I'm trying to diligently stay within all my weight limits while towing a lightweight travel trailer with my 2018 F150. I loaded up all the gear and passengers, filled the water tank, and weighed in a Cat Scale. You'd think it would be a breeze with max trailer tow, and loads of horsepower, but I sure wish I had bought the HD payload option.

Everything is fine except for Gross Vehicle Weight Rating.

Max / Actual / Difference
GVWR: 7,000 / 7,120 / +120
Rear GAWR: 4,050 / 3,940 / -110
Front GAWR: 3,600 / 3,180 / -310
Trailer GAWR: 4,000 / 3,580 / -420
GCWR: 18,400 / 10,700 / -7,700

Measurements were taken with about 1/3 of a tank of gas, so I should allow for another 120 lbs, putting my payload about 240 lbs over.

Option 1) Move my generator and some additional cargo from the truck to the trailer somehow. This will add the additional weight of a cargo platform, either on the tongue or on the rear, and expose things I'd rather keep covered. The trailer is fine on its axle weight, but its GVWR has less margin.

Option 2) Just leave it. I'm wondering exactly which components might be stressed since both axels are within their limits, and the combined weight has a huge margin. Fiddling with the weight distribution hitch might make a difference (removing it altogether, might help the most cuz it's heavy). Raising the nose of the trailer can probably shift some weight from the hitch to the trailer axle, but not by much.

I don't want to compromise on safety, but I also don't want to blindly follow rules for their own sake. I'm having trouble thinking my rig will be safer with weight transferred from the truck bed to a light trailer. Maybe I'm missing something. It drives and handles perfectly fine.

Any suggestions or opinions are appreciated. Thanks!

 

What is the empty weight of the truck, specifically the front axle, and what is the weight with the bars disconnected? Moving things out of the truck and into the trailer is a way to help, but make sure not to make it tail heavy.

 

Don't fill the water tank until you get to where your going. If not possible, then only fill partially. That will save a bunch of weight.

 

Sure, but I'm configuring for the worst case (heaviest) situation. I doubt the water is adding much tongue weight anyway.

 

I haven't weighed the truck empty. Adding a cargo rack over the tongue is an option, but a lot of the weight will stay on the truck, and the rack adds weight.

 

Depending on the truck configuration, that does seem like a very light front axle. My first thought is that more transfer from the WDH would move some weight forward and some back to the trailer axles, possibly even putting you back to GVWR on the truck.

Second, if that's a worst-case weight scenario (full tanks, full cargo, etc) that you don't expect to encounter often and handling seems reasonable, I personally wouldn't be too worried about it. I towed a cargo trailer from Montana to Maine last summer with my truck around 7,200 pounds, the front axle at GAWR, and the rear axle close to it. While the trailer impact on handling was damned obvious, I didn't find it particularly challenging to account for most of the time. 200 pounds over a 7k GVWR is about 3%; that's still over, but I'd consider it a reasonable risk. YMMV, and I'm not likely to be in the courtroom if anything goes wrong, of course.