F350. Is my reasoning correct or are there other reasons one would go the F150 HDPP route?

Some consider an advantage over F250 & F350 to be that the F150 isn't as high. Many people find lifting things up higher to get them into truck and bed more difficult as they get older. Also some find it harder to get in and out of the higher truck (especially people that aren't that tall).

[McStreamy_]

Originally Posted by Njhtran

I'm also convinced to look for a F150 with HDPP. In my mind, the MPG is a big advantage over F250 & F350. Is my reasoning correct or are there other reasons one would go the F150 HDPP route?

Originally Posted by Wazbro

Some consider an advantage over F250 & F350 to be that the F150 isn't as high. Many people find lifting things up higher to get them into truck and bed more difficult as they get older. Also some find it harder to get in and out of the higher truck (especially people that aren't that tall).

MPG was one of my main factors in choosing an F-150 w/HDPP over an F-2/350. Towing MPG isn't a concern for me and I don't think there is meaningful difference there. We're weekend warriors and not full timing. Most of my annual miles come from my daily commute.

The height of the truck was another factor. An F-2/350 wouldn't fit in my garage. Parking garages? Forget about it. If the truck was only for towing that would be one thing, but again it's my daily driver. The ride was also more stiff on the larger trucks.