Im finishing my basement and the next step is hanging drywall.

How many sheets can i fit until its either over the top of the bed or too much weight? (whichever comes first).

Im running a 2011 SCREW 5.0 4wd

Thanks

 

What is your payload on your truck and how far do you have to move it? Look up what 4x8 or 4x10 or 4x12 sheets weigh and multiply it out. I hauled 4x10x 3/4" sheets in my 5.5' bed with the tailgate down with no problems. Used a few 2x4s on the bed first and slid them in. If I remember right it was about 23 sheets total and 10 2x4s but then again I have MaxTow and airbags with a payload sticker of over 1800#.

 

The bed is about 22 inches, assuming 1/2 inch per sheet you could fit about 40 sheets, if you use thicker drywall probably about 30 or so. I'm sure that will put you over payload capacity.

 

Payload capacity is your limiter. With nothing in the truck but a skinny driver, you can go by the payload sticker on the driver's door frame. Subtract around 200 pounds from that sticker and the remainder is your available payload for sheetrock.

For example, my F-150 has a max payload of 1,366 pounds, so with me and a little junk in the truck my max payload is around 1,100 pounds. If sheetrock weighs 50 pounds per sheet, that's 22 sheets max. I'd probably round it down to around 20 sheets max.

So take a bathroom scale with you to the lumber yard. Weigh one sheet of the exact sheetrock you plan to buy. You'll need to balance the sheetrock on edge on the scale without adding any weight to the scale other than the balanced sheet. Then buy a few less sheets than the remaining payload of your truck.

 

I believe a 4'x8' sheet of 1/2" thickness standard drywall weighs between 50-60 lbs. "Lightweight" drywall will be somewhere between 35-45lbs for an equivalent sheet...and fire rated is probably going to be a little heavier than standard. To be conservative I'd use at least 60lbs per sheet and divide that from your payload capacity on your door sill (less the weight of the driver and any other aftermarket accessories/tools you have on the truck.) Let's just say it's 1450lbs on the sticker, less 350 lbs for driver and accessories. This gives you 1100lbs of capacity. 1100 divided by 60 = 18.3. So for the example numbers I used, you could carry 18 sheets of 4'x8' 1/2" standard drywall and be within your loading limits.

 

Yea, you are gonna max it out with weight first. Standard sheetrock is a tad shy of 60# I believe. I used a trailer to haul mine and was talking to the guy in the yard about trucks trying to overload with the stuff. They go by 60# X the number of sheets for standard size to get a rough weight.

 

Yep, you typed faster than me.