New Ford trucks are available with a wide range of towing assistance cameras and other dynamic systems that help while you’re backing or pulling a trailer. And onboard scales and smart hitch features help while you’re loading your bed or trailer. Put these two bundled features to work for your workday or weekend adventures on new models like the F-150, F-150 Lightning™, and Super Duty trucks. Explore the benefits and models that offer the available Ford onboard scales and the smart hitch system using this review crafted by the team at TERA Ford.
Our team of Ford truck experts is here to answer any questions you may have. Give us a call at (630) 552-8058 or send us a message online.
Packaged as a bundle, onboard scales and the smart hitch are standard on the new F-150 Limited trim, making it easier for you to monitor the weight in the bed of your truck and on the tongue of your trailer.
Located in the bed of your truck, onboard scales provide an approximate weight for the cargo that you’re loading as you add it. Monitor the bed weight using the center touchscreen, your mobile phone with FordPass® app, or the unique smart tail lights. Much like the battery icon on your smartphone increases or decreases in height with the battery charge, smart tail lamps display a vertical bar graphic that grows fuller as you near the maximum payload. If you’ve overloaded the payload capacity of your truck, the smart tail lights will blink to alert you.
The smart hitch system calculates trailer tongue weight, so you can better distribute weight inside the trailer for smoother, safer towing. You’ll need to set up your trailer profile on the center touchscreen inside the cabin, but once you’ve formatted it, your truck will provide feedback via the center screen, FordPass app, or smart tail lights (just like with the onboard scales) to indicate how to redistribute the weight in your trailer, whether your hitch is too high or low, and how to properly tension your weight redistributing hitch (if you have one equipped).
Onboard scales let you estimate cargo weight in real time — easily avoiding overloading without having to find a truck or grain elevator scale to weigh yourself. Perhaps you’re picking up paver blocks for your new patio or hauling a load of firewood for the neighbors — onboard payload scales lets you weigh your cargo and load your truck appropriately.
Scale mode — which zeros weight in the bed regardless of what’s in it —allows you to gauge the approximate weight of a cargo item as you load it without having to unload the entire truck bed.
With the smart hitch at work, you can better orient the cargo in your trailer to better avoid trailer sway and improve handling on the road, properly orient the trailer hitch for optimal performance, and take full advantage of a weight redistributing hitch.
New Ford trucks — including the F-150, F-150 Lightning™, and Super Duty are available with onboard scales and a smart hitch. Initially introduced for the 2021 F-150 in the summer of 2021, the onboard payload scales and smart hitch are available across the F-150 trim lineup, except the Raptor® and Tremor® models. Starting in spring of 2023, the all-new 2023 Ford Super Duty® trucks in the select trims will offer onboard scales. The all-electric F-150 Lightning is available with onboard scales and the option to include or remove the smart hitch.
Current Ford models available with onboard scales and a smart hitch include:
Browse the new inventory at our Ford dealership in Plano, IL, to see whether we have the truck you want with onboard scales and a smart hitch already equipped. Or, consider ordering your perfect new Ford truck with all the features you want with a custom factory order. Want assistance finding your ideal truck equipped with a smart hitch and onboard scales? Contact the team at TERA Ford online or by calling us at (630) 552-8058.
Yes, you can add a Ford smart hitch, along with onboard scales to your Ford truck with an optional feature package.
The onboard scale was introduced for the 2021 Ford F-150. If your truck is older than that, it certainly is not equipped with the onboard scale. If your F-150 is a 2022 or 2023 model year in the Limited trim, it will be standardly equipped with the onboard scale.
Ford onboard scales and smart hitch are included as standard equipment with the Limited trim on new F-150 models and are available as an add-on package for most other 2021, 2022, and 2023 F-150 trims, new F-150 Lightning models, and select upcoming 2023 Super Duty trucks. Contact us for more information.
Want to see the onboard scales and smart hitch in action? Scroll through the available inventory at TERA Ford in Plano, IL, and schedule a test drive with the truck that you prefer. Not sure which models to look for? Our team will be happy to assist you in finding the new Ford truck that fits your unique criteria when you contact us online or by phone at (630) 552-8058.
