Did Any of You Get the F-150 Payload/Total Loaded Truck Weight Display Option?

AbleGuy

Officious Intermeddler
I just read of this option in an older article on F-150’s, but haven’t seen anything since on it. Do any of you have this option? If so, how well does it function? Or did this good idea never make it to market?


According to This Old Article in The Drive, The 2021 Ford F-150 Was Promised to Get an Onboard Scale to Measure Payload…Wow!

Your rig’s total weight was to indicated on the in-dash screen, through a mobile app, and with the truck’s taillights.

“…
Ford (in 2021) is introducing a trio of new features that should make truck life a little easier. To start, the 2021 F-150 will soon be available with an onboard scale built into the bed to measure payload. No more weighing each piece of cargo on a bathroom scale and adding all the numbers up on your TI-83 calculator before each journey. Because that's what truckers do, right?

The measured payload can be displayed on the truck's infotainment touchscreen, or on your phone if you have the FordPass app, or—get this—on the F-150's LED taillights. A lot like the battery icon at the top of your phone, the taillights tell you how loaded the bed of the truck is by how many lights in the inner orange portion are lit. The more you carry, the more lights come on and the top portion will flash if the scale detects an overload.
 

billiebob

Well-known member
oh my god.... and if yer overloaded yer warranty will be cancelled and the vehicle will go into limp mode and the weights and measures guys at the DMV will get a tracking app to find ya..... Don't ya love technology

altho with all the blinking lights you might get a ticket fer stunting

1984 predicted this would be driven by governments, who'da thought consumers would gobble it up
 
Last edited:

Todd n Natalie

OverCamper
I just read of this option in an older article on F-150’s, but haven’t seen anything since on it. Do any of you have this option? If so, how well does it function? Or did this good idea never make it to market?


According to This Old Article in The Drive, The 2021 Ford F-150 Was Promised to Get an Onboard Scale to Measure Payload…Wow!

Your rig’s total weight was to indicated on the in-dash screen, through a mobile app, and with the truck’s taillights.

“…
Ford (in 2021) is introducing a trio of new features that should make truck life a little easier. To start, the 2021 F-150 will soon be available with an onboard scale built into the bed to measure payload. No more weighing each piece of cargo on a bathroom scale and adding all the numbers up on your TI-83 calculator before each journey. Because that's what truckers do, right?

The measured payload can be displayed on the truck's infotainment touchscreen, or on your phone if you have the FordPass app, or—get this—on the F-150's LED taillights. A lot like the battery icon at the top of your phone, the taillights tell you how loaded the bed of the truck is by how many lights in the inner orange portion are lit. The more you carry, the more lights come on and the top portion will flash if the scale detects an overload.
Yes. I have this option on my truck. If you're towing, the SmartHitch uses the tail lights to help you adjust tongue weight.
 

Todd n Natalie

OverCamper
oh my god.... and if yer overloaded yer warranty will be cancelled and the vehicle will go into limp mode and the weights and measures guys at the DMV will get a tracking app to find ya..... Don't ya love technology

altho with all the blinking lights you might get a ticket fer stunting

1984 predicted this would be driven by governments, who'da thought consumers would gobble it up
Okay then.

Have you actually done any research on the features and how they act / react, or are you just making assumptions and spreading misinformation because you hate new tech?

FYI, it's an option. So if you want to exceed the limits in your truck and be able to claim ignorance, you don't have to order it.

For those of us who want to stay within the limits of our vehicles, it's a pretty handy feature.
 

NoTraxx

Active member
Yes. I have this option on my truck. If you're towing, the SmartHitch uses the tail lights to help you adjust tongue weight.

Can ya give us a quick rundown and review of the system?
I have seen some hitches where it was built in. I am wondering if it would show the pin weight on a 5th wheel or gooseneck.
I could really see some good with this in a 3/4 or 1ton.
 

Todd n Natalie

OverCamper
Can ya give us a quick rundown and review of the system?
I have seen some hitches where it was built in. I am wondering if it would show the pin weight on a 5th wheel or gooseneck.
I could really see some good with this in a 3/4 or 1ton.
Can't comment on it with a 5th wheel or goosneck since I don't own one.

I know when I punch in my trailers weight, it will tell me with a graph if I need to add or subtract tongue weight.

Keeping it to 10-15% helps reduce sway. So good info to have.

The annoying thing I find is that I have to recalculate weight (ie estimate passenger and gear in the cab) for every trip since the amount of passengers / cargo varies. Once that is done I can start loading up the box with gear, hitching up the trailer etc... and I can watch my weights.

I wish there was a way the truck knew it's base weight and would just give me a total number of where my payload is at.

Maybe that will happen in one of the over the air updates.

Not sure if I'm explaining what I mean correctly, lol

This would probably explain it better than I can:


I do hear it's a new option on the F250 / F350's as well now.

 

Todd n Natalie

OverCamper
On a related note, the towing app that is built into the trucks dash screen is pretty handy as well.

Lets you save all your trailer dimension settings for Side blind alert, Trailer brake settings, Back up ProAssist etc

Not sure if other manufactures offer version of this as well. I think Ram may?

Trailer settings.jpg

Not my YouTube video.



The the phone app also lets you select a trailer light check so you can stand and the back of the trailer and hit a button on your phone which will sequence the lights. Pretty slick!
 

NoTraxx

Active member
Good videos, and good to know that it is making its way up to the SuperDuty. I think it will really help with the loading of the truck. I wonder how it would work with a Weight distributing Hitch. Good times and would like to get my hands on that set up.
One thing I noticed was that the trailer weight needed to be input to the system before calculating the recommended tongue weight. Sometimes that can be hard to get at home or the campground.
 

Todd n Natalie

OverCamper
Good videos, and good to know that it is making its way up to the SuperDuty. I think it will really help with the loading of the truck. I wonder how it would work with a Weight distributing Hitch. Good times and would like to get my hands on that set up.
One thing I noticed was that the trailer weight needed to be input to the system before calculating the recommended tongue weight. Sometimes that can be hard to get at home or the campground.
I use a Weight distributing hitch when I tow. It works with it.

I know. I think that having to input the weight is dumb. Not sure if there could be a fix for that. I was thinking the scales for the hitch could measure / guesstimate it by putting all the weight on the hitch prior to backing it off to adjust / level it?

Maybe I'm wrong or missing something. But, I was hoping that could be part of an Over The Air update as well?
 

NoTraxx

Active member
I am pretty sure that I would have it mad at me pretty often.
I do have to say, with my current ride. I have made it squat but I haven’t made it grunt……yet. The 3.5 EB and transmission combo is the stuff. Not sure why they don’t put it in the SD chassis.
 

ThundahBeagle

Well-known member
I just read of this option in an older article on F-150’s, but haven’t seen anything since on it. Do any of you have this option? If so, how well does it function? Or did this good idea never make it to market?


According to This Old Article in The Drive, The 2021 Ford F-150 Was Promised to Get an Onboard Scale to Measure Payload…Wow!

Your rig’s total weight was to indicated on the in-dash screen, through a mobile app, and with the truck’s taillights.

“…
Ford (in 2021) is introducing a trio of new features that should make truck life a little easier. To start, the 2021 F-150 will soon be available with an onboard scale built into the bed to measure payload. No more weighing each piece of cargo on a bathroom scale and adding all the numbers up on your TI-83 calculator before each journey. Because that's what truckers do, right?

The measured payload can be displayed on the truck's infotainment touchscreen, or on your phone if you have the FordPass app, or—get this—on the F-150's LED taillights. A lot like the battery icon at the top of your phone, the taillights tell you how loaded the bed of the truck is by how many lights in the inner orange portion are lit. The more you carry, the more lights come on and the top portion will flash if the scale detects an overload.

I think I did read about this. The tail light was the one that got me. LED does have that capability. I was at Museum of Boston in the late 1980's when there was a demonstration of how LED tail lights could be used to display messages. I thought it was cool, but useless. Kind of like my computer science class on the schools old TRS-80...

In both cases, if I'd only STUCK with it...
 

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