When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Have to call BS on that one. That is unless you can show where in your policy it states that exceeding GVWR will void coverage. If that were the case we'd be seeing coverage voided on both cars and trucks daily for it.
Intentionally exceeding the known stated capacity of a vehicle could be grounds to disclaim coverage for a claim; absolutely. Some carriers may consider it an intentional act.
For sure if something happened and somebody got hurt, in highly litigious venues like Florida, NY, Cali, TX, and others, a lawyer would sniff it out in a heartbeat and use it against you.
Aside from the fact that I'm fairly sure exceeding GVWR is illegal........even if it isn't, don't do it. It's not a 'suggestion'.
also ill add: based on your pictures...i think the load would be safer in the back of that truck with the truck cap versus you being under weight and having all that stuff tied down to that trailer in your pic with no sides or roof, lol.
Intentionally exceeding the known stated capacity of a vehicle could be grounds to disclaim coverage for a claim; absolutely. Some carriers may consider it an intentional act.
For sure if something happened and somebody got hurt, in highly litigious venues like Florida, NY, Cali, TX, and others, a lawyer would sniff it out in a heartbeat and use it against you.
Aside from the fact that I'm fairly sure exceeding GVWR is illegal........even if it isn't, don't do it. It's not a 'suggestion'.
Once again I call BS. Speeding is always an intentional act yet insurance companies cover speed related accidents every day all day. If your so sure, go ahead and find the example of a 1/2 ton truck having insurance cancelled due to being 200lb over GVWR. By your logic two 205 lb men in a Miata would result in denied coverage. Pure, 100% internet fueled nonsense.
The trailer, as pictured in the photo, is only used for hauling my raft when it's fully inflated (short hauls <3hrs). When I do long hauls (Idaho, Utah, New Mexico, etc.), I add rails to the trailer for securing the load.
also ill add: based on your pictures...i think the load would be safer in the back of that truck with the truck cap versus you being under weight and having all that stuff tied down to that trailer in your pic with no sides or roof, lol.
Agree. The idea that this truck would be safer with a trailer towing that load is absurd. In most states a trailer at that weight wouldn't require brakes, so all the talk about GVWR being based on things like brakes is nonsense too.
Intentionally exceeding the known stated capacity of a vehicle could be grounds to disclaim coverage for a claim; absolutely. Some carriers may consider it an intentional act.
For sure if something happened and somebody got hurt, in highly litigious venues like Florida, NY, Cali, TX, and others, a lawyer would sniff it out in a heartbeat and use it against you.
Aside from the fact that I'm fairly sure exceeding GVWR is illegal........even if it isn't, don't do it. It's not a 'suggestion'.
This insurance and lawyer stuff has been repeated on here for the last 9 years I have been reading sites about towing and payload. It makes sense, it really really does. Any good lawyer should easily win a case against someone grossly overloaded.
What mike is stating is that we have heard it forever, it makes perfect sense, yet there is very little evidence to support the statement that they would come after you.
I, like you, and others stay under GVWR religiously but all of us would love to see examples of lawyers, in any state, easily winning cases against overloaded recreational towers. It happens DAILY and we see it at every camp ground and nobody has been in trouble. Many tell of wrecks using truck x and why they bought bigger truck y, but never mention how they were financially responsible or served jail time.
No argument here, just don’t see the number of cases vs the number of overloaded trucks. Thanks for any info that you have.
If it was me, I'd rather transfer some of that weight to my trailer. I'd feel safer with a third axle sharing the load. With a low profile trailer I don't think the mpg difference would be significant.
Out of curiosity, can any of us actually cite a state or federal law that states it is illegal to operate a motor vehicle above its manufacturer GVWR or GCWR?
I agree stay within GVWR if possible, but only being slightly over with no visible squat etc, he is probably fine. As for the litigation risks, most small sport utility vehicles(escapes, CRV, etc) only have 1000lbs or less of payload. 4 200lb adults and luggage for vacation puts them over the GVWR, but no huge outcry there.
I doubt there has ever been a truck that wasn't loaded over GVWR at some point in time. If it is something done on a regular basis, or if you're going over significantly then you need a bigger truck. But personally, if I were within 200ish lbs and only doing this once in a while for short distances I'd probably go for it. But not 1000 miles, and not 400 lbs, and it sounds like this is something you do on a regular basis. If you have a trailer I'd transfer some of the weight to it.
I have a raft trailer that I've been using for 13 years with my Nissan Frontier but was hoping to avoid having to deal with it on this trip. It was one of the reasons I upgraded to an F-150 but I never gave any thought to the GVWR (live and learn)
You didn't gain much. My Tacoma is rated at 1200 lbs payload and most Frontier's should be close to that. Many F150's are less than that, but around 1600-1800 is typical for F150's. Yours is below average and others are over 2000 lbs. It depends on the individual truck.
07-02-2019, 01:30 PM
