Is being a little over GVWR no worse than doing 60 in a 55?

cbshoestring wrote:
The US Department of Transportation, as well as the Federal Highway Administration, address overweight in numerous laws. Mostly they are concerned with truckers (FMCSA), but not "all" the laws say "commercial"....

With all due respect, Poppy Cock! You shouldn't play lawyer, you're not very good at it.

joel T wrote:
I'd wager many are over GVWR

LOL
I would wager 100 percent of all commercial trucks out here on the highway running a LDT/MDT or HDT are carrying weight over the truck GVWR. There is no law anywhere including BC that says a truck can't carry weight above its GVWR.
There are laws that says its illegal to carry weight above a axle/tire load rating. And that doesn't mean we can put a 4k rated 19.5" tires on a 1/2 ton and carry 8000 lbs.

A truck maker may choose any GVWR he wants up to the sum of the axle ratings.

Example of the fallacy of using GVWR is Fords F350 SRW with a 11500 GVWR. They offer the same exact F350 SRW truck in a 10000 GVWR.
Makes all the hand wringing about being over a GVWR kinda silly with these size trucks.

Just stay under your 1/2 ton trucks RAWR/especially P tire rating as its carrying most if not all of the load.
And if the 1/2 ton Ram has a small engine/tall gears and tires IMO you won't like the towing performance in the big hills or out west here in 40 mph head winds all day long, if over its tow rating.

Exceeding the speed limit is illegal.

Loading a non-commercial vehicle over GVWR is not, unless that happens to also be a license weight for the purpose of paying taxes or fees, then it would be a fee violation.

Congrats. You have found one of the hot buttons on the forum.

Lots of opinions here, many of which will quote laws which may or may not be accurate, or applicable to your location. I am surprised that they "your insurance coverage will be invalid" crew hasn't yet responded (inaccurate unless you have a written policy exclusion).

Personally, I would make sure to stay at or below the tire and axle ratings.

Good luck, and enjoy the show.

The US Department of Transportation, as well as the Federal Highway Administration, address overweight in numerous laws. Mostly they are concerned with truckers (FMCSA), but not "all" the laws say "commercial". Therefore, they apply to all vehicles on the road. They can & Have pulled RV's across the scales and done safety inspections in Pennsylvania.

In fact, after a tree trimmer hauling a wood chipper killed a few people, the local creeper cops attacked anything towing...anything. The local construction guys sure found out that the backhoe behind their 1/2 ton wasn't legal.

At a minimum they can nap you for "Operating an unsafe motor vehicle". Got anything not tied down in the trailer? Unsafe--improperly secured load. Both would really put a bummer on what is hopefully a good trip.

I am not hear to argue the point. That is a dead horse on many forums.

I had a half-ton Suburban. Towed a 6,000-lb trailer on two cross-country trips. I was only over "a little" on my rear axle weight, and below my GVWR..

The first trip, the pinion bearing of the rear end spun at the toll plaza at the PA/OH state line. Got to spend three days of my vacation in lovely Youngstown, OH instead of Washington, DC.

The following year, on a trip out to Yellowstone, the rear end failed in the middle of nowhere in South Dakota. Got to spend 4 days in Mitchell, SD (the world's largest corn palace!) instead of Rushmore and Yellowstone.

So, exceeding my RAWR "a little" cost me roughly $5000 and a total of seven vacation days.

Oh, and BTW, I had a higher RAWR (4000) and higher GVWR (7200) than your Ram. Do whatever you want. I'm just offering my experience.

That's why I upgraded to the 3/4 ton Suburban - 8600 GVWR and 5500 RAWR.

cbshoestring wrote:
Just because SOMEONE needs to say it:

For a violation of 1-4,000 pounds over the limit, the fine is 3 cents per pound. For violations of 4,001-10,000 pounds over the limit, the fine is $120 plus 12 cents per pound. For violations 10,001-15,000 pounds over the limit, the fine is $840, plus 16 cents per pound. For violations of 15,001-20,000 pounds over the limit, the fine is $1640, plus 20 cents per pound. For violations over 20,001 pounds over the limit, the fine is $2640, plus 30 cents per pound(EXAMPLE FROM STATE OF WASHINGTON).

YES folks, hauling over weight is illegal. This includes GAWR or GVWR. Chances are the above fines would only be imposed on a truck driver (As a fleet manager, I assure you they are), but the law in most states does not apply just to commercial vehicles...It even applies to you.

Please show me a statue that states GAWR and GVWR are legally binding.

In Idaho, and several other states I have looked up, there is NOTHING that holds me to the door sticker.

The limits that you can be fined for are exceeding tire limits or standard axle limits. If you are exceeding standard axle limits on a pickup then good on ya, it's 20K lbs/axle. Stay under your tire limits and you are DOT legal. Put 22.5" tires on a Ranger and load it up and you can probably get one of many tickets but they technically are not overloaded.

The only GAWR that must be obeyed, in Idaho, is a TAG axle. Otherwise AWR is a manufacturer number and not a DOT one.

While one should use caution if they exceed a door sticker I have yet to find where it's illegal.

Have the appropriate tires for the load, pay for your weight and use some common sense on loading... but mainly be safe. If unsure about the actual capabilities stick to what the mfgr has suggested.

Just because SOMEONE needs to say it:

For a violation of 1-4,000 pounds over the limit, the fine is 3 cents per pound. For violations of 4,001-10,000 pounds over the limit, the fine is $120 plus 12 cents per pound. For violations 10,001-15,000 pounds over the limit, the fine is $840, plus 16 cents per pound. For violations of 15,001-20,000 pounds over the limit, the fine is $1640, plus 20 cents per pound. For violations over 20,001 pounds over the limit, the fine is $2640, plus 30 cents per pound(EXAMPLE FROM STATE OF WASHINGTON).

YES folks, hauling over weight is illegal. This includes GAWR or GVWR. Chances are the above fines would only be imposed on a truck driver (As a fleet manager, I assure you they are), but the law in most states does not apply just to commercial vehicles...It even applies to you.

So two wrongs make it right. Using that theory yes you can be overweight only if you are speeding. I guess the more overweight you are the faster you need to be over the speed limit.

Joel_T wrote:
GVWR is 6900 but each axle is 3900. I'm at 6600lbs with 2 adults, 3 dogs, 2 kayaks on a canopy and a small amount of gear. I'm (totally) guessing another 600lbs for an 800lb tongue weight which puts me over. Tow max is 7900 and GCVW is 13500 for our Ram1500 / 5.7hemi / CC / 4x4.

A 2285 loaded will have a TW of around 780lbs ± 120lbs.

Have you weighed your setup without the trailer?

Looking at some curb weights of the Ram 1500's you have about 1,600lbs to spare on the rear axle. Looking at what you mentioned I am not sure how you will be under RAWR. Based on their location the canopy and kayaks will be >90% on the rear axle, same thing with the dogs if they are in the bed, even in the back seat about 50% of their weight goes to the rear axle. The receiver hitch will actually add more than it weighs to the rear axle, based on it's location. Unless you restore 100% of the TW with a WDH the non-restored TW will also add more than it weighs.

If you haven't scaled the pickup fully loaded, minus the trailer, you need to.