Pickup truck capacity

I still have to make my coal run, without the brewery or mine tour entertainments...

How much - real world - nut can you get into a standard 8' open bed w/o bending anything? I have an F150 with the 3/4 ton spring package.

Thanks,

-Charlie

I think 2000-2300# would be getting close to it's safe limit, tires and pressure are the important part. A trailer could possibly double your capacity per trip.

Charlie Z wrote:I still have to make my coal run, without the brewery or mine tour entertainments...

How much - real world - nut can you get into a standard 8' open bed w/o bending anything? I have an F150 with the 3/4 ton spring package.

Thanks,

-Charlie

Hello Charlie sorry you could not make down for the tour maybe Next time 3/4 ton 1750lbs and the truck should be around 4550lbs if it was a 1/2 ton not sure with the 3/4 springs I myself have a 1/2 ton and i put on anywhere from 2300lbs to 2500lbs with no problems but i only drive 18 miles now my good friend has a 98 ford f-250 and he puts on up to 3500lbs + with no problems just remember to bring a tarp to cover the load when you are on the interstates it is the law well all i can say is put on a load at the breaker and see what the truck does and if it is to munch we can take some off so pm me when you want to come down and i will take you to the breaker they are real great people they will help us unload if there is to much on your truck take care talk to you later

I've put 1500 lbs on a factory stock 1/2 ton 2002 Chevy Silverado with no problems. It's a short bed and it was still not filled. I wouldn't put more on it because of the factory two ply rated tires. If it had better tires the bed and suspension could handle more. However, I wouldn't go over 2000 lbs.

Hello Charlie, check your rear tires, see what the rated capacity is at max pressure. You can overinflate the tires by 5+ psi, this will increase the load capacity and keep them cooler.

The big difference between a 1/2 ton and a 3/4 ton is the axle size and usually the number of axle bearings. Most 3/4 tons have two bearings at each wheel, a 1/2 ton has a single bearing, like a car axle.

I've run some very heavy, overloaded truck in the past, but that's me, I don't recommend going over 1500-2000#. You don't want the rear axle touching the stops on the frame, this is a guaranteed broken axle.

What you can do to help the load, would be to make some riser-board sides for the bed, and load the bed deepest at the front, just behind the cab, and leave the load shallow at the rear of the bed next to the tailgate. This will put a lot more of the load up front onto the front axle. This way both axles and sets of tires will share the load instead of mostly the rear axle.

Put a tarp around the inside of the front of the bed and the riser boards, this will be held in place by the weight of the coal, then drag and drape the tarp over the load to the rear, tying it down, or use several bags of bagged coal to weigh the tarp down. You DO want to cover the load to keep the police at bay.

I routinely put 1500-2300# in my dodge 4x4 2500 [3/4ton] pickup, and it handles it very well, it likes it even.

Keep the tires hard, to keep the flexing and heat down, take your time, and you should do fine. Buying Nut coal right??

Take care, Greg L

.

Good point greg I foregot to mentioned about the tires and the 3/4 ton will have more leave springs then a 1/2 ton I believe my 1/2 ton has 5 full and one half spring on each side ill have to look later and 3/4 I think has 8 full and one half springs on them well talk to you all later see ya

The tires are the limiting factor. Get some load range E tires and you can fill the bed until the bumper is 6" off the road. Today's trucks are way overbuilt with more than enough horsepower and spring to handle a full bed. Go slow. BTW in NY the DOT sets up "checkpoints" and everyone gets stopped. If they think your truck is overweight they have you drive on the portable scales. I've never been detained but I've seen some guys that looked ready to cry.

What do you have your trucks GVW registered at? Many times if you are registered as a 1/2 ton truck you only have a GVW of #5000. If your truck is a 4x4 and has a full tank of gas you are probably over weight with an empty truck. I guess what I am trying to tell you is what ever you do don't get stopped by the police if you are registered as #5000 GVW. I don't know what kind of truck you have but I had a 79 F-150 4x4 and it was #4650 empty and me not in it. It was registered #5000 GVW so with me in it I could legally haul #150.

strangely enough if you register your truck for enough weight, the state doesn't care what it says on your door sticker. this has been the case in every experience i've had (not class 8, but with pickups/medium dutys at least in most of the midwest).

Charlie Z, 1,500 to 2,000 lbs. would be my opinion for safe driving. As you get heavier you are exceeding the design limits of your axles, springs, wheels, tires, and brakes. You may find that some coal breakers will not blatantly over load you because of liability on their part. Use good judgment you don’t want to look like a rocket ready for takeoff. A breakdown or tire blowout caused by overloading can make that extra 500 or 1,000 pounds very expensive.

I've filled up an newer F-350 with an 8 foot box with just about 2 tons of nut coal. Be safe with that F-150. It sounds like you have lots of good advise from everyone else.

Charlie, I have an F150, short bed, super cab, and standard suspension, and have carried 1900# in it. I wouldn't want to push it more than that. I'm about 50 miles from the coal supplier in Pa, and I take it real slow and careful when Im carrying that much in the back.

NEPAForum Admin wrote:For 1 ton until the pile spreads out to the sides and not above the top rails.

Filled to the max better than 2 ton, even closer to 3 ton if the sides of the box are recessed.... I know this just because I have a old F-250 with the equivalent of modern day f-350 suspension. 8) But that's not advisable for f-150 and very illegal. They usually don't bother pickup trucks but if motor carrier enforcement sees you going down the road with a blatantly overloaded truck they are going to stop you. I don't know exactly what the fines are for being overloaded because I have never had the pleasure but it's not cheap.

Someone told me here in ohio the fine is a dollar a pound for being over loaded. That may only apply to the commercial trucks though. I do know that if you get caught the load must be made legal before you are allowed to move. Also as someone else said if you are running commercial plates in ohio you pay for the wieght rating and that is what they go by. Unless the truck looks unsafe.

My 2004 F150 4x4 is rated around 2900# bed capacity.
I have at least a ton (40 - 50# bags) and it only squatted a couple of inches. My Dealer was only 10-15 miles away, now only 5-6 miles, since we moved.