GVW vs. Gross Axle Weight

[norsea]

The GVW of my F250 is 10,000 lbs. The Gross Axle Weight is 6000 lbs. for the front and 6100 for the rear.

It seems to me that the GVW is GROSSLY under what the vehicle is capable of dealing with given the Gross Axle Weight.

I am aware that some states use 10,000 lbs., as a cut off line for commercial vehicles and/or a line of demarcation for charging more for registration when vehicles weight more than 10,000 lbs. Is the GVW of 10,000 lbs. for my F250 a marketing tool to beat higher costs?

It makes no sense to me to have axles that can sustain an additional ton of weight that cannot be safely used.

Any/all info greatly appreciated.

Jim

[SmokeyWren]

Originally Posted by norsea

Is the GVW of 10,000 lbs. for my F250 a marketing tool to beat higher costs?

No.

The GVWR is the max weight your truck can safely handle, considering tires, suspension, frame, brakes, bearings, as well as axles and shocks and maybe a few other bits and pieces.

GAWR is not additive. Some folks load very heavy on the rear end and very light on the front end. For those folks, they can put as much as 6,100 pounds on the rear axle, but then they can put only 3,900 pounds on the front axle so they don't exceed their GVWR.

Others have a heavy front end replacement, or maybe a snowplow, so they are heavy on the front axle. But if they put 6,000 pounds on the front axle, that leaves only 4,000 pounds for the rear axle.

You cannot put both 6,100 pounds on the rear axle and 6,000 pounds on the front axle at the same time. For example, with a heavy snowplow on the front axle giving you 6,000 pounds on the front axle, you cannot also load the bed with 3,000 pounds of salt/sand. That's why you see the snowplow trucks that also spread salt/sand are usually medium-duty dumptrucks instead of light-duty pickups.

Count yourself fortunate that you have 10,000 pounds GVWR. '99-'04 F-250s had only 8,800.

If you need 12,000 pounds GVWR, Ford makes it. But it's not an F-250.