98 1/2 ton hauling capacity

[Cornfield creations]

98 chevy 1500, ext. cab short bed, Empty weighs 5500 lbs. Yesterday I hauled 1.43 tons and it was sitting on the bump stops. I know the GVWR is 7200, and I have carried 1.83 tons on it before, The dirt was a little heavier than it looked. Are these trucks ok to handle this much weight? Only driving 3 miles to the other side of town in slow side streets.

 

[mud hungry]

The truck should well be with in it's range at that load. Your truck should be able to handle a load 2-3 times that. My guess though is that your springs need to be replaced. I have a 97 Ext sb 4x that I swapped out for one ton springs. Didn't change how much I could tow but it sure made a difference on how I towed it. If you can't change the springs then see if you can hang the weight distribution when you load it.

 

[6.2Blazer]

The truck should well be with in it's range at that load. Your truck should be able to handle a load 2-3 times that. My guess though is that your springs need to be replaced. I have a 97 Ext sb 4x that I swapped out for one ton springs. Didn't change how much I could tow but it sure made a difference on how I towed it. If you can't change the springs then see if you can hang the weight distribution when you load it.

The OP is talking about payload in the bed, not trailer towing which you seem to be referring to......at least I hope you are talking about trailer towing as I would hate to see someone try to put 4-5 tons of dirt/gravel in the bed of a 1500 truck.

To the OP, you are grossly overloading your truck. 1.83 tons = 3,660 lbs. Take the empty weight of 5,500 + 3, 660 = 9,160 lbs. in a truck only rated for 7,200 lbs. Definitely not saying the truck will burst into flames and kill a bus full of nuns, and wouldn't suggest going out on the highway, but it is quite hard on the truck to do this.

 

[4xcrazy]

I'm thinking the rear leaf springs are saying ouch,, just a little bit...

I've had the 1/2 ton '94 pick-up loaded up pretty good to where there was only about an inch or so before hitting the bump stops, was definately saggin', was definately a smoother ride, but after I looked at the springs while loaded, I don't think I would want to do that too often.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Once put about 4000lbs of tile and grout in the back of a kid's Z71. Punkass insisted it could do it. The bumpstops looked about ready to explode they were so squished. Front tires were barely touching the ground but he drove off...

 

[dremu]

Once put about 4000lbs of tile and grout in the back of a kid's Z71. Punkass insisted it could do it. The bumpstops looked about ready to explode they were so squished. Front tires were barely touching the ground but he drove off...

Hopefully he drove off in a straight line.

I've never overloaded a truck like that, but we had a bunch of concrete pavers loaded into a half-ton right at the tailgate (instead of at the front of the bed, which woulda made sense) ... the steering was vague, let's say

-- A

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Oh no, you had to go left to get out of our parking lot and another left to even get to the first road.

Kid was an idiot. I advised him it was dumb but he didn't listen. Was my last day there anyway.

Same day I put a good 1800lbs into the back of a 2wd Nissan hardbody. It took it...didn't like it...but it took it...

 

[Cornfield creations]

Yeah it's kind of hard to judge when a big bucket loader is putting a "light" load of dirt on your truck. I figured it was over, and when it had that 1.83 tons on it I knew it when I took off. I actually drove in 4wd because of the strain the axles had on holding the load, let alone trying to move the truck. I wouldn't do that again, I was just curious on what the thoughts were on the matter.

 

[sweetk30]

if our state dot man pulled you over you would have gotten a overweight ticket. as you went over the legal gvw on the door tag.

and most 1/2 tons were 3 leaf in the 88-up style. no way i would have put that much in there.

i was haulin 2 ton per load in my 79k30 and it was just starting to hit the helper leafs on the factory spring packs. and thats 9 leafs then 2 on the helper.