Highbeam - 30 June 2008 12:00 PM

The load ratings for your truck ARE the live loads assuming lots of active and moving worst case scenarios. There is even a safety margin over that. If your truck has a 10,000# stickered GVWR then you can weigh 10,000 lbs and drive down the road with confidence that your truck was designed to run that way.

1/3 of a cord in a 3/4 ton? Folks here are putting that much in a mini truck.

You need to watch more than just the GVW..  You have to watch the individual axle weights!  We had a F250HD 4x4.  We were well under the GVW, but our horse trailer (without horse or water) was 300# overweight for the rear axle.  It PULLED the trailer well, even stopped it well, but it had a bit of “give” even on mild curves.  We upgraded to a C3500 dually and it’s rock solid.

BTW, I have the scale tickets here.  F250 supercab, diesel, no load:  front 4360, rear 2920, total 7280.  IIRC, the rear axle was rated for about 5800, which would give you a net allowable rear load of just under 3000#.  Note, the rear 5800# rating means 2900 pounds on each tire, quite possibly more than they are rated at.  Definitely not your typical tire for a half ton truck.

Figure a full cord of green hardwood at around 37-3800#.  Of course, some of that will go to the front axle, a 3/4 ton can probably handle the weight of a full cord.

Another point: everyone worries about the axle and springs, but what are the tires rated at?  Half ton trucks are likely to have lightly rated tires.  You really don’t want a blow out while you’re travelling down the road, overloaded, at 45 or 50 mph!

I have hauled two tons of pellets in the dually. It was a bit light in the front but I was only going about 20 miles. 

And DON’T TAKE THE SPARE TIRE OUT for more room!  We were hauling 108 bales of hay home the other day on the double axle trailer (car hauler).  Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump.  Yep, one tire gone, no spare and the other tire was really sagging!  I managed to make it about three miles (and across the narrow bridge) to the nearest tire dealer!

Ken

Good point Ken, the GVWR as well as the GAWR are stamped in the door jamb of your truck. Note that the sum of the axle ratings will be more than the allowed GVWR so you’ve really got to check all three. Then there are the individual tire ratings. I’ve done a few things to my half ton pickup like use D rated LT tires in place of the stock light duty ones, added timbren overload springs which engage after about 500 lbs of payload and then prevent excess saggage up to well beyond my legal limits.

I was thinking about it.  When I picked up my gun safe at farm and fleet it was 692 lbs not including the metal and wood palet.  The truck went down but not very much.  The coils really are the way to go to add capacity!!!