Do as I say, not as I do...

[Danno77]

Doing some major landscaping the past few days, an that required me to make some trips to the quarry for rock. Lucky for me it's about half a mile away, so I never broke 25 mph with the following loads.

Disclaimer: this is a horrible, horrible idea if you are considering doing the same...don't do it.
Yesterday: net 2700lbs
Today:
Load 1: net 2900lbs
Load 2: net 3400lbs
Load 3: net 3700lbs
Load 4: net 2400lbs

Truck drives like a dream with about one ton of weight on it. The anxiety level goes up exponentially when you are above, I dunno, 2500lbs. That last load today seemed to handle fairly well.

I absolutely cannot believe something bad didn't happen to the truck with 3700lbs in it. The only discernable problems with those great weights are the sidewall flexibility. Timbrens keep the load riding in a safer way, and the brakes don't have any more problem with the added weight in the bed than they would have by pulling 3k on a trailer.

Picture to come of the second load, so you can see how it rides with that weight.

The reason I ended up being so overloaded is this: the guys at the quarry are very good at judging how much weight is in a truck based on it's ratings. They see a half-ton, know that if they make it sag a certain amount that they have a decent sized load that isn't going to be dangerous or hurt anything. Well, the guy loading it wasn't seeing the sag, so he loaded on some more. After that last really big load I asked the lady at the weigh station to tell me my last net weight. When she told me, I was pretty surprised and said that seemed like quite a bit for a half-ton. Last load was a little lighter because she musta radioed the guy with the big Caterpillar to take it easy!

So, if nothing else, let this be a lesson that you need to be careful if you are letting someone else load your truck, especially if you have overload springs or anything non-stock installed on the suspension.

PS, along with this being a stupid course of action, it is also an illegal action, you can definitely get a ticket for doing this.

 

[Delta-T]

color me impressed, and relieved that everything is ok...with you and your truck. Ever seen an El Camino try to take a ton of pellets in the bed? It doesn't work. Good thing they put wheel wells in the rear fenders so they can only go down "so far". No, I didn't let the guy leave like that, and I only did it after he insisted I do it and told me "Dont tell me my business, put the ton in there".

 

[Jags]

Last time I was in the quarry for a load of ag lime in my pickup, I jump in the cab of the load (big pit loader - 8 yard bucket, I believe) and asked the guy if he had any problem with me loading it (I did it for a living at age 17). I know ag lime and one little slip is the difference between a good load and broken springs. Ya gotta shake it - I told him. :coolsmile:

 

[lukem]

Are you running "P" tires? 2600 or so is about as much as I care to put on my F150 with P tires...truck drives fine, but I start to worry about the tires.

With 3700 i'd be freaking out.

That's too much for this guy to shovel, i'd have called in a tri-axel with 15k.

 

[Danno77]

Are you running "P" tires? 2600 or so is about as much as I care to put on my F150 with P tires...truck drives fine, but I start to worry about the tires.

With 3700 i'd be freaking out.

That's too much for this guy to shovel, i'd have called in a tri-axel with 15k.

Brother helped shovel. They have a 5 ton minimum for delivery, but they told me they weren't sure when they'd be able to deliver. I asked if that meant they weren't sure when it would be today, to which she replied "I'm not sure when in the next two weeks it will be." Wifey wanted it done today for the yard sale at 7am in the morning. Oh well.

I'm ashamed to admit it, but they say "Max 2600lbs" right on mine, too... I'd argue that it should disperse between all four tires, but we all know the rear was carrying the brunt of the load. Total weight on the scale was 9500 with that heavy load...

 

[holland_patrick]

Know that feeling.....

 

[Beetle-Kill]

Know that feeling.....

That is wrong on so many different levels, my eyes actually hurt looking at that picture. Uuugh.
Danno- kudos to you- just keep the PSI at max., and keep the speeds low. Short travel distance, I wouldn't stress it.

 

[Danno77]

That doesn't look any worse than what I was doin' today.

 

[Beetle-Kill]

That doesn't look any worse than what I was doin' today.

Uhmm... Subaru vs. Dodge 2500 w/ Timbrens. - OK... :shut:

 

[RNLA]

I know for a fact that my little Toyota has been overloaded. I really do not like it and do my best to avoid repeat performances.

 

[lukem]

I know for a fact that my little Toyota has been overloaded. I really do not like it and do my best to avoid repeat performances.

There are different degrees of overloading. It's a moving scale from:

1.) I'd better drive slow and leave some extra stopping distance.
2.) Who needs power steering?
3.) I just lot my mudflaps.
4.) What's the wrecker service number again?

 

[Battenkiller]

Last time I was in the quarry for a load of ag lime in my pickup, I jump in the cab of the load (big pit loader - 8 yard bucket, I believe) and asked the guy if he had any problem with me loading it (I did it for a living at age 17). I know ag lime and one little slip is the difference between a good load and broken springs. Ya gotta shake it - I told him. :coolsmile:

I had a similar thing happen when I was getting a load of compost. Several days of rain beforehand, and that one bucket load of soggy compost nearly flattened my springs. I drove home with my flashers on at like 10 MPH.

 

[Battenkiller]

Timbrens keep the load riding in a safer way, and the brakes don't have any more problem with the added weight in the bed than they would have by pulling 3k on a trailer.

What's the deal with the Timbrens? Are they easy to install? I have an F-150 that I want to be able to load some big-ass pine logs in. I usually only have to go about 5 miles on back roads from the mill to my house, so I'm not concerned with the legality of it, but I will probably carry much more than the GVWR says on the door.

 

[Danno77]

That doesn't look any worse than what I was doin' today.

Uhmm... Subaru vs. Dodge 2500 w/ Timbrens. - OK... :shut:

Yeah, see. I was in a 1500...

 

[Danno77]

Timbrens keep the load riding in a safer way, and the brakes don't have any more problem with the added weight in the bed than they would have by pulling 3k on a trailer.

What's the deal with the Timbrens? Are they easy to install? I have an F-150 that I want to be able to load some big-ass pine logs in. I usually only have to go about 5 miles on back roads from the mill to my house, so I'm not concerned with the legality of it, but I will probably carry much more than the GVWR says on the door.

Very easy to install, very cheap. Do they work as nice as airbags? Probably not. Maybe not the best choice out there in terms of capabilities and handling improvements, but for my almost 15 year old truck, they do just fine. Check out their website to see what they look like.

 

[Battenkiller]

Will do.

Airbags? OK.. tell me about those.

 

[lukem]

Will do.

Airbags? OK.. tell me about those.

http://www.autoanything.com/suspension-systems/61A2966A0A0.aspx

 

[Battenkiller]

Ah...

Looks complicated to install with all those small parts.

Silly question... You need both front and rear, correct?

 

[lukem]

Ah...

Looks complicated to install with all those small parts.

Silly question... You need both front and rear, correct?

Usually just rear, unless you want a lowrider.

They aren't bad to install. I helped a buddy put some on his F250 to help level it out when he pulled with 5th wheel travel trailer. Its just another moving part...I would personally put on a helper/overload spring or timbren before putting bags on.

 

[Danno77]

Ah...

Looks complicated to install with all those small parts.

Silly question... You need both front and rear, correct?

Not necessarily. In fact, sometimes guys who plow put them only on the front. Usually guys that plow haul stuff like salt, etc, so they put them on both, but the point is that you can do whatever you want. If I had a fancy new truck I might consider something more expensive than timbrens, but darn it, they work so well that I wouldn't feel bad putting them on a brand new truck.

 

[lukem]

Ah...

Looks complicated to install with all those small parts.

Silly question... You need both front and rear, correct?

Not necessarily. In fact, sometimes guys who plow put them only on the front. Usually guys that plow haul stuff like salt, etc, so they put them on both, but the point is that you can do whatever you want. If I had a fancy new truck I might consider something more expensive than timbrens, but darn it, they work so well that I wouldn't feel bad putting them on a brand new truck.

Good point on the plow. Didn't think of that. Rear-only is your most common installation though.

 

[Highbeam]

I had timbrens on my last truck and loved them to death. No maintenance, no adding air to level the truck, no leaks, no hoses, no drilling, no difference in empty ride quality, very big difference in loaded sag. The tires will be the way you determine how loaded you are so you need to look at the tires when you load and not the bumper height.

I even want to add them to my F350 so that when loaded with cargo, the headlights are not pointing up. I'll overload the F350 and drive 50 miles brighting people out at night. The timbrens cost much more for the F350 version.

 

[Battenkiller]

Thanks, guys. My carving buddy told me I didn't buy enough truck for the job. I don't need to do what he does with his truck, but I don't want to break it more than it already is. Much as I hate to admit it here, I've never been a "truck kinda guy", but I can't do what I need with my Camry wagon and a trailer. I used to drive the farm trucks all the time when I worked with horses as a youngster, but I've only had one other truck before this one, so there's lots to learn. I visited several truck forums, but they seemed to be either geared toward either serious work trucks or show trucks. I only paid $2200 for my '99 F-150, so I can afford to put plenty into it to get it running/working the way I want it to. It's got a little bit of cancer, but I can do all the metal work on the body, might even be able to do a passable job with the touch-up. I'll be asking my questions here from now on, you guys seem to know the kind of things I'll need, for my use of it at any rate. ;-)

 

[richg]

Here's an example of an overloaded vehicle. There are many stories as to how this happened so I have some questions about whether it is actually a prank.

 

[lukem]

This is probably about 2,000 - 2,400 lbs of oak on my truck ('09 F-150). Fresh cut black oak in full rounds and stacked in tightly front to back, side to side. I'm figuring just shy of half a cord once c/s/s.

Didn't squat it too bad. Drove fine. Well over the manufacturer's rating though, but still under the legal limit (barely).