Hi guys - this is my first time posting here and I apologize if this question has already been posted and answered:

I have a 2010 F250 crew cab short bed with the 6.4 diesel engine and it is the 4x4 version. It has a GVWR rating of 10000lbs and I easily pulled my 12k lbs fifth wheel up to Big Bear from San Diego.

I've since sold the fifth wheel because the wife didn't like....err...camping in it and decided to a get a truck camper. The problem is that I'm having a hard time finding out what I can put in my bed in terms of weight. Some docs online say as much as 2900lbs and others as low as 1900lbs. That's quite a difference. The camper I like is about 2500lbs and its driving me nuts to try and figure out if my rig is up to it or do I really need to dial down my weight.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also, I do have airbags and while I don't remember the tire rating I know it was plenty to handle the fifth wheel.

Thank you much everyone!!! Happy Christmas all!
Cheers
Chris

 

The payload capacity on my truck is on the drivers side door jamb. Your diesel will be less than a gas model. Check your door jamb.

 

Weigh the truck. Subtract actual weight from GVWR. That's your "payload" with the small assumption you come in under the axle GAWRs, which you should considering the weight will be pretty split between the axles from a slide-in camper. When you realize you have 1200# payload under the GVWR, swap in the 11,200# rating from an F350 SRW if and ONLY if you have 18+" wheels, meaning you have tires with enough load capacity to carry the additional 1200#, which the E121 3195# rated OEM 17" size will not.

The payload stickers are useless, the assumed curb weight is farcical.

 

Guys - thanks for the responses. When I first purchased the truck I was required to weight it and while I don't remember exactly I think it was 8080lbs. That was probably with a full tank and me in it but even without me and a tax of fuel it would only drop the wight by 400 lbs or so. The wheels are 20 inch....so bigger/stronger? rims equate to more load capacity?? I think my axles are 6000lbs front and 6100lbs rear

 

 

It's not the rims, it's the tires. It's just happenstance at all OEM 18 and 20" tires have a higher load index than the 17" tires. The 17" tires are only rated to 6400# combined total, to get the full F350 RGAWR on the SRW required 18/20" wheels because of the tire load index. If you have factory-equivalent tires, you should have a max rating of 3750#, meaning the pair of them can cover the 7000# RGAWR of an F350 SRW.

Your 6000# FGAWR would seeming indicate you got the snow-plow prep package, hopefully you got the camper package at the same time (my dealer-ordered truck came with both) meaning your rear leave pack should be the 6 leaf pack that came in the F350 SRW, and a sway bar installed.

The attached file has all the the specs for 2010. Page 19 is rear spring package options, page 20 has wheel/tire load information. The two predominant differences between the F250 6100# rear axle rating and the F350 7000# rating is the rear spring pack, and tire/wheel selection.

I'm not saying go nuts overloading the truck, I'm saying that with the correct spring and tire ratings an F250 IS an F350 SRW, so slightly overloading the paper ratings for the F250 (while staying under the 11,200# F350 SRW rating) is not a big concern.

 

Well sort of ... it can be the rims IF you go to an aftermarket "universal" set of rims. Some of them are real pretty but do not have the same load carrying ratings as OEM rims (especially the cheapo off shore rims ... you really do not know what you are getting. E-rated tires are a must when going to a TC (truck camper) and you want to maximize your tire load carrying capacity without stepping up to a 19.5" rims/tire set-up.

Agree with the final paragraph.

Castelle, you will be well serve by heading over to RV , registering and then visit the Truck Camper forum. You won't even need to ask your question. Just do a search and be prepared to read ... alot of reading on the tire, rim, legal and practical weight limit issues.

My F250 with camper package, (upper auxiliary springs, e-rated tires and a 1 1/16" rear anti-sway (stabilizer) bar plus ... a set of Sumo Springs when I'm loaded with the TC is carrying around 3200 lbs. with no handling, performance or safety concerns. And yes, I am above the "sticker" weights.

Oh yes, there are usually two camps ... the weight police camp and the ones who make suitable modifications to handle the extra weight ... knowing that they are technically over the sticker weight limits.

Good Luck and have a blast with your TC. ~ BugJr ~

 

I have a question along this same line so I thought I'd ask it here rather than start a new thread.

The sticker shown in the picture shows the truck with a 10,000 lb GVWR, the front axle with 6000 lb GAWR, and rear axle with a 6100 lb GAWR. If I add up the axle values I come with 12,100 lbs. So here is my question: Where does the 10,000 rating come from? Is this due to braking capacity or something else?

I'm curious because my truck has similar numbers and I am looking at how much truck camper I can haul too.

 

Good question and you're on track with your thinking. Your truck's total capacity is 10,000 lbs. including the truck, fuel, gear, passengers and load (including tongue weight if towing). Let's say you loaded up and had a load of 5,500 lbs. on the rear axle. That means you're under your rear axle maximum carrying weight by 600 lbs. (6,100 - 5,500).

Technically, you then only have a maximum of 4,500 lbs. for the front axle until you are over the truck's legal limit (10,000 lbs. - 5,500 lbs. = 4,500 lbs.) ... even though your front axle's limit is 6,000 lbs. You are right about braking power etc. factoring into the overweight GVWR of 10,000 lbs. So, how do you know how much you're loading each axle ... well ... you have to load up, then go to a weigh scale and separately weigh the front axle, rear axle and total truck. That way you'll know for sure.

 

10,000# is a magic number for taxes in many states. That's why the F-250 was capped at 10k#, and F-350 was also available with a GVWR de-rating option, so that fully spec'd trucks which included the short list of actual upgrades the F350 SRW received over the F250 could be registered in certain places. (All of this is year dependent from 99-16, and definitely pre-2017, because there are more important differences in the new generation of trucks).

The maximum GVWR ratings were an amalgamation off all the engineering limits in the system (the 10K# was a "paper" rating for taxes, itself a derating from the maximum). Max GVWR could be limited by brakes, tires and wheels, axle components, spring rates, or even the frame itself. It's hard to isolate specific components for the total GVWR because we have limited insight on the engineering of the truck. We can assume by looking at two otherwise identical trucks with different GVWRs that some sub-ratings are the same regardless of GVWR because all the parts interchange, for example the brake system on an F250 and SRW F350 6.0 diesel.


Two common examples of sub-rating limits:
FGAWR was limited by the spring selection of build packages. In 2007 for example, for a 4x4 diesel, 5200# was the standard FGAWR, 5600# was "+1" and came with certain packages like the camper certification, and 6000# was "+2" and came with the plow package. Neither option changes the GVWR, just the FGAWR.

Tires: The 121 load index rated tires that were OEM specified on 17" wheels had a load capacity of 3195#. Not an issue for the F-250 with a 6100# RGAWR. SRW F-350s were (at least in the commercial order guide as recently as 2016) offered with 17" wheels that came with a forced de-rating package because the tires couldn't cover the full 7000-7100# RGAWR of F-350s with 18" or 20" wheel/tire options. RGAWR was reduced to a number somewhere between 6100-7100#, but I don't have that book in front of me right now to confirm.