What does 2000 pound vehicle load rating mean?

/ Automotive, Trucks / By

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Vehicle load ratings are important for those who own or buy a vehicle. For example, if you’re buying a truck and the only thing you care about is how much weight it can carry, then knowing the vehicle load rating may be important to you. A 2000 pound vehicle load rating means that your truck has a capacity to haul 2 tons worth of cargo without exceeding its manufacturer’s limits.

This rating of 2000 pounds includes anything that you will add to the truck after it has left the factory.

This includes people

Something that not many people think about with their vehicle load rating is people.

For example, you probably didn’t know that the original Lincoln Blackwood pickup truck only had a load rating of 1,200 pounds. This means that if all 4 seats were taken up by 250 pound people, and they each had their own luggage, the payload capacity of the truck would be depleted and could cause damage to the truck itself.

This includes items in the bed

Something else people don’t consider when working with their truck is what they are actually putting in the bed of their truck. I have seen people way over capacity at the garden center when picking up dirt, and they just don’t think about the capacity of their truck.

This can easily cause massive damage to your frame, and permanently destroy your truck.

Other things to consider with your payload

There are of course other things that go into adding to your payload capacity such as the weight of your bed cover, the weight of your tow hitch and any other accessories you may have installed.

The only way to know for sure what your payload is going to be is by getting a qualified mechanic or engineer out there with their equipment and weighing everything up.

What happens when you max out your payload?

If you are wanting to make sure your truck stays in pristine condition then paying attention to our payload capacity is imperative. There are a few common things that can happen when you go over your payload.

  1. If you go over your payload by one hundred pounds, you may notice a slight compression of your springs. If this happens in the front then it can cause the steering to become more difficult and if this occurs at back then the truck will sway side-to-side when turning.
  2. The second thing that may happen is that you might start to find your frame begins to buckle. This is normally what happens when you are hauling something that has a higher weight than your payload capacity.
  3. The third thing to consider if this occurs is the possibility of suspension damage, including shocks and struts becoming compressed or broken in some cases.

In most cases with all three consequences it won’t take long before they cause serious problems for your truck that will be almost impossible to come back from.

Conclusion

I hope this article helped you understand a little bit more about what goes into a payload capacity, especially for those that have a 2000 pound payload. This is a very important consideration for those that are looking to buy any type of truck.

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