How much dirt in a Nissan PU????

[steve]

One quote was $500 to remove a pile of dirt and rock I made when I installed an AG Pool last year. Pile is the size of a very small car?? (at most) I 'm thinking of moving it myself to a sand and gravel pit 1 mile from my house. They will take it for free.

So, How much dirt can I put in my 1996 Nissan King Cab. 4 cyl, rear wheel drive. Rear shocks are old, should I put heavy duty shocks on before I load it up? I want to keep as good a ride as I can for the normal empty load. I travel all highway. I was thinking of cutting a 3/4" plywood shaped to the bed liner bottom to protect the Nissan plastic liner. Take the tail gate off while loading and unloading?

Looks like the sticker shows I can carry 2,000 lb. ?? How much dirt is that? I'd guess filling the bed 1/2 way would be pretty heavy? I'm trying to figure how many trips would it take. Do you think I could back up fast, stop quick and dirt wold slide off the plywood out the back Would I be able to lift the front of the plywood to help it slide off????? I have on of those old bumper jacks that would lift it. Sounds to good?? Or will I have to shovel it all out of the truck?

I have to check measurments but HD rents a small excavator type thing with a bucket on the front. Its 36" wide. $100 a day. That would speed up loading.

I never loaded anything like this in a truck. Any suggestions would be welcome!!

Thanks Steve

[Paul Franklin]

I have a Ranger 3/4 ton. (note: the weight rating includes everything, including the driver.) It has a 4x6 bed (- wheel wells)

The weight of dirt varies a lot depending on how much rock is in it, and especially how wet it is.

When I was putting in my brick patio, I had to get rid of a lot of dirt. When it was fairly wet, I found I could only load the bed about half full before the springs bottomed out solid. With dry dirt I could load it about half again as full. By the time the springs are bottomed out, you are well overloaded. I didn't load it so much after that.

When I buy topsoil, the most I will buy at a time is 1 yard, which fills the bed a little over 1 foot deep (1 yard = 27 cu ft. 4x6x1 =

24 cu ft). That doesn't bottom it out, but comes close.

The truck drives like a wounded duck when it fully loaded like that. The engine has plenty of power, but any kind of rough road or swerves get interesting real fast.

Heavy duty shocks, unless you get the adjustable kind, probably won't help much.

HTH,

Paul

[steve]

[Mike P]

Another option to haul more dirt is try finding a small trailer and hauling it in that. You should be able to carry more then in the bed and it will be allot easier to load and unload since it will be lower to the ground. Not to mention you won't overload the truck and bottom it out. You would just have to be careful that you don't exceed the maximum weight you truck can tow when loading the dirt.

[Harry K]

Looks like you are trying to re-invent the wheel. You only have a mile haul so several trips won't kill you. I would guess that you would probably be o.k. to load about 1/4 the bed capacity. Watch the springs while loading and quit when they are getting fairly well down. Air up your tires to max. You have what amounts to a small pile of dirt so renting a loader is unneccessary unless speed is a requirement. It is amazing how much dirt can be moved in short order with nothing but a shovel. As for your other questiosn.

Plywood on bed: Good idea. Able to lift? No, not even with a jack. Stop short and dirt slide off?? Not even in your dreams. Again, it is a shovel proposition. Poor shocks: Wait until the job is done unless one busts while doing the job.

Harry K

[Harry K]

After thinking about it, hauling the dirt is not the problem. The problem is the PU. I suggest you try to borrow a buddy's 1/2 ton (or larger) PU. One that is a -work- truck, not a playtoy. Your small pu loaded not to exceed capacity will take many trips. A true 1/2 ton (or larger) could handle it easily in 3 or 4 trips.

Harry K

[Steve]

[Chris Lewis]

According to steve :

Rule of thumb for most "generic" dirt: 3000 pounds/cubic yard. 2000lbs is 2/3 of a yard: 18 cubic feet. 3 fillings of a "standard" 6 cubic foot wheelbarrow. Or you can compute depth from the dimensions of the pickup box.

You can exceed that by a substantial margin for short trips. But I'd be very careful about that.