How much is too much weight in the bed?

[Boaring1961]

What's people's opinion on the amount of weight our trucks (2500) can hold. We have a GVW of 9,000 lbs and my truck weighs 6950 lbs (regular cab, long bed), thus according to DC I can carry 2050 lbs safely. So my question is when is too much too much? Can I carry 2500 lbs safely or even 3000 lbs?



Any help appreciated.



Thanks

Dwayne

Morro Bay, CA

 

[WestTN]

I have carried 4,000 lbs of gravel, and mixed fill when we landscaped our retirement place in TN. The gravel was metered by FMC when I bought it, so I know it was actually 4,000 lbs. The truck sat level instead of nose down. I do have the trailer tow and camper special packages.

 

[DieselFiend]

I had an 02 2500 cummins and I hauled 3 yards of gravel in the short bed. Sagged it in the back pretty good and was almost dangerous on my 40 mile trip back home. Next time, I think I'd safely haul 2 yards instead of the 3.

 

[horned Toad]

I have had 3500 pounds or so in an 03 2500 4x4 4 door short bed, it sagged in the back but drove fine, I didn’t push it on the speeds, maybe 45 on rural highway

 

[BHolm]

Your tires are the real weak link. Since it is a 2500 I would guess it came with a 265 width D range tire. I think that gives you 3042lbs per tire at max inflation. My 3500 Mega carries about 3200 lbs on its rear tires empty, your truck should be similar with the long bed. That leaves just under 2900 lbs of payload based on the tires ratings. I would stay away from more than that if you have any distance to travel at any speed over about 30 mph. Larger and heavier rated tires obviously change this but unless you go to 19. 5" wheels/tires you don't stand much of a chance of really overloading the axle or frame.

 

[opjohnny]

He is in the third gen area. I all the trucks recieved "E" rated tires from the factory even if it was a 2500.

 

[2Gen3Gen]

My 04 2500 4x4 QC had 2000 lb pallet of landscape rock in the bed and my front tires were just about off the ground. I was shocked, none the less, I was afraid to drive over 25 mph on the 4 mile drive home. 2 months later I bought my 04. 5 3500 4x4 QC. . I never got the chance to haul anything other than my camper shell in that truck. I know it would have done much better as it had the extra springs in the rear.

Its a shame that Dodge says not to haul an overhead camper in the trucks. I have owned 3 11'3'' Lance campers and never had any issue with a 3/4 Chevy 4x4 or my Ford F350. I put the same Lance on my 98 Dodge 2500 4x4 QC and scared the heck out of me. When I got home, I pulled it off and sold the camper. Ive had a motor home and a travel trailer since.

My next truck will most lilkely be a 07 Dodge, but not sure if I want to bother with the Mega cab unless they improve the looks. For now, Im driving a Chevy Blazer and waiting to see what the Dodge boys do next year. I may even buy a gasser if Diesel dosn't come back to earth. It is still $2. 65 here while unleaded is @ $2. 07 :-{} . .

 

[RobertP]

i've had a little over 4000lbs in the bed of my truck i had to haul stone dust for a job i had. the truck was 7300lbs before and after it was alittle over 11400. it sagged pretty good but ran like a champ. had to travel about 22 miles with that load. no problems i think i ran at about 50-55 mph.

 

[charlessmith]

My 04 2500 4x4 QC had 2000 lb pallet of landscape rock in the bed and my front tires were just about off the ground. I was shocked, none the less, I was afraid to drive over 25 mph on the 4 mile drive home. 2 months later I bought my 04. 5 3500 4x4 QC. . I never got the chance to haul anything other than my camper shell in that truck. I know it would have done much better as it had the extra springs in the rear.

Its a shame that Dodge says not to haul an overhead camper in the trucks. I have owned 3 11'3'' Lance campers and never had any issue with a 3/4 Chevy 4x4 or my Ford F350. I put the same Lance on my 98 Dodge 2500 4x4 QC and scared the heck out of me. When I got home, I pulled it off and sold the camper. Ive had a motor home and a travel trailer since.

My next truck will most lilkely be a 07 Dodge, but not sure if I want to bother with the Mega cab unless they improve the looks. For now, Im driving a Chevy Blazer and waiting to see what the Dodge boys do next year. I may even buy a gasser if Diesel dosn't come back to earth. It is still $2. 65 here while unleaded is @ $2. 07 :-{} . .

I've got a '97 2500 4x4 with the camper package; hauling a 11' Lance 990 which weighs 3400lbs loaded. It rode OK as it was, eventually I installed an Arrow DRW kit and Firestone Air Springs.

Now, it's stable at whatever speed I want to run. Usually, I'm at 65MPH and get 14MPG. Faster

acts like I have a hole in the fuel tank.

 

[Eric_77]

I have pulled and carried about as much as anyone else has in the three trucks I own.



Overcapacity seems to leave no ill effects on the trucks. I have scaled in the 12-13,000 range with my 96 truck on a fairly regualr basis not realizing how much I was loading. (I picked up same load every 3 weeks for 3 years then one day decided to take it over the scales when I filled up )



Anyway 65-70 loaded to 12,000 pounds evenly spread in truck was a load and you had to be aware of your driving surrondings. Would I load a camper and drive cross country or load a tool bed(like the telephone co used to use) nope but If you need to pick up a load of sand or do some serious work couple days a week, no problem.



I spent two months in New Orleans doing Hurricane reapir and the Dodge trucks I saw were worked and over worked guys hauling 40 yard dump trailers(40 yard is same as normal semi dump trailer these were configured differnet and didn't have same GVW, I hope) behind DRW dodges. The guys I spoke with said they were expecting the trucks to die in a year's time but they were not leaving them stranded and the money they were making it was worth it. FYI where I was at there were 8 Dodge diesels, 4 Dodge gassers, two Chevy gassers, 1 Ford Diesel and 1 Ford gasser.

 

[2Gen3Gen]

I've got a '97 2500 4x4 with the camper package; hauling a 11' Lance 990 which weighs 3400lbs loaded. It rode OK as it was, eventually I installed an Arrow DRW kit and Firestone Air Springs.

Now, it's stable at whatever speed I want to run. Usually, I'm at 65MPH and get 14MPG. Faster

acts like I have a hole in the fuel tank.

Fot the record, I had Firestone Ride Rites on my 98 and it still felt like I was going to roll over on every turn. My travels at that time were mostly between Chico Calif and LA calif on I-5 where there are bad cross winds. I never had any problems with my Lance while it was mounted on my Ford Duelly, my Chevy 3/4 4x4 or my Chevy Duelly. The Dodge was just not a truck made for that size of a camper. Maybe Im just not as brave in my old age!

 

[charlessmith]

> For the record, I had Firestone Ride Rites on my 98 and it still felt

> like I was going to roll over on every turn.



When I installed mine with one pressure control, I had the same problem. I changed the setup so I had a pressure control and guage for each side. That solved the problem. Plus, with two controls, I could level the camper when stopped for the night.

 

[GWBourne]

my 04. 5 short box in signature weighs 7260 with me in it and no fuel... i had a load with total truck weight at 11820 (makes for a little over 4200 in the bed), again me in it and no fuel... needless to say i had to put about 60lbs of air in the bags to level the truck out. but it pulls it just fine. ride wasnt bad, tires hate me. i only drove abot 20 miles total, if that and never over 45 mph, but through some curves.



i would say if you put bags on your truck 4k is doable. not legal... and might want an exhaust brake... i cant say how mine stopped without it as i never turn it off... .

Grant

 

[mroodzant]

I have hauled a few heavy loads. A heaping bed full of wet clay filled soil. (bad sag) 2 pallets of retaining wall block. That was in the 97 2500. I blew up the rear end in that oneacouple years later though. I hauled 3800 lbs of gravel in the 03 I drove at turtle speed the 3 miles home. I have researched the Amercan Axle website and found the 1150 rear end in my 03 SRW 3500 is rated at 10,000 + lbs. The GAWR on the door sticker seems to be the sum of the load rating of the stock tires. My Vision wheels and Toyo load range G tires add up to about 9000 lbs. I am not claiming I can put that much weight on the rear end. Just one heck of a safety factor.

 

[Grizzly]

My 04 2500 4x4 QC had 2000 lb pallet of landscape rock in the bed and my front tires were just about off the ground. I was shocked, none the less, I was afraid to drive over 25 mph on the 4 mile drive home. 2 months later I bought my 04. 5 3500 4x4 QC. . I never got the chance to haul anything other than my camper shell in that truck. I know it would have done much better as it had the extra springs in the rear.

Its a shame that Dodge says not to haul an overhead camper in the trucks. I have owned 3 11'3'' Lance campers and never had any issue with a 3/4 Chevy 4x4 or my Ford F350. I put the same Lance on my 98 Dodge 2500 4x4 QC and scared the heck out of me. When I got home, I pulled it off and sold the camper. Ive had a motor home and a travel trailer since.

My next truck will most lilkely be a 07 Dodge, but not sure if I want to bother with the Mega cab unless they improve the looks. For now, Im driving a Chevy Blazer and waiting to see what the Dodge boys do next year. I may even buy a gasser if Diesel dosn't come back to earth. It is still $2. 65 here while unleaded is @ $2. 07 :-{} . .

Stay with a Cummins diesel. It may be the best engine ever made. For an 11' 3" Lance you need a 3500 DRW. My 05 Dodge dually didn't say that you can not haul a cab-over camper and I have not had any problems doing so. The 05 handles the camper much better than the 95 dually.

 

[Coalsmoke]

Hey guys, I had the same question, so I hope nobody minds if I jump in. I have a 95 2500. I just put on my welding deck and loaded, it scales at about 10,650lbs. This is an every-day load and will be on the truck. I know a dually is preference, but I just can't afford a new truck right now. The truck seems fine, and it sits about 3/4" off the bumb stops. I plan on adding airbags later this year, probably about late spring, just to help level the truck out and keep the springs from bending too much. And, as you guys have all said above, the truck axles should be fine, but one person said I'd blow out my tires (because he kept blowing the ones on his ford). My back axle is at 5720 lbs, and I have Toyo M-55 tires, each good for 3000lbs, which puts each tire at about 2860lbs. I know this is close to the limit, but I don't know how much fudge factor is in the tires. What do you guys think, will I be ok? I'm a "take it easy" kind of driver, if that makes a difference. Thanks for the help guys, happy truckin

 

[Udaloy]

I bought some sand at a local sand and gravel pit. My truck was pretty new so the guy loading it stayed away from the cab, dumping the load on the tailgate. When I weighed out, it was 2. 3 tons or 4,600 pounds. Of course, the scales aren't perfect, but it was weighed nonetheless. I didn't think it rode bad at all. I did 55 mph on rural highways for about 20 miles. I could tell the front was a little light, but I wasn't scared or worried one bit. I've driven much worse.

 

[Grizzly]

I bought some sand at a local sand and gravel pit. My truck was pretty new so the guy loading it stayed away from the cab, dumping the load on the tailgate. When I weighed out, it was 2. 3 tons or 4,600 pounds. Of course, the scales aren't perfect, but it was weighed nonetheless. I didn't think it rode bad at all. I did 55 mph on rural highways for about 20 miles. I could tell the front was a little light, but I wasn't scared or worried one bit. I've driven much worse.

You're asking for trouble putting 4600 lbs on a 2500 and then driving 55 mph for 20 miles. You know your tires are the weakest link. I hope you had them aired up to there maximum capacity. I would have been scared and worried.