1200 pound Cargo weight

BondoBob · May 31, 2006

I work for a county fire district and just got my Fire Chief’s hand me down 2001 K1500 extra cab 4x4 3.73 gears , he gets a new one about every five years. Any way when we get one we turn them into a brush truck by adding a pump , 100 gal. aluminum tank, hose reel, and a few other things; Adds up to around 1200 pounds. We also change out the rear springs with a set from a 2500, we have two others that we have done this way a 92 and a 96.Any way my real question is would it be best to leave the truck in drive and use the tow/haul or put it in third with or with out tow/haul? The other two trucks don’t have the tow/haul feature so they are ran in third not over drive. It will be a daily driver for me mostly around town, but will have the weight all the time.

pm26 · May 31, 2006

If the truck has a tow/haul mode, by all means use it. 1,200 lbs in a 1/2 ton truck is a hefty load. I assume that the 100 gallon tank is always full of water or some other liquid?

BTW, considering what these trucks will be converted into, why doesn't your chief buy at least a 3/4 ton truck?

BurbanZ71 · May 31, 2006

I would not think 1200 pounds is all that much. If you are concerned about it try to have no more than 1/4 - 1/2 a tank of fuel. That is still a lot of fuel, unless you plan on long trips where you don't want to stop for fuel.

Just my opinion.

snoman · May 31, 2006

I would not think 1200 pounds is all that much. If you are concerned about it try to have no more than 1/4 - 1/2 a tank of fuel. That is still a lot of fuel, unless you plan on long trips where you don't want to stop for fuel.

Just my opinion.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Actually it is a pretty good load for a modern 1/2 ton truck which is really more of a 1/4 ton these days as they come from factory. Spring was a wise move but I would have just added a leaf or so to existing set and not used 3/4 ton spring because you have a lighter frame than a 2500 and a lot lighter axle too. If you are not agaisnt mods, you might consider geting a axle out of a OBS 71 truck or a OBS LD 2500 as they use a 9.5 inch 14 bolt semi floating axle that has a rated capacity of about 1 ton more than your current axle and would be pretty bullet proof in your usage and would add more braking power too. Also I would use tow/haul and Drive (no OD) when loaded for least strin and hunting by tranny.

BTW, the axle mentioned above is used in a 8 lug form in the 1500 HD which uses a 2500 frame, front axle, springs and the 9.5 inch rear axle. (the 2500 HD and 1500HD have the exact same front and rear springs/tbars.).

carneyman · May 31, 2006

I would not think 1200 pounds is all that much. If you are concerned about it try to have no more than 1/4 - 1/2 a tank of fuel. That is still a lot of fuel, unless you plan on long trips where you don't want to stop for fuel.

Just my opinion.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Actually it is a pretty good load for a modern 1/2 ton truck which is really more of a 1/4 ton these days as they come from factory. Spring was a wise move but I would have just added a leaf or so to existing set and not used 3/4 ton spring because you have a lighter frame than a 2500 and a lot lighter axle too. If you are not agaisnt mods, you might consider geting a axle out of a OBS 71 truck or a OBS LD 2500 as they use a 9.5 inch 14 bolt semi floating axle that has a rated capacity of about 1 ton more than your current axle and would be pretty bullet proof in your usage and would add more braking power too. Also I would use tow/haul and Drive (no OD) when loaded for least strin and hunting by tranny.

BTW, the axle mentioned above is used in a 8 lug form in the 1500 HD which uses a 2500 frame, front axle, springs and the 9.5 inch rear axle. (the 2500 HD and 1500HD have the exact same front and rear springs/tbars.).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I really don't think it is too much of a load. We've had a lot of 1/2 ton pickups, and they have been put through he!!, and they do pretty good. They regularly pull cattle trailers with 4000 + lbs, 500-1000 gallon tank trailers, and never had any problems. The transmissions last about 125-130000 miles, which is pretty good for farm trucks. All we would do to it is add the spring, and it would do fine.

snoman · May 31, 2006

I would not think 1200 pounds is all that much. If you are concerned about it try to have no more than 1/4 - 1/2 a tank of fuel. That is still a lot of fuel, unless you plan on long trips where you don't want to stop for fuel.

Just my opinion.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Actually it is a pretty good load for a modern 1/2 ton truck which is really more of a 1/4 ton these days as they come from factory. Spring was a wise move but I would have just added a leaf or so to existing set and not used 3/4 ton spring because you have a lighter frame than a 2500 and a lot lighter axle too. If you are not agaisnt mods, you might consider geting a axle out of a OBS 71 truck or a OBS LD 2500 as they use a 9.5 inch 14 bolt semi floating axle that has a rated capacity of about 1 ton more than your current axle and would be pretty bullet proof in your usage and would add more braking power too. Also I would use tow/haul and Drive (no OD) when loaded for least strin and hunting by tranny.

BTW, the axle mentioned above is used in a 8 lug form in the 1500 HD which uses a 2500 frame, front axle, springs and the 9.5 inch rear axle. (the 2500 HD and 1500HD have the exact same front and rear springs/tbars.).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I really don't think it is too much of a load. We've had a lot of 1/2 ton pickups, and they have been put through he!!, and they do pretty good. They regularly pull cattle trailers with 4000 + lbs, 500-1000 gallon tank trailers, and never had any problems. The transmissions last about 125-130000 miles, which is pretty good for farm trucks. All we would do to it is add the spring, and it would do fine.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have beat farm trucks a lot worse than that. I have a old 79 J20 that started life as a farm truck hauling over 3 tons of gravel in bed at times and towing grain trailer weighing up to 23k at time and it still runs. New truck are simple not built as tuiff as old ones these days and carrying a load is harder than pulling one sometimes. In a 87 or older 1500, 1200 lbs with be nothing as they shared frames with 3/4 ton and had good springs too on some of them but in a newer one it is a different story as GM strives to make them more and more car like to help sales of them to people that would otherwise never own one. It ism getting harder and harder to find a real palin work truck these days.