jeffinthebag

You are using the wdh to help keep the front down. The truck is like a seesaw. Putting to much weight or anything over the 500 lbs on the ball will take off to much weight from the steering wheels . Thus under steer and diminished breaking.

8100hd

From a general point of view 700 lbs of TW on a lightly optioned F150 157 in. WB with just a driver shouldn’t produce a oversteer condition. Still plenty of weight on the front axle for steering compliance and ABS systems solved the braking issues long ago. This why I believe it comes from the SAE tests that load the truck to its Max GRAWR and GVWR which is worse case scenario. Now there could be something specific about the suspension design that might reduce understeer when even lightly loaded , I don’t know.

kehyler

So I did some more thinking about supercrew to supercrew: the F150 and Ranger have identical rear overhangs (within 2%), but the F150 has has either a 14% or 24% longer wheelbase and is roughly 20% heavier than the ranger. So shouldn't the F150 handle undistributed weight better than the Ranger?

Sources:
https://media.ford.com/content/dam/f...Tech_Specs.pdf
https://madocumentupload.marketingas...5cef0&v5=False

kehyler

Sorry to hear that your sorry to hear!

kehyler

Except of course to say that you've got nothing to say

mikeinatlanta

OK I cannot actually shut up about it.

You have truck ratings and you have receiver ratings.

For truck limits:
You have GVWR, GCWR, Front GAWR, Rear GAWR and Payload.
GVWR, Front GAWR, Rear GAWR and Payload are stated on the truck door stickers.
GCWR is stated in the Ford Towing Guide based on your configuration.
You Owner's Manual refers to the Towing Guide for specifics.

Your truck (we'll cover receiver in a bit) can tow as much as you want, so long as you remain within all truck ratings.
EG. My Truck:
GVWR (door sticker)=7050 This is the maximum combined weight on all four tires, trailer or no trailer, weight distributed or no, It's a hard limit.
GCWR (tow guide)=16,500 This is the maximum weight for the truck and trailer combined, weight distributed or no. Hard limit.
Front GAWR (door sticker)=3525 This is maximum weight on the truck's front axle, trailer or no trailer, weight distributed or no. Hard limit.
Rear GAWR (door sticker)=3800 This is the maximum weight on the truck's rear axle, trailer or no trailer, weight distributed or no. Hard limit.
Payload (door sticker)=1719 This is an extrapolated number provided by Ford based on installed options. It is not a hard number because items you add or remove will change it. True payload is simply the GVWR minus the truck's actual scaled weight.

Example:
So, my truck weighs pretty close to the extrapolated number @ 5,330. The tow guide says my tow rating is 11,300. With my GCWR of 16,500, my actual tow rating when subtracting truck weight and my fat *** from GCWR is 10,970 if hauling absolutely noting else in the truck.

No matter what configuration or what you do, you may not exceed any of the numbers listed above. It's up to you how you stack the weight, distribute the weight, or whatever else to make best use of these limitations. Also stated in the tow guide is that a truck lacking either a Tow Package or Max Tow Package are restricted to towing 5,000.

Now let's talk the receiver:
The FORD FACTORY RECEIVER (like all receivers) has a sticker stating its limits. The limits on the receiver (and associated sticker) are independent of any limitations on the truck. The sticker on all receivers (factory or aftermarket) may indicate a number much higher than the truck can pull, or it may also indicate less than the truck can pull. Regardless, these limitations are also hard limitations, it's just that some may be artificially high or low.

Examples:
My receiver sticker states a weight distributed limit of 11,600 lb. This is a higher number than even the perfect condition Tow Guide states I can tow. In my case, it simply means that I am not weight restricted by my receiver. It's no different than if I were to remove it and install a receiver rated at 15,000, my truck is the limiting factor.

Then we have the 500/5000 limit for weight carrying. Just like the artificially high number for weight distributing, this number is a receiver limitation. Difference in this case is that it is well below what my truck can tow. If I want to exceed this number I will need to buy a stronger receiver with a bigger number on the sticker, at which point we are back to the truck's limitations. Even the Ford Towing Guide states that this limitation is for the factory installed receiver.

I hope this answers your question.

kehyler

So is it you opinion that if the receiver is swapped with one that does not carry the 5000 weight distribution limit, that it is ok to not use a weight distribution with such an F150?

mikeinatlanta

Stickers on the truck are truck limits and stickers on the receiver are receiver limits. Even the Ford Tow Guide says the 500/5000 non weight distributed is the receiver. I ran this discussion across Curt tech support and they concur that the sticker on the Ford receiver is for the receiver and theirs will give a higher weight carrying limit, so long as you stay within all truck limitations of GVWR, GCWR, Front GAWR and rear GAWR. That said, were talking technicalities and my actual opinion is that the 500/5000 limit makes no sense from an engineering perspective and that it is arbitrary at best and most likely set by someone with absolutely no technical ability to actually run the numbers.

kehyler

Interesting.

acdii

You guys are putting too much thought into this. Ford has determined that ALL F-150 models, regardless of wheel base, trim, engine choice, whatever, is limited to a maximum of 5000 pounds trailer weight before a WDH is required. Following the J2807 standards, this mean the hitch will be 500 pounds. SAE J2807 standard is 10% trailer weight.

GM has determined that their trucks can handle 7000 pounds before a WDH is required, hence the 700 pound ball weight.

It is not the receiver, its the truck. It is what the manufacturer has determined based on J2807 standards.