I was wondering what the maximum weight of cargo I could put in my bed is. My GVWR is 6250 lbs. This is defined as maximum operating mass of vehicle. It includes: Chassis, body, frame, engine, all fluids topped off (including fuel), standard accessories, driver, passenger(s), and cargo. The curb weight of my vehicle is 3886 lbs. Curb weight is defined as all of the above minus occupants of truck and cargo. So, is my max allowable bed load simply GVWR minus curb weight? In my case, this would be 2364 lbs. I think I need to subtract weight of driver and passengers from that as well. So, it would be approx 2000 lbs then. FTR, I have a 96 F150 4x4. My rear GAWR is 3776 and front GAWR is 2950.

 

Go weigh the truck, than subtract that weight from your gvwr, 3886 pounds sounds light to me, I would guess closer to 4500 or at least that's what my single cab long box weighs with me and nothing else In it if its a half ton I would guess around 1500 pound payload capacity give or take depending on options

 

Go weigh your truck. Subtract that from the GVWR. That's the total payload you have left. Whether it's in the cab with you or in the bed doesn't matter. The only remaining caveat is whether you're exceeding your GAWR, so if the scale offers it, get the individual axle weights as well and subtract each of those from the GAWRs. If you put 100 lbs directly over the rear axle, that amount gets subtracted entirely from the remaining capacity on the rear axle. If you put 100 lbs exactly halfway between the front and rear axles, then you would subtract 50 lbs from the capacity of each axle. If you put 100lbs outside of either axle, then it gets complicated (it subtracts more than 100 lbs from the closest axle, but adds some capacity back to the farther axle).

Jason