How to Read These Pages
Every truck page starts from the same place: the yellow payload sticker on your driver's door jamb. That number is the maximum combined weight of passengers, cargo, and anything you bolt or load onto the truck, including the camper. It is specific to your exact truck as it left the factory, and it is almost always lower than the payload figure in the brochure.
From there, each guide breaks payload down by trim, engine, and generation, then subtracts a representative M1 build so you can see what's left for water, gear, and people. Hybrid drivetrains (Tundra iForce MAX, F-150 PowerBoost), diesel engines (Silverado Duramax), and heavy off-road packages (Raptor, Rubicon) all eat into payload, and that's where owners get surprised. The pages flag those traps directly.
Once you know your sticker number, drop it into the M1 Builder payload calculator. Add your M1 options, gear, water, and passengers, and it shows your remaining margin in real time. Spec'ing the build on paper before you spend is the cheapest way to find out whether a truck works.
Mid-Size Trucks
The most popular M1 category. Lighter, more maneuverable, better on tight trails, and the M1 was designed with these beds in mind. The tradeoff is payload headroom: a mid-size truck carrying an M1 plus a full build is working close to its limit, so trim choice matters most here.
Toyota Tacoma
The most-built M1 platform, and the one with the widest payload spread by trim. What your door sticker really says, generation by generation.
See payload data →Ford Ranger
The tightest mid-size platform in the M1 community. It works, but you build lean and you need to know your exact number.
See payload data →Chevy Colorado
Door-sticker payload by trim and year, the composite-bed question, and where a bed stiffener actually matters for the M1.
See payload data →Jeep Gladiator
Payload by trim and the large Sport-vs-Rubicon gap. One of the better mid-size M1 platforms once you know the number.
See payload data →Honda Ridgeline
The unibody outlier. Payload by trim and what a car-based platform changes for an M1 build versus a body-on-frame truck.
See payload data →Full-Size Trucks
Half-ton full-size trucks give the M1 the most payload margin, which leaves room for armor, racks, bigger batteries, and more water. The catch is the same one that traps owners everywhere: hybrid and diesel drivetrains carry less than the gas equivalents, sometimes by several hundred pounds.
Toyota Tundra
iForce MAX hybrid trims eat into payload more than most owners expect. Full breakdown by generation and trim.
See payload data →Ford F-150
Payload spans 1,000–2,100 lbs by trim and engine. PowerBoost and Raptor are the traps. Find your real number first.
See payload data →Ram 1500
The coil-spring 5th gen changed the ride. The payload story still needs the same sticker-first approach as every other truck.
See payload data →Chevy Silverado
Duramax diesel cuts payload versus the gas equivalents. WT and Custom trims leave the most headroom for a build.
See payload data →Electric Trucks
EV trucks bring strong payload on paper, but range under a loaded camper is the real variable. The bed and tailgate dimensions also differ enough to matter for how the M1 mounts.
After You Know Your Number
Payload tells you whether a truck can carry the M1. The next questions are which mods are worth their weight and how to spec the build so you stay under your limit. The truck mods guides cover suspension, armor, and tires with a payload cost on each, and the payload guide walks through the full math from sticker to remaining margin.