Decks on a Half Ton

[mudboy]

you could put a sled deck on a volkswagon if you wanted to, SAFE hm.
I'd suggest you check with your insurance before purchasing the deck, as you may be in a heap of trouble when you are in an accident. yes you are overloaded there boy. Sure is a sad day when you kill a family when your brakes fail or you lose control as your truck sways. Real nice feeling killing people because of your stupidity. or you may have the privilege of supporting said surviving family members for the rest of your life. you may find you have no insurance


GET THE PROPER EQUIPMENT FOR CRYING OUT LOUD.

Yey nice
Never scene a mini van over weight or a station wagon. They have the same chance of getting into an accident as anyone !!

Put 6 full size adults in a dodge caraven !! Good luck

 

[sledslut]

i have a marathon on a 1500 hemi and i carry two sleds all the time and it works great been doing it for two years now and never had a single problem.. and well i do go aout 130km/h and yeah. handles awesome. i do have airbags, wiht about 40lbs in them just so it sits up goign by dot or anything lol

 

[shawnmcgr]

I can't believe we have a manufacturor on here claiming it's ok to over load your vehicle? Got liability insurance? Will you put that in writing - oh, wait, I guess you just did. Lotus Man. will indemnify all overloaded 1/2 tons.



I cannot belive this crap keeps coming up...it's not rocket science. Is everyone that owns a 3/4 or 1 ton an idiot for spending the money to drive a truck rated for thier load?

I guess I know why my sled comes with so many dummy stickers! The stickers/ratings are on the truck for a reason. We're going to end up with trucks plastered with stickers like our sleds.

Slap a set of duallys on there while your at it and a 3 ton hydraulic dump box. As long as it looks safe, that's what's important!

My rant....

 

[shoppingcart111]

My GVWR RR is 3950lbs

 

[RMK Junky]

What's your Tare weight shoppingcart111???

 

[shoppingcart111]

What's your Tare weight shoppingcart111???

7000lbs is combined, tare not sure

 

[SC Carts]

shawnmcgr - There are many, many people that haul 2 sleds on the back of the 1/2 ton, as we did for 3.5yrs, and there will be many, many people that will continue to haul 2 sleds on the back of a 1/2 ton for many, many more years.

You are absolutely right that a 3/4 ton or a 1 ton is a far better choice for hauling decks and sleds, that's why they have the higher ratings no question about it.

What we are saying is that people are going to load there 1/2 tons up regardless so you might as well explain to them the safest way to do it by using airbags/overloads and common sense.

We are not the only manufacture saying that it is alright to do this, just have a look at any deck manufactures galleries and you will see Toyota's, and half tons from all the manufactures, so I guess they are saying it is alright as well.

Load up a trailer behind a half ton, with 2, 3, 4 sleds and go down a logging road, or any ice road and tell us that you would rather have that trailer pushing you around the corner, or having the trailer jack knife. We sure wouldn't, we would rather have the weight of the deck and sleds sitting on airbags over our half ton rear wheels.

FLM Staff

 

[SLEDBUNNYRACING]

Just for the record gentlemen, here is the original question that was asked.
shoppingcart111 wants to be within the law...so IMO the advice being given to "overload" your vehicle based on GVRW is not what he wants. Truth is that a 1/2 ton with 2 sleds, fuel, gear and people is overweight.

Looking for insite into running a deck on a 09 GMC half ton, who has one and how does it handle, any issues with DOT etc. I have airbags already and was wondering if you have to get your gvw increased or what. Seems like I'd be okay with the weight just dont want any hassles by the man or unsafe loading issues.

 

[rubirose]

There is a reason we went to a 1 ton dually from a 3/4 ton . We only had about 200lbs to spare hauling 9.5' camper and 3 quads. It handled it fine but my hubby being a ticketed mechanic I don't think he really felt totally comfortable. He would never drive overloaded. You are asking for trouble if things go wrong. And I have always wondered about that since I see ALOT of people driving way to fast with their sleds and quads on decks, hauling trailers. What happens when you don't have the right truck to stop in time. I know 1 tons also get in accidents but you get my drift.
We had friends once who only had a 1/2 ton long box chev. They put a 11 foot camper on and hauled a horse trailer. My hubby gave them ch!t and told them they were stupid. Luckily nothing bad happened and they have since upgraded.

 

[RMK Junky]

So the best bet is a trailer for you shoppingcart111. Now you need to find out what you are legal to pull for weight. My '04 1500 Ram was good for 9300lbs with HP,tire size,and auto trans. I think this was overkill for manufacturer specs. My '06 handles it much better.

 

[imdoo'n]

My GVWR RR is 3950lbs

did you check your truck weight at the scales both axles,
your rear axle listed gvw - actual weight rear axle weight is the weight you can carry legally also the total gvw - the front axle weight = the max rear axle weight you can carry should be a lot less than 3950.

 

[imdoo'n]

LOtus you must have a large bank account, as the advice you are giving is going to get you sued. a 1/2 t driver with your deck on the back gets in an accident and tells the police you said he was ok with the weight is going to get you in court real quick, minus a lot of cash. kind of nice to see you willing to spread the wealth around.

 

[medler]

The best advice everyone has given is ,,,,it will be overweight,.So find a scale get your tare weight,subtract it from the gvw.It will give you a real idea on how much it will be over.I have a2008 sierra book in front of me and the maximum payload according to this book is 1500-1900lbs.

 

[medler]

What does a sled deck weigh ,anyone know?

 

[johndeereman346]

300 400 pounds tops, gotta be

 

[shawnmcgr]

I wouldn't use the brakes and stopping power as an argument as you can load a trailer behind your half ton with way more weight, legally, that will increase your stopping distance much more then a deck on the back of your truck. Yes of course it is better to have a 3/4 ton or a 1 ton, no question. However if you have a half ton and use airbags and are intelligent about using it you won't have any problems. You can crash a 3/4 ton or a 1 ton just as easy as you can 1/2 ton.

Take for instance you have a lifted 3/4 ton or 1 ton and have two sleds perched way up high, the 1/2 ton is more stable then the lifted 1 ton. I know this because we had a 1/2 ton dodge we used with our deck and we had an
f350 with an 8" lift and the 1/2 ton with airbags was much more stable then the lifted 1 ton. So there are always variables in towing. However with everything else a little common sense goes a long way.

FLM Staff

This advise is completely unethical and plain wrong and you know it. I could not believe this statement: "I wouldn't use the brakes and stopping power as an argument". Are you providing this advise to your customers? Are you qualified to give this advise?

I understand you want to sell decks (and maybe air bags) but I don't want to get killed by some 1/2 ton 1000lbs over weight with your deck on it!

As a manufacture you should be encouraging the SAFE use of your product not the opposite. IMO you were doing the opposite arguing it can be done safely and in fact that you have been doing it safely for 3 1/3 yrs and here is a picture.

It's one thing for joe public to get on here and say he's doing it and it's no problem, its another when a company in the business of modifying vehicles makes the same claim. There's lots of good advise on this site and lots of poor advise. But advise from a manufacturer holds a little more weight, usually, careful with your advise. What your providing is unethical and probably illegal.

I had a 2003 chev 1500 ext cab 4x4. With me in the cab and a full tank of gas I could put less than 800lbs in the box. Two sleds(full of fuel), a deck 2 guys and gear will put you 700-1000lbs over weight.

I'd say the same to any manufacturer that said what you did on here.

shoppingcart111, GM's web site will provide you curb weight and GVWR. The curb weights are optimistic (usually bare bone vehicles) but it will give you a general idea. Take the pick-up to any scale - they don't mind - and weight it with you and a full tank of gas. Subtract that from your GVWR. Don't let someone on the internet, unless you know and trust them, give you life and death advise.

Unless it's a reg cab 2wd your going to be quite a bit weight over.

Shawn.

 

[rubirose]

For safety reason's if you know you want to haul toys around bigger is better in this case. You guys always want the biggest, baddest quads/sleds why not with trucks.I know it's a pain to go shopping but it is worth it.

 

[mudboy]

And how many people follow those dummy stickers ???? Every quad atv on the market has a sticker on there that says no passenger yet many people double. They have a sticker that says no one under 16 yet there are many people out there doing it. They have a sticker on there telling oyu to wear a helmet but many choose not to.
Basically people will do what ever they want

 

[Summitric]

I agree "shawnmcgr"..... You said that very well. It is illegal to be overweight and for reasons you've mentioned.....

I had a 1998 1/2 ton dodge with an aluminum deck and 2 sleds, gear, fuel etc. I was almost 1000 lbs overloaded..... I did have helper shocks etc, but i still new it was overweight. We went into bc several times, but thankfully never stopped. I could always feel the instability in the way the vehicle handled, but we drove very carefully then. I now look back and shake my head at what we did in the past.

I soon after got into the 1tons, so i wouldn't have to worry about the safety/legal factors anymore......... If you must use a 1/2 ton, please pull a 2 place trailer---not a deck!!!

Just my 2 cents worth

 

[SC Carts]

Gentlemen

We are not going to start going back and forth as these forums tend to like to promote this type of behaviour, because everyone is right all the time.

Shawmcgr- I think you took my statment in regards to the brakes incorrectly, as I said that I wouldn't use the brakes as an argument, not becauce I do not agree with you in regards to the 1/2ton brakes being less effective but because you can load up a trailer behind 1/2 ton trucks that will cause far more braking distance then an added deck will and they are loaded completely legally, and you cannot disagree with us on that. A two place trailer behind a truck will make for longer stopping distance's then a deck on a truck! And you are right we do want to sell decks otherwise we wouldn't be making them, however it is our main concern that our customers are safe when they are using our product, hence why we make the decks the way we do and not out of light flimsy sheet metal, and why we tig weld our entire product.

If the decks are loaded on a half ton it is Illegal, as many have stated, again we totally agree with that! However we cannot stop people from putting them on a half ton if they choose, so that is why we stated to use airbags on half tons. Again look at any manufactures web page and you will see half tons on there web page. So I guess if we are going to get sued so is every deck mfg because they have proof on there web pages.

Shawnmcgr we totally agree with you that a 3/4 ton or 1 ton is the way to go, but as mentioned people will still use a 1/2 ton, and that is why we want them to be as safe as possible doing it, that's are whole point.

As far as wanting to sell decks so bad to make a living that we would put people in danger, we don't need the money that bad. And as far as being sued and getting into court, we are in the aircraft industry so we know a thing or two about liability, and safety that's why we have been an industry leader in the aviation business for 25yrs.

Anyways your points are well taken and as a manufacture, we understand them clearly.

Here are our other companies, to give you an idea of liabilty that we are up against, also as a side note in 25yrs of being in the aicraft business we have not been sued because we take care of our customers and ensure there safety, our products save lives not endanger them.

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