How much weight will a 1/2 ton really handle?

[Matt69olds]

I just returned from the gravel pit, got a bed full of river stone for a landscaping project. Once I rolled onto the scales fully loaded, imagine my surprise to find the guy had dumped 2.37 tons in the truck!! Needless to say, it was sagging a bit in the back! I never did feel the suspension bottom out, it obviously took longer to stop, but I didn’t have far to drive, and it was mostly city streets with 40-50 mph limits. I wouldn’t want to do this again, but it seemed to handle the weight just fine. I was curious what the 1/2, 3/4 and 1ton trucks were rated for. Does long bed/short bed make much of a difference? 4 wheel drive vs 2wd?

 

[PrairieDrifter]

Not sure on the specs but my grandpa used his 79 half ton on the farm for everything. Smaller bumper pull cattle trailer with 4-5 full grown cows with pairs, it sagged decently but it never creaked or moaned or anything like that.

Granted we only pulled them a few miles of dirt road to the pasture for the summer, but it did this for many many years. I did find a cracked leaf spring but I’m guessing they’re original and they have around 400,000 miles of abuse so it doesn’t concern me.

Only suggestion is to brace up the shock mounts on the frame. And the steering box brace as well.

 

[Nonstop]

Damn, that is pretty impressive! I was all excited when I put 3k in my k2500 with no sagging. I must say, I am humbled now!

 

[Scott91370]

Almost 5,000lbs in the bed? DANG!!! I can't imagine doing that on an older half ton when the payload couldn't have been much more than 1,000lbs. Wish you had a pic.

 

[Matt69olds]

I’ll post a pic tomorrow, no question it was dragging in the rear. I couldn’t believe the guy dumped that much stone in the bed. I guess it was my fault, I didn’t say how much I wanted.

 

[Frankenchevy]

Your brave. My square is 1-1/4 ton, so 2.5x the rating of a half ton or a half ton and 3/4 ton combined, and I draw the line at a yard of stone. A cubic yard of 3/4minus is on average 2500lbs.

Haven’t done that in a while, I just get a full truck & transfer now for regraveling my roads. You get 20+ yards for $500 delivered to your property.

 

[75gmck25]

I've been using my 3/4 ton GMC (8200 lb GVW, rated for about 2650 in bed) to haul remaining brick from a chimney we demolished.

We filled it the top of the box with brick rubble, and I was surprised to see it go across the scales at 10,900 lbs, or about 5200 lbs in the box. With the 3/4 ton 7 leaf springs there was no significant sag, and the truck still braked and accelerated well. However, I would not recommend carrying that much ever again.

I've also carried two yards of fill dirt, and a full pallet of HD concrete blocks without any issues.

Bruce

 

[Matt69olds]

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[Matt69olds]

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I have had almost 4 tons in my 3/4 Ram with the diesel. I have airbags in the rear, suppose to add 5k to the load capacity. However, the truck sits much higher, and it just about killed me climbing up and down out of the bed unloading it. That, and the Ram just barely fits between fence posts. The GMC will clear with about 6 inches on either side

 

[Colin]

The tires on the truck play a big part in how much should be loaded in it also.

 

[K588]

I've done my fair share of overloading trucks and trailers.

The thing that scares me the most is trucks with semi float axles. I saw a bad wreck 2 miles from my house about 15 years ago, guy in an old square body way overloaded with 8'+ large logs stacked as high as the cab coming down a hill snapped a rear axle shaft which came out of the housing . Truck was flipped over guard rail , frame was twisted between bed and cab, rear axle was diagonally jammed under truck. Logs were everywhere. That image always pops back in my head when I'm putting a heavy load in a truck.

I think I was meant to see it, kind of scared me for life.

 

[Dmack]

While many of us have done it, this is one of those "just because you can doesn't mean you should" things. Liability wise, huge amounts of bad juju possible.

 

[QBuff02]

I used My 2012 Extended cab, short box Silverado to haul some pea gravel home from work a few weeks back. I weighed it empty at 5,750lbs and when I put what was the most weight I felt comfortable in rock from the loader bucket in the back and I went across the scale on my way out of the gate, it weighed 7,860lbs. It was about 1/4" or so from the bump stops sitting on the axle and it was about the max I truly felt comfortable with. On the way home I went my usual way which requires about 4 miles of interstate and although I normally set the cruise at 80-82 I drove with my foot at 60-65. It handled well considering, but I don't know as I would load it that heavy again. Maybe a short couple mile drive around home but definitely not a 25 mile commute like coming home from work. That "what if" thing was playing in my mind the whole way.

 

[Bextreme04]

I found an ad on Craigslist for free flagstone, you just had to come get it. So I took my 73 C20 and headed up there. It was about 30 miles away on Interstate 5. I loaded the whole 8 foot bed to a few inches from the top of the bed rail. I had Good quality E-rated tires on it but had forgotten to fill them up to 80psi for a full load. They had 35psi in them and by the time I thought to look the tires looked almost flat. I limped it to the corner Gad station and filled them up to 80psi and cruised it the whole way home. It has the HD springs (9 leaf?) and was maybe 2 inches off the bumpstop. I have no idea how much weight it actually was, but it was a LOT.

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[jjester6000]

The most I've had in my bed is about 2500lbs when I hauled a 250 gallon water tank. Since my shocks are a little on the soft side, I did sag quite a bit. The truck handled the weight surprisingly well considering that my humble inline 6 is probably making 70HP at this point. Needless to say, I am not doing this again until I get new shocks.