Sled Deck on A Chevy 1/2 Ton

[Yamajon1]

BTW
My first trip up north, in 1985, i put a hitch on a 1978 Honda Civic with basically a street legal yard trailer.
I tapped into the brake lights 10 minutes before we left.
I had to go down hills at 80 to get up the other side.
Topped off the oil every hour.

I've been hooked ever since!
It's where the O in OCD started as in OH MY GOD!

You had lights? Mine was a plate with a ball mounted on it I bolted to the back of a 1977 Plymouth Volare. We hooked my buddys dads 4 place to it and headed to the U.P. with a couple of ski doo blizzards. We reasoned that since we would be driving during the day we could get bye without lights.

 

[stevewithOCD]

My god how fun it was to be young & naive!
Not a care in the world

Mine was a 1981 Blizzard 5500 also

 

[tomanytoyz]

I was going to remove my aluminum deck off my old sled trailer , take off my old bed 1977 Ford 4x4 and mount deck to frame with a couple of braces up under for extra support but never did .. . But then I wasn’t ever going to haul any sleds , no where to mount ramp anywhere anyway ..just to haul whatever on it . Bed is still on it

 

[blueironranger]

I could do it with my F150, wouldn't want to, but It would be right at the "legal" weight limit (1650# payload) with just me, no passengers. A Steel deck like that, with plywood is probably around 500#. Toss on 2 600#+ sleds (full of fluids) and your over 1700# already. Most 1/2 ton trucks come with Squishy P-metric tires also which wouldn't play well with a high center load like a loaded sled deck, I upgraded to Load C rated tires on my truck and it help load/towing stability a lot.

 

[Confused]

Could you - Probably.

Should you - Probably not.

What year pickup or do you know the GVWR?

 

[maim]

Odds are you will need to add extra leaves to the springs, air bags and/or timbren kit for the weight. Do it all the time at work as modern trucks have issues hauling 1 sled/atv in the box most times. I would go the timbren kit route as they help a lot with the top sway. Have had the kit on 3 of my last 4 trucks. Tried air bags on last one and was more maintenance than I wanted.

 

[Vmax]

Install a set of Timbren on your 1/2 ton, it turns it into a 3/4 ton for a few hundred bucks. I put them on my 1/2 ton years ago before I bought a truck camper when my son was moto cross racing......they worked great

 

[Confused]

Adding suspension parts does not increase your trucks GVWR or turn it into a 3/4 ton. It may appear to not be crushing your truck by keeping it level but the axle, brakes, frame, etc are still 1/2 ton components.