I was just sitting here wondering about the f450 and f550 brakes and how capable they are. I have never owned a f450 (hopefully soon) and im not going to try this on a truck I don't own. But based on experience or just guessing, what do you think the max gvwr that their brakes are capable of activating abs at all four corners? the 14,000lb of the f450 pickup? The 16,000lb of the f450 chassis cab? The 19,500lb of the f550? or less than 14,000lbs?

 

The truck is very capable of operating the abs up to full GCWR. However the more load on the truck the more traction you have and the less likely you are to trigger it. I can get the abs to come on in my 17 F550 service truck and its 18,950lbs curb weight. It takes a ton of effort on dry pavement but when its raining it will do it. You can feel the front start to lock up and pull then I feel the abs pulse. Even the larger F650 trucks with hydraulic brakes do a good job with ABS.

 

My 2018 F450 owners manual states the F450 pickup has a GCVWR of 42,800lbs. The same manual shows the F550 with the highest GVW (think its 19,500) max GCVWR is 40,000lbs. The F450 pickup has a highe GCVWR as the F550! Ford seems to think the brakes are capable enough.

 

Its 41,700 GCWR on a F450 4x4 Pickup. The F450 and F550 chassis cabs both have 40000 GCWR. This is because the F450 pick up is a class 3 truck and not a class 4/5 truck. So Ford gets to inflate the pickup truck GVWR and can't do that with class 4/5 trucks as they are regulated.

 

Thanks for the personal experience. So you say it can do the front on dry pavement and especially when its raining. The rear axle likely has something close to 14k on it, you think its capable of locking up the rear on dry pavement?

 

this is my owners manual

 

There is so much traction on the rear axle that If it breaks free on dry pavement then I am screwed. It might on sudden impact but that also means I would be dead. Ever seen a service truck rear end a semi? I have and the cab is always MIA and so is the driver.

 

It's weird because Ford put this in the 2018 guide.

 

What do you mean on sudden impact? Like if you quickly slammed on the brakes? Its probably not too far off being able to lock it up if it can't. If it can lock up the front on a fully loaded f550 then that means 7500lbs static + a little quick math on weight transfer shows about 3000-3500lbs being transferred to the front under full stop = almost 11000lbs at least that it can lock up so its only 3000lbs more to be able to lock up the rear.