[sub]Personally I wouldn't risk it on a 14 year old truck.[/sub]
[sub]I have no idea on the condition of the frame, brakes, suspension, steering, tires or road conditions.[/sub]
[sub]1/2 ton = 1000 lbs. 2400 lbs is almost 2 1/2 times the safe loading weight rating![/sub]
[sub]If something were to let loose, it could cause liabilities and the handling may be uncontrollable in a demanding maneuver.[/sub]
[sub]Borrow, rent or hire a HD truck for the job.[/sub]

 

2,400 lb is too much in the truck bed. If you can get a trailer to load 'em onto you can haul it just fine.

 

Safety first!

Your payload is only 1,000 lbs or so - that's why it's a 1/2 ton truck. If it were a 2500 HD truck I'd say no problem. I've hauled ~1,500 lbs with my '06 1500 for a short distance (about 4-5 miles).

How about borrowing or renting a trailer? 2400 lbs should be well under your max tow rating. It would also be easier to load/unload. Do you have a hitch? Even a bumper hitch will do for this as your tongue weight would only be about 250-300 lbs and a bumper hitch can usually handle up to 500 lb tongue weight.

Do you know what the GVWR is for your truck? It should be on the placard on the door. The payload is the GVWR minus the curb weight of the truck and passengers. For example the GVWR for mine is 6750 lbs. My truck without the driver, passengers and no cargo is 5100 lbs so the net difference is 6700-5100 = 1,600 lbs then subtract my weight (~200 lbs) so in theory I could go as high as 1400 lbs if I carried no passengers. Your truck is probably similar so 2400 lbs would be exceeding max payload by 1,000 lbs or so. Even a short distance with the much overweight is questionable. Remember it's not just the engine and transmission, but brakes and suspension as well. Could it do it? Probably, but you would be well over any safety margins and if there is an accident, you could be cited for being overweight.

If it were me, I'd find a suitable trailer. You'd probably need a double axle trailer and they can be rented from U-Haul for about $20-$30 for the day. 2400 lbs really is pushing it - even for a short distance.

 

All good points, thank you. Think I'll try to get some help. That would be cheaper.
Thanks again

 

Optimal solution: rent a trailer. Next best? Rent a 3500 Series truck for a day.

 

Put 50psi in the tires, recognize it will be a little light in the front end, and as long as you know the truck and know its mechanical condition, 6 miles is only a mile longer than I drove my 95 Dakota seven times with a pallet of 46 53 lb bricks (on a pallet) without any difficulty. I drove carefully, drove down a steep dirt road/alley that is 500 feet long, but, doing two trips would be safer if at all possible, depending on what you are hauling. If the tires are good, shouldn't have a problem.

 

From driving Dakotas for almost 15 years.. I would like to start by pointing out that very few 1/2T trucks are only rated to carry that 1000 lbs. According to http://www.edmunds.com/dodge/ram-pickup-1500/1998/features-specs.html?style=10389 That truck could have had a 2300 pound payload.. Which is actually believable; at 250,000 miles; my only concern putting 2400 lbs on the back of my Dakota would be tire condition.. It has carried as much as 3100 lbs in the past; but that did leave the steering a bit light.

 

From driving Dakotas for almost 15 years.. I would like to start by pointing out that very few 1/2T trucks are only rated to carry that 1000 lbs. According to http://www.edmunds.com/dodge/ram-pickup-1500/1998/features-specs.html?style=10389 That truck could have had a 2300 pound payload.. Which is actually believable; at 250,000 miles; my only concern putting 2400 lbs on the back of my Dakota would be tire condition.. It has carried as much as 3100 lbs in the past; but that did leave the steering a bit light.

I was reading a couple old posts of mine and have something to add here. Last fall I hauled a pallet full of coal, 2000 lbs, about 40 miles. We drove home on back roads,35mph, nice and easy without a problem. A worker at the coal dealer said people overload their trucks all the time. Next time I think we'll make it in two trips tho, 1 ton was pushing it.

 

Seems like the Dakota is every bit as capable carrying a load as the 1500?

 

I believe they are very similar in payload capacity. Theoretically, I could carry up to 1400 lbs in my 1500 with just me in the cab. Payload is determined by the difference between the gross vehicle weight rating and the curb weight of the vehicle - subtract driver and any passengers to obtain the safe payload.

Just because people overload their trucks "all the time" doesn't make it safe or legal.

 

2400 pounds? Only 6 miles? Hell, I've had that back of my '97 at times, for longer durations. Check your tires, go slow, stay out of overdrive (maybe even shift to "2" to limit the truck to 1st and 2nd), and brake early! I'd be the most worried about brakes. Second most about tires. You might be sitting on the bump stops, so expect a rough ride and avoid uneven ground, as there won't be any give. You should be okay if you aware that you're pushing it, and treat everything as so...

Or, find a trailer. Trailering the load would be the best solution.

 

Jerry - it's still not legal. Doesn't matter if it 6 miles or 600 miles.

In that situation, I would agree on renting or somehow obtaining a trailer.

 

I'm not sure about that. It's a pickup, not a commercial vehicle. The trip is not for commercial gain. Etc. Besides, to be fined, they'd have to weigh you, which means you have to pass a DOT scale or they have to have a mobile one. The legality of this operation is the last thing I'd have on my mind. The demands on the truck would be much more of a concern for me.

 

I would be more concerned with the safety of the other motorists using the public highway.
A mechanical breakdown can hurt or kill people. Or simply just being unable to stop or maneuver an overladen or unsafely loaded vehicle in an unexpected emergency situation.
If a violator gets ticketed and fined even when no accident has occurred, that is OK by me.

 

Very much agree.

I have some experience hauling heavy loads......in a collision......ANY question of overloading will be investigated by commercial enforcement inspectors in my state. A very thorough inspection. And if it's a weighed load.....no tolerance.

 

It's stupid and inconsiderate of others' safety to overload any vehicle. A Dakota can tow that weight, but not carry it as a payload. Trailer it or have it delivered, or make multiple trips. And you most certainly can be cited for it, and prosecuted if anything happens.

 

It's not a Dakota, it's a Ram.

 

Moot point. They both have about the same payload.

"I guess neither of you ever speed either? "

Not germane to subject. Stick to the topic at hand.

 

I guess neither of you ever speed either?

 

No.

 

My biggest concern would be liability in event of a collision. A ticket/breakdown will have limited consequences. Pay the fine, fix the rig, your insurance may go up. But that's it.

Found liable for someone's injury/death......morally and to a lessor extent, financially..... is it worth it to save a trip?

 

Your problem is not going to be the load or even the law, but the way that pallet is going to be loaded. You're gonna have that 2400 lb pallet sitting 75 or 80% behind the rear axle. You will need to have the forklift operator to use a second pallet to push the load to the front of the pan. The tailgate will need to be removed to achieve this. Then the unloading will be fun, but the truck should have a reasonable road feel in this configuration.
All this is beside the legal/moral question.
Last year I ended up with 3000lb of class A on my Ram for 30km trip. 70km/hr was pushing it.

 

Your problem is not going to be the load or even the law, but the way that pallet is going to be loaded. You're gonna have that 2400 lb pallet sitting 75 or 80% behind the rear axle. You will need to have the forklift operator to use a second pallet to push the load to the front of the pan. The tailgate will need to be removed to achieve this. Then the unloading will be fun, but the truck should have a reasonable road feel in this configuration.
All this is beside the legal/moral question.
Last year I ended up with 3000lb of class A on my Ram for 30km trip. 70km/hr was pushing it.

Their fork lift had extra long forks,put the load right behind the cab. Still the truck looked severly overloaded. I won't be doing that again. Besides making a couple trips I'll take the wife along and we'll stop and have a nice lunch someplace.

 

I've rented trailers from U-Haul many times to move things that won't fit in my Jeeps (small boats, wood for my son's Eagle Scout project, etc). They do not cost much and the bigger ones at least have surge brakes. I once carried about 1,000 lbs of topsoil in bags in the back of the ZJ with the seats folded down (and it wasn't really overloaded) but if I did not have Air Lift air bags in the rear coils, it would have been on the bump stops!!
With these situations, the legalities are important but you also don't want to regret doing something when you knew better. What's 50 bucks for a day to rent a trailer in the grand scheme of life??

 

We all need to keep in mind that the braking power of any vehicle is not more than the GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating). In the case of my ZJ that was about 3800 (curb weight)+1100 payload= 4900 lbs. Now my ZJ has a lot added to it, skids, larger LT rated tires, etc so it probably weighs more than 3800 which means that the true payload is lower than the 1100 on the sticker in the glove box. I used to get into this discussion all the time on boating bulletin boards. People hate boat trailer brakes because they need a lot of maintenance. So some just remove them. Well I'll tell you this, I towed our boat (about 4,000) exactly 2 times without brakes and it was one white knuckle ride. The trailer didn't have brakes and the first thing I did after that was order a new axle with brake flanges and installed a set of surge drum brakes. Which made all the difference in the world, esp with the ZJ. No way that four 11" disc brakes on the ZJ, were going to stop a combined weight of a bit over 8,000 lbs. I am in salt water so maintaining the brakes takes work but its the only way to be safe. So I replace the wheel cylinders every 4 seasons or so and grease all the pivot points on the drum backing plate and that keeps them happy.
Now most of the towing I do with the 07 WK which has far better brakes but I still would not do without trailer brakes.....

 

I once transported a 3000 pound excavator bucket on a Little Subaru pickup....the size of neon if you can imagine that.
It Went well Rolling on all the 4 rebound stops driving really careful some 20 miles.
The most difficult part was loading and unloading, since the excavator had to Place the buckets mouth downside
it had to push down in order to get the hydraulic lock to open and close, the excavator wheigted 50 000 Pounds so you
can understand what a "small" down pressure was.
There were four holes in the rear made by the thooths.