We didn't expect THIS! Payload Problem Ford F350 and 5th Wheel RV (and how to avoid it)

How to weigh your truck and RV, what all the numbers mean, and why you might not be able to tow as much as you think with a 1 ton or 3/4 ton truck.

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👫 ABOUT US➡ Hello! We are Aaron and Chris, a fulltime RV couple that lives and works on the road! We run an online fitness and nutrition coaching business (Irene Iron Fitness) while traveling all around the country. Follow along the journey with us!


💎IIF AFFILIATES: These are programs and products we use, love, and recommend!
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[MrtrenchTrucker]

As a professional truck driver, I have actually helped many RVs scale out correctly. The number one biggest problem I see is that for some reason people like to put their tires directly on the yellow lines instead of in the Box. The second biggest issue I see is that they'll put two axles in the same box like both pickup axles or rear drive pickup and trailer. The third biggest issue I see is that they don't weigh the truck aka the tractor by itself without the trailer

[dklswh]

I am in a Ram truck forum, you would not believe what people pull with a 1500 series truck, i do believe that at least 90% of the RV's on the road are over weight.

[petersmith]

Thank you for sharing your numbers, we have a Dually GMC and 41' 5th wheel.
We understand the importance of weight rating. Many people don't.
Retired truck driver here. 😎

[Ronstar]

Don't forget about the tires! On the sidewall of each tire is the max load at the highest pressure rating. On my rig I was 300lbs under the rear axel max BUT only 100 lbs under the tire maxx. Tire manufacturers vary even with the same " ply" rating. Thanks for your wonderful clear explanation.

[mrmorrison]

Anyone else think it’s funny Chris is promoting her fitness business after a video of the rig being overweight ? 🤪😂❤️

[carmancloud]

Aaron I really appreciate how you explain things - the facts are always linear, at a good pace (not too fast or too slow, ) and the information is clear and concise. Thank you 😊

[paulroesner]

Good informative video! We went through the exact same issue. The old truck was a F250 Gas Tremor with 2700lb payload and a Grand Design 2930RL with 2100lb dry pin weight.

With just me in the truck, full fuel tank, 200lbs of tools, hitch and your usual stuff in the trailer, cloths, bathroom stuff, no water in tanks, no washer/dryer, some food, 300lb solar system, put us 1700lb over our payload rating!!! Total surprise from the "wise" guidance on the RV forums, "everything is fine" attitude.

Even with the new SRW 2023+ Super Duty's and their 7000lb rear GWAR, 4000lb payload numbers will not support this 35ft RV. We were stuck buying a dually. General rule of thumb seems to be, if you are towing a fifth wheel with a DRY 2000lb+ pin weight, you're most likely in dually territory. FYI, F350 dually rear axle rating is 9900lbs.

[AFoxintheWild]

So I haul a truck camper. It’s all about the Payload. It took me a changing trucks once but I learned my lesson. I run a dually now and I will always have one. The positives outweigh the negatives.

[waynedanley]

Aaron I am sure you are enjoying the dually while towing but not so much when not. We switched over to a dually because my F-350 SRW was all but maxed out with our fifth wheel. After having taken the fifth wheel on several trips in the last year with the dually, I much prefer the towing dynamics of the dually over the SRW. Good luck and happy camping……

[knappdaddy]

We bought a new travel trailer last year when we paid off our 1/2 ton pup, everyone there and even the factory said our truck would tow it just fine. The trailer weight is only 5500 and our towing capacity was 10500 but the tongue weight is 840 ( Front kitchen and slide) After we had a couple scares towing it we took it to the scales and ended up we were way over on our payload and rear axle rating. Now I have a truck payment on a new 3/4 ton. Never trust the sales person that says your truck is enough for your new trailer !

[davidmelendrez]

I’ve seen several videos on the GVWR and tow capacity topic, and I was pretty sure I had a handle on it. But Aaron I want to thank you for this video. This was by far the clearest and most helpful breakdown I’ve seen. Nicely done. 👍

[SteveSRT]

Excellent video, I think this is the first one I’ve seen covering this topic that was clear, didn’t go to far off topic and stated the information in a way inexperienced people could understand. We own a trucking company specializing in heavy haul so just by experience I’ve always watched for peoples setups and see a ton of them that are clearly overloaded. Another thing often overlooked is some states require special drivers license endorsements. Nevada for example requires either a class J endorsement or class A CDL (or non commercial) for anything being towed that weighs over 10k pounds.

[jrock]

I've watched quite a few of these RV weight type videos, and I think you knocked it out of the park. You explained the numbers as simply as possible. Much appreciated.

[anthonyalfeo]

I’m a professional truck driver and full time RV’er. I have a one ton duality that’s been used for slide in camper, bumper pull and fifth wheel. I have a stack of scale tickets in my truck right now documenting past and present vehicle weights. I love doing it. Any change in configuration is celebrated with another trip to the scale. I can show you anal attention to detail AND flagrant stupidity (yeah, despite doing it for a living) The easiest rating to overlook and violate is tire rating. Fine, you made yourself aware of your units GVW ratings and stand ahead of the majority of people out there, but can the rubber beneath it stand the load? and are your tires properly inflated? The second easiest to overlook is hitch ratings. Oh how we collectively beat up our hitches. Glad this guy focused on weight distribution on tow vehicle. If too much of the weight is on the drive axle, or leveraged off the steer axle (bumper pull I’m looking at you)…surprise! Cannot steer, especially in wet or freezing conditions.

[pathoppe]

We’ve been down this road as well. There are a lot of terms and what they represent to learn when planning to tow a rig. Unfortunately there are a lot of keyboard experts that spread bad information. Your video was well done. Our first truck purchase was an F250 CCLB with the 6.7 L diesel engine. The “truck expert” at the dealership assured us it would handle the fifthwheel we were looking at. (Yes we gave home all the numbers). The. RV salesman agreed that the F250 would be just what we needed. So we bought the truck. Thankfully we learned more about what all the numbers meant before we bought the fifth wheel too. Our payload of only 1926# would not have been enough for the rig we were looking at. We ended up buying a tt instead, due to the low payload.

A few years later we bought a new 2023 F350 CCLB with the 7.3 L gas motor and 4.30 gears. I spec’d the truck out for maximum payload and towing capability.
GAWR Front axle 5990#
GAWR Rear axle 7230#
GVWR 11, 900#

Payload. 4631#

Fifthwheel towing
Max Pin Wt. 3195#
Max Trailer rating 21, 300#

These numbers are specific to my truck vin, directly from ford.

If only the original “truck expert” had suggested the right truck for what we wanted to do, it would have saved us time, money and lots of angst. Since I wasn’t going to make that mistake twice, I spent a lot of time researching each rating. So you aren’t alone in this…

Safe travels

[wtthatsme]

Awesome job providing the basics on understanding how your rig's weight works in relationship with the combined truck and 5th wheel weights. "Yes" this issue is discussed on every form of social media. Your explanations may cause several viewers to hop on the scales and see for themselves. F.Y.I. = I weigh our setup EVERY-TIME we roll out! Sadly, many are going to find out that their RV dealership who told them that their truck was rated to pull that trailer they are preparing to buy or just bought; are going to find they are over their max weights. Especially the so-called "Half Ton" 5th wheel trailers being pulled by a "1500 or 150" half ton truck. Like a vast majority that we see on the road on a regular basis. ... Great job on the video!

[rowlandgray]

A lot of good comments. When buying don't trust any of the Sales folks at the trailer lots. LOL I've been RV'er pulling, hauling etc since I was 16 and now 72. Was a Program Design Engineer for one of big 3, we have to know the DOT spec, s. they are there for a reason. Also, Test Engineer for Army on 10-ton and above heavy trucks. ( University of Michigan Engineering has a class, "Design for Trucking" ) It was a great class and you get to very loads in different types of Trailers, as well as the tractor, weight, Balance, center of Gravity, and placement. Just commenting look around there are probably other places that do it as well as any local or State Changes in towing. The axle to axle, tires, the center of Gravity, etc and balanced load are very important. So, I am used to weights and assuring one axle is not overloaded to the other axles. Good job, I also weigh my vehicles as you would be surprised what you accumulate LOL. I have years ago been through some of the same comments I see below. Been told I had enough truck well lucky for me some of my family were truckers and I listened and learned way back from them. Can't say enough more time should be spent doing what was done here and getting folks to everytime they hook up loads change, tires, etc. Everytime I get out at a rest area or fuel I walk around mine to see what I may not feel or notice.... Job and Information well done on this video

[Broney-twvy]

Great video! I was commercial truck for 17 years prior to this. I have approximately 1.5 million safe miles my under my belt and I like to think that I have enough valid insight and experience to chime in here.

I did some hauling with my 07 F350 SRW with a (modified for improved towing) 6.0 Powerstroke that was quite heavy on two occasions around 7-8 years ago. I remember scaling about 200-ish lbs heavy on the rear axle of my ford with a 12, 000lb (dry/empty) tri axle dually gooseneck trailer (that's a mouth full). My loaded weight was 34, 700lbs and some change. I made two loaded 1500 mile trips and two 1500 mile trips with the trailer unloaded. My truck handled it just fine during that window but there was definitely noticeable wear on it. Being a single rear wheel truck, I ended up using most of the available tire life on relatively new E load rated tires. While I was impressed with the power my truck had, it was clear that I was pushing things. Today's diesel trucks are far more powerful and, for that reason, I feel that the newer diesels can give some people false confidence and get them into trouble.

After its all said and done, your rig needs to do more than pull your trailer. That is what makes the info in this video so important. You NEED to be able to stop, control your load going downhill (the importance of this cannot be overstated) turn safely, fit in to places and there isn't always a level place to park. Even though I was only marginally over on my drive axle and well under the load capacity of my trailer, I was well over my max towing capacity. The heavier you make it, the more things that can wrong and you increase the likelihood that bad things can occur. I got away with it and no longer haul anything.

[skyler_wa]

11:40 You've got your arrow pointed at the 2-wheel drive (4x2) column. The correct number for your short-bed 4x4 Tremor is one column to the right of that and shows 21, 900 for Tremor (footnote 6). That said, I realize that the other numbers like GVWR and GAWR are where the problem is.