Weight!!

Hey all!! . I have a 2011 Toyota Tacoma TRD 4X4 and I’m planning on loading 1500 lbs of vinyl flooring in the bed of it and driving about 30 miles. Question is, as I can’t find my manual and haven’t gotten my question answered clearly on Google has anyone hauled this much weight in the bed of their truck and was it an issue?? Thanks in advance. Cheers!!

 

Lots have done it, but you're going to be a little over your GVWR and probably sitting on your bump stops. Not going to be the best experience nor is it legally going to be "safe". Your choice on if you want to risk it or not. Should have a door sticker with GVWR, then that minus the weight of truck, plus your weight is your payload capacity.

 

Well, 1500lbs is 3/4 ton. Tacomas are considered a 1/2 ton truck (1000lbs) on paper. I wanna say my manual says payload is 1200lbs? But's that's with everything included (you, the dog, your tools, the cooler full of beer, etc), so factor that in.

That being said; plenty of people here will testify how they've overloaded their trucks with [fill in the blank] and driven far more treacherous distances/trails without any issues.



I wouldn't try it. I'd rent a small utility trailer and load up the vinyl flooring onto that. But that's just me.

 

For future reference, see here: https://www.tacomaworld.com/forums/towing.34/

and here: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-tacoma-towing-bible.4031/

 

Spend the 40 bucks and rent a trailer for a couple hours.

 

Load capacity is at maximum 850-1250lbs. But the weight of you and your passengers reduce that.

Pg485 https://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document/om-s/OM35A34U/pdf/OM35A34U.pdf

 

A 5*7 Uhaul is 15 bucks for the day. Save your suspension.

 

There is a payload sticker on the drivers door jamb. MOST Tacoma's are going to be 1100-1300 lbs. Some may be under 1000 lbs, and some may be as much as 1500. It is theoretically possible to get an Access Cab with 4 cyl, manual and no other options with around 2000 lbs.

The GVWR is the same, but payload is the actual weight of the truck subtracted from GVWR. Since every truck is different you won't find actual payload listed in any manual. The ones listed are the max possible under perfect conditions. That is why they actually weigh every truck as it rolls off the assembly line, subtract that from GVWR, then print a sticker with payload for that individual truck and attach it to the door jamb.

 

As others have said, the payload includes any passengers cargo and a full tank of fuel. If you're close to 1300 lbs payload and don't carry any other passengers with you I'd haul 1500 lbs for 30 miles. If your payload is closer to 1000, no.

 

Definitely overweight, but so are most of the "OVERLAND" trucks on here with their heavy steel bumpers, skids, sliders, roof racks and eight hundred light bars.

If it's flat and you can drive side roads below 50mph, you will probably be fine. Like other said, you will be riding on bump stops, so if you see any bumps coming, SLOW down or you'll collapse the bump stops on the frame

Or, cheap insurance to just rent a trailer and be done with it.

 

Just do 2 trips

 

I’d do it. I put a pallet of travertine in the back by forklift and I was 1/2 inch to the bump stops. That was 5 years ago and nothing happened.

 

If it's from HD or Lowes use their rental truck.

 

Yes, the big box stores rent 1/2 ton Full size trucks for about $20/hour.

Overload their trucks. Save yours.

Or have the big box deliver it.

 

Make two trips, or just borrow/rent a trailer.

 

The other thing to consider is the length of the load. There's a big difference between 1,500 lbs over the axle and 1,500 lbs worth of 10'-12' long rolls of vinyl flooring hanging partway over the tailgate.
I guess you might be hauling boxes of VCT squares and not rolls...

 

Like others have already stated. You can do it. But is it worth it.
If get into an accident it could be a nightmare for you. Or you could cause mechanical damage to your Tacoma. Its not just the dead weight, but the sprung weight going down the road over bumps.

If you'd really rather use the bed, why not just make two trips? It won't overload your truck and you won't have to deal with any problems.

Thats just my attempt to help.

 

I wouldn't think twice, that's not really that overloaded. Drive safely. Don't speed. Understand that your braking distance will be diminished. Watch out for bumps. Lots of weight in the bed takes weight off the front end so it can make the front suspension a bit floaty. Take corners a little slower...

1500lbs really isn't that bad. I accidentally overloaded mine with 2000lbs once with a load I was taking to the dump. I was blown away at how well the truck handled the weight. Seemed to handle it better than my old '99 F-150 with a similar amount of weight in the bed.

If you were doing it regularly then maybe it'd be too much abuse but every now and then I wouldn't even give it a second thought.

 

Awesome advice everyone. Thx very much for the help. I’ll either Mske 2 trips or rent a trailer. It’s ftom Lowe’s in Lake Havasu and they don’t have a rental truck so I’ll just rent a u hail. Thx again everyone.

 

You will be fine. Drive gently, no whoop whoops.