Beefing up a F250

[Cummins12V98]

Sure you can add a bunch of Band-Aids. But bottom line answer is NO.

[BigBaron]

Originally Posted by V-Man

I will be upgrading the truck to either a medium duty (class 6; both Freightliner and International make some nice ones) or heavy duty (class 8) before fully loading my trailer and going full time. In fact, getting the proper tow vehicle is the only thing left to do before going full time!

V-Man, Have you checked out the HDT forums here and at RV Network MDT and HDT (aka Escapee's)
You can get a sweet HDT for less than a good MDT.
Most there had an MDT and it wasn't enough, especially after they drove an HDT!

[SultanGris]

Originally Posted by K-Star

Too many trucks running overloaded many years ago led to the weigh stations. the day will come that all of us RV'ers will be sitting in lines at the weigh stations along with the trucks. troopers won't care if it "pulls it just fine". ya'll came try and justify it all day long. at the end of the day your are just that - overloaded.

Negative, rvs will never be an issue as the weight reason is 120,000 pounds destroys roads which are expensive. Rvs are built with enough axles to handle whatever you can cram in them and your axles would snap before you could put enough weight on them to start doing road damage except for some thin asphalt driveways or light duty city streets perhaps.

Whats the payload rating? I put 500-1000 over that on my f150 with no issues and no squat when my trips were a few times a year around 200 miles one way but I upgraded to f350 diesel when I planned a 5000 mile round trip through mountains. Id not go much over 1000 over the limit personally with a ford f150 and much less with Chevy or dodge as they don't hold up as long as fords in a work truck fleet type environment cause they aren't overbuilt as much.

3/4 and 1 tonners can probably handle more than that even but I've not done it and have no experience there so i will not speculate as to how much, and the capabilities gap between brands should be smaller as they are more designed for working and the 1/2 tons other than ford are more mall crawler light duty use designed. If the tires are rated for it you shouldn't have any problems.

GVWR mostly are based on stopping ability for f350 and smaller size. Road damage comes into play as well for large commercial 18 wheelers and straight trucks capable of weighing 30000 with only 2 axles. A modern diesel f350 could easily get 80,000 pounds up to 70 mph but not so easily stop it again. Public safety is the concern, as with speed limits. I could drive 120 without incident but some people crash regularly at 25 or even less than 5 when using reverse, lol! It's all about experience, know what can happen and how it affects handling ability and driving accordingly. Obviously you don't want to be going 120 around heavy traffic, sharp curves or areas of low visibility, and you don't want to overload your truck and start tailgating people, common sense is required.

Despite what the weight police think there is a large safety margin built into these numbers and you can safely ignore them to a point, provided you realize the changing factors like the extra distance needed to stop and drive accordingly. Increased load will cause the transmission and brakes to work harder and fail faster than normal use as well and if full time daily use is intended you will definitely want to upgrade tow vehicles to lessen these problems.

If you were involved in an accident there's a chance that you could be denied insurance coverage but the actual police know even less about weight ratings than the forum weight police so unless you're towing a 54 refer trailer or something outrageous with an f150 or someone dies and they investigate the crash id not be very concerned about it personally, but know the risk does exist.

If you have no experience I wouldn't recommend you put an extra 1000 pounds payload and tow a 45 footer at 70mph, start slow and take it easy til you get the feel of it and pay attention to stopping distances and how it feels and handles. It can change significantly as you add weight, especially with bumper pulls if improperly distributed on a trailer.

I've even put an extra 1000 in a ford ranger for 60 miles but I took it slow and I probably wouldn't do it again if I had a better option available, I could hardly see the road over the hood the squat was so bad. It looked like a leveled Chevy half ton with 500 pounds in the box

[jacknife]

Theu make dually kits ,as matterxod fact there is an outfit near where l live that doea it . Tou can also get the fenders and have them put on and walla! You now jave a dually to pull with. What it costs l have no idea.

[FastEagle]

Only the vehicle manufacturer or a certified modifier can increase the GAWRs and GVWR values found on the vehicle certification label.

No matter what the capability of the brakes on the trailer are the truck still has to have the capability to stop its GCWR.

FastEagle

[SmokeyWren]

Originally Posted by jacknife

Theu make dually kits ...

Dually conversion kits, such as the Arrowcraft kits, do not increase GVWR or rear GAWR. They are for looks and image only.
Welcome - Arrowcraft :: Helping You Handle the Road for over 30 years!

[jacknife]

Go find a wrecked one and pull the whole rear assembly out .

[Swamp Man]

Bottom Line - if you are pulling more than your truck is rated for and you have an accident, this is what MIGHT happen to you. First, the truck's weight sticker will be examined and the weight sticker on the trailer examined. If it is determined that you are overweight, then all kinds of bad can happen. Getting sued is the least. Suppose someone is injured. Be really hard in court to explain to a jury how you thought that it was safe when the truck was designed to pull x amount of weight and you have a lot more than that on it. I was in LE for a long time, and I know a lot of people are going to post things about this is far fetched but it only takes once. If you have a family, would you want to endanger them?

[bamaboy473]

Look at the bright side; you might already have a buyer for your rig

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f45/diese...es-221302.html

[SultanGris]

Originally Posted by Swamp Man

Bottom Line - if you are pulling more than your truck is rated for and you have an accident, this is what MIGHT happen to you. First, the truck's weight sticker will be examined and the weight sticker on the trailer examined. If it is determined that you are overweight, then all kinds of bad can happen. Getting sued is the least. Suppose someone is injured. Be really hard in court to explain to a jury how you thought that it was safe when the truck was designed to pull x amount of weight and you have a lot more than that on it. I was in LE for a long time, and I know a lot of people are going to post things about this is far fetched but it only takes once. If you have a family, would you want to endanger them?

You are correct but think of of the other side, to bump up to a more capable rig your talking 20k or so, not many people have that kinda cabbage to throw around for going to the lake a few times a year. At 1000 over there's not much noticable difference at all unless you're talking half ton something other than ford with weaker suspension, but yes if you get crazy over or for intended full time frequent use then it's not worth it for many reasons. How many LEOs who aren't DOT even know what a weight sticker is? Lol, they aren't looking at **** unless someone dies.

Id not recommend first timers go out and do it by any means but experienced people will have no problems. As a LEO I'm sure your quite confident in your knowledge and experience to feel safe driving at high speeds, same type of thing, knowledge and experience greatly increase ability. Speed limits and weight ratings are artificially low to protect everyone else from the dumb mo fos from going out and having no clue what's going to happen when they hook 30k pounds to their tonner dually and set the cruise at 75 and eat a big mac while texting. If everyone had common sense and similar ability we could safely go 150+ on freeways like they do in Europe on the autobahn but most people in the usa can't drive for **** and don't pay attention and aren't even smart enough to understand drive right pass left. They think they own the roads and can drive side by side for 10 miles blocking everyone else behind them cause they are doing the speed limit or the other lane is to bumpy, lol

[caissiel]

well said. you hit it on the nail. Nothing I hate more then someone going left and not pass for miles.

[2000 Damon]

Originally Posted by caissiel

well said. you hit it on the nail. Nothing I hate more then someone going left and not pass for miles.

You sure hit my sore spot. Why doesn't the US adopt the European rule " the left lane is for passing only" instead slower traffic keep right. The most violated traffic law is "speeding" and the police try to enforce 10 MPH over the limit, the second most violated traffic law is slower traffic move right, this law gets no enforcement. The fact they are hogging the left lane doesn't bother me as much as they don't even have a clue they are doing any thing wrong. I don't understand that. 30 cars behind you in your rear view mirror, your in the left lane. There is no one in your lane ahead of you for a mile. cars are on your right, either trying to get around you or being part of the blockade. When someone finally drives around and pull in front of you giving you dirty looks or tail gate you it just doesn't matter. I often wonder is it on purpose or are they that clueless. I try to be as courteous as possible in all aspects of my driving. If I'm pulling a trailer of MH on a 2 lane road and if a vehicle has been behind me for a while I will slow down in the straight aways and pull a little to the right to let him pass or even pull over and stop to allow them to pass. Ticketing left lane hogs would be like adding another lane to the freeway. Not much of this matters if I'm in my MH or 5th wheel and retired so that is something else to look forward to.

[SultanGris]

It's not a law in every state, only in a few that I've been through actually. Most people are clueless about it, some think they have the right to slow down traffic is they are driving the limit. They are wrong and this is the only time I tailgate. I've got an Aliarc full replacement bumper on the front of my truck and they move much quicker now with less brake checks than before I got it, haha

[SmokeyWren]

If vehicles are passing you on the right, then you're in the wrong lane - regardless of your speed or the speed limit. Except in England, Japan and Australia, of course.