Transporting 2 tons in a 1 ton pickup truck

Is this guy religiously opposed to making two trips or something? Advise him to make a separate trip for each pallet and you have legally exonerated yourself from any liability if he f's up and kills someone. Dave

It will probably work, if the front wheels stay on the ground. In this part of the world the criteria is "will it go up the hill?" if it does you can probably put on a little more.

I have even seen trucks with wooden blocks bolted to the frame so that when you had the truck fully loaded the frame didn't sit all the way down on the axles - might break a spring bending it backwards...

Bruce-in-Bangkok (correct email address for reply)

I would say the truck would handle the load fine on either road. It is not like you would be driving 75 MPH on a logging road! Greg

Not true at all.

Yes, it is true, and it has been proven numerous times in actual testing. Empty pickups have terrible weight distribution and the addition of cargo in the rear greatly improves the weight distribution and braking traction available from the rear wheels. Pretty much every test ever done on pickup truck braking has shown shorter stopping distances when significant cargo was placed in the bed.

On Thu, 13 Mar 2008 13:07:17 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, Dan@ (Dan ) quickly quoth:

Seeing as 65-70% of braking happens at the front wheels, I tend to agree with you, Dan. Some additional traction is provided, but not much on an emergency stop. All that weight goes away from the rear axle. Additionally, any traction gained is lost when going around a corner at any speed, when centripetal ("centrifugal" to you old dogs ;) forces take over, trying to break the springs and send the truck off the road upside down.

-- Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear. -- Thomas Jefferson

On Thu, 13 Mar 2008 13:47:25 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, "Pete C." quickly quoth:

Cites, please? The advantage pretty much goes away when the weight shifts as the front brakes grab and the front end dives.

-- Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear. -- Thomas Jefferson

Dig around on the sites of any group that does auto testing, popular mechanics, motorweek, probably even consumer reports.

Weight shifts to the front with or without cargo under heavy braking, and any cargo weight in the rear still adds traction weight over no cargo. Stopping distances are always shorter for a pickup when a camper is loaded for example.

On Thu, 13 Mar 2008 14:33:05 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, "Pete C." quickly quoth:

Again you offer statements without proof. Cites? I spent a few minutes and didn't find it.

-- Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear. -- Thomas Jefferson

"A pickup truck's typically lopsided weight distribution is an inherent shortcoming. When the cargo box is empty, most of the weight is in the front - yet the drive wheels are in the rear. (For the purposes of this safety examination, all pickup trucks have rear-wheel drive as a base. The all-wheel-drive Honda Ridgeline is a notable exception.) This requires the lighter end to push the heavier end, which leads easily to fishtailing on slick road surfaces. The remedies are far from perfect. Adding weight to the cargo floor above the rear axle can help, but it requires foresight. The added weight can either improve braking or extend the stopping distance, depending in part on the road surface; one can't predict which."

Yea, it doesn't appear many recent reviews are on line for free these days. Also those more complete reviews were more common in print magazines pre-Internet. I've certainly read multiple such reviews from multiple sources.

At any rate, if you don't believe me, it's easy enough to test in a parking lot with your own truck. Just load a bunch of concrete blocks for the loaded portion of the test.

On an empty pickup over 80% of the braking in on the front wheels. With load proportional braking it is often very close to 100%. Putting a load on every pickup I've ever owned has improved the braking up to the point where the added load overpowers the extra braking capacity. On a half ton truck that generally starts to happen around one ton or a little better.(depending how forward you can load the weight) Two tons on a half ton starts to get pretty hairy. Most half tons do not have heavy enough tires - and you need to have significant pressure if you are going to load that heavy. My dad had 2 tons of fresh cut firedood on his F150 coming down out of the woodlot and rolled 2 tires right off the rim. I had to go out and jack it up and put air back in the tires - put them up to about 45psi and sent him, carefully, on his way home (about 18 miles of good roads) The truck sat dead level, but very low and he kept it under 50mph. Said he still had a LITTLE bit of suspension, and the brakes knew he had a load.

Then again, he drove his little Toyota - I think it was a 1 ton (wonton) but may have been a 3/4 with 2 tons on it virtually all the time with no issues at all for over 3 years - at highway speeds and all kinds of roads.(3/4" plywood box full of electrical supplies, tools, wire, etc for electrical contracting business)

Have you ever driven a pickup loaded with a camper comming down a good long grade. The brakes fade and if there isn't a good place to get off youre sunk. You are full of it. What you say may be true for the first couple of hundred lbs. but for the loads this thread is about. Pure and simple. ...lew...

I have driven a 3500 dually pickup loaded with a 2,000# camper, full of supplies and towing a 10,000# trailer, GCW 20,340# with a full tank of fuel, 1,700 miles halfway across the country *three times*. My brakes have *never* faded, nor will they ever fade on a good long grade if you actually know how to drive and use engine braking.

*You* are full of it.

We were talking about an overloaded vehicle. Of course the brakes are more efficient at rated GVW as opposed to an empty truck. The brakes are designed to be 100% efficient at RATED GVW, but we were talking about 2 tons in a 1 ton pickup truck and that don't make the brakes more eficient. Look at the subject line. Did you come in the middle off the discussion?

On pretty much every "1 ton" pickup, the listed GVW is *not* the true rating of the axles, brakes or suspension. Quite often the listed GVW is

10,000# to avoid the additional regs that come into play at 10,001#. Therefore loading the vehicle past the listed 10,000# does not mean that it is physically overloaded.

There you go, 1.7 ton cargo rating on a "3/4 ton" truck. Like I said, the old 1/2, 3/4 and 1 ton designations are meaningless these days.

It probably would not gouge the bedliner. Or you can always throw a piece of plywood.

I am going to pick up another 4,500 lbs power supply tomorrow, it is destined to go to scrap after I remove fun parts such as the huge circuit breaker, water cooled thyristors and Size 6 contactor.

Moments like this, make one appreciative of trailers.

i

Thought my Dodge 2500 Cummins short bed would haul more than it will. I need to bring home two pallets of pavers. One weighs 2800# the other 2600#. I wouldn't consider two at once because of the loading. They would have to push one pallet in with the other to get them both on the truck. That would gouge the bedliner. But I just checked the Dodge site, and payload is

3410#.

Nothing like RTFM.

Steve