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Am I loading it too much?

Eric M.

Eric M.

1/2 ton status
Joined
Dec 10, 2001
Posts
2,142
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Location
Oakland, CA
This isn't exactly K5 or 4x4 related, but, it's a second generation truck and most of you know them in and out.

I do construction and bought a beat up 80 1 ton dually 2wd dump truck a few years back. Thought it would make a fun project and give me a dump truck which I desperatly needed.

Here are the specs:
-1980 C30, dually, 12 foot dump bed with 4' sides.
-350 w/ 100K original miles. Tuned up, rebuilt carb, runs good.
-Rebuild Turbo 400 (was stick, but too many of my guys can't drive a stick)
-Front suspension and steering all new, from springs to bushings, from tie rods to steering box.
-New 1 ton rear leafs with 2 extra springs each side.
-I'm running the shortest tires I can find for torque and better braking, load range E.
-Brakes are all new, from Hydroboost on out. Running carbon kevlar pads in front.
-14 Bolt FF CC rear with 4:10.

My question - The GVWR of the truck 10,000, empty it weighs 7700. Not much of a load capacity considering it has a 12' x 8' x 4' bed. This truck, loaded, tips the scales at the dump at 13,000 to 15,000 pounds.

Am I pushing it? Do you think something is going to break? The engine has to work to move the truck, but it never gets past 200 degrees and I'm not driving dangerously slow on the freeway. The brakes work well ... common sense says keep a lot of room between you and the car in front of you.

For those of you thinking I'll get nailed by the highway patrol, when I looked into that, I was told I needed a weight sticker on the side, when I went to the DMV they asked what I wanted, I told them 10K and they told me the smallest they had was 15K and gave it to me. My sticker and registration now say 15,000 pounds.

What do you think?

Eric M.
 
Any good technician will tell you that overloading your truck past the manufacture's specifications will add extra stress to not only the chassis of the vehicle and also to the engine. When you go over the weight compactly of your vehicle regularly it will cause more wear and tear on the entire vehicle. It is up to you if you want to risk adding that extra wear and tear on your vehicle. One thing to keep in mind and also to check for is there have been some cases where individuals have put so much weight in the back of their truck that it caused the frame to snap and bend.

My recommendation is to have an experienced technician inspect your vehicle and tell him or her your concerns. Or you could also upgrade to a larger truck that can handle the loads you intend on putting on it.
 
my lance camper weights in at around 5k pounds, unloaded. It's been on a '97 dually and '06 3500 Dmax. Airbags on both rigs. O yeah, the '06 has a 6" lift :)

If it doesn't feel overloaded to you, or borderline anyway, then drive the truck for what it's worth and if it takes a crap on you, o well fix it I guess. Good BIG swaybars and airbags help a LOT. They make the lifted 06 w/camper drive like a dream. And for what it's worth, you did good talking to the DMV about this, never even heard of stickers.

fyi

PS> my zq8 S10 is rated for 700lbs.:doah:There are bags on it too. :D
 
got a cust at work. has a 96 p30 aluminum box van. 10k gvw. he is always 13.5k - 14.5k on the scales. he also has 215k miles or so on it.

1 motor at around 170-180k and tranny at 140-150k and 1 rear end at 120k miles .

he eats brakes and tires but loves it. and its up and down hills and dirt roads and all over the east coast.

heck he even has a 1" block on 1 side in the rear to make it sit level. :doah:
 
sweetk30 said:
heck he even has a 1" block on 1 side in the rear to make it sit level. :doah:
Click to expand...
:bow:
I don't care who you are, thats funny right thar.
O and it might be a typo in the OWNERS MANUAL, but my 3700lb S10 is rated at 5800lb towing hahahaha
 
GVWR is rated based on frame strength, brakes, axle strength/wheelbearings, etc.

Adding "more distance between you and the car in front of you" is a bs excuse for running something unsafe on the road.

You never know what's going to happen and when a kid jumps in front of your truck or someone has to swerve into your lane to avoid a falling rock, whatever, if your truck is overloaded and anything happens your ass is on the line and you have a good chance of serving time.

Adding leaves might make the suspension sag less but it doesn't change the GVWR.

I'm not real informed on what you need to do to try to get a higher GVWR but if you want more than 10K you should certainly look into that.

And I know nothing about your business but knowingly exceeding the GVWR limits is real bad, you could stand to lose everything you have if anything happens.
 
As stated I think the biggest issue is braking. You state your brakes "work well", but that is most likely not in any sort of an emergency situation, and likely not on really long steep grades. Spend a little time looking at the newer F450's, F550's and Dodge or GM equivalents and you'll see they run 19.5" (or there abouts) rims, 10 lug. Biggest reason is to fit much larger brakes.

As a business owner you are playing with fire knowingly running so far above the manufacturers GVWR. Imagine one of your employees boiling the brakes on that thing on a long hill when fully loaded and hitting someone...

C30 = 1 ton

10,000 - 7700 = 2300 lbs which is slightly over 1 ton. Your truck is performing as advertised. You just need a larger truck for your needs.

Why not look into a C60 if you love the square body stuff?

Rene
 
I would suggest you go find a weights and measures officer and talk to him. With that 15,000 designation, you MAY have to abide by US DoT rules for drivers and load. Especially since you are using it for a business. It isn't fun to find out about driver log books on the side of the road.
 
British Slave said:
I would suggest you go find a weights and measures officer and talk to him. With that 15,000 designation, you MAY have to abide by US DoT rules for drivers and load. Especially since you are using it for a business. It isn't fun to find out about driver log books on the side of the road.
Click to expand...

What is a driving log book and what is it used for?

Eric M.
 
Log books and the like are a requirement for trucks over a certain GVW, and drivers with a CDL. There are exceptions, but the short version is they keep track of hours of service for the driver. I really doubt a truck GVW'd at 15,000 would get you into the realm of needing a log book or anything...

I guess the point is seeing that this is a truck for your business it's time to do a bit more official research. Some examples I can think of are: Is this truck now required to stop at scales? Is a log book required? Commercial bi-annual inspection required? liability issues...will your insurance still be valid if there is a wreck with the truck at 15,000 lbs and there is a brake failure?

As an aside I have my 1/2 ton pick-up GVW'd at 11,000 lbs. The thing is It's never loaded with more than maybe 1500 lbs in the box...ever. However having the GVW that high makes the truck emissions testing exempt. ;)

Rene
 
tRustyK5 said:
Log books and the like are a requirement for trucks over a certain GVW, and drivers with a CDL. There are exceptions, but the short version is they keep track of hours of service for the driver. I really doubt a truck GVW'd at 15,000 would get you into the realm of needing a log book or anything...

I guess the point is seeing that this is a truck for your business it's time to do a bit more official research. Some examples I can think of are: Is this truck now required to stop at scales? Is a log book required? Commercial bi-annual inspection required? liability issues...will your insurance still be valid if there is a wreck with the truck at 15,000 lbs and there is a brake failure?

As an aside I have my 1/2 ton pick-up GVW'd at 11,000 lbs. The thing is It's never loaded with more than maybe 1500 lbs in the box...ever. However having the GVW that high makes the truck emissions testing exempt. ;)

Rene
Click to expand...


No, log books are for commercial vehicles over 10,001 GVW. I fought that battle with ARCO and BP for 37 years on the 1 ton trucks we drove. And I lost. We had to keep log books and daily inspections on Ford F-350 rated for 10001 or more GVW. CDL is required on trucks 26,000GVW or more. No CDL required on the smaller DOT trucks. I never had a CDL, but had to keep the records and take a DOT physical every year.
But, bottom line is it won't hurt to ask and be sure.

Your truck is also exempt from DOT as it is not commercial.
 
I'm thinking I need to swing by a weight station and ask one of the CHPs there. I can't get a staright answer from the DMV, a city cop or even a Highway Patrol officer. What I'm afraid of is different weight stations having different requirements only because the officeres working there aren't up to date on what's required and what isn't.

Eric M.
 
British Slave said:
No, log books are for commercial vehicles over 10,001 GVW. I fought that battle with ARCO and BP for 37 years on the 1 ton trucks we drove. And I lost. We had to keep log books and daily inspections on Ford F-350 rated for 10001 or more GVW. CDL is required on trucks 26,000GVW or more. No CDL required on the smaller DOT trucks. I never had a CDL, but had to keep the records and take a DOT physical every year.
But, bottom line is it won't hurt to ask and be sure.

Your truck is also exempt from DOT as it is not commercial.
Click to expand...

What's funny is I have a CDL and drive a front end load garbage truck for a living. No log books required...GVW is 26,100 kg (57,420 lbs)

Our route sheets are pretty detailed though, definitely as much or more info on those than a log book.
 
tRustyK5 said:
What's funny is I have a CDL and drive a front end load garbage truck for a living. No log books required...GVW is 26,100 kg (57,420 lbs)

Our route sheets are pretty detailed though, definitely as much or more info on those than a log book.
Click to expand...

You fall under the DOT 100 mile exemption rule with the garbage truck. But you are required to have a CDL by the state. The whole mess can be explained very simply....lawyer laws.
 
Well, I do travel over 100 miles per day...however I'm never more than 50 miles from the 'yard'.

It would seem Eric's truck would likely fall under the 100 mile rule too (most likely) even if otherwise a log book would be required.

Rene
 
tRustyK5 said:
Well, I do travel over 100 miles per day...however I'm never more than 50 miles from the 'yard'.

It would seem Eric's truck would likely fall under the 100 mile rule too (most likely) even if otherwise a log book would be required.

Rene
Click to expand...
100 mile rule is 100 mile radius from your headquarters. He probably does, but again, it would be easy to find out. Only thing then would be IF he got stopped outside the 100 miles, he would have to produce hours on duty records for the previous seven days.
BP had us under an umbrella rule that even though I very rarely was more than 20 miles from my headquarters, I had to keep logs, inspections, etc. Finally got a smaller truck.
 
I definetly never go over 100 miles away from our shop, 30 max. I think I'm OK there.

Eric M.
 
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