2 sleds and a deck on a 1/2 ton ?

SidewaysInto3rd · Jul 18, 2011

wow .. 2 pages already !!

Right, I did not account for the weight of passengers and gear in the total payload.. my bad.

I have a 2 place trailer that I used to pull with my jeep. Not interested in pulling that thing up dirt roads to get to my favorite riding spots

I guess my buddy needs to buy his own truck.. if I end up getting a 1/2 ton i'll just throw a sled in the bed and be done with it.

ps. here's my sexy truck for sale if anyone's interested

oler1234 · Jul 18, 2011

magnet said:
i do it with my f150 with the trailering package, highest gvwr for half ton, i have aproximatly 17-1800 lbs i can put on the back axle. i am at 2250 with4 people in the cab, and my summit 1000 and the wifes rmk 800. air bags would help but still would not get you past the scale guys in bc.

wow.... just out of curiosity what are you with just the sleds and deck setup.

CUSO · Jul 18, 2011

You are overloaded technically with a 3/4 ton hauling a 2 place deck, gear, passengers, tools, beer and 2 older sleds.

My f250 was borderline, and at most times over the limit. I never was questioned. I had airbags.

basically your axles look like this:

1/2 ton has semi floater axles, which mean the total load is on the axle shaft, and no additional bearing to support it.

3/4 to 1 tons have FULL floater axles. They have an additional bearing to support the weight. Technically, the full-floater is stronger as the axle shafts are only dealing with the torque and not the vehicle weight.

If you hit a good railroad crossing, like the one close to Windermere lake, you can snap your axles. and go into oncoming traffic. and die.

This explains it better..

bcham5 · Jul 18, 2011

magnet said:
i do it with my f150 with the trailering package, highest gvwr for half ton, i have aproximatly 17-1800 lbs i can put on the back axle. i am at 2250 with4 people in the cab, and my summit 1000 and the wifes rmk 800. air bags would help but still would not get you past the scale guys in bc.

wow thats scary

shoppingcart111 · Jul 18, 2011

I've done it once but would I do it again? Probably not, did not like the way it handled, doesnt matter about airbags etc, when you have that much weight on the back it does make the front end light and on snow covered or icy highways, the lack of steering feedback is not a good feeling.

teeroy · Jul 18, 2011

CUSO said:
You are overloaded technically with a 3/4 ton hauling a 2 place deck, gear, passengers, tools, beer and 2 older sleds.

my GM HD 3/4 ton ext cab longbox is just within it's posted cargo weight numbers with a steel deck, 2 guys, sleds, and all the gear. add 2 more guys and it's overloaded according to the numbers.

Griz-L-Bar · Jul 18, 2011

SidewaysInto3rd said:
Hey guys

I'm thinking about downgrading my 1 ton (ram 3500) to a 1/2 ton. Mostly because the payments are too much and its too much truck for what I do.

Does anyone here haul 2 sleds and a deck on the back of their 1/2 ton? I know it's right up there with the GCWR .. say 500 lbs a sled and 200 (?) for an alum deck?

I'll be sure to add airbags, but wanted to get your opinion on how bad the ride is with that much weight on a smaller truck

Not sure which one i'll get but I'm looking at ram 1500, silverado and tundra

We had a fairly heavy debate on this in a thread called "Springs or Air Bags"

Lots of really good info there check out all the links. If you do go half ton, make damn sure the truck at least has leaf springs in the azz end. Some of the new ones have gone to coil(you know who you are). Coil springs belong in a car rear suspension not a truck. I drive an f-150 and used firestone bags, awsome system ,fairly easy install, and goes from frame directly to axle tube.

But ya your over probably by alot. Bc is different than Ab, think they are sticky out there with weights

good luck :beer:

Summiteer · Jul 18, 2011

1/2 ton brakes with a 3/4 ton+ load; prolly not a good idea........

Griz-L-Bar · Jul 18, 2011

Summiteer said:
1/2 ton brakes with a 3/4 ton+ load; prolly not a good idea........

This part you can upgrade to counter the weight. EBC brake company make a great product

CUSO · Jul 18, 2011

Griz-L-Bar said:
This part you can upgrade to counter the weight. EBC brake company make a great product

How about 1/2 ton axles with a 3/4+ ton load. What's your upgrade for that?

Excluding springs.. of course/

maxwell · Jul 18, 2011

dodgeguy said:
I was raised GM too, (But am partial to Dodge) work on vehicles day in day out...a dodge "1500" megacab is a rebadged hemi 2500 megacab. Had a customer buy a used dodge "1500" megacab, one visit it was a 1/2 ton, and the next visit it was a 3/4 ton. His statement was "Why buy a 3/4 ton when I could buy the same truck rebadged for 5grand less..." LOL But now there is NO megacab (as far as I know) in the 1/2 ton dodge stable!

Dodge just kinda followed GM footsteps with the 1500HD.

Yeah find a hemi 3/4 ton mega and find a 1/2 ton mega, take a look underneath and I couldn't find anything different at all! other than a one instead of a two on the door!! :d

hemi mega cabs have 8 bolt axels

Griz-L-Bar · Jul 19, 2011

CUSO said:
How about 1/2 ton axles with a 3/4+ ton load. What's your upgrade for that?

Excluding springs.. of course/

Easy killer, never said anything about that. But I suppose you could swap out the axle shafts with some heavy duty ones from, Dana, Spicer, Eaton,... not sure who makes them for a half ton but you know what Im trying to say. Get the chromoly steel or what ever they are nowadays. Never looked into it for a half ton yet.

I was just simply saying that brake and calipers can be upgraded to match the weight you pull. Keyword PULL. as in on trailer. I read the axle thread posted above, very informative. :beer:

vanislerev · Jul 19, 2011

maxwell said:
hemi mega cabs have 8 bolt axels

so does my 02 1500HD. But they are not full floaters. the dodge may be the same. the chev has a larger housing, shafts, bearings & ring gears, but at the end of the day its still not a 3/4 ton axel.

tukernater · Jul 19, 2011

magnet said:
i do it with my f150 with the trailering package, highest gvwr for half ton, i have aproximatly 17-1800 lbs i can put on the back axle. i am at 2250 with4 people in the cab, and my summit 1000 and the wifes rmk 800. air bags would help but still would not get you past the scale guys in bc.

Hey thats how my E 150 van sits with are 28 foot interstate enclosed car trailer that I hall 4 sleds in and atleast 8 jerry cans,but i don't go to the crowned places were sledder are watched. :nono:

magnet · Jul 19, 2011

maxwell said:
hemi mega cabs have 8 bolt axels

yes but the gvw is still 400kg lower than a ford half ton. i have a buddy that has one. he was really surprised that the ford was rated higher than the dodge as well. if you take the tare weight away from an f150 with trailer package and a dodge 2500 hd diesel. the f150 can actually tow haul around 2-400kgs more than the dodge.
dont get me wrong here i am not a ford guy just cause i own one, i think they are all pretty eqaul, but went with the ford because of its tow/hauling capabilities. with the 2 sleds on it still drives pretty good, allot better than most of the chevy 3/4s i have rode in with a similiar setup, only kicker is the 5.5 box. kinda hard to get good weight distrinbution with a 12ft long sled on a 7ft deck, with only about 3ft of that deck ontop or in front of the axle, if i would of had the larger box and smaller cab it would haul that load all day every day no problem.

RMK Junky · Jul 19, 2011

My '04 was a 2wd with a hemi. The airbags where added for better stability. With one sled the truck handled awsome. 2 on her back was alittle different story. Being a 2wd the steering was light. So we packed all the heavey gear to the front of the box and the lighter to the tailgate. This did help. It was tippy being top heavey and a single wheel truck with light spring pack. With two guys and loaded up I was over by 300 lbs. As mentioned, a trailer is the way to go with a half ton. The $$ for a deck vs a trailer are fairly close. I traded up because the 1/2 ton was not going to meet my demands so I ordered my '06 dually. It does the job and then some :beer:

I made what I had work for me but as time moved on so did my needs. Fortuneatly my budget increased too :d

08154XP · Jul 19, 2011

Look at the GVWR on the door sticker, that will tell you how much you can weigh including truck, deck, sleds,cargo, passengers and fuel. Now go weigh the truck at a scale full of fuel and figure out the difference between the two figures and this will give you how much weight you can LEGALLY carry on the truck. I have had a 2500 dodge diesel with a sled deck and two sleds on and I was over weight by 400 lbs before I filled up the truck or sleds or had any cargo so I went with a dodge 2500 hemi this time around and am able to be under my GVWR because the hemi is a lot less weight than the diesel. Now if you are just around Alberta you have no worries but cross over the BC border and things change. If you get stopped and you are over weight expect a ticket and having to drop a sled on the side of the road to get under your weight limit. I would just make sure you do the math on whatever you buy. Fords are rated much higher on the GVW end when compared to a dodge and I have had both and both are good trucks and if you are under weight then you have no worries no matter what you buy.

magnet · Jul 19, 2011

08154XP said:
Look at the GVWR on the door sticker, that will tell you how much you can weigh including truck, deck, sleds,cargo, passengers and fuel. Now go weigh the truck at a scale full of fuel and figure out the difference between the two figures and this will give you how much weight you can LEGALLY carry on the truck. I have had a 2500 dodge diesel with a sled deck and two sleds on and I was over weight by 400 lbs before I filled up the truck or sleds or had any cargo so I went with a dodge 2500 hemi this time around and am able to be under my GVWR because the hemi is a lot less weight than the diesel. Now if you are just around Alberta you have no worries but cross over the BC border and things change. If you get stopped and you are over weight expect a ticket and having to drop a sled on the side of the road to get under your weight limit. I would just make sure you do the math on whatever you buy. Fords are rated much higher on the GVW end when compared to a dodge and I have had both and both are good trucks and if you are under weight then you have no worries no matter what you buy.

yeh no kidding way lighter like nearly 2000 lbs

honestly i think on a half ton even with one sled and your gear you would be close if it was on a deck.

if we want to really get off the pot about the sleds on decks bs if you want to do it "legally" no b.s. if i put this here that there, air bags extra springs etc etc. it can only be done on a 1 tonne. even a 3/4 ton is really close nomatter how you cut it.

and if you ride yammys better get a kenworth

maxwell · Jul 19, 2011

i have quick realease. so when i start gettin squirelly on the highway with my ford ranger with deck and 28 foot enclosed i can just eject one or two of the sleds.

brian h · Jul 20, 2011

i put the aluminum sled deck in a 05 gm 1500,a 08 summit and a 05 summit, then went to the weight scale,no gear loaded in truck yet,failed for the weight on the rear axle,cannot do it legally.air bags do not increase your gvw of the truck,will make truck handle better but if pulled over by rcmp you will not pass and will have to unload one sled.

2 sleds and a deck on a 1/2 ton ?

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