Ford 150 with greater payload

[dharte]

I'm a little late replying here but I think I have something useful to add to this thread. I have a 2015 Hawk on my 2005 F250 Fx4. When I first got it installed I was a little surprised at the difference in the way the truck felt going down the road. Still had plenty of power but it felt a little wallowy on uneven surfaces. I replaced the E rated Cooper ATP tires with Toyo Open Country MT tires and the difference was significant. The Toyo's have 3 ply sidewalls and about a 3,9000 pound rating per tire-the Coopers were only 2 ply and rated at 500 pounds less. That's 2,000 pounds more total load carrying for the Toyo's! The point is not all E-rated tires are the same-check the specs because even the same tire will have different load ratings in different sizes. The truck feels much more stable with these tires on it. I also replaced the rear Bilstein shocks with Rancho 9000's and dialed them to the max load rating (they have a 9-step adjustment on the stifness) and that helped a lot, especially over bumps.

 

[srileo]

Wise man. Yea, its strange how we feel the "truck does fine" weighed beyond max payload just becuase the motor seems to pull it fine. The real deal is if the body is happy with that much weight.

I had a Hawk shell( 695 lbs.) on my '03 Tundra. It weighed nearly 1100 lbs. with options, I was alway running at max. GVW carrying 1400 lbs. fully loaded. No problems other than a one time blown an air bag and shock.
I am now looking at a new truck and camper. I am leaning heavily toward a Hallmark K2(1295Lbs.) and with options and supplies should weigh approx. 1900 lbs. Research tells me a F150 x-cab, 4x4 can handle up to 2000 lbs. I am not going to run around at maximum GVW again. I am going with a 3/4T truck this time. The 3/4T costs a little more to buy and operate. But the peace of mind it affords is priceless.

 

[Rockcod]

If I were to create a post it would be titled identical to this one. I haven't ordered the ATC pop up yet, still mired in home remodel/sale. That said,I am preparing my 2014 F150 FX4 super cab,with 3.5 Eccoboost, payload is 1320 lbs 18k miles on the od... Steps to do as well as I can tell at this point,installing an E rated tire, maybe a BFG KO2, one size taller, 275x70-18, Firestone airbag kit, hopefully with dual digital controls, if that is available, a sway bar since the truck did not have anything on the rear from the factory. I had been looking at Fox 2.0 coil over kit for shocks, but can't find any info on how well they preform on a heavier loaded truck. Order up the ATC, install,then drive home, check it out. If needed, adding the Deavers 1000 lb spring kit as suggested when I spoke to Scott @ Deavers. 650 $ . I love the the truck, no doubt, but I bought it before I laid eyes on a pop up slide in. While funds are a concern, getting as close to right on the first go around is far more important to me. It does have a 100,000 mile 8 year zero deductible ford extended warranty.. Foolish to some and comfort to others .
Ha, my question, trade it ? Or build it ? Others thoughts /input/suggestions would be great , tia.......

I drove up to see Marty last month,I think he said the Ocelot package I picked was approx. 1100 lbs wet. I think.