Huge discrepancies

carringb wrote:

MargaretB wrote:


The dealer adds a little this and a little that - maybe a tow mirror and a bed-liner. They increase the curb weight, which reduces the difference between curb weight and GVWR, and supposedly reduces the mathematical computation of available payload.

But in each case, the differences between the sticker and the mathematical computation (GVWR minus curb weight) was huge - many hundreds of pounds, much more than the weight of the items the dealer/s may have added over time.

And if I understand this process correctly, if the sticker is the holy grail, then no one should ever add anything to the vehicle after it leaves the assembly line, because doing so will render the sticker incorrect.

Do I have that right?

The yellow sticker accounts for all factory options. The discrepancy is the published and advertised weights which all carry the "up to" disclaimer. Nobody says you can't add items to a truck. You just have to do your own math in relation to the yellow TREAD sticker. BTW - aftermarket upitters, like companies that install racks and bins, or RV builders, to have to revise the sticker to reflect the final "as-built" configuration.

And i'm not sure where this "Holy Grail" idea from. It's simply an easy way to identify the capacity of each truck as it leaves the factory. It's not legally binding to the dealer or the buyer. It's simply another tool to help you buy the vehicle you need.

If you really want to find out the capacities of new Ford trucks without looking at trucks on the lot, you can use this workbook to evaluate the affect to your desired options and configurations:
https://www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas/topics/2014/14_TruckPayload_SB.pdf

I was using "holy grail" metaphorically, because every post I've seen says that this and this alone is the determinant of payload capacity. Even if the math doesn't add up, you ignore the math and go with the sticker.