You asked for it, and we put the all-new Ford F-150 Lightning pickup truck on the Ike Gauntlet™ – the World’s Toughest towing test. Not just that, but we maxed it out. We put a 9,600 lbs trailer behind it. This video is coming up very soon. In the process, we find that the new Lightning has a nearly perfect 50/50 weight distribution. Does it help or hurt its performance?
First, take a look at the certified weight slip below. By the way, the new Lightning pickup has a very hefty curb weight.
Typically, an unladen pickup truck has a lot more weight on the front axle and less on the rear axle. This is because the internal combustion engine is up front, and it weighs a lot. When you put weight in the bed of a typical pickup or on its hitch – the weight normalizes to just about 50/50 or a bit biased towards the rear. What happens when you put over 1,000 lbs of trailer tongue weight on the hitch of a Lightning? Does it hurt the steering feel or stability? The short answer is – no.
We just ran the Lightning on our grueling towing test, and the truck was remarkably stable and comfortable – even loaded to its maximum. This is a testament to its suspension design and overall chassis setup. More details on this are coming very soon when we publish two Ike Gauntlet videos with the truck.
