Truck Camper Weight...I know, I know

Lexx wrote:
I find this to be a fascinating but confusing subject. I have a 2017 F450 with the Dana M300 rear axles. The rear axle GVWR is 9900 lbs. The front axle is 6000 lbs. This is the same GVWR given to the axles on a F350 DRW. Yet the half-shafts on the F450 are noticeably thicker and heavier duty. The brakes on the 450 are 50% bigger than those on the F350. BOTH trucks are limited by their yellow payload stickers to Class III at 14k lbs GVWR. Yet the F450 is clearly a heavier duty truck. And of course the tires are a non-issue since the stock tires have a load limit of 3950 lbs and there are four of them on the rear axle alone.

I've seen posts from folks with really heavy truck campers like the Host Mammoth and big Eagle Caps, with wet weights in the mid-6k lbs range. Considering the typical Platinum F450 has a payload stick of about 4700 lbs, techically these folks are at least 1800 lbs over the payload sticker. Yet every one of these folks states their rig handles and brakes just fine with zero issues.

So what gives? These folks are obviously not lying. It would seem their heavy loads are perfectly within the capability of the truck they're carrying it with. Yes they're technically over the yellow payload sticker, but so? What are the consequences? Is someone going to prove that a truck with a Class IV truck suspension is so overweight that he is at fault for overloading his Class III truck?

I’m glad you posted that, because it reminded me of something I read just prior to the 2017 Super Duty model year about what new improvements we would see. What I remembered reading was something like “The F350 dually and the F450 pickup will use the same M300 axle, but the F450 axle will have more robust components inside.”

I went searching for the information related to the rear axle specifications in the F250, F350 SRW and DRW, and the F450 pickups, and found this:



In every measurement respect, the M275 is a heavier and stronger axle than the 10.5 it replaces, which was already a robust axle. Comparing the 350 dually and 450 axles is also very interesting. Although they share the same axle tube and ring gears, the diameters of the axle half shafts as well as the spline count show the 450 has incredibly strong axle shafts. Combined with the much larger brakes available on the F450 pickups, it’s clear to me that there is quite a difference between the F350 dually and the F450 pickup. It’s basically why I choose to ignore the GVWR on the F450 pickups.

:):)