Buying my first ton of pellets.

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I have a 2013 Silverado 1500. Since I tow a lot (race car), the first thing I do with a tow vehicle is set it up for towing and hauling. In my case the first modification I made was to add the Firestone Ride-Rite air springs. Keeping the truck level under various load conditions is one of the first rules, along with having the proper tires and inflation.

I found the 1500 model with air springs is a great combination. The truck is very stable for a 1 ton load of pellets even at freeway speeds. In tow/haul transmission mode, the 5.3L even drops into 4 cyl mode on the flat or downhill areas in 5th gear (it tends not to use 6th in T/H) and provides decent mileage. My pellet source is 60 miles away so I have to drive a ways. I inflate the air springs to 40 psi for the load; they are rated for something like 80 or 100 psi.

In contrast, my previous truck - a 2002 Avalanche - was a decent tow vehicle but rather poor at hauling. It had a lower overall capacity, and the rear springs were coil not leaf. Even with the Firestone air bags inside the rear coils at max pressure, the ride was still not as stable as I wanted for a 1 ton load.

So I find regular pickups are fine with some basic setup, but an SUV vehicle on a similar chassis may not be as suitable.
 
jp99 said:
I have a 2013 Silverado 1500. Since I tow a lot (race car), the first thing I do with a tow vehicle is set it up for towing and hauling. In my case the first modification I made was to add the Firestone Ride-Rite air springs. Keeping the truck level under various load conditions is one of the first rules, along with having the proper tires and inflation.

I found the 1500 model with air springs is a great combination. The truck is very stable for a 1 ton load of pellets even at freeway speeds. In tow/haul transmission mode, the 5.3L even drops into 4 cyl mode on the flat or downhill areas in 5th gear (it tends not to use 6th in T/H) and provides decent mileage. My pellet source is 60 miles away so I have to drive a ways. I inflate the air springs to 40 psi for the load; they are rated for something like 80 or 100 psi.

In contrast, my previous truck - a 2002 Avalanche - was a decent tow vehicle but rather poor at hauling. It had a lower overall capacity, and the rear springs were coil not leaf. Even with the Firestone air bags inside the rear coils at max pressure, the ride was still not as stable as I wanted for a 1 ton load.

So I find regular pickups are fine with some basic setup, but an SUV vehicle on a similar chassis may not be as suitable.
Click to expand...
You DO realize that the rear wheel bearings are different for each step up in pickup classification, right? Everyone talks about tires, pressures, and air bags but they ignore the wheel bearings, drive shaft, universals, and rear ends.
 
tjnamtiw said:
You DO realize that the rear wheel bearings are different for each step up in pickup classification, right? Everyone talks about tires, pressures, and air bags but they ignore the wheel bearings, drive shaft, universals, and rear ends.
Click to expand...

The American (macho) way is throw on a set of baloneys, jack it up, loud exhaust and it's a 'big truck'. Too bad it's a weenie underneath.

There is a reason why there is a GVW rating plate on the door sill and in the owners manual, but, like pellet stove owners, no on ever reads the manuals (or looks at the door pillar.)

I have an F350 Ford myself but I prefer hauling heavy loads on a tandem axle gooseneck. Lots easier on the tow vehicle.
 
jp99 said:
I have a 2013 Silverado 1500. Since I tow a lot (race car), the first thing I do with a tow vehicle is set it up for towing and hauling. In my case the first modification I made was to add the Firestone Ride-Rite air springs. Keeping the truck level under various load conditions is one of the first rules, along with having the proper tires and inflation.

I found the 1500 model with air springs is a great combination. The truck is very stable for a 1 ton load of pellets even at freeway speeds. In tow/haul transmission mode, the 5.3L even drops into 4 cyl mode on the flat or downhill areas in 5th gear (it tends not to use 6th in T/H) and provides decent mileage. My pellet source is 60 miles away so I have to drive a ways. I inflate the air springs to 40 psi for the load; they are rated for something like 80 or 100 psi.

In contrast, my previous truck - a 2002 Avalanche - was a decent tow vehicle but rather poor at hauling. It had a lower overall capacity, and the rear springs were coil not leaf. Even with the Firestone air bags inside the rear coils at max pressure, the ride was still not as stable as I wanted for a 1 ton load.

So I find regular pickups are fine with some basic setup, but an SUV vehicle on a similar chassis may not be as suitable.
Click to expand...

I hate to bust your bubblle but an Avalanche is just a Tahoe that someone took a can opener to...... It's a grocery store truck....._g
 
tjnamtiw said:
You DO realize that the rear wheel bearings are different for each step up in pickup classification, right? Everyone talks about tires, pressures, and air bags but they ignore the wheel bearings, drive shaft, universals, and rear ends.
Click to expand...
500 lbs over what the truck is rated won't kill bearings...
 
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Ranger72 said:
500 lbs over what the truck is rated won't kill bearings...
Click to expand...

That depends on a whole bunch of varibles like total mileage, how it's maintained, is the gear oil sufficient in the diff and how your drive it. I bet to a person on this site, not 10 on here have ever pulled the level plug on the pumpkin and stuck their finger in and checked the gear oil level.....

I've seen a lot of rears come apart from poor maintenance and overloading.
 
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rcook430 said:
Have burned 28 bags of pellets since getting new stove. A few days I did not run it since temps were in 40s and heat pump works well at that temp. Ran out of pellets this morning. Wife wasnt crazy about getting pellet stove. She loves it so much she is freaking out now and wants a ton of pellets. I have a 2011 F150 and just a little nervous about putting 2000lbs in truck bed. Maybe if a few of you reassure me you have done it with no problem I will feel better.
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I have an F150 with the max tow package and it's rated to haul over a ton but I always use a trailer and can tow way more in one trip,look at renting a trailer or borrow one. save some gas and get double the work done.
 
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SidecarFlip said:
That depends on a whole bunch of varibles like total mileage, how it's maintained, is the gear oil sufficient in the diff and how your drive it. I bet to a person on this site, not 10 on here have ever pulled the level plug on the pumpkin and stuck their finger in and checked the gear oil level.....

I've seen a lot of rears come apart from poor maintenance and overloading.
Click to expand...
Very true, I maintain all my vehicles myself. Synthetic fluids all around etc. Here is my daily:
 

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SidecarFlip said:
That depends on a whole bunch of varibles like total mileage, how it's maintained, is the gear oil sufficient in the diff and how your drive it. I bet to a person on this site, not 10 on here have ever pulled the level plug on the pumpkin and stuck their finger in and checked the gear oil level.....

I've seen a lot of rears come apart from poor maintenance and overloading.
Click to expand...

First thing my pops showed me when buying a used truck. People looked at us funny crawling under the rear of their trucks.
 
Just recently traded in my 2010 Frontier for a Ram 1500.. Fronty had 97k miles on it with no problems at all.

Trucks are rated VERY conservatively for payload especially. The rating on the Frontier was something around 1200 lbs. I had a ton of pellets in the bed, myself, two other grown men and my 80 lb dog in there a few times. Was the truck happy about it? No. But it wasn't bottomed out either.

Try to stick to sideroads, and give yourself plenty of time to stop and turn. A full size truck can handle a ton in the bed fairly easily. I hesitated a bit before doing that with the Frontier, but if that can handle it, then a full size surely can.
 
Just took a 60 mile round trip to my dealer yesterday and they loaded me up with 35 bags of pellets on 2008 4x4 Tacoma , looking in my rear view mirror a bit at times for flashing lights to close in on me :rolleyes:

Jeff
 
SidecarFlip said:
I hate to bust your bubblle but an Avalanche is just a Tahoe that someone took a can opener to...... It's a grocery store truck....._g
Click to expand...

Actually, the 2002 Avalanche was built on the Suburban chassis, not the Tahoe. That's a common misconception.


On edit - technically they are all one family of chassis, made in three sections, with variations in length. The GMT 800 is the base chassis, and the Silverado was that model. The 820 was used for the Tahoe, the 805 for the Avalanche and 830 for the Suburban. Wheelbase of the Tahoe is 116"; Avalanche is 130" like the Suburban.
 
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tjnamtiw said:
You DO realize that the rear wheel bearings are different for each step up in pickup classification, right? Everyone talks about tires, pressures, and air bags but they ignore the wheel bearings, drive shaft, universals, and rear ends.
Click to expand...

The drive shaft and universals have nothing to do with hauling when what you haul is well under the tow rating of the vehicle. The drivetrain sees the the force you need to pull the vehicle, not support it. What do you think happens when you tow 6,000 lbs versus hauling 2,000 lbs uphill in u-joint forces? The u-joint takes far more load in the towing case for the same speed.

Wheel bearings would be an issue if you loaded the vehicle at 25% + all the time. I see 120 miles of this type of loading per year, or 1% of my annual mileage.

If you really want to talk about wheel bearing wear and axle wear, talk to me after you've owned a road race car for a decade or more. That is excessive force, and I replace bearings every two seasons because of wear. What my truck sees is minor in comparison; if it needs one extra set of wheel bearings in its life from this (highly unlikely) that is acceptable wear compared to overbuying a vehicle for 120 miles of use per year.

And my truck fluids are changed far more often in the power train than the manual recommendations. They are not as frequently changed as a race car's fluids, but more often than the severe duty schedule of the owner's manual. I doubt many here maintain their vehicle to the extent mine is maintained.
 
SidecarFlip said:
That depends on a whole bunch of varibles like total mileage, how it's maintained, is the gear oil sufficient in the diff and how your drive it. I bet to a person on this site, not 10 on here have ever pulled the level plug on the pumpkin and stuck their finger in and checked the gear oil level.....
Click to expand...

Count me as one of those who have done and do that :) I also change the fluid every 3 years in my truck's rear end.
 
jp99 said:
The drive shaft and universals have nothing to do with hauling when what you haul is well under the tow rating of the vehicle. The drivetrain sees the the force you need to pull the vehicle, not support it. What do you think happens when you tow 6,000 lbs versus hauling 2,000 lbs uphill in u-joint forces? The u-joint takes far more load in the towing case for the same speed.

Wheel bearings would be an issue if you loaded the vehicle at 25% + all the time. I see 120 miles of this type of loading per year, or 1% of my annual mileage.

If you really want to talk about wheel bearing wear and axle wear, talk to me after you've owned a road race car for a decade or more. That is excessive force, and I replace bearings every two seasons because of wear. What my truck sees is minor in comparison; if it needs one extra set of wheel bearings in its life from this (highly unlikely) that is acceptable wear compared to overbuying a vehicle for 120 miles of use per year.

And my truck fluids are changed far more often in the power train than the manual recommendations. They are not as frequently changed as a race car's fluids, but more often than the severe duty schedule of the owner's manual. I doubt many here maintain their vehicle to the extent mine is maintained.
Click to expand...
of course you are right about the drive train. I got carried away after seeing yet again another potentially huge display of who can abuse their truck the most. Going 25% over is not that bad unless an overzealous cop spots that stack of pellets. Big fine! I'm waiting for the guy with his photo of two pallets in his truck bed from the last thread.

ADD: Already we have a Frontier with a ton of pellets, 3 grown men(600#?) and an 80# dog! Who's next?
 
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I'm gonna need my buttered popcorn for this thread too......
 
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tjnamtiw said:
of course you are right about the drive train. I got carried away after seeing yet again another potentially huge display of who can abuse their truck the most. Going 25% over is not that bad unless an overzealous cop spots that stack of pellets. Big fine! I'm waiting for the guy with his photo of two pallets in his truck bed from the last thread.
Click to expand...

That's a well-founded concern - thanks offering it for the reason you did. Many people push their machinery too hard without knowing what they are doing. Those of us who are cautious - not conservative - know we can exceed some manufacturer's ratings by reasonable amounts for limited periods.

A race car - whoo boy, that exceeds the manufacturer's recommendations most of the time ... things you consider "maintenance" become "consumables" !
 
I can't carry a ton in the bed but I can pull 5 behind me.
 
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My truck isn't beefy enough for a gooseneck.
 
TimfromMA said:
My truck isn't beefy enough for a gooseneck.
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It is for a trailer. Besides, look at all the uses a erailer has and you can store the pellets in a trailer (tarped of course).
 
I essily haul half a ton in my Explorer. F350 laughs at one ton.
 
F4jock said:
I essily haul half a ton in my Explorer. F350 laughs at one ton.
Click to expand...

After you enjoy the sets, remember I have an extra ton in the barn....lol
 
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