problems with being overweight

[BoFuller]

My dump truck is rated for 27,500 lbs max. What would be the potential problems if it was to be loaded such that the scales said 33,000 lbs? Besides being illegal, I am wondering about possible damage to the truck. If I was never going more than 15 mph and only on back dirt roads, what should my biggest concern be? Tires? (They are brand new). Springs? Engine load? Transmission? Nothing at all? (1980 Ford F8000 with CAT 3208 engine - if that makes any difference.

thanks,

 

[Diamondpilot]

Drive line will not know the difference. Biggest issue will be the suspension and frame components. Wheel bearings will also take a beating. Not much difference in the brakes from your truck and a heavier one but will take longer to stop.

Chris

 

[bcp]

...only on back dirt roads...

Biggest issue will be the suspension and frame components. Wheel bearings will also take a beating.

Especially if those roads have potholes.

Bruce

 

[salopez]

even with brand new tires, which might not be rated to 33k you could have a problem. depending on your truck, the frame, axles...just not worth it in my opionion. how much would it cost to hire out a truck if the job is that big?

 

[slowzuki]

Depends on the truck, my friend had a single axle dump they would overload all the time. Was great until they cut an axle off trying to get the truck up over a curb to dump a load. Also wore the brakes out in no time trying to stop all the weight.

Have also seen overloaded single axle dumps bend the frame, but thats partly from dumping on uneven ground while overloaded.

 

[Toddao]

Your weakest part will break first, springs , wheel hubs, are the most common. Have seen many overloaded plow trucks they put on side boards and heap the wet heavy sand as high as it can go. Stopping becomes an problem the heavier you get . Make friends with a parts guy at the truck shop

 

[Soundguy]

i'd say biggewt concern will be DOT

it's common to see trucks leave 2-4 tons heavy between mini wheelers to trators with dump beds ( 18-21 yds ), leave the pits around our areas.. see it all the time.. dot loves it when the haulers try to gget away with it.

then you see piles of dirt ont he side of the road.. or they have to call another truck to offload before they let em move..

not good either way IMHO...

soundguy

 

[LoneCowboy]

Tires!!!!!!!!!
Tires are only rated at X. (add it up, it should be right on GVW)
wheels. You can crack and break wheels (esp 30 year old wheels)
axles.
frames

brakes.

Is it really worth it???

we're not talking 500lbs, we're talking 5000lbs!!!!!!!!!

In your case 20% overloaded.

Hire it out, or buy a bigger truck.


and yeah, DOT gets understandably pretty grumpy.
Around here it's about $1/lb over. Plus you're OOS til you fix it and don't think of dumping it on the road. Plus it goes on your CSA score.

 

[MoKelly]

If I was never going more than 15 mph and only on back dirt roads, what should my biggest concern be? Tires? (They are brand new).

If you are willing to take back roads and go no more than 15 MPH, seems like you are not very far away. Why not just make 2 trips?

MoKelly

 

[crazyal]

I've done it more times than I care to mention. My IH is also rated for 27,500 but the pit I use to go to about 10 miles up the road didn't have a scale. They would often put in about 5 yards of crusher run and say it weighed about 1.5 tons per yard. Since they didn't have a scale and it was a pit they were working the dirt was cheap.

Now I have to go to their main location, about 2 miles away, that does have a scale. I now know my truck weighs 14k unloaded and if they fill it and the gravel is a little wetter than normal I'll easy break 32k. Since I now know I have them load it light but looking at the load I'm sure I was over lots of times.

My IH has axles that are rated for much higher weight. The rear tires are rated for over 24k. I've purposely stopped with just the front tires on the scale so I could read the weight, about 8k when (over)loaded. But my truck is 4wd so it has a lot of extra weight up front. You could be adding 3k or 4k on your rear tires.

Could you do it while going slow, most likely. But what if you do blow out a tire? You'll now have a lot of weight on the one remaining rear tire on that side. Are you going to able to leave your truck where it sits so you can change the tires (you really need to change both on the side that blows)? If not or if something else breaks can you afford to have a tow truck come out and move it?

Now that being said I have yet to see a farmer around me who doesn't run their trucks overloaded (by a lot) when bringing in crops. They do exactly what you are talking about, drive slow with flashers on. I don't think I've ever seen one have a problem.