Capacity - How big a deal?
 

A truck with 1528 payload has about 600 pounds of capacity remaining when you consider passengers and truck cap. Is a 1000 pound tongue weight on this truck going to be a major issue? What issues should I be concerned about? Can these concerns be addressed via any method that doesn't result in you saying don't buy that trailer or get a bigger truck?

You may want to read some of today's discussions on that very topic in this section of the forum. Yes, going over your Payload Capacity by 400 pounds is a problem.

No, you cannot increase payload capacity.

Thanks for answering the final question as no. Explain the payload problem to me. I understand that limits are set. I also know that limits have tolerances around them. So what is the issue with exceeding the payload? What problems would exist?

The legal liability is a big one, you would be negligent and reckless driving over payload

By exceeding payload you are exceeding the engineering of the suspension and drivetrain of the truck. You are operating outside of the design of the truck.

1.premature wear on the truck suspension, tires, and drivetrain (may not be evident until much later). 2. Diminished handling. 3. Dissatisfaction with the trailer and/or truck, causing lack of camping enjoyment and ultimately prematurely trading one or both. 4 Worry about packing and deciding what not to bring. 5. Diminished braking. 6. Vehicle straining on steep hills, with hard downshifts. 7. Difficulty in properly adjusting the weight-distributing hitch. 8. Endangering safety margin for your passengers.

Trucks are traveling the roads everyday with this level of over-load, and do so without incident. This is one reason I am hesitant to shop for a used truck that I don't know how it was used/who owned it.

I don't want to remain an over-payload spec driver, and that is why I will have a Heavy Duty Payload F150 or a 3/4 ton.

Payload capacity is determined by the GVWR of the tow vehicle (TV) minus the weight of the wet and loaded TV. The payload capacity on the door sticker is the MAXIMUM payload capacity of a new, empty truck, with nothing in the truck but a full tank of gas. Your wet and loaded truck ready for towing with people, tools, and other stuff in it will have a lot less unused payload capacity than the number on that sticker.

Yes, engineers build in a small "safety margin" in the GVWR. The key word is SAFETY. If you don't care about the safety of you and yours and the others on the road with you, then ignore the GVWR of your TV.

GVWR is determined based on the weight capacity of the weakest component on your suspension and braking capacity. Springs, shocks, tires, wheels, calipers, rotors, and on and on. Tires are rarely the limiter. Wheels are sometimes the limiter, but it's usually the springs, and sometimes it's the brakes. TV brakes are designed to stop the weight of the TV when loaded to the GVWR of the TV, not more. Trailers are assumed to have brakes that can stop the weight of the wet and loaded trailer.

So what problems could exist if you exceed the GVWR of the TV? Broken springs when you hit an unexpected bump at speed, resulting in an out-of-control rig that crosses the median and crashes head on into an 80,000-pound 18-wheeler that's barreling along at 70 MPH. Or a wheel that fails when you hit a chug hole at speed, also resulting in an out-of-control rig. Or crashing into the vehicle in front of you that stopped suddenly and your reaction time was too slow to stop your rig because your brakes weren't strong enough to stop your overloaded rig before you plowed into the wreck ahead of you. Yes, those are extreme cases, but they do happen. And I could go on and on. But I'm sure you get the picture.

In summary, ignoring the engineers by intentionally buying a truck and trailer that will exceed the GVWR of the truck is not smart at all. Buy enough truck to tow the wet and loaded trailer without overloading any of the weight limits of the truck. Or if you already have the truck, then buy a light enough trailer that the hitch weight of the wet and loaded trailer will not overload your TV.

Thanks for taking the time to provide this lengthy response. I can make computers do all sorts of fun things, but this towing capacities and payloads are completely french to me. Especially since the only number you ever hear advertised is how much weight the truck can pull, not haul...

I have researched the WA State RCWs a bit and could not find a passenger vehicle (non-commercial) law that states you cannot exceeds a manufacturers GVWR recommendation. I agree that it may not be "smart" based on how you explained it...

But if the GVWR is set based on components of the truck, it also seems like one ought to be able to upgrade those components of the truck to handle more payload. Say the springs are the limiting factor, but there is more than enough break and wheels to handle an extra 200 pounds, then no issue (outside of what the sticker says).

Thanks again for taking the time. I know WAY more today than I did when I bought the truck and should have pursued this forum before the purchase. The trailer my wife and I found is a Springdale that comes in a 7K# dry. So adding 1K# of stuff to that trailer would put 1K# on the hitch. While the F150 can handle that payload, I just couldn't pull it with a full truck load of people...

Again, thanks!

I would imagine you could run into insurance issues as well if you are driving over GVWR or GCWR. They may not cover your own vehicle never mind damage to other peoples vehicles or injuries to others.

That said, I guarantee that a lot of the F150's you see tooling around with big TT's are probably exceeding there limits. If you don't have max tow package or HD payload package it is not difficult to do. Even with Max Tow it is easy to do, my truck only has a 1539 lb payload.

My truck is a 1450 payload and with my trailer I'm right at my max payload. Its not fun when I have to make sudden changes in direction at high speeds. The suspension is just too soft. Im adding lift bags to stiffen up the rear suspension. I too wish I knew more before I purchased.

I always see the legal standpoint and insurance thing thrown out there when this question is asked.


has anyone actually been denied a claim based on being over their GVWR? just because it's not legal, doesn't mean they can deny your claim. if you speed and crash, do they deny your claim? nope.


anyway, imo you can safely upgrade your truck to be able to haul more, you just can't change what the sticker on the door says. personally, I go by the GAWR and GCWR. if I'm under both, then I think it's fine.