F-150 Crew Max Tow vs. Hideout 30ft TT

Terryallan wrote:


BTW. that applies for folks towing with 250s, or 350s. they still have to do the math to stay inside the capacities. It is no harder to overload a 150 than it is to overload a 350. and over loaded is over loaded no matter what you drive.

IMHO that is where the big difference lies. There is not much room above a door sticker on a 1/2 ton, but quite a bit more room on a 3/4 or 1 ton SRW truck.

F-150 with max payload package comes with a 9.75" Ford Sterling axle (per Ford Brochure). Some research shows that axle as mfgr rated at 4,500lbs and the HD package comes with a 4,800lb RAWR.. so lets go with 4,800. 4,800/4,800 means that at the paper RAWR you are at the mfgr axle weight rating, so maxed out.

Lets look at a Ram 2500, 3500SRW, and 3500DRW as I know those specs without looking. My dad's 06 2500 has a paper RAWR of 6,010, my 05 3500 SRW has a RAWR of 6,200, and my buddies 07 Ram 3500 DRW has a RAWR of 9,350. All 3 trucks use the same axle, and that axle is mfgr rated to 10,912lbs. The 2500 and 3500 SRW are just below tire limits, so that's the limiting factor. The DRW is well below axle and tire limits, which tells me that is all Dodge wants on the frame/suspension (same frame on all 3 trucks too, with a max GVWR of 12,200 and the suspensions are very similar).

So while on paper it may be just as easy to overload a 3/4 as a 1/2 ton in the reality of the game that is not true. Tires are the limit on any SRW.

If you upgrade the wheels/tires on a F-150 to a set that holds 7,000lbs you are still limited to 4800 on the rear axle as the axle is limited. If you upgrade the wheels/tires on a SRW 3/4 or 1 ton to a set rated for 9,080lbs then that is your limit as the axle is still below the highest it's rated in the application and from the mfgr.

The brakes, frame, steering, etc are all rated MUCH higher on a HD SRW truck, so some common sense can be applied (and it's not illegal, the door sticker means jack in the legal sense) and door limits exceeded. The FAWR on a Dodge is 5,200 across the board, don't exceed that one with stock bearings and ball joints. Research shows me that the housing on the 5,500lb rated 4th gens is the same with different BJ's and knuckles.. not sure whats new on the 6K rated axle in 2013+.

Just more food for thought, but a 1/2 ton running at 100% of the door sticker is at or near 100% of design limits whereas a 3/4 or 1 ton running at 100% of door limits is not at 100% of design limits.

My 3500 SRW is less overloaded running 11K lb GVW with a 9,900 GVWR than a F-150 HD is at 8,210lbs... despite what the door jam says.