Why, do you not think that the tires have a safety margin as well? How many of these tires do you see fail because they were overloaded. I would bet that you could go 4K per tire and they would be fine. Why do you think that the tires are the final determining factor? Because "you see" tire failures on the road?

I don't loose sleep over this stuff, but the notion that one can pick and choose which ratings to observe and which ones to ignore, to suit our needs is a flawed concept. I doubt many actually get sued because of being overloaded and being in an accident, but I really have no idea, I mean, its not like this country is full of ambulance chasing lawyers, is it. I agree that tires can fail (and do cause bad accidents, but so do inadequate brakes, most peoples campers themselves are exceeding the trailer makers weight ratings by more than their trucks do, and we all know that trailer brakes are marginal at best.

But I can guarantee you this, and it is the reason the manufacturers under rate the trucks. The very first "people" a lawyer will try to collect from in a loss of life accident is manufacturer (very deep pockets), but If you were proven to be overweight and in that accident, the manufacturer stands a much better chance of walking away unscathed (which is all they care about), who they go after next would be my concern, and give me trouble sleeping.

The more you have, the more you have to lose, but again, it a good thing that we don't live in a country full of people just looking for someone to sue, what a relief that is....