How Much Can I Really Carry In An Hd2500?

[davzog]

I need to haul two tons of wood pellets for our wood pellet stove.

 

I am thinking about making two trips, hauling one ton at a time (about 40 miles each trip)...each ton comes on a pallet and I can have the guy put the pallet directly over the rear axle...

 

If I air up the rear tires (load range E) to 75 pounds, am I safe???

 

I pull a 10k pound 5th wheel but I know I don't have that much weight in the bed....

 

Looking for opinions....help???

 

Thanks

[Kodiak450]

2 tons is childs play for my HD. Seeing you have the same truck as mine according to your sig as well as 4:10's and locker, not a problem at all for you. Just make sure you keep your tow haul mode on. Do not inflate your tire past max psi, you can easliy be prone to tire failure with all that pressure and weight. However make sure you are not under pressure either.

[ATMINF]

On my truck the payload cap is at a little over 3800pds. I will tell you this I think our trucks are over built can can easy handle over 4000lbs. But remember you have to be careful when you are "overweight" by the legal standards. So if you get in a wreck and your truck is grossly overweight the lawman may get you.

With the legal stuff outta the way I will tell you that I loaded my truck up with two "loads" of river rock, and each load was approx 1 ton each. The total milage was about 15 miles from the landscape supply yard and my house and the truck ran great. The load did squat the truck down but I still had several inchs of space from the bump stops. I took the road at the speed limit and also paid very close attention to people driving around me, and added additional space to break & stop in time. So I would say that your truck can do it without a problem, just be aware of the issues, and be smart. Also teh funny thing is that the truck did NOT look like a "pre-runner" with the tail down and the front sticking up, more just leveled out. Hope this helps. Also for the tires I had the stock 245/75/16 load range E at 65psi. No problems.

[hotbread597]

Yeah I have a 2006 gmc 2500hd 4x4 6.0L with the 4.10 and locker. I hauled 4000 pounds in the box full of saud for the lawn and like he said power wise no issue, just need more time for braking, and again it squats the truck pretty good but definetly not so bad that you don't have steering control. I hauled mine about 175km's or just over 100 miles without any issue.

[Kodiak450]

Thats right you have to technaically beaware of the weight. My truck is registered for 8000lbs commericial reg. If a cop were to pull you over some of them carry a potable scale they will make you ride over to check weight,, but it is such a rare occurrance, at least here in NJ for that to happen. If you did have an accident, then I could see them asking about the weight, but I personally wouldn't worry about it. An yes the trucks are very much under rated for how much they can haul, they just give those numbers to be on the safe side. I once demoed my sidewalks at my first house I bought and had to haul them off to the concrete yard, one load I was 12,500 pds on the scale with my 96 F250 and was sagging pretty good in the rear and averaged about 4-6 mpg while driving down the GSP. GM 2500 trucks are more like F350's in strength, so dropping 4000lbs in the back is nothing for it. Expect to see a decline in gas mileage with added weight, but not much.

[davzog]

Thanks for the replies...

 

My wife wanted me to rent a flatbed trailer to pull the wood pellets....ugh!!

 

I feel very confident...I am going to haul them a ton a t a time...two easy trips and no anticipated problems...thanks for all of the input...

 

Dave

[chrisb1]

The factory specs do not tell the real world story as far as vehicle capacity. I have a 2008 GMC 2500HD 4x4 Duramax, extended cab-standard box 6.5 feet, Leer 100XQ canopy, LINEX sprayed bed with LINEX ashalt undercoat, factory bed mat, factory rear wheel well liners. Truck GVW 9200lbs; Max Payload 3353My truck weight as measured no occupants on Oregon Dept. of Transportation digital scales: 7128Computation: 9200 GVW7128 Truck actual measured weight; 2072 Actual bed/truck capacity weight with no load, passengers. As you can see, my truck can only legally haul 2072 pounds for the whole truck load. With me at say, 200lbs, my total capacity is only 1872. Conclusion: A truck with any options like a canopy will have much less actual capacity than advertised. Certainly the truck can haul more, but the legal, liability considerations start to weigh in heavily.

[wellinghurst]

Of course there are the "legal" limits, and everyone treats them differently.

 

I hauled 3777 lbs of sand in my 8ft bed and had plenty of room before the overload springs even thought about coming into play. rode like a Cadillac. Of course braking was tougher.

 

Basically it can do it.....

[ZZ327]

youll be just fine, put your tires up to 80 PSI I think maybe even as high as 85

[Kodiak450]

Just load up with the two palets, the wifes always under estimate the capabilities of machinery. You drive a Silverado 2500HD, not a wimpy toyota or nissian caruck. If your reasons for making two trips are because of being over weight and possible fines, then so be it. But your truck is more then capable in handling the load.

[chrisb1]

I agree the truck can certainly do it! The real issue is the public legal liability should an accident occur with an overloaded truck. The criminal/civil lawsuit potential would expose all your assets and earned income for now and in the future.

[Mike2500HD]

I need to haul two tons of wood pellets for our wood pellet stove.

 

I am thinking about making two trips, hauling one ton at a time (about 40 miles each trip)...each ton comes on a pallet and I can have the guy put the pallet directly over the rear axle...

 

If I air up the rear tires (load range E) to 75 pounds, am I safe???

 

I pull a 10k pound 5th wheel but I know I don't have that much weight in the bed....

 

Looking for opinions....help???

 

Thanks

 

 

Lots of good info here and I agree with most of it. Just one thing, read the sidewall of the tire for air press. Its very clear my E rated tires have max load at 80 psi. If any single thing were to fail due to overweight it would most likely be tires. under inflated creates heat. E's are commercial LT tires. Air up the tires, be careful driving.

[apitsic]

I need to haul two tons of wood pellets for our wood pellet stove.

 

I am thinking about making two trips, hauling one ton at a time (about 40 miles each trip)...each ton comes on a pallet and I can have the guy put the pallet directly over the rear axle...

 

If I air up the rear tires (load range E) to 75 pounds, am I safe???

 

I pull a 10k pound 5th wheel but I know I don't have that much weight in the bed....

 

Looking for opinions....help???

 

Thanks

 

I have hauled a skid of retaining wall block in my '05 2500HD DMAX several times. The skid was over 3700 lbs. Truck can handle it.....don't worry! Just make sure they put the load down softly on second skid!

[Kodiak450]

Oh yea and importantly have your truck's parking break on and also foot on brake helps.

[RonJ]

The truck shouldn't have any problem carrying 2 tons.

As for being overweight legaly, it may vary by state. In NC, we buy whatever weight tag we want. The trucks gvwr doesn't matter. I buy 20,000 lb tags. ($311.00 per year). Truck 7200 lbs, trailer 6,000 lbs, cargo can't be more than 6800 lbs. unless I buy a bigger tag or risk a ticket. A friend of mine pulls a 30 travel trailer with his pick-up truck, which has a car tag. 4,000 lb weight limit...truck weighs 6000lbs, already over weight, except its not used commercially. standard tag is all he needs. His load is recreational, not commercial. IMHO , unless he is carrying the pellets for hire, He should be legal. I use to have a diesel Chevy Blazer (1986). I ask the DOT if I needed a weighted tag to pull some business equipment around. He said the Blazer was listed as a stationwagon. If I wanted to, he said I could pull a backhoe around without a weighted tag.