Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives I gained 1100lb cargo capacity with a phone call

It doesn't matter how badly you want the guy at Dodge to be correct. Air bags don't add payload.

http://riderite.com/installation-support?tab=frequently-asked-questions

The only difference between a 3rd gen 2500 and 3500 SRW is a set of overload springs on the 3500. Like you've discovered,everything else is identical between trucks.

That doesn't mean that adding a set of overloads makes your truck a 3500. Your truck is legally still a 2500.

But like I said earlier,I'm more concerned with axle and tire capacities. The 11.5 AAM axle in the rear of your truck is rated by AAM at almost 11,000lbs of capacity. Dodge rates it 6400lbs because that's what two stock 265/70/17 tires will carry.

Wasn't my point. The rated payload on those old coil spring C10s was far below what it is on today's halftons. Only mentioned those two incidents to illustrate that it would tote far more than intended and often did.

It often spent weeks on end loaded to the hilt with a 5500W generator, gas cans, numerous heavy power tools, HD 50 and 100 foot extension cords, saw horses, cartons of nails, sledge hammers, digging irons, etc. Everything a five or six man crew needed everyday.

If we were building a house out in the boonies with no electricity available yet, it made five trips a week carrying the generator and all that stuff.

Sometimes up to a 60 mile round trip per day and yep, on an Interstate at times. Not with the bumper 6" off'n the ground, but often with it within a foot of the pavement.

Six ply bias tires all around, even though it was only a C10. Originally put a pair on the front - 'cause the truck had no power steering. Fixed that! Reshod the back ones with six ply mudders.



I would estimate the normal daily payload as high as a half ton and over 1500 pounds often.

Easily that much when we had the tow behind air compressor on the job, because then there were also cartons of Paslode nails, the guns and several hundred feet of air hose (the old red rubber coated stuff, not the lightweight hoses we have now), in addition to all the other schit mentioned.

The3 500's also have heavier duty wheels, not just springs.

It doesn't surprise me the driver didn't notice. I've driven rigs at 197,000 lbs. There isn't much difference in how they feel until REALLY heavy or until you need to stop in a hurry or get really rollin down hill.

One of my cousins has spent much of the past 35 years moving permit loads all over the country and Canada. Mostly as an owner/operator for Keen, the past few years driving someone else's rig.

Showed me a picture once of his Pete hooked to some huge thing on a trailer that had a ridiculous number of axles under it. Asked him HTH he ever got that thing moving.

Said getting it to move was fairly easy. Getting it to stop where ya wanted it to stop, took some pre-planning.

My oldest brother drives a semi and his dispatcher told him to stop at a Union Carbide plant and pick up "a load of batteries" one time. He asked how many and the dispatch said "a truckload". It was less than 200 miles and no weigh stations so when he showed up at the terminal grossing 102,000+ the dispatcher knew next time to be more specific.
I had 67,000+ on ten wheels one time on wheat harvest.

One of my hunting camp neighbors has an old Brockway ten wheeler dump that they haul shell corn in at harvest time. He often shares it with another dairy farmer down the road, come corn time. The other guy also uses it to haul corn sileage to his huge "pit" storage pad.

Pretty good sized dump box on it to begin with and now it has about 3' sideboards to make things more interesting. Lucky for them it only travels about two miles between farms and there are seldom any state troopers in the area.

Don't think she'd pass a scale test when fully loaded, even if it had a registration plate on it?

...and they wonder why our roads are in such bad shape.

102K on 18 wheels is within 10% of the guideline for maximum lbs/inch tire width.

Bridges, on the other hand, wouldn't fare as well...

Lots of old bridges in rural PA that are scheduled for replacement and posted for 10 tons or less, but now and then someone will run a triaxle across one and wind up in the crick.

Coupla years ago there was a pic in the news of one such collapse. Front wheels of the dumptruck were on the roadway at the far end, rest of the truck and bridge were in the drink.

Rode along once with a cousin that delivered bulk Agway feed to dairy farms. Three compartment aluminum feed box on a triaxle, probably 18-20 tons of feed, fully loaded?

One of the gravel roads going back to a farm had a little bridge signed for 10 tons, maybe 30' long, at the bottom of the hill. We zoomed across that thing 'bout as fast as the truck would go and still stay on the road.

Asked him WTH that was all about, thought we were gonna wind up in the ditch. Cousin said he didn't wanta spend any more time on that bridge than he had to, so it wouldn't fall in.

I asked him WTH he'd do if it collapsed behind him and he was on the far side. No other way outta there.

I had a bridge collapse under us one time. It was a farm bridge and 3 of us were in a 2 ton loaded heavy with manure. Both main beams broke and the rear axle settled down in the canal, maybe a 15' drop. The farmer was preparing to replace the bridge and there was actually a guy under it with a shovel digging for new footings when it collapsed. If you think the TRUCK dumped a load of manure...!!! He heard the 1st beam break and left a brown streak up the bank faster than any man can run.
We had to shovel the manure out into the canal and it still took a wrecker and a large 4x4 tractor to get us out.

Gravity can be a cruel and heartless master at times.