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10-09-19

Is My Pickup Truck Overloaded?

While it might be tempting to think that your truck can handle anything you can load into the cabin and bed (anyone here a puzzle expert?) the damage you can do to your vehicle from overloading is serious and not always obvious. While you probably won’t kill your truck by hauling a few (hundred) extra kilos in the back, you can definitely put a strain on it that it wasn’t designed to handle.
Mechanic looking at wheel and axel

Common truck damage from overloading

The strain of overloading isn’t good for your vehicle, whether it suffers from regular wear and tear or just hits that bump in the road even once. Some common issues include:

  • broken or fatigued springs
  • damaged axel and pinion seals
  • worn bearings
  • serious damage to your shocks

While we at Craig Dunn Motor City are happy to help you with all your service needs, it’s always best to avoid needing to make a trip to the shop (even if you can make a service appointment online!).

To figure out how much you can safely fit in your truck, take the gross vehicle weight rating (that is, the maximum weight that your truck is certified to handle) and subtract the weight of the truck and yourself (and any passengers) while driving. So if you have a two-wheel drive 2015 Chevy Silverado Regular Cab that has gross vehicle weight rating of 2948 kg and a curb weight of 2051 kg, you and your cargo combined can weight up to 885 kg. Check out our inventory to see other options that may offer greater payload capacity!

The occasional overloaded truck may not seriously damage anything, but if you don’t have much of a choice (or are willing to take the risk) be sure to take the journey slow and be super aware of any unusual sounds or reactions from your truck. Remember that the load your pickup can handle in the bed and cabin is a lot less than what you can safely tow.

Safe hauling and towing and we hope to see you when you want to upgrade to the latest Chevy Silverado or other Chevy and GM truck!!

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Is My Pickup Truck Overloaded? - Craig Dunn Chevy Buick GMC Ltd

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