There A Way To Read The Springs?

[jro909]

i think the title is self explaining...just curious how you all, tell if you have too much weight in the bed or not...i myself just make sure the springs are not flat

[Julien]

If your top springs are touching your overload spring, but really doesnt take much for them to touch, I dont know of any sure way of knowing when your overloaded.

[spankrz]

i have tried pretty hard, but i can stack split wet oak firewood nice and neat as high as i can in mine, and the most i can do is level it :/

[brainpause]

I had a full pallet of wet sod as tall as the cab in my bed. The bumper springs were almost touching but not quite. I figured on a scale I might be overloaded, but not looking at it that way. The manager came out just as the tow motor was about to put it in. He asked what the truck's payload was. My reply was, "Ten pounds more than that pallet of sod." He just looked st me knowing I was saying, load 'er up.

 

Larry

[bigbeds]

what size bed you have??? most eight foot beds full of dirt or fire wood survive the day.

I would assume each 1500 comes with the same springs regardless of box length.

most 1500's (in good condition) are safe to haul 1500 to 1800 lbs max, although your steering may not feel right. Of course your state may have a weight limit allowed, depending on how your truck is registered.

never looked at the springs, I always checked how far I dropped from the unladen height. If my spare tire is dragging, I take something out

Your best bet is use your intuition..if it looks too heavy, then leave it behind... safely getting home is more important.

Intuition is an under-rated sense we have...use it when all else fails.

[nickvrebel]

you need to worry more about your tires than your springs.

what size bed you have??? most eight foot beds full of dirt or fire wood survive the day.

I would assume each 1500 comes with the same springs regardless of box length.

most 1500's (in good condition) are safe to haul 1500 to 1800 lbs max, although your steering may not feel right. Of course your state may have a weight limit allowed, depending on how your truck is registered.

never looked at the springs, I always checked how far I dropped from the unladen height. If my spare tire is dragging, I take something out

Your best bet is use your intuition..if it looks too heavy, then leave it behind... safely getting home is more important.

Intuition is an under-rated sense we have...use it when all else fails.

spring options are the same, but there are different springs available with the different suspension packages. I don't know the current names, but on my '03 it was the "Smooth Ride Suspension" and the "Heavy Duty Trailering". Smooth Ride was lighter duty springs.

 

I've put ~2,500 in the bed of my 09 Crew Cab. I'm not sure of the payload. The weight was 300 gallons of water. The water tank was loaded empty then filled in the bed of the truck. While the truck did squat quite a bit (but I've seen much worse) I was more worried about the tires, I still had the stock P rated Bridgestones. I wasn't traveling far, just from a small town about 3 miles to private gravel roads then another 5-6 miles through the woods to my hunting camp. Local cop watched me fill the tank (at the firestation), he didn't seem to care much, I know he saw me stop halfway and after filling to walk around the truck and check the suspension/ tires. While I could do this again, I'll do my best to resist and try to have my trailer available next time I need to do it.

[Doug_Scott]

Tires are the main issue I think. Be careful putting more weight than the tires are rated for, and to be safe, put the tires up to max pressure as listed on the sidewall if you are going to carry large load in box.

[Garrett Street]

I always stop filling my truck just before the jounce bumpers hit the axles. I figure as long as there is still some travel I should be good to go. But, if you don't feel comfortable hauling the load do not haul it. Simple as that. Our trucks are tough, but they have their limits.

[Mossyoakglock]

you need to worry more about your tires than your springs.

what size bed you have??? most eight foot beds full of dirt or fire wood survive the day.

I would assume each 1500 comes with the same springs regardless of box length.

most 1500's (in good condition) are safe to haul 1500 to 1800 lbs max, although your steering may not feel right. Of course your state may have a weight limit allowed, depending on how your truck is registered.

never looked at the springs, I always checked how far I dropped from the unladen height. If my spare tire is dragging, I take something out

Your best bet is use your intuition..if it looks too heavy, then leave it behind... safely getting home is more important.

Intuition is an under-rated sense we have...use it when all else fails.

spring options are the same, but there are different springs available with the different suspension packages. I don't know the current names, but on my '03 it was the "Smooth Ride Suspension" and the "Heavy Duty Trailering". Smooth Ride was lighter duty springs.

 

I've put ~2,500 in the bed of my 09 Crew Cab. I'm not sure of the payload. The weight was 300 gallons of water. The water tank was loaded empty then filled in the bed of the truck. While the truck did squat quite a bit (but I've seen much worse) I was more worried about the tires, I still had the stock P rated Bridgestones. I wasn't traveling far, just from a small town about 3 miles to private gravel roads then another 5-6 miles through the woods to my hunting camp. Local cop watched me fill the tank (at the firestation), he didn't seem to care much, I know he saw me stop halfway and after filling to walk around the truck and check the suspension/ tires. While I could do this again, I'll do my best to resist and try to have my trailer available next time I need to do it.

 

 

What are the spring differences between the different packages? More springs in the pack, more arch, overload spring, etc?

 

Also, how would you rank the towing/hauling capacity of each suspension package (NHT, Z85, Z60, Z71) from highest to lowest. If I forgot one, please add it.

[nickvrebel]

What are the spring differences between the different packages? More springs in the pack, more arch, overload spring, etc?

 

Also, how would you rank the towing/hauling capacity of each suspension package (NHT, Z85, Z60, Z71) from highest to lowest. If I forgot one, please add it.

I am by no means a spring expert, but I have swapped a few from different trucks (GMT800 series), this is what I know:

I can not remember which is which, but one (I think the lighter duty) had a piece of red tape or paint stripe on one end of the springs - this was the only visual difference between the two. I've handled at least 6 different sets of springs, so I'm confident that the tape/ paint stripe is a visual que.

 

there are the same number of springs, same arch and no overload (on 1/2 ton). The only difference is in the spring rate and I'm unsure how that is achieved, one springs set might be a tad thicker or different heat treatments, who knows, I'm not an engineer, but I know that just by looking at the two side by side there was no difference in the actual springs that I noticed.

 

Also, on the GMT 800 series 2003 and prior, which is what I was dealing with, there was only two real different suspensions. The heavy duty and smooth ride, the Z71 was the same springs as the heavy duty.

[StinkyCheese]

As we've yet to have a heavy enough loads in our trucks I'd have to say when it sags too much for me to feel comfortable? Heaviest things in recent years have been a full pallet of grass (barely made the truck level), 2-3 trips of 5 or 6 6 or 8 foot sections of bowling alley probably weighing in around 200-250 for the 6ft and 300lb for the 8 foot (think the truck was just below level), and a bunch of tree trunks left over from the hurricanes think the waste scale said 1100 lbs. If I get a load too heavy I'll know it when I get it I guess, until then I'm still waiting.

[Diesail]

Tires are the main issue I think. Be careful putting more weight than the tires are rated for, and to be safe, put the tires up to max pressure as listed on the sidewall if you are going to carry large load in box.

 

Tires are an issue but it comes down heat. If you are only going a short distance it isn't really a problem. Traveling on the highway overload is going to be an issue. The problem comes in from sidewall flex and the heat it produces. If you have ever bent a coat hanger back and forth until it breaks you know what I mean.

 

IMO when they start to squat pretty good you are at the limit. This is one of the reasons I never understand leveling kits. Hauling just about anything with a leveling kit IMO can become unsafe in a hurry. As the truck starts to squart you change the dynamics of the steer axle and it will start to squirrelly.

[jonny72888]

I had a 1000lbs load in tmy truck a few days ago and it didnt seem to really move more than 4-5 inches. I bought the truck used and it had a 5th wheel. How could I tell if the springs were upgraded? they seem to look newer than everything else. but its had to tell, theres only 45k on the truck. (2007 1500 silverado lt z71 Classic)

[Diesail]

I had a 1000lbs load in tmy truck a few days ago and it didnt seem to really move more than 4-5 inches. I bought the truck used and it had a 5th wheel. How could I tell if the springs were upgraded? they seem to look newer than everything else. but its had to tell, theres only 45k on the truck. (2007 1500 silverado lt z71 Classic)

 

Your payload capacity is between 1500 and 2000 pounds depending on trim and cab. So what you describe sounds about right.

[jro909]

the most i've ever put in the bed was a pallets worth of bagged dirt...and it sagged like a mofo because the retards that loaded it just stacked it up like it was holding flood waters back..and it sagged pretty bad, besides that just fire wood but i put the heavy stumps in the front of the box and it really dosen't sag much then...i think maybe just making sure the springs aren't flat or inverted is a good rule of thumb...what baffles me is it seems the z71s don't sag as hard as z85s...thinking its the bump stops?