Loaded up for camping. Now we’re overweight.

Your Ford is plenty reliable. The only concern with Fords is the electronics/electrical side. Ford has the best chassis IMO and the 6.2 is proven.

 

Again, I pack light. We use our backpacking gear (which is small and lightweight compared to normal car camping counterparts). Here is my setup:



You can see the retractable cover, battery box, recovery boards, 5gal water jug, fridge and slide, and one of my Plano trunks. That Mountain Hatch weighs 25lbs, maybe. I also have 285/75 Duratracs a steel RCI skid, and a thin Cat skid underneath. All of our gear aside from fishing poles, clothes, and food, goes in four of those trunks:

1: tent
2: sleeping gear
3: camp kitchen
4: recovery tools (this one weighed the most; prob 60lbs)

Aside from that, there were five of us plus a chocolate lab in the truck with snacks and books for the kids.

Here’s my scale ticket. This is with everyone in and a full tank of gas:


We weigh less than you, and we’re still overweight. Why did you get everyone out to weigh yours? You’re estimating what you actually weigh with occupants, and I bet the scale would read higher than your estimate. It always does.

 

Best chassis as in you prefer death wobble (solid front axle) to replacing parts (IFS)?

 

No the chassis, not the suspension. An I would prefer the solid front axle over the IFS

 

What's different or better about the Ford chassis vs Ram and GM?

 

IMO it's overbuilt. I'm sure they are all good but I feel the Ford is better. Boxed from front to rear.

This is the 2017 frame.

 

So the others aren't fully boxed?

 

Honestly I don't know anymore. Have not researched this for a few years. From that research I feel the Ford has/had the best chassis. I'm sure the others are up to the task they were built for.

 

Just found an old video that is pretty interesting on the boxed vs c channel from before all these trucks were redesigned. I wonder how they do now. None of this has any bearing on the truck doing it's job and these are just lab tests but this is pretty interesting.

 

Do tires really count? Thats unsprung weight.

Would it help to put some stuff in the boat while towing to relieve the suspension on the truck?

If not, you'll have to do the right thing for safety- leave the wife and kids at home. Just bring the dog.

 

really good summary

 

My next truck will probably be a SuperDuty with the 7.3

 

In some cases the thousands in mods are not necessarily meant to exceed the capacity, they help manage the capacity in a better way by keeping the frame and axles seperated which improves the ride, keeps the truck from enduring high shock loads, improves handling, provides for axle articulation, reduces axle wrap, etc. Engine power, brake system, transmission valve body, transmission cooling, and tire upgrades are just the icing on the cake. Plus that some of us have either witnessed and or experienced failures of various components, so we can appreciate a better replacement aftermarket part or a bit of redundancy a bit more than someone who hasn't had a similar experience. Yes, I get it your comment was about people exceeding capacity. I just want to make sure people also understand there is nothing wrong with spending money to manage the full capacity with confidence while moving at 60+mph with a family on board and many other people also on the same road.

 

I feel like Don Quixote here, lol. I'm goona just start doing the same copy/paste to these bean counter/accountant posts until I change the mind of everyone in the country.

After working in management accounting, finance, and financial forecasting for over 35 years in two different Fortune 500 companies and directly supporting the CEOs and COOs (all engineers), I promise you we don't force any decisions on them.

We give them whatever financial analysis they need and request, help them interpret the data where necessary, and answer their questions. We also often changed the results to support the results they wanted to see or relay to the investment community.

Bottom line is they take our analysis and do whatever they want with it. In my experience.

 

The real bottom line is employee profit sharing programs influence decisions.

 

They do. But stock options to the C Suite trump everything.

 

The most simple way to explain it is with a hypothetical.

Suppose management was considering replacing the V8 in the Tundra with a 4 cylinder. Financial (cost/revenue) Forecasting (the bean counters) gather needed data from other departments on expected sales, retooling, parts costs, etc. plug it into the models and provide it to the decision makers. They might also give their opinion on how stupid the design change would be. But the decision makers, based on that analysis, are not the bean counters in my experience.

So when the 2022 Tundra is unveiled with a 4 cylinder, don't blame the bean counters

 

I'll give 5k more than your offer !

 

The real bottom line is, complaining about a half ton truck not having the capacity of a 3/4 ton..

 

I would not be overweight with minimal mods and spartan camping gear in any other half ton crew cab.

 

Now that I think about it, the dogs were in when we weighed, but the wife and I had to get out.
This was an official weight for the move reimbursement, and they made us get out of the truck. Believe me, I would have loved to get credit for my fat ass being on the scale. I was wrong on my loaded weight, is was actually 6860, with a 80lb Golden and a 15lb Dachshund. Add the wife and I back in and we're right at 7300lbs total. I may be underestimating my weight a bit, but like by 5-10lbs not 50-100...

I see the scale numbers, but I just don't see where all your weight is coming from. I had basically everything you have listed here (both on the truck and regular camping stuff), plus two bikes and a hitch mount rack (100lbs total), plus a whole lot of other stuff. Maybe that fridge and slider setup, plus the extra battery, is a lot heavier than I think it is. And you say your souls onboard are only about 550lbs of that? So without the family you're at ~6850lbs... and I was at ~6765lbs, so even lighter than you are, but pretty close.
Your bed is practically empty in that picture. I didn't take any pics loaded up, but if not for the Softopper we'd have looked like the Beverly Hillbillies headed for California.

I'm not arguing with you here, I'm just perplexed at the difference in loadout but the similarity in weights. Any idea what your curb weight is without anything in the truck other than the installed mods?

 

Three of the four trunks I mentioned are on the ground, not in that pic. My door jamb says GVWR weight is 7200lbs, and all cargo and passengers is not to exceed 1,270lbs. So, the offical, stock curb weight is 5,930lbs.

Add 100lbs for tires, 150 for the cover, 100 for the skids. The fridge empty is 54lbs, the slide is 35, the 2nd battery is 50. My console safe is probably 40lbs. That’s an additional (estimated) 529lb, and it puts me at 6459. I also upgraded to the TRD Fox suspension, which are bigger and heavier parts than the Bilstein Off Road parts, but I don’t know by how much. I have Husky weather beaters that weigh more than the stock mats, but probably not by much.

Add food and drinks in the fridge, a 40-lb water jug, 550lbs worth of people, four trunks worth of camping and recovery gear, fishing poles, books & activities for the kids, a bag of snacks, and a full tank of gas.

Oh, we also have my maxtrax, shovel, and axe in the bed. That’s another 100lb easy. Trans cooler parts add more, but I don’t know how much. Everything counts. CAT scale weights are guaranteed; I don’t think it’s wrong.

 

I think aftermarket carbon fiber body panels would be good business marketing towards "overlanding" and "camping" since it increases payloads.

I see people put on their cars for "weight reduction", why not on trucks as well and increase payload.

If one puts carbon fiber doors, roof, hood, tailgate, fenders, probably provide another 100-200lb payload.

But I also see bikes go the long way of weight reduction, but the rider wasn't