The MAXED OUT GVCWR thread

yep arb, love it.
suspension is Fox extended travel coilovers with res and DSC with camburg uppers. rear is Fox 12" with res and DSC and fox air bumps

 

Is this thread advocating ignoring OEM rated tow capacities and GVWR?

 

no water in the holding tanks and ready for sub zero camping/hunting. 13,340lbs

 

It's basically children talking about playing Russian roulette.

 

Advocating, No. But saying it is possible. Yes. My truck tows my camper great. Up hill, down hill, through the canyons, and up in the mountains. Is it taking a toll on the truck? Maybe, but that is why I inspect the truck and have the modifications that I do and do what it takes to be safe. Like coming out of elk camp this year I had the front of the truck chained up and the front axle of the camper chained as well. Roads were packed snow and ice over gravel. I had my camper, my buddy had his Tundra with his 28' camper chained up the same as I and his dad had his F150 with cable chains and a 20' flat bed with 2 fourwheelers, a threewheeler, and two generators. Was a great elk hunting trip! And if I didn't feel like my set up wasn't safe, I wouldn't travel 5-6 hours like this with my family and dog in the truck. Does it all great, just thirsty.

 

Rules and ratings are there for a reason. If you think the laws don’t apply to you because you are smarter than those making the laws you are wrong. No different than those drinking and driving who know how safe they are regardless of their consumption. Make whatever arguement you want. Operating overloaded is unsafe. It is not a smart move in terms of safety. It is irresponsible financially when you consider the liability you take on when ignoring manufacturers ratings. It is putting everyone in your vehicle at risk. On top of that it is putting those law and rule abiding citizens at risk who drive on the same roads as you. They adhere to the ratings yet still can be killed by an overloaded vehicle because you are smarter than the ratings.

So worst case scenario you killed someone and go to jail for it. So who wins by your rule breaking? Those who lost a loved one? Your family who loses you to jail? Your family who may lose their house when they lose a breadwinner while you are in jail? Or losing everything else when you are found negligent and are sued for everything you own?

Use your head and realize the ratings are there for a reason.

 

Pretty much every fully armored truck full of camping gear with two adults is over the max payload.

The thing is when you put heavier duty springs under it the truck can haul heavier loads safely

 

Bullshit.

OEM truck ratings don’t change an ounce when you swap springs. You get pulled into a roadside weight scale / truck inspection and try to say you are not overloaded because the weight is from armoured bumpers and skids but I have these nice springs and you still get pulled off the road and ticketed.

This is not a joke. Weight ratings are derived from more than just what the capacity of your springs are.

I personally hope each and every one of you who feel you aren’t overloaded gets pulled over and scaled. Then you can try your theories out and see who is right. At the least it might drive the msg home before someone gets hurt or worse.

If you feel different write to Toyota Corp and get it in writing that your theories are correct and that you can ignore their printed documents that say otherwise. In terms of the law concerning vehicle ratings and liability the OEM ratings are what is considered legal. Exceeding these ratings makes your vehicle unsafe in the eyes of the law and makes you assume ALL liability once you exceeded OEM ratings. Argue all you want but in terms of the law that is what is legal. This is further backed up by the fact that Toyota will add decals reducing the capacity of a trucks ratings as OEM accessories are factory or dealer installed.

 

Ok.
So if I put a supercharger on my truck should I go by the factory horsepower ratings Or by the what the dyno says.

My point is once you modify something you change what it can do.

You might be right about the laws I don’t know but I have never seen anyone in a passenger vehicle get pulled over and weighed.

 

That’s true to an extent but it really doesn’t apply to vehicle weight ratings and towing capacity. Just because the suspension doesn’t sag as much when overloaded doesn’t mean the frame, brakes and transmission are up to the task.

 

If no one has ever seen someone get weighed and ticketed does that mean it doesn’t happen? Guess the reason for the law is less important than your chance of being caught. Guess murder is legal as long as you don’t get caught. Same applies to drinking and driving. Actually all laws don’t need to be followed based on the arguement that they only apply to those that got caught.

Arguements like this are a waste of time. Some of us believe the ratings and laws matter. Others figure they are ok because they are being careful and it will be fine. I keep bringing up drinking and driving laws because the same logic applies. People know the law. People know they are pushing the boundaries. People justify their actions based on their rationalization that it will end with zero consequences. Which some of the time they get away with it. Then one day it ends badly. Maybe a fine, maybe jail or maybe lives are lost. No different than any other time they drove intoxicated but today shit went sideways.

 

Why are you only quoting part of my posts.

Well if it was a huge problem law enforcement would be out weighing mid-sized trucks to make sure their not overweight. Like they do a DUI checkpoints

Do you think this is safe?



https://www.autotrader.com/car-news/toyota-tundra-tows-space-shuttle-endeavor-193574

Just saying. Toyota breaks their own ratings because they can do it safely. This truck was unmodified. Imagine what they could pull with stiffer springs

 

I hope I get scaled too. Because legally my combined weight can reach 16,000lbs. Because that is what I paid for when I registered my truck. Even though RV's are exempt. Never know when I might need to help someone out and haul another vehicle on a car hauler. And I do plan to go to ND and pick up my '89 toyota truck also.

These are ratings, not laws. And the fact that I have been doing this for 5 years and have yet to loose a wheel bearing or crush an axle tube seems like I am doing something right. But to be honest, this camper is new this year. My previous one was longer by two feet. But it was about 1500lbs lighter but had 300lbs more tongue weight. If I am not killing wheel bearings, bending axle housings, breaking axles, and all the other things that are so horrible from overloading my truck, why is it so bad for a 6k truck to tow a 8k camper but it is just fine for a 10k truck to tow a 18k camper? Given the physics of mass and inertia, I am safer than he is.

 

And if they aren't. That person will have to pay to have it fixed. If they are being responsible, they are doing checks on the vehicle and know the consequences of what they are doing. This is my third camper with this truck. I didn't just jump into a stock truck and ask it to do more than what it was intended for. I built it to do what it does.

 

Again. It is not against the law to tow more than what a vehicle is rated for in the US. Or at least Idaho. Maybe it is in canada, but not Idaho. It is only against the law if you haven't registered your vehicle to do it. The first tier is set at 8000lbs. So a half ton truck with a small trailer and a sxs is over the limit unless he pays to got to the next tier. 16k lbs. And 26k lbs is the highest for a passenger vehicle in Idaho.

 

As far as I know that is true, exceeding the manufacturers GVCWR is not illegal. Probably more than 99% of the time you will get away without a problem but it opens you up for trouble if you’re at fault in an accident. A case could be made and won for negligence in a civil court and your insurance could decline coverage for the accident.

 

Do what you feel is safe and legal. If you are wrong it is your liability.


Check a fork truck it has ratings.
Check a crane it has ratings.
Check an elevator it has ratings.
But suggest the ratings in your truck mean anything and people will argue all day long they have no meaning.

Enjoy the rest of your discussion guys but I am out.

 

Will you end up with a "K" on your plate?

 

Me, no i don't need over 16k. So I will always be "INACOMA" on my plates. I don't think the the K on the plates are anything to do with towing. It is just a commercial vehicle.

 

actually it depends. in the US we generally downgrade tow ratings verses the same car in other country. its more about different regs for dumber people. not saying everybody should go out and tow more then the truck can handle, but some people ARE better/smarter on how to tow heavy loads. It comes down to many factors.