Help with increasing pay load

I have Helwigs on mine. We haul moonwalks in my bed every weekend and they do pretty well. Don't know how much wood you might haul though.

 

As OZ stated, Dakars. They also have the

$82 D29XL Leaf Spring

D29XL leaf you can add for 15mm of additional height and increased spring rate. Just installed this setup and I love it so far.

 

Im just a tad nose high in this pic, but I also have 886's with no weight out front. I have Dakars with superbumps and the ride with this load was very good. In this pic I was just about touching the bumpstops, however, the stops compress to stock height, so still had some room.


And empty for comparison

 

I had the Timbren's and then I installed the firestone airbags. The Timbrens were nice but what I didn't like was when you put in a medium size load that won't allow the stop to fully rest on the frame, it would have a little bounce. They did do their job well. I like the airbags much better because I can fine tune them to the load that I am carrying and they have a very smooth ride. I keep 10 to 12 PSI in mine 247 and I feel it makes the Taco a much better handle even without a load.

 

Timbrens aren't really bumstops, there more just bumps. They don't really compress, and with the size of our trucks, and the amount of load they can carry, they are too stiff. Something a little softer like the wheelers superbumps are sweet and are pretty cheap, compared to the timbrens.

This is stuff for the op, not saying the bags are worst/better, just saying how different bumps make a difference,

 

Just installed firestone ride rite airbags. Rides great with 5-8 lbs of air when truck bed is empty. Going to haul some fire wood this friday , so I will find out how it does with a load. I also installed daystar cradles so the bottom of the airbag is free floating. Seems to let the axle have full range of motion like when going offroad. Rides great empty,works off road and will know friday how it does under load.

 

I seriously doubt their ability to read.

 

The GVWR is limited more by the truck's acceleration, braking, and handling ability. In the 1980s-1990s, when performance standards for payload and towing were more relaxed than today's, even 5-lug Toyota pickups were rated for 2000-lb payload. The rear axle and bearings we have now are equal or better than those days. So really it depends on Ak yoda's planned driving conditons with a full load. Rural farm road at slow speed? No problem. Highway should probably be avoided.

 

^^^^This.....plus my Dakars I see a big improvement in payload so +1 for Dakars.

 

The stricter payloads do have to do with safety, but they aren't that much of a drop, even when compared to the older trucks.

A 5 lug pickup will have a higher payload capacity because of the difference between the gross weight to curb weight.

For example, a 2013 4 cylinder tacoma reg cab has a higher payload capacity compared to my 2013 V6 tacoma dclb because the truck has a much higher curb weight.

2013 reg cab 2.7L 1325lb payload
2013 DCLB V6 1215lb payload

A 93 Toyota pickup w/ a V6 has a payload of 1490 lbs and the 4 cylinder has a payload of 1760 lbs.

 

^Need to go back further in history. A 1986 pickup has 2655 lb payload capacity (and 5000 lb towing capacity)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omL_JumuSs4

 

Okay thanks for all the input. I failed to mention that my truck has these road master overload springs that were installed by a previous owner. They are supposed to help with driving under a heavy load. Not sure how effective they are. I think my solution is a combo of actions. 1 get a trailer. 2 install new shocks that it can adjust the pressure on. I'm told they are fairly cheap, easy to install, and effective. Ranchos? Supposed to have a lifetime warranty. Anyways I am loading a lot of green semi hardwood logs and really packing them in. I am not impressed with the tacos ability to hold the load in the suspension, but no issue power wise which gives me faith that I don't need a huge truck.

 

The Tacoma suspension is notoriously weak but I'd say you're asking a bit much from it. That's got to be a lot more weight than the truck was designed to handle. It is just a mid size truck after all, not a full size work truck.

 

How do you post the larger photos?

 

Again, the difference between gross and curb weight equals payload. Much lighter truck. Just sayin.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^

Dakars are the best way to help handle the load better but it wont increase load capability. I also haul firewood and use my truck as a truck but I like the lift because I also use it like a 4x4 and wheel it here and there. Hellwig makes helper springs that I have used and they help well with load, believe they make two styles. check them out under $200.

 

I move a fair amount of firewood as well, found it best to not overload the bed (usually about a face cord) and use a trailer for the rest.

 

Just checked napa and they have a set of helper springs for 85$. That seems real cheap and I am suspicious. Thinking of ordering hellwigs.

 

Sorry to continue to beat up this thread. I decided to summon a little intelligence and take my truck to the scale at the dump after loading some logs. The scale measured at. 7550lbs. My truck weighs around 4100lbs so I was , to my complete surprise, carrying around 3400 in the bed of my truck. Minus gas and tools I probably had around 3200lbs. The truck handled fine, I was driving 55 on the hwy and looked down to realiZe I was at 65 at one moment with no issues. So my overloads are over, I thought I was hauling 1500 lbs at most. It's not even much wood in my opinion. Time for a suspension upgrade and a trailer.

 

With all due respect, you are batshit crazy if you think 3200lbs of loaded weight in a 1/2 ton rated truck handles fine at any speed....