to get some weight on the rear axle for better traction and also to work the engine some. It's all behind the rear axle.

It has 5300 mile on it and really hasn't been worked yet so I figured it'd work the new CTD, facilitate the engine warm up while driving when it's cold, and like I said give it some added traction.

Is 900 lbs too little? Too much? Or just right?

Bought 15 60lb bags of tube sand at Home Depot.

I should be able to leave it in the bed indefinitely right?

Thanks,

DT.

BTW, it's a 2004.5 CTD 2500 Quad Cab.

 

after spending 9 months in the hospital and recovery [total time] then another 3 months do to blood clots off work..may I suggest you find a very secure way to tie them down if your going to do that , and IMHO rope or strap isn't enough at all !!!...them durn things hurt like heck! when they hit you in the back of the head as they fly through the window like a missle...and I was lucky LOL

I came to a sudden stop against a tree about 3/4 ft in the air...the sand didn't stop.

 

sounds like a fair amount of weight, I am still trying to talk myself into making a battery relocation setup for both batteries, take that weight off the front end and put it to the back where it'll do some good. Lord knows the front end is heavy enough

****** got a good point too...

 

I have a hard tonneau cover on the bed and it seems sturdy enough to keep those bags inside the bed should I have a head-on with anybody/anything.

Not sure how'd I'd tie them down if I wanted to.

I have a bedliner with tiedown cleats on the sides so maybe I could rig something.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again,

DT.

 

I used to do that when I lived in Mich. Went thru a lot of snow!!! Just make sure you tie it down good. Try building a headache rack in the front of the bed out of some real steel. Willyslover has a first hand story that can and does happen. Be safe!!!!

 

Try one of the net gizmo's that keeps things from blowing out of the bed. They're pretty stout and you should be able to tie it to the cleats.

About $20

 

yep last year my cousin put 2 feed bags full of frozen sand right thruogh the back of his cab if you don't use the bed put a pallet or something in front of them so nothing can slide in the bed.

 

I use to use 1200 pounds of John Deere wheel weights placed over the center of the rear axle. You don't want too much behind the axle or it will tend to act like a lever and actually pick weight off the front end. Well, not too much anyway.
My cure now is to leave the six wheeler in the car port and drive the Neon when it gets bad. The last snow I had the rig out in was not a good experience. I run the Michelin M&S tires and they don't do well for what ever reason on a six wheeler.

 

I fixed that problem...I think.

I stacked all the sandbags up just behind the cab in a way that if I do have to hit the brakes the bags won't be launched into the rear of the cab.

Any problems with that weight distribution?

To have 900 lbs between the wheels and cab with most of them up against the back of the cab?

BTW, this isn't to counterwieght a plow. It's just to work the new engine some, warm it up quicker in the cold and to get better traction.

SO there's really no need to add the weight behind the axle, i.e., no need for plow ballast.

Thanks,

DT.

 

I'm happier with the weight up in the front of the bed.

With the weight aft of the axle you are getting a lot of weight on the rear wheels. The downside is that if the rear starts to swing out to the side on a slippery road there is a lot more momentum to it.

Also - in a sudden stop (much less you running into something) 900lbs is a heck of a lot of weight sliding forward and hitting the front of the bed.

I haven't put any weight in the dodge yet but in my old ext-cab/short bed ranger 350-400lbs of sand seemed to be the perfect amount. Given that I would think 600-900 lbs would be a decent range to work with on these trucks.

 

The extra weight will help with rear wheel traction, but it won't do anything about warming up the CTD. 900 lbs in the bed is a drop in the bucket in trying to work the CTD.

 

It worked this morning.

The truck warmed up faster and on the way to work I could see the temp gauge climb when I went up hills and fall on downhills and straightaways.

Doesn't do that with an empty bed.

 

Commando, I did something similar today except I didn't use the built in slots on the sides of the bed.

I bought 4 lengths of 2X10 and built a box that fits right around the two wheel wells and contains whatever you want directly over the axle.

Looks something like this:

(after posting, the pict diesn't come out very good. Looks different before I hit the save button, oh well, use you imagination. It's like a sideways "H" with two cross bars instead of one.)

__________
| |
| |
__|____|__

The illustration is a bit off but you get the idea. The wheel wells fit inside the sides and that holds it in place.

I screwed it together with big 3" wood screws so it's very sturdy.

It holds alot of stuff and in the Summer time when I remove the sandbags I'll leave it in. If you have something inside it and it does slide/roll around, it will only be bouncing off the 2X10's and not the sides of the bed.

I now have 800 lbs inside the box and another 120 behind it, between it and the tailgate.

It would take alot of force for this thing to break apart, each end has 3-3" screws torqued down with my 18-volt screw gun.

Looks good too.

I'm glad I did it, thanks for the advise.

 

I had some heavy stones...Atlas stones for a strongman comp resting inside of two tires each.
I also had an elastic webbing over top and tied down to the tie downs in the bed.
I was certain that would keep them in there as I have hauled these stones in one tire each in a trailer and they never moved.

I was wrong. Each stone weighing 380 pounds each JUMPED out of the webbing, tore it like paper and flew around in the bed. I hit a bump on the highway at 65 mph that served as an experience I will not repeat.

I had a rigging company custom sew some one inch wide rigging straps in a web with reinforced stitching and six inch squares. This held the stones perfectly even while hitting some major bumps. I haul them on the trailer now.

A good friend of mine had a stone come loose [this was a flat stone weighing 420 pounds] in a panic stop. It smashed thru the front of the bed and pushed a dent in the cab over 8" deep.
It did not break out the rear window.

We both figured, "Wheres it gonna go and with this weight it will be fine." Not

Also, put a sheet of plywood under the weight, otherwise the slight bouncing will bend up the floor of our real thin steel beds.

Just because its 'inside' a box does not mean it will stay put. When a 90 pound sand bag jumps...its gonna move with a lot of force.

Like Willyslover thought with his truck.

I'd figure out how to fasten a lid on your design...keep the sand dry and secure.

Just my experience.

Scotty