Hi,

I put my F-150 VIN through the ford-trucks.com VIN decoder. I got lots of useful info, however I am not sure how to interpret them. Especially the "tech spec" weight related items where the decoder gives me 3 values in the schema:
<number> <number> min <number_2> max
e.g.Passenger Capacity5, 6 5.0 min 6.0 maxGross Axle Wt Rating - Front3225 lbs 3225.0 min 3450.0 maxGross Axle Wt Rating - Rear3300 lbs 3300.0 min 3800.0 maxCurb Weight - Front2585 lbs 2585.0 min 2728.0 maxCurb Weight - Rear1902 lbs 1859.0 min 1907.0 max

How do I interpret these values - should I just make sure to stay within their limits or the 1st value shows my truck's actual rating?

 

Does your driver's door jamb have stickers on it?

 

At least in industry speak, "decoder" is a generic lookup and will be based loosely on portions of your VIN number. It will generally know what engine, drive type and basic trim level information. Nothing is really specific to your vehicle though. i.e. There are 3 different levels of "Lariat" trim. On top of that there are many options that one can add, and none of that will be in a decoder. There are some Ford systems that can lookup a specific VIN and see what equipment it was made with.

If you really want Payload and capacity information there are a pair of stickers in the door that is the most accurate way to see on paper what it should be. To be the most accurate, you need to weigh the vehicle and then know what you need to stay under the ratings without overloading the front axle, rear axle, or the total.

As is often pointed out, the front + rear is not equal to the total because weight distribution can vary. In my case I have about 500lbs before I exceed the front axle, and I can place 1400 lbs over the rear axle and be right about the limit for the rear axle and the total.