I hope you guys can clear this out for me. I’m getting acquainted with what payload means etc.
According to Ford “GAWR is the maximum allowable weight that a single axle (front or rear) can carry. The total load on each axle must never exceed its Gross Axle Weight Rating.”
In my case FRONT GAWR 3600 LB. REAR GAWR 3800 LB.
When I read what Ford says, I have doubts on how to interpret that. Cause I don't think they mean the rear axle for instance is able to withstand 3800 lbs total weight. So I can put weight in the bed to reach 3800 lbs. Do they?

 

If your on a scale you can put stuff in the cab, bed of truck, however you choose but keep the front axle at or under 3600lbs and the rear at or under 3800lbs

 

No, they don't mean that.

When you put weight in the truck, or on the truck (i.e. trailer), the weight is distributed by the frame. And, of course, the truck itself, is already putting a good portion of that 3,800 pounds on the rear axle.

You have a yellow payload sticker on your doorjamb. That is the max load you can put on the truck, including you and all passengers, any modifications you put on the truck, a weight distribution hitch, and a trailer.

That was explained to you in this thread - https://www.f150forum.com/f82/first-...rience-496208/ - a discussion of how a slide-in camper is overloading your F-150.

 

Example:
Unladen with 150 lb driver (5400 lb) - 3225 front / 2175 rear
Add 1500 lb tongue weight (6900 lb) - 2825 front / 4075 lb rear
That's why you need a weight distributing hitch.

You can also have the same thing happen by putting something very heavy and compact (3/4 ton of lead shot) just inside the tailgate but generally speaking it's fairly hard to get the RAWR over just by loading the bed. It is always a good idea to try to get the weight of cargo (including occupants) centered just forward of the rear axle when loading the in order to keep the handling of the truck safe. If I already had 600+ lb of occupants in the cab I would likely try to center any additional weight over the rear axle when loading.

I'm fairly certain their are people here who have exceeded the FAWR with just occupants as I'm highly doubtful you could put four big burly guys in the cab without exceeding the FAWR on some of these trucks.

 

Thanks a lot Gene K. Crystal clear and easy to understand.

Regards

 

I will give you an actual example since I just set my wdh hitch up, and weighed on CAT scales before and after. My Front GAWR limit is 3,450 and Rear 3,800. I was pulling a 21 ft trailer that weighed about 4,500 lbs.
Curb weight not towing anything was front 3,220 and rear 2,280.
Towing trailer without wdh front was 2,880 and rear was 3,320.
With wdh it shifted to 3,120 front and 2,900 rear, so added weight back to the light front end

 

...and just in case the OP wonders where that 180 lb that disappeared went to when you use the bars on the WDH to lever weight off the rear axle most of it is going forward onto the steer axle but a smaller percentage gets levered onto the trailer axle.

 

Yeah and this is why you can do paper calculations all day long but those are just ball park estimates to find out if you are close enough to get you to the closest CAT scale to find out the real numbers. The best you can do in a parking lot or on level ground out on the road is take measurements from the ground to the top of the wheel opening without the trailer connected, with the trailer connected and again once you start adjusting the WD hitch. You can look for the front measurement to start to come back to normal as an indication of weight getting transferred back to the front steering axle but it is just a guess as to how much unless you are at a scale.