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Atlee's avatar
Atlee
Explorer II
Mar 29, 2021

CAT Scale Weights

Friday, weighed my truck and trailer at the truck stop a few miles from my house. Both truck and trailer were in their normal travel trim.

The truck is a 2014 F150, XLT, Supercab, 4x4, 8' bed, Max Tow and HDPP. It has a 163" WB. GVWR=8200#, GCWR=17,100#, GAWR-F=4050#, GAWR-R=4800#, CCC=2286#, LT245/75R17 LRE, Hitch WT=11,500#, Tongue WT=1150#, 3.73 Limited Slip (mechanical, not electronic) rear end. , It has a 36gallon tank and it was full.

The trailer is a Coachmen Freedom Express 20SE (Special Edition). GVWR=6000#, EW=4140#. ccc=1860#. Axles=2800# each, ST205/75R14 LRD tires. FW tank (50 gallon) is slightly behind the axles and was 2/3 full. GW and BW (33 gallon each) are just forward of the axle and were empty.

1st weigh (truck only). Front=3720#, Rear=3480#, Total=7200#.

2nd weight (W/O WDH bars (in the truck bed)). Front=3380#, Rear=4540#, Trailer=4620#, Total=12,540#.

3rd weigh (With WDH bars). Front=3500#, Rear 4380#, Trailer=4680#, Total=12,560#

A little tweaking may be in order to move a little weight back to the front axle.
  • mooky_stinks's avatar
    mooky_stinks
    Explorer
    Mar 29, 2021
    Your truck weighs 7200? I see it’s an 8’ box and steel? But by comparison my 2020 w/ Max Tow and HDPP and full of fuel weighs 5860 with me and the 5th wheel hitch. My rear axle is 2560. You’re almost 1300lbs heavier just on the rear axle! BTW your math doesn’t add up for the truck weight 3720+3780=7500 which makes it more unbelievable! Do you have a rock collection you bring camping?
  • MFL's avatar
    MFL
    Nomad II
    Mar 29, 2021
    ^^^^Agree, somethings not right. Maybe rear axle weighed 2780, not 3780?

    Jerry
  • mbopp's avatar
    mbopp
    Explorer
    Mar 29, 2021
    Ford says to split the difference on the front axle between the unloaded weight (3720#) and weight with the trailer w/o the bars hooked up (3380#). At 3500# with the bars hooked up you're close enough.
  • ScottG's avatar
    ScottG
    Nomad
    Mar 29, 2021
    According to your numbers, your truck weighs 100# more than my 2003 RAM 3500 4x4 quad cab diesel.
  • valhalla360's avatar
    valhalla360
    Navigator
    Mar 29, 2021
    The OP did say in travel trim...which is the correct way to conduct this test.

    A family of 4 can easily push 600lb. 300lb firewood. 120lb generator. 150lb bikes. 100lb running boards, 200lb fiberglass cap....that's pretty close to 1500lb in the truck before hitching up (the exact makeup might vary but not unheard of numbers).

    The only questionable part is going from #1 to #2, the truck axles go from 7500 to 7920 which implies a 420lb hitch weight on a total trailer weight of 5040lb or about 8% hitch weight. Not unbelievable but marginal for good towing.

    I would look at shifting more weight to the front in the trailer to get that percentage up.
  • Atlee's avatar
    Atlee
    Explorer II
    Mar 29, 2021
    Had my wife and I. When I'm traveling, my bed is pretty full. I always carry a small air compressor. plus a small floor jack. I have tool box. We do a lot of non camp ground "camping", such as football games. I have provide my on power, so I carry 2 Honda 2000 generators, plus a six gallon extended run gas tank, plus 4 2.5 gallon cans. And remember, I have an 8' foot long fiberglass cap.



    mooky stinks wrote:
    Your truck weighs 7200? I see it’s an 8’ box and steel? But by comparison my 2020 w/ Max Tow and HDPP and full of fuel weighs 5860 with me and the 5th wheel hitch. My rear axle is 2560. You’re almost 1300lbs heavier just on the rear axle! BTW your math doesn’t add up for the truck weight 3720+3780=7500 which makes it more unbelievable! Do you have a rock collection you bring camping?
  • JBarca's avatar
    JBarca
    Nomad II
    Mar 29, 2021
    valhalla360 wrote:
    The OP did say in travel trim...which is the correct way to conduct this test.

    A family of 4 can easily push 600lb. 300lb firewood. 120lb generator. 150lb bikes. 100lb running boards, 200lb fiberglass cap....that's pretty close to 1500lb in the truck before hitching up (the exact makeup might vary but not unheard of numbers).

    The only questionable part is going from #1 to #2, the truck axles go from 7500 to 7920 which implies a 420lb hitch weight on a total trailer weight of 5040lb or about 8% hitch weight. Not unbelievable but marginal for good towing.

    I would look at shifting more weight to the front in the trailer to get that percentage up.


    I agree, their is an error in the truck alone numbers. Assuming the axle weights are correct, the truck is 7,500#

    If there is no typos on the 2nd and 3rd set of numbers, then the TT tongue weight is too light at 420#. The water weight in the fresh tank, if is a true 2/3rds full is 33 gal, or 268# of weight behind the axles. That water weight will reduce the loaded TW. If we had some distances, ball to center of rear axle, center of rear axle to center of the tank, I can tell how much TW reduction the 268# is.

    Bottom line: Your loaded tongue weight is too light. Ideally you get up into the 12 to 13% TW / loaded GVW of TT range to give you some freedom to move a few things occasionally or an LP tank go empty.

    The truck loading is not far out, the TT TW should be adjusted, and that will affect the truck loading to go over again.

    Good for you taking the rig to the scales and providing all the ratings to help us look at what you came up with.

    Hope this helps

    John
  • Atlee's avatar
    Atlee
    Explorer II
    Mar 29, 2021
    To those who have replied, you are correct. There was a typo in the #1 weigh. The rear axle was 3480#, not the 3780# I originally typed. I have corrected the number. The correct number is now in bold in the original post.

    The tongue weight is now the difference between 7200# and 7920# or 720#.
  • mkirsch's avatar
    mkirsch
    Nomad II
    Mar 30, 2021
    Yes you could put a little more pressure on the weight bars to get more weight to the front but it is not critical unless you are experiencing handling problems.
  • Gene_K_2's avatar
    Gene_K_2
    Explorer
    Apr 04, 2021
    mkirsch wrote:
    Yes you could put a little more pressure on the weight bars to get more weight to the front but it is not critical unless you are experiencing handling problems.


    I agree. I know the '14 trucks were a good bit heavier but my '18 only has a 3450 FAWR so it's not like 3500 lb is ridiculously light. Less FALR also reduces problems with oversteer in an emergency avoidance maneuver which is the reason Ford only recommends 25% on the newer trucks.

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