Why are you limited to a half ton? Cause you have a half ton truck man. I don't know what your mean by registered to carry, but what everyone goes by is the GVWR...it's the gross vehicle weight rating. That is the max weight the vehicle is rated for fully loaded. That is the max that the vehicle can support including everything...just a simple weigh-in.

Ford gives the vehicle this rating but everyone knows it is on the conservative side and that you could get away with a little more...but technically you're not.

I'm sure plenty, including myself, have gone over the GVWR....but....not when putting 3000 lbs in it. Your springs won't even hold that, I bet a 1 ton F-350 wouldn't even hold that. You're best bet is with a dually. You're not 1000 lbs over...you're more like 2000lbs over...you're trying to put 1 and 1/2 tons of weight in the back of a 1/2 ton pickup truck....and you don't see what is wrong with that?


What about the wear issue? It mgiht "seem" that way but are you a tire manufacturer? Do you know anything about tire wear and have experience with it?

Neither do I...but...my expectation is that as long as your within the load ratings of the tire than you will not be significantly affecting wear or performance enough to care.

 

I know I have a half ton truck, but I also have an Air Lift system to supplement the rear leaf springs. Should I not be able to go over the GVWR with supplemental modifications? My rear axle assembly is rated for 3800 lbs, so it should be able to hold a 3000 lb payload. Certainly if my truck can hold the weight then my engine and tranny should have no trouble pulling it. Or is there another weak link I am overlooking?

 

Dude...come on....use some of that brain power from your mileage thread here...

The air lift system does not increase your vehicles weight capacity. It helps you carry what you already can carry. It levels the truck out when it's loaded. It's not intended to increase capacity.

Your rear axle is rated at 3800lbs...that does not mean you can add 3000lbs to it. That number INCLUDES the weight of the vehicle...just like GVWR does.

The weak link you're overlooking is EVERYTHING....your truck CAN NOT hold NEARLY that much weight...no matter what you do to it unless you redesign the entire truck.

Did you comprehend the fact that a 1 ton F-350 won't even handle what you're looking to do?

Not to mention other things such as braking ability, transmission, engine strength (not really powerful enough), cooling, etc.

Having 3000lbs in the bed is not nearly the same as towing 3000lbs....two different ballgames.


Forget it....ain't gonna happen....you're not even close. 1500lbs would be stretching it....and you're looking for twice that....

 

Brakes.

As mentioned above, carrying 3,000 pounds in the bed of a truck is a lot different than on a trailer. The truck will sway and handle horribly.... max speed of about 40 mph...

... it's just not a good idea.



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Before you talk about all the weak links, lets just talk about one at a time. If you can prove a weak link then its obvious that you are right and there is no need to talk about the other weak componets. I want to just talk about the air lift system.

I am not saying that the air lift system increases my vehicles weight capacity. I am saying that the air lift system increases the amount of weight that the suspension can support (while the truck is sitting still for argument's sake). Yes, the air lift system will "level your load", but it also increases the amount of weight you can put in your bed before the leaf springs snap.

 

The leaf springs arn't going to snap. You could put enough weight on the vehicle to hit the bump stops...that is what they're there for...so you don't over-bend the springs.

The air-lift system is designed for 1 purpose only...to level the truck out when you put weight in it. It does not increase the amount of weight that the suspension can support...in effect what it does is take weight OFF of the springs...and put it on the axle/frame. The springs are not supporting anything extra.

This is simply not true. You can only put about 1000-1300lbs in the back of your truck....regardless of if you have an air lift assist or not. The ONLY thing the air lift assist does is raise the vehicle after it's loaded. Most bags mount between the frame and the u-bolts on the leaf springs (center of springs). This puts weight on the frame and axle that otherwise would be on the springs. Less weight is put on the springs...but the overall weight capacity doesn't change.

 

Directly from the Air Lift website:


Q. How much will adding air springs increase the Weight Ratings of my vehicle?

A. Adding air springs will not change the Weight Ratings (GAWR, GCWR, GVWR) of a vehicle. Doing so is dangerous and voids your Air Lift air spring warranty. See the section on Weight Ratings and Loads.



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My point then is that the air lift system prevents the leaf springs from being the weak link any longer by bypassing the spring set and delivering weight directly to the axle from the frame.

SO, on to the next weak link. Problem is, I'm not sure what the next weak link is. It would not be the axle because it's 3800 lb maximum load rating leaves at least 3000 lbs to spare. I say this because the rear end of the vehicle does not support more than 800 lbs of the vehicular load. And you must remember that in my case I have removed the complete bed, the rear bumper, the rear fuel tank, and all mounting hardware. Or am I wrong about this guys? Is the rear axle supporting more than 800 lbs without these pieces of hardware?

And you must remember this, the tires, brakes, differential, and rims weigh a good amount, however they can not be included at 100% of their weight because they are not completely supported by the rear axle.

 

And lets get this other thing clear. I know it is impossible to change that magical number given by Ford called the GVWR. I can't change this because I'm not Ford. In fact, I don't want to change this number. I don't even care about this number other than that it lets me know what Ford engineers are thinking. What I'm doing is trying to understand where this number comes from so that I can reengineer my truck to some degree to make it tougher. What I'm trying to figure out is how tough I can make it. And if I screw my truck up as a result, then it's my loss. I know many of you have different views on what I just said, and I know some of you disagree with what I just said, and I know some of you don't even think it's safe. But let my mistakes be a shinning example of an ignorant guy learning about reality.

 

Yeah well we don't want your ignorant learning mistakes causing harm to others on the road.

This is NOT something you can just find the weak links in and go along and strengthen them.

I already told you...FORGET IT.

The leaf springs arn't a weak link...and putting air lift bags on it doesn't help anything structurally.

There is no 1 weak link....your entire truck is the weak link.

Again...3800lb axle capacity...that capacity is not what you go by. You go by the GVWR.

I've said my fair share. IMO, you are not mechanically inclinded enough to modify a vehicle in a situation such as this properly.

If you really need to haul around 3000lbs...get a trailer and a heavier truck dude.

 

I never knew until now that your truck had no bed or other stuff... maybe I missed it or you forgot to mention it... either way, maybe explain to us a little more about the "payload" you plan to haul and how you plan to equip your truck and we can be of more help. You say you will be putting on a flatbed? How much will it weigh? My all-steel flatbed for my F350 weighs about 1,800 pounds by itself.

 

The stock bed doesn't weigh much....and whatever he puts on it isn't going to change much...so the fact that he took off a few things doesn't matter.

No matter what you're planning on doing...an F-150 is not going to handle 3000 lbs....not even a 1 ton truck will handle that....so you have rocks in your head.

 

Yup, 3000lb is a doable figure in a TRAILER

just becuse you can stick it on DOSE NOT mean that the truck will haul it SAFELY <- that right there being the big picture.

I could live with some idiot that overloaded then kill a family becude when push came to shove the truck failedand they had no clue. but someone that Intentionaly overloaded in the maner your speaking of Zero tolerance, strip their licence and the possibility of ever getting it back, crush the vehcal and let them stand trial for murder!

 

Sorry, I just got tired of telling you the same thing over and over without you listening to me.

Go ahead, look at every one of my 14,000 posts....almost every one of them is informative, helpful, polite, and fundamentally correct.

Hijacking is when a user comes in and completely changes the subject of the thread...so yeah I didn't do that. You wanted stronger tires and you don't need them because you can't put that kind of weight in the truck anyway. And I have been involved in two of your threads...all of them is a stretch. I didn't call you a rock head either.

Another thing I forgot to mention is that the 3800 lb axle rating is the weight supported by the rear tires...it is not the unsprung weight above the axle. This rating includes everything from rims, to brakes, to tires, to axle shafts and differentials.

Add the front axle capacity and the rear axle capacity...should be close if not the same as GVWR.

Bottom line is there is no way around it...your truck will not carry 3000 lbs. You put 3000 lbs in it right now and you'll practically crush it.

Good luck.