mkirsch wrote:
The long and short of it is, you can put higher-rated tires on it, and shore up the suspension with aftermarket parts to handle the weight.
No matter what anyone says, that does not change the numbers assigned by the manufacturer, but you're planning on ignoring those numbers anyway, so who cares?
What you're really asking is if someone else will take the blame if something happens. The answer to that is no. It's all you.
My state Washington, ignores manufactures numbers. You buy tonnage in 2000 lb increments. Minimum tonnage you buy is tare times 1.5 to next highest ton.
Example. My GM 1500 at 5400 tare requires 5400+2700 =8100. Techniquely I should have a 10K plate. I have an 8k plate. I'm legal to 8k gvw. My 7200gvwr door sticker means squat!!!!
My Navistar has a door sticker of 18200. I'm licensed at 26000GVW. I e been pulled over, and gone thru WSDOT scale houses upwards of 26000 lbs. I have YET to get an over wieght ticket, nor do I figure too. Even the one time I was at 27200. I got a 10 day up my license tag to 28000....oh dear oh me oh my, all of $15 to up registration another ton! Oh dear oh me oh my. The sky is falling down.
LEOs enforce the "engineer" designed road bed limits. NOT the engineer designed limits of a manufacture! Been going on 150-200 years like this this.
No one is going to change these laws any time soon. Too much history.
With the above typed said in my part. The OP in reality needs a bigger chassis designed truck for what he wants to do in a safe and sane matter. There is a reason I own a class 6 truck vs a class 4 as I was initially thinking. Unfortunately, I wasted thousands of dollars in repairs with a DW 3500 chassis cab before buying the IHC.
Choose your poison correctly!
Marty
