Max Bed Load

Guys,

I have a 2006 Silverado Z71 4x4. I need to pick up some top soil for a project at the house. A cubic yard of dirt is around 3300 pounds. Can I put that much weight in the truck with out tweaking the springs?

Thanks. Brian

Reply to
diablo
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I also have a 2006 Silverado Z71 4x4 and it is a regular cab, short bed, fleet side.

I have carried a pallet of sod on two different occasions with no ill effects. It was loaded (very carefully) by a guy who knew what he was doing with a fork lift. I hauled it about 5 miles each time. The truck didn't bottom out and steered OK. I need to stop and ask the sod people how much a full pallet of Bermuda grass weights.

For your info, but probably not much help.

Karl

Reply to
Silverado

Isn't the 4X4 a 3/4 ton.. Or so it used to be. I have a 1500 Silverado, and carried a pallet of sod with no problem either.

My brother in law is a roofer, and I am surprised he has not been ticketed with what he loads into his 1/2 ton.. Well over 2500 pounds on many occasions.

The only problem with a load of dirt would be what kind, and how wet..

Should not be a problem.

Reply to
Bill

Lets put it this way, it will seriously overload frame, axle, springs and tires. There is no beef in that truck at all as modern 1/2 tons are not even the equal of old ones (per 88 that were built on 3/4 ton frames) Sure some people do it but you are playing with fire. If you like your truck and plan to keep it a while I would limit it to 1500 lbs or "maybe" 2000 for a short distance in pinch. Granted I have seen 7K carrried in a old 79 3/4 Jeep P/U when it was new (I still own it today) but then it has a massive frame, springs with several 1/2 inch thick leafs in rear and a 7000lbs capacity rear axle riding on

10 ply tires with a rated capacity of 3300 lbs per tire. (worst riding P/U I have ever owned and it did not start to ride good until you got a couple of tons in it) There is very little reserve in modern trucks especailly 1/2 tons.

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

Reply to
SnoMan

Hi Karl,

The approximate weight of sod per roll is 30 pounds, depending on how wet it is. Do you know how many rolls were on he skids?

Thanks Brian

Reply to
diablo

Well further investigation suggests the average number of rolls of sod in a skid is 75 rolls. So at 30 lbs. per roll we're looking at about 2,200 pounds. If they were wet maybe they were 40 pounds each, or 3,000 pounds per skid. So I would say I can drop a yard of soil in at 3,300 pounds in there.

Thanks for the info, Brian

Reply to
diablo

Brian,

You got it worked out before I even turned on my computer this morning. The sod I carried was damp, but not real wet.

Good luck and enjoy that Silverado.

Karl

Reply to
Silverado

I ended up getting about 1.7 yards of soil in the truck, 77" x 64" x 16". Dropped the truck about 8 inches, it was loaded as far as I dared. The truck never bottomed out, I drove about 15 miles to home at normal speeds. The only real difference was the additional effort on the brake pedal required. The engine couldn't tell the difference nor did the ride bounce around.

All in all probably to much to put in a 1/2 ton truck, and surly wouldn't recommend a steady diet of that unless you had at least a 3/4 ton truck.

Brian

Reply to
diablo

Thanks for reporting back. They are Trucks after all and should be used as such. Like you, I don't intend to be hauling many more pallets full of sod, but I know I can.

Karl

Reply to
Silverado

It bottomed out alright. The only way it could have gone lower would have been if axle broke or tires blew because it was without doubt riding on axle stops and this is way it did not bounce much. Your lucky it did not break but you may have bent something. Also beleive me the engine could tell difference because there are no free rides.

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

Reply to
SnoMan

As much as you'd like to believe that something is broken on my truck now your wrong. As I said the rear dropped down about 8", meaning my view of the bumper. So as you "might" be able to imagine the front end was also up considerably. At the rear wheel wells there was still a good 4" of daylight, meaning it only sank about 3" to 4" at the axle. The axle snubber is farther away than that.

Please don't feel compelled to voice your opinion on my behalf. I could care less what you may retort, being that you weren't here and didn't see shit.

Reply to
diablo

Just to say how tough a Chevy/GMC is... I went to get a yard of top soil in my 1989 K1500 I asked for a yard and he came over with the 2 yard bucket heaping. He tried to slowly dump half of it in and it was wet... after shaking the bucket to get half out the whole bucket full dropped in... I have pictures of the truck in my driveway, the rubber stops were smashed around the rear and I had to drive it about 2 miles to my house to unload half of it with the skidsteer, before going to the jobsite... Truck sat normal after being unloaded and still runs and drives as good as before... it has almost 300,000 miles on it too.

Reply to
Nasty Camaros

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