Max weight for bed (Payload)

[IZRL]

Just loaded truck with bricks. Truck moves well enough. More wondering about the the strength of the bed itself.

 

 

Edited May 16 by IZRL

[IZRL]

Well damn.... Scratch that. There's no way this truck was meant to carry this much weight. I've made 3 trips to pick up bricks. First 2 trips I loaded the truck with about 175 bricks each. I guesstimated the bricks weighed max 2 1/2 lbs each. Today's trip I loaded the truck up with 222 bricks. Thinking 555 lbs doesn't sound that bad. But then I double guessed myself after I took a second look at how bad the truck was squatting, which is why I asked the question.

 

I should've weighed the bricks instead of just taking a wild guess. Got home today and weighed one of the bricks just for kicks. It weighed in at 7 lbs 5 oz. Rounding down to 7lbs. I was carrying 1,225 lbs the first 2 trips and 1,554 lbs on today's trip 😲🤦‍♂️.

 

 

 

Edited May 16 by IZRL

[bottomwatcher]

You ever see how many Africans they put in the bed of a mini truck in Africa? They can take a hell of a load. The biggest issue is stopping though.

[datzenmike]

The 620 payload is 1,000 pounds but that's with 6 ply rated truck tires not the LT tires of today that are more for driver comfort. I had 1,700 pounds on my 521 and wayno has carried far and away much more. If carrying that much weight, air up the tires to maximum. When tires squash like that they flex when turning and that generates heat and that's very bad. Over inflated is preferable to under. 

 

Yes the brakes are scary. Leave LOTS of room.

[datzenmike]

Oh it's a 720.  King Cabs 500Kg or 1,100 pounds.

 

Does the engine tag start with an E. That would be heavy duty and those were rated at 700Kg or 1,540 pounds. Maybe the crew cab used the heavy duty rating?

[fivetenguy]

Years ago I had a '74 620 with an L18 with a Weber and automatic. I loaded the truck with 46 rolls of sod. I asked the forklift driver how much a pallet (50 rolls) of sod weighed. He told me 2000lbs. 

I took the freeway to get home and drove 60 to 65mph all the way (10 miles). I just kept my distance for stopping purposes. 

These early Datsuns and Nissans are tough 💪.

[Thomas Perkins]

Not good for your transmission.

[wayno]

I have hauled a lot of weight in the past and also recently, for me it is the axle that is the weak spot, my Nissan dually axle was rated for 1700lbs as I recall, I thought the H190 was rated at 2000lbs, either way at some point overloading your truck is going to bite you in the ass but keep reading.

 

Recently I bought over 710 6"X9" pavers, they are around 12lbs each(wet), I hauled slightly over 350 pavers each trip, I figured I was hauling over 4200lbs each trip and I still had decent brakes on the freeway, my 521 work truck has 2 extra full-length leafs in my leaf pack(it has 7 leafs each side).

 

As for the tires, the P195 R 14 tires I use are each rated for 1500lbs as I recall, I have 4 of them on my rear axle, that is 6000lbs for 4 of them, I never gave them much thought after finding out about that.

 

Here is a load from last December, 560 8"X16"X1.5" pavers, two trips to get them home, don't know what them loads weighed.

 

 

I do not know how many connections your box has to the frame, but Nissan makes their trucks tough enough to take some abuse, I normally use 4th gear when hauling mass amounts of weight, but on the freeway on level ground I have used 5th gear when going an even speed.

 

I do this all the time.

 

 

I have not been bitten in the ass yet, I am very lucky.

Edited May 16 by wayno

[DwayneOxford]

Old farmer/sawmiller friend, RIP, bought a reg. cab Hardbody when they came out and Nissan was pushing sales. He bent the frame. Said he tried to make a mule of the donkey.

[ElliotV]

3 hours ago, wayno said:

I have hauled a lot of weight in the past and also recently, for me it is the axle that is the weak spot, my Nissan dually axle was rated for 1700lbs as I recall, I thought the H190 was rated at 2000lbs, either way at some point overloading your truck is going to bite you in the ass but keep reading.

 

Recently I bought over 710 6"X9" pavers, they are around 12lbs each(wet), I hauled slightly over 350 pavers each trip, I figured I was hauling over 4200lbs each trip and I still had decent brakes on the freeway, my 521 work truck has 2 extra full-length leafs in my leaf pack(it has 7 leafs each side).

 

As for the tires, the P195 R 14 tires I use are each rated for 1500lbs as I recall, I have 4 of them on my rear axle, that is 6000lbs for 4 of them, I never gave them much thought after finding out about that.

 

Here is a load from last December, 560 8"X16"X1.5" pavers, two trips to get them home, don't know what them loads weighed.

 

 

I do not know how many connections your box has to the frame, but Nissan makes their trucks tough enough to take some abuse, I normally use 4th gear when hauling mass amounts of weight, but on the freeway on level ground I have used 5th gear when going an even speed.

 

I do this all the time.

 

 

I have not been bitten in the ass yet, I am very lucky.

My door sticker on my 720 states 2200 lbs for the rear and I think 2k for the front. I do know the gvwr is about 4200 or 4400lbs I think my biggest worry would be actually getting the load moving more than anything else. On my truck the brakes will lock up on dry pavement if I try so really weight would probably just keep me from locking up as easily.

[datzenmike]

Transmission doesn't feel any weight. It can only feel what the engine pushes through it. Carrying 1,000 pounds will take some work to get up to speed though. 5th is ok at cruise speed but with load 4th into the wind, up grades and passing. 

[ElliotV]

13 minutes ago, datzenmike said:

Transmission doesn't feel any weight. It can only feel what the engine pushes through it. Carrying 1,000 pounds will take some work to get up to speed though. 5th is ok at cruise speed but with load 4th into the wind, up grades and passing. 

I always just run 4th when I have a trailer or if I am going to be doing a heavy load. I would much rather sit at 55mph than stress anything out trying to maintain 5th. As for the actual transmission most are probably fine if they have a manual since most manual transmissions can take a beating unlike autos which love to heat up and get ruined especially in these slightly lethargic trucks your main issue would probably be the clutch wearing out sooner more than anything else

[datzenmike]

Fourth is not a gear at all it's a direct coupling through the transmission. Minimal wear on the bearings. ALL other gears have to go through the counter shaft and that suffers side loading trying to push them apart.  

[IZRL]

20 hours ago, bottomwatcher said:

You ever see how many Africans they put in the bed of a mini truck in Africa? They can take a hell of a load. The biggest issue is stopping though.

Those Africans weigh like a buck 20 each...wet. The trick would be to put the same amount of Americans on one of these 😆. I'm the size of 2 Africans.

3 hours ago, datzenmike said:

Transmission doesn't feel any weight. It can only feel what the engine pushes through it. Carrying 1,000 pounds will take some work to get up to speed though. 5th is ok at cruise speed but with load 4th into the wind, up grades and passing. 

I was cruising in 5th at 50 mph and I believe 2800 rpm and was engine breaking every stop (20 miles). No hills, no passing, and no wind. I also took the back/county roads for less traffic and less stops.

Edited May 17 by IZRL

[IZRL]

5 hours ago, ElliotV said:

My door sticker on my 720 states 2200 lbs for the rear and I think 2k for the front. I do know the gvwr is about 4200 or 4400lbs I think my biggest worry would be actually getting the load moving more than anything else. On my truck the brakes will lock up on dry pavement if I try so really weight would probably just keep me from locking up as easily.

Just went and weighed the truck. There's a semi-truck weigh station that is left on and unattended at night here in town that we found back when we were street racing. This son of a gun is a fatass, curb weight is 3420. Here's the door tag. Says GVWR: 2445(KG)/5390(lbs) -- GAWR: FR 1000(KG)/2204(lbs) & RR 1700(KG)/3747(lbs). According to google payload is curb weight minus GVWR which = 1970 lbs payload.

 

  

 

Edited May 17 by IZRL

[bottomwatcher]

7 hours ago, ElliotV said:

I always just run 4th when I have a trailer or if I am going to be doing a heavy load. I would much rather sit at 55mph than stress anything out trying to maintain 5th. As for the actual transmission most are probably fine if they have a manual since most manual transmissions can take a beating unlike autos which love to heat up and get ruined especially in these slightly lethargic trucks your main issue would probably be the clutch wearing out sooner more than anything else

Stay in 4th under any load if you can. 5th gear under load blows countershaft bearings in B model trans. I sent 4 to the scrapyard. C series seem to be much more forgiving.

[datzenmike]

U is probably for dual cab. Obviously has it's own load rating. Even empty that's a lot of weight to haul around. Any idea on your mileage?

 

71B transmissions had a 56mm counter bearing. This changed for '85 when 62mm bearings were introduced and continued on into 71C production for the 86.5 D21 Hardbody. The first use of the 71C was in the '84 non turbo 300zx. They are at least twice as strong as the 71Bs. This was done on the same 71mm main/counter shaft spacing by making the gears wider for strength. Turbo 300zx that have lost their T5s have swapped 71Cs in and had no problems with them.

 

 

[ElliotV]

1 hour ago, datzenmike said:

U is probably for dual cab. Obviously has it's own load rating. Even empty that's a lot of weight to haul around. Any idea on your mileage?

 

71B transmissions had a 56mm counter bearing. This changed for '85 when 62mm bearings were introduced and continued on into 71C production for the 86.5 D21 Hardbody. The first use of the 71C was in the '84 non turbo 300zx. They are at least twice as strong as the 71Bs. This was done on the same 71mm main/counter shaft spacing by making the gears wider for strength. Turbo 300zx that have lost their T5s have swapped 71Cs in and had no problems with them.

 

 

I think I got a spare 71c with my parts truck that needs rebuilt perhaps I will have to throw that in my daily someday since I have a 71b would need a new driveshaft for the tcase but might be worth the effort then 

[IZRL]

9 hours ago, datzenmike said:

U is probably for dual cab. Obviously has it's own load rating. Even empty that's a lot of weight to haul around. Any idea on your mileage?

Good point. Gonna have to look into that. Someone posted 20 mpg with weber 36/32 for king cab. So I just figured it was something close to that. It didn't dawn on me that it could be this much heavier. So empty I'm hauling almost as much as regular cabs haul fully loaded. 

 

This means from what you guys are saying about these transmissions. My tranny must be taking a beating. 

 

Do you happen to know what the difference between the heavy duty trucks and the regular ones are?

 

Edit: The curb weight of 3,420 lbs that the truck weighed in at is the weight I carry on the daily not "factory" curb weight for these trucks. Didn't account for the fact that the truck has electric seats that are quiet a bit heavier than stock. I also carry a small tool box with bare essential tools. Also jumping cables, Lug nut wrench, a few tow straps, and chain.

 

Also was looking around for 4x4 king cab curb weights and can't find a straight answer yet but looks like they're heavier than I initially thought they were.

Edited May 17 by IZRL

[wayno]

20 hours ago, ElliotV said:

My door sticker on my 720 states 2200 lbs for the rear and I think 2k for the front. I do know the gvwr is about 4200 or 4400lbs I think my biggest worry would be actually getting the load moving more than anything else. On my truck the brakes will lock up on dry pavement if I try so really weight would probably just keep me from locking up as easily.

 

My truck in the photos has an LZ23, Dual SUs, and basically a 219 race head, I have no issues getting it moving, my truck/trailer/equipment weigh over 6000lbs dry, the big deal for me is keeping it moving at freeway speeds and stopping it on down hill grades in Traffic, over the years I have tried several gear ratios in my work truck, I like the 4.625 gears the best, when I retire from Pressure Washing and quit dragging that trailer around all the time, I might consider going back to 4.37 gears.

 

My truck weighs 3900lbs now, it gained weight making it into a dump truck.

 

 

The Z24 engine has torque, it will get a lot of weight moving, it is stopping that is important, one has to drive ahead of oneself, I drive 3 plus cars ahead of myself, stopping 6000lbs of rolling weight takes time, traffic is the most dangerous, you never know when someone up ahead wants to make a right turn but people are using the crosswalk, this is when one does not expect for everyone to stop, right after the light turns green.

[datzenmike]

That much weight it may have a 4.375 or possibly a 4.625 differential. That would make turning the tires a lot easier. There should be an engine tag on the passenger side inner fender under the hood hinge. You may already have posted about it . 

 

 

What's the wheelbase? Want to know if just a long wheelbase KC or Long Box frame.

 

Long wheelbase for KC, Long Box and Heavy duty/Cab Chassis are 2,815mm or 110.8" if this is longer then it's anyone's guess what it weighs or carries.

 

 

Heavy Duty and Cab/Chassis have stronger leaf springs, rated to carry and extra 600 pounds, 4.375 gears may have H-190 or C-200 differential, dual rear tires on some (probably the C-200) and different E78-14 tires. Only available with manual 5 speed transmission. This is for the Z24 powered trucks, earlier ones had some differences.

 

 

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

About 20 years ago I went across the scales in my 320 at the dump and found that I was carrying just under 2000 lbs in the bed. I can say that the drive to the dump was frightening. Every little bump made the steering almost non-existent.

 

I only did that once.

[ElliotV]

19 hours ago, wayno said:

 

My truck in the photos has an LZ23, Dual SUs, and basically a 219 race head, I have no issues getting it moving, my truck/trailer/equipment weigh over 6000lbs dry, the big deal for me is keeping it moving at freeway speeds and stopping it on down hill grades in Traffic, over the years I have tried several gear ratios in my work truck, I like the 4.625 gears the best, when I retire from Pressure Washing and quit dragging that trailer around all the time, I might consider going back to 4.37 gears.

 

My truck weighs 3900lbs now, it gained weight making it into a dump truck.

 

 

The Z24 engine has torque, it will get a lot of weight moving, it is stopping that is important, one has to drive ahead of oneself, I drive 3 plus cars ahead of myself, stopping 6000lbs of rolling weight takes time, traffic is the most dangerous, you never know when someone up ahead wants to make a right turn but people are using the crosswalk, this is when one does not expect for everyone to stop, right after the light turns green.

I think if I grossed at 6k I would definitly struggle to stop without proper weight balance. the z24 is all bottom end torque and even with my toolbox when the engine is warm I can just slip the clutch all the way into 3rd gear at idle the whole time.

[Logical1]

I drove my 84' 4x4 king cab with a canopy and the bed loaded with at LEAST 1800lbs of tools and parts from Seattle to Show Low without much of a problem until I started getting into elevation and then she was slow but still moved. I always allowed for PLENTY of stopping distance as I knew she was overloaded. I am sure jetting the weber for proper mixture at elevation would have helped her take off a bit faster but I didn't want to pull my carb off in the middle of winter in the mountains for some crazy reason!

[datzenmike]

IF you went up the engine would run leaner. It probably wouldn't make much difference as it's getting all the fuel the air it can use. Gas mileage would improve. If you were jetted for altitude and came down, it would have had lots of oxygen and not enough fuel. Then tuning it would make a large difference.

 

My 710 was jetted for Arizona, average elevation 5,000 ft. It had a 100 primary jet. I'm right at sea level and put a 112 jet in and the difference was huge.