i have a winter beater. 1988 ford f-150. i cut the box off and welded a sledeck to the frame. i have air bags and the truck handles a load of two sleds just fine. i run about 35psi in the bags.
sled deck on a 1/2 ton ford truck
- Thread starter rayone1974
- Start date
interesting how many people say don't do it.
I drive with sleds on top of my deck all the time, I drive the same way I would empty. A silver lake deck weighs about 340 for a fixed side & 380 for an expandable. The heavy as **** Full lotus & Marathon decks are in the 600+ range.
for simple math I figure 1500 lbs total.
I know a number of people that run decks on 1/2 ton trucks, most have bags, but not all. I ran a deck in a ford fairy bed truck for a while (5 ft bed, I left the tailgate down) and had no problem. I had that truck for 2 months.
For people to talk about the safety of a sled deck while they're pulling a trailer is laughable in my opinion, I feel the deck is MUCH safer than pulling a jackknife machine behind you. I can slide my truck like a rally car & still feel comfortable, try that with a trailer!!
I drive with sleds on top of my deck all the time, I drive the same way I would empty. A silver lake deck weighs about 340 for a fixed side & 380 for an expandable. The heavy as **** Full lotus & Marathon decks are in the 600+ range.
for simple math I figure 1500 lbs total.
I know a number of people that run decks on 1/2 ton trucks, most have bags, but not all. I ran a deck in a ford fairy bed truck for a while (5 ft bed, I left the tailgate down) and had no problem. I had that truck for 2 months.
For people to talk about the safety of a sled deck while they're pulling a trailer is laughable in my opinion, I feel the deck is MUCH safer than pulling a jackknife machine behind you. I can slide my truck like a rally car & still feel comfortable, try that with a trailer!!
It looks like that Tundra is gonna break in half!!
Haha that tundra IS going to break in half if it hits a speedbump...
I've got a silverlake expandable deck on my 2008 f150 and cruising around with my heavy nytro up there is no problem, even on the rutted out forest service roads we normally have to drive
up to get to the trails. I haven't tried 2 yet, but that's the nice thing about the expandable deck
I wouldn't carry two up a USFS road without airbags, but maybe on the highway
I've got a silverlake expandable deck on my 2008 f150 and cruising around with my heavy nytro up there is no problem, even on the rutted out forest service roads we normally have to drive
up to get to the trails. I haven't tried 2 yet, but that's the nice thing about the expandable deck
I wouldn't carry two up a USFS road without airbags, but maybe on the highwaygood example of a sled deck on a lifted 1/2 ton ford........ not
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First, Ford touted the F150 a cpl yrs back as having a 3000# load capacity!
(Bullchit advertising I know, have an 08, 05 before that and it won't carry a sick monkey's breakfast on the factory springs!
I have helper springs (which are starting to sack out now after continuous use for 5 years and 2 trucks) and carry an 88gal fuel tank and big Weahterguard box stuffed to teh gills (no winter traction pronlems! haha). Truck drives fine, but lots more weight xferrd to the front axle, had to get camber adjusted a couple times to keep front tires on it.
That said, 50k miles and I drive snowy roads every day.
I've seen waaay bigger piles o crap trucks driving around Michigan, rusted out ready to drop a wheel or sumthing and the police aren't waiting around the corner to bust them.
These days everyone thinks you need to have a 1ton dually diesel to pull a go kart trailer or load a bale of hay in the bed! I have a big diesel which drives and pulls nicer than the F150, but the F150 gets it done. SLow down a bit, take the corners easier, you'll be fine. You drive truck for a living, so you know how to drive, you know about top heavy loads. Run what you got.
Overload springs will help a ton. For the best ride/handling, get a set of airbags that adjust pressure side to side based on load. You'l give about $500 for a setup like that versus maybe $200 for a nice set of overloads, but then it'll corner real nice.
If you really want to stiffen up the susp (not necessary IMO for only several sled trips a year), get a set of aftermarket front struts.
You got what? 1200lbs of sleds (unless they're Yamis, haha) and another 500lbs of sled deck. No way you cant haul 1700lbs on a F150.
(Bullchit advertising I know, have an 08, 05 before that and it won't carry a sick monkey's breakfast on the factory springs!
I have helper springs (which are starting to sack out now after continuous use for 5 years and 2 trucks) and carry an 88gal fuel tank and big Weahterguard box stuffed to teh gills (no winter traction pronlems! haha). Truck drives fine, but lots more weight xferrd to the front axle, had to get camber adjusted a couple times to keep front tires on it.
That said, 50k miles and I drive snowy roads every day.
I've seen waaay bigger piles o crap trucks driving around Michigan, rusted out ready to drop a wheel or sumthing and the police aren't waiting around the corner to bust them.
These days everyone thinks you need to have a 1ton dually diesel to pull a go kart trailer or load a bale of hay in the bed! I have a big diesel which drives and pulls nicer than the F150, but the F150 gets it done. SLow down a bit, take the corners easier, you'll be fine. You drive truck for a living, so you know how to drive, you know about top heavy loads. Run what you got.
Overload springs will help a ton. For the best ride/handling, get a set of airbags that adjust pressure side to side based on load. You'l give about $500 for a setup like that versus maybe $200 for a nice set of overloads, but then it'll corner real nice.
If you really want to stiffen up the susp (not necessary IMO for only several sled trips a year), get a set of aftermarket front struts.
You got what? 1200lbs of sleds (unless they're Yamis, haha) and another 500lbs of sled deck. No way you cant haul 1700lbs on a F150.
No chit! I wanted a sled deck so I sold my 1/2 ton and bought a 3/4 ton. 600 lbs a sled (think of fuel, bags, tools, snow etc on sled), 400 lbs for the deck, gear and extra fuel in the bed. You are almost at a ton right there. Now add the high center of gravity which is going to have more force on the drive train and axles than if the load were sitting in the bed (like rock or dirt). You should have "E" rated tires and I don't think 1/2 tons come with them. Think of the stress on the braking and steering. Yeah you can do it. Should you?
3/4 Ton Duramax
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