Ooops. I think I might have overloaded my truck!

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catfish1 said:
We've all done things we probably shouldn't have with our half tons, but don't forget tires. They can be the weakest link. All the helper springs in the world won't keep "P" rated tires from blowing under a heavy load. Breaking a spring is one thing, having a blow-out on the highway with a "live" load such as firewood - don't even want to think about it.
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The tire thing has been an eye opener from my experience. We ran every cheap tire you could think of, from Sears, Gulf Atlas,ETC and never had a blowout on the risd. Poking with a stick or slow leak yes, but never a blow out. When we got some Dodge Cummins diesels they came from the factory with Michelin E rated tires. 80 PSI was kept in them and run in the same conditions. Out of 14 tires, 6 blew and I refused to drive the trucks till they were changed out. This was within 1 1/2 years of purchase. Replaced them with non E rated and never had a blow out on ANY of the trucks with SAME loads.

Thought it was a just a Michelin thing but but a 3/4 Dodge with Goodyear E rated. One of them blew at 55 MPH on the rear with no load and did $2400.00 damage to the truck. Take a 5 ft steel reinforced chunk of rubber beating your truck like a whip and it ain't pretty to hear or see. This truck was never loaded with more than 1 ton and only a few times. I'll see if I can find a pic.

I'm done with E rated tires. I don't know if it's a heat,stiffness or what but experience has always been a better teacher than what a manual says. I'd be interested in others experiences with E rated.

Below is one of my favorite pics. Gotta love those old Dodges!

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catfish1 said:
I had "E" rated on my C30, with no trouble, and I had it loaded really good a few times. On my 1/2 ton, I put 6 ply, with no issues. Previous to that, they were just "P" tires, and with 1/2 cord, bulged out the sides (made me nervous). I've seen a few blow-outs, and have always suspected that the load was too heavy for the tire, or the pressure was wrong.
I think air pressure has a lot to do with it and the drag/heat it creates. Adjusting pressure to match the load may make all the difference.
All the same, I'd still be leary about going around with "P" tires with a cord of wood in the back. I've seen a few sidewalls puffed out pretty good, and potential disaster a pot hole away.
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Thanks for the input. I just have a hard time understanding why E rated tires have blown so much in my situation where the lighter duty tires didn't have a problem before OR after the blew.

Found the pics of the Goodyear blowout. Tire was 3 years old by date code and since it didn't break away it most of the whole side of the truck at 55 MPH. Even got the tailaight and you can see all the backmarks all on the side. They ended up replacing the whole bedside.

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never had a issue with the Michelin "E" rated that came on my 01 Ram,If they didnt cost so much I would have bought a second set.I ended up replacing them with Toyo Open Country "E" rated,so far so good
 
catfish1 said:
We've all done things we probably shouldn't have with our half tons, but don't forget tires. They can be the weakest link. All the helper springs in the world won't keep "P" rated tires from blowing under a heavy load. Breaking a spring is one thing, having a blow-out on the highway with a "live" load such as firewood - don't even want to think about it.
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:agree2:

I've got heavy duty tires on mine. Dunno the rating, but they've been a lot better than what I used to have. IIRC, 300 pounds more per tire.

Snow tires at that. :)


Way back when I drove a Mazda for a company, which was pretty heavily loaded most of the time. It had a fiberglass shell on it with ladder racks - made for the phone company. I mean HEAVY fiberglass. Plus all my tools. When we got it, we had Michelin light truck radials on it. SCARY! We switched out to some 6-ply Kelly Springfields, and that was a HUGE difference. No longer scary at all.

Tires make a world of difference!
 
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Breaking the truck does not bother me. My concern is if a round came off and hit an on coming vehicle,or one following you. Really someone could be killed. My best advice is to put on side boards and make sure that nothing will come off,secure your load. yeah I know you got it on tight,but one good swerve or pot hole could change that. Safety is way more important then getting it all in one load.
 
catfish1 said:
We've all done things we probably shouldn't have with our half tons, but don't forget tires. They can be the weakest link. All the helper springs in the world won't keep "P" rated tires from blowing under a heavy load. Breaking a spring is one thing, having a blow-out on the highway with a "live" load such as firewood - don't even want to think about it.
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So true , even with medium loads , I'll stick a floor jack under the hitch to relieve the weight if it's gotta sit overnight .
 
rear wheel bearings...

indiansprings said:
As long as the front end is on the ground enough to steer and the spring shackles don't break, you aren't overloaded.lol
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I used to do overloads but have quit the practice, replacing bearings is more trouble than the occasional second trip. When my stuff breaks down, it always seems to happen at the worst possible time and in the worst places.
 
Years ago I drove a semi that hauled limestone from the tipple to the cement plant. The stone was not washed and contained all the fines. As I went to pull into the tipple a guy in a 70's Chevy 1/2 ton was under the tipple,trying to steal stone. I called my boss on the radio,and he told me to give him some stone to get him out of the way. So I dropped what I considered to be about 1 ton of heavy wet unwashed stone into his truck. He told me to put more on,I told him he already had a ton. I told him anymore then that he could push the button himself. The reason was I did not want him claiming I broke his truck. He opened the gate and filled it until the stone came over the bed rails. He had at least 5 ton on possibly as much as 7. Wet unwashed limestone screened down to 3/4 inch and smaller is heavy. He was lucky to get 75 feet,both springs broke and the tires hit the bed. He had to shovel almost all of it off to get clearance between his tires just to drive away. I never saw him come back. He could have hired a dump and had it spread far cheaper then what damage he did to his truck.
 
wampum said:
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Breaking the truck does not bother me. My concern is if a round came off and hit an on coming vehicle,or one following you. Really someone could be killed. My best advice is to put on side boards and make sure that nothing will come off,secure your load. yeah I know you got it on tight,but one good swerve or pot hole could change that. Safety is way more important then getting it all in one load.
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Actually it was 15 - 20 loads like that per day for about 2 weeks ;) Sure would have been nice to have a dump trailer/truck but we didn't have one then. Just on a tight schedule before pipeline clearers burnt it all in piles. We were able to cut it while it was standing which saved many a chain. We were only driving across 1 road from field to field so one falling off wasn't a factor. We do have another farm we store at but as stated before, I don't drive like I'm in a NASCAR race. Normally when driving through a field you'll find if your loaded tight or not.

I did have a county deputy sheriff stop me once. When I rolled the window down he wanted to know if I'd sell him a load.
 
to me loads are loads chevy ford or dodge . main thing to me is keep at least 1-2" of travel between the axle and frame. But more important then all DONT BOUNCE.:dizzy:.If you can help it.

AND MOST IMPORTANT how do i put a pic next to my profile. hill jack here aint so hot onthe fancy type writer/tv Mc.bobber. Im just happy al gore invented this e-net thing so i can chat wit cha :cheers:
 
arborjockey said:
Im just happy al gore invented this e-net thing so i can chat wit cha :cheers:
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Me too! Algore's real popular with the guys here. Especially the guy that started this thread.

If yer a fan, you'll be fitting right it!

As far as getting an avatar pic, it's pretty easy.

Click on User CP. On the column on the left, one of the options is Edit Avatar. Follow the instructions there. Bear in mind it's gotta be a teeney little picture, 15k or smaller - and that's pretty small!
 
Thanks fot the info. And giving me the atmosphere. if anybody wants a quick history go to DRAW MAHAMID DAY.:monkey::monkey:
 

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