Is my payload going to be too high for offroading?

Hello all,

As the title states I wanted some insight on this topic since I plan to start adding more parts to my truck. I wanted to add a rtt, steel bed rack, and either 3/16 or 1/4 steel skids set with LCA and rear diff skids. I also plan to add tools, gas, parts, etc as one would when going out for days at a time. Considering the trucks available payload being pretty low how do you guys balance it or keep it under? Is this going to be too much? I know once all is said and done I'll be above 1k easily with just the skids. Is there anyway to actually increase your true payload capabilities?

I'm torn between bamf 1/4 steel skids and RCI's 3/16 steel skids which have a pretty big difference in weight. So depending on the feedback here it will help me decide which route to go.

Truck:
2014 double cab short bed, offroad

So far I have:
Slider -150#
Bed rack -95#
Arb front bumper -240#
Peflybilt rear bumper (no swingout) -~120#
8k ramsey winch with wire (replacing to syth*)-75#
Prinsu rack -75#

Dakar HD leafspring kit
OME suspension with 886's and nitro chargers
Oem factory spare rims (until I get some beadlocks)
Ko2's

Potential parts:
Rci skid plates -120#
Or
Bamf skid plates -200#
Bamf/RCI LCA skids -23#
Rear diff skid -65# (guessing weight)
Vegabond roam rtt -120#

Thank you to anyone who has any input on this for me!

 

Ronny Dahl talks a lot about this on his YT channel. Might be worth checking out since he's currently driving a Hilux.

 

Plenty of people are running even more without issue. The max GVWR is pretty conservative and considers the shocks valving and springs, if you get higher load rated springs and shocks to dampen the increased load you should be fine, you're not going to damage the frame unless you're jumping it.

Then it's a good idea to get shock tower gussets and a bed frame etc etc but if you're just doing light trails and fire road camping you will be fine as you are.

I'd highly recommend upgrading your bump stops though as you'll have a lot more load hitting them when you do and you'll appreciate them being softer with more deceleration.

I'm pushing close to 6k on the scale when in "overland" trim and have no frame mods beyond TC cam plates.

I do have FOX 2.5 with reservoirs and 14" 700lb Kings up front with DuroBumps.

Rear I need to upgrade pretty badly, am on OME MD leafs that are starting to sag, Bilstein 5100's extended and have a Timbren U bolt and bump stop flip kit.

 

I’d look into bed stiffeners too
There have been a few guys crack the bed.

I can’t help with any other advice.
If I need to carry a heavy load, I use a trailer. Plus, I don’t do much off road stuff. I hate the clean up.

 

I'm pushing around 6K lbs right now(axles are roughly 2700# fr, 3200# rr). First thing I would do would be to upgrade the rear springs to something like Deaver or Alcan(I've had the HD Dakars and they went flat before my Drifter ever went on). I would also add new bump stops, bed stiffeners(as mentioned in above posts) and new rear spring mounts(like BAMF or Archive).

 

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll give him a look this evening.

 

I appreciate the advice. Thankfully the first thing I did was add some bed stiffeners by Chao Fab to my rig. Good advice though.

 

I like the suggestions. I've heard nothing but good things about Deaver and have been eyeing them since I got the HD Dakars. The Dakars ride ridiculously rough for me atm. Thankfully I found some bed stiffeners for a good price earlier, but I'll be sure to add bump stops to my list and look into rear spring mounts (since I don't know much how about them). Thanks for the help.

 

Dang, that is some weight you're pushing there. So far I haven't made any frame changes to my truck just yet, but I do not plan on jumping the thing anytime soon! I figured that the weight they listed was the ammount before any sort of frame damage happens by breaking/weakening welds or something. Everyone seems to agree on bump stops, so those are top of my list atm. I'm still fairly new to this so I'll just be running light trails and offroading until I gain some more experience. I appreciate the recommendations and writeup!

 

I think what you meant was "Is my payload going to be too low?" Typical payload for a factory 4x4 DC is 1000-1300 lbs. That includes the driver, passengers, cargo and any modifications. The GVWR is around 5500 lbs. That means the total weight of everything including tongue weight of a trailer.

The GVWR isn't just for the suspension, but the brakes and steering too. There probably has never been a truck built that didn't exceed GVWR occasionally. If driven carefully for short trips I'm OK with that. But running a rig at 6000 lbs before adding any passengers or cargo is just asking for trouble IMO. Swapping suspension and re-gearing axles only goes so far.

The curb weight of most 4x4 DC Tacomas is in the 4200-4500 lb range. Adding 2000+ lbs of modifications, passengers, and cargo is just asking too much. The military discovered this with the Hummer. As designed it was a great vehicle. But they tried to turn it into something it wasn't designed for. Over time adding armor and firepower led to an overweight, cumbersome and unreliable vehicle.

 

Experiences at work, we use cargo vans as work trucks. For years, the ford e350 was the go to. Then someone decided to try the nissan nv, big mistake. With just a big air compressor and big toolbox, braking and acceleration are severely affected. After adding cases of oil and multiple parts made it worse. I ended up over the gvwr, but not by much. The Nissan nv is a titan with a van instead of a truck on the frame. It's brakes are really horrible. If you didn't pump the brake pedal as you come to a stop, sitting at a light it would suddenly start rolling forward until you pumped the pedal to stop.

The Tacoma's brakes are much better than the Nissan's. Even though the Nissan had huge discs all around. Once you finish getting the weight on your's, you might feel the need to doing a big brake upgrade. When you make that first hard stop, you'll know if you need it or not.

 

First real offroading this summer in overland guise... Rear springs like Deavers are a must as are the bump stops mentioned above. Don't know what my weight was, but we smacked the backend a lot! The backend has gas down below with the swing out (255/85r16) and all the gear, so we were pretty heavy and tussling with some pretty rough roads in the Big Horns. I also went to a one piece drive shaft. Springs are a must... Included a picture of the mess in overland mode. Gonna add a plate bumper and some of the 3/16 plates under the front this winter. And some Deavers...

 

Yeah, if you do a search.
It wasn’t too long ago that a guy posted about his. A few other guys said it happened to them as well. Most had a RTT on them.