Built like a Mercedes 3694

Tossing an educated guess, I'd put myself about mid range. A quarter the pickups in this town do get babied to one degree or another, another 25-40% get used to capacity, and the remainder have various levels of use, most of which involves overworking them on the rated capacity by the manufacturer. While some conclude this is "overloading" by idiots, most of us look to see what the equipment rating is, and follow that, not the sales rating. Frankly, if the vehicle will do the work day in and day out, it probably isn't overloaded.

Of course, "overloading" comes in two forms. Too much load, or flat out abusing the vehicle. I've seen plenty of pickups survive much more than they should have with no effect to their performance.

I'll readily agree that a large number of the half tonners and the SUV's never leave pavement. And yes, there are a number of people that buy a truck because they like it, regardless of use. However, to think that all pickups are driven lightly is flawed thinking.

I would also caution anyone reading my personal example to be aware of the circumstances. I am not one who condones overloading a vehicle. However, it is worthy of note that the truck I have is rated at 12,000 lbs on its tires and axles, which is extreme for a vehicle rated to carry less than a ton. Secondly, in my situation, loading 7000lbs of sand bags seemed to be the lesser of two evils, as we were working to stem a leak in the dike. My choice was to either help out and risk the truck being damaged, or do nothing and risk the house being flooded. As it was, no harm came to either. -- Max

"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order." -Ed Howdershelt (Author)