[derekbroerse]

I wondered if anyone had seen these yet. Saw them in an article in Peterson's 4 Wheel and Off Road and thought it may be useful for those running pickups.

http://www.shurtrax.com/index.asp

 

[Alan]

I saw those advertised somewhere. Seems like a good idea but I wonder how puncture proof they are in real life. Would be a shame to cut it with a shovel or anything else sharp. My other question is whether there is any slosh from that bladder when it's above freezing. I know that hauling a partial tank of water (425 gallon tank) is uncomfortable compared to having it full and "solid".

 

[wyldman]

The sloshing is a problem when it isn't frozen,and they do tend to slide around once they do freeze.There are better solutions out there.

Whatever you use,just make sure it properly secured.

 

[cat320]

the best one some one told me was a piece of plate steel fits the whole bed will not slide and gives you weight and a flat bed to hall other stuff.

 

[wyldman]

Steel plate works great,but it's bigtime slippery when it's wet or snowy.Makes for a hard landing too.If you could line-ex it,it would be great.

 

[BWhite]

I saw one guy who used a train wheel and 2x stock to secure it , pretty slick.

 

[derekbroerse]

If you look at the picture, it is divided into four baffled compartments to reduce sloshing.

Its probably going to be frozen all winter with very little exception. Thats one large chunk of ice to thaw if you have a warm day!

Personally, I don't need one, if I need ballast I add gravel...

 

[Wizard]

I have enough ice to deal with in the bed of my truck during a snow storm, I don't need to add more intentionally :haha Imagine if you actually had to use your truck to haul something omg. Plus, those things distribute the weight over the entire bed, whereas with a plow truck, you want the weight as far back as possible. Maybe those things would work for some of these kids that think they have to have a pickup to be cool but never haul anything! Salt makes good balast and makes you money too! I just bought the sliding divider for my trac rac, it should work well to keep the salt at the rear of the truck, it seems very sturdy!

 

[iakentdoz]

I have enough ice to deal with in the bed of my truck during a snow storm, I don't need to add more intentionally :haha Imagine if you actually had to use your truck to haul something omg. Plus, those things distribute the weight over the entire bed, whereas with a plow truck, you want the weight as far back as possible. Maybe those things would work for some of these kids that think they have to have a pickup to be cool but never haul anything! Salt makes good balast and makes you money too! I just bought the sliding divider for my trac rac, it should work well to keep the salt at the rear of the truck, it seems very sturdy!

Brendan,

How much balast do you keep on the truck at one time? Right now I have 1000# of bagged ice melt/Salt. Also, I like to keep the weight just behind the back axle just because I have a spreader and snow blower to lift out of the truck. Tomorrow ( not going shopping :nope) I plan to build something out of treated lumber to keep the weight off the bed and back from the tailgate at lease 24". I'll post some pic's when it's done. Now got to get my thinking cap on.

 

[gsdx]

Looks kinda silly to me, like you end up with a poly contained ice rink in your bed!

 

[Rocket]

This is not a bad idea for improved handling but it does not meet the recommendations for a ballast (at least not the recommendations by Fisher) for a plow truck. The recommendations I have here say the weight needs to be behind the rear axle. Spreading 500lbs over the entire bed (or a large portion of it) is different than putting it behind the rear axle (which acts like the fulcrum in a lever). If you are spreading the weight over the entire bed then you may not actually reach the correct weight ratio you need and could potentially end up putting the truck over its GVWR.

 

[Pickering Snow]

the best one some one told me was a piece of plate steel fits the whole bed will not slide and gives you weight and a flat bed to hall other stuff.

Rick have you priced steel latley you would need at least 1/4 to make it worth your while and Like Chris said even if it were tread plate it is slippery.

The service truck floor was a disaster waiting to happen before i sprayed it with liner tread plate uncoated is horr slippery couldnt image plain plate steel.

I think a divider in front of the wheel house and salt is still the best ballest around 1k does the trick on the supers . Back when my Dad owned the buss and 4x4's were not his cup of tea he would take 2x4's , make a form insert a lift hook and poor concrete into the form once set up he would just lift the concrete ballest block in and out for the winter. he didnt buy a 4x4 until 78.

 

[cat320]

Fred i know it would be very $$$ and cris is right when it would be slippery you would have to have it linexed or something. What I use is one or rwo of my backhoe buckets pined off with dividers over the wheel well and a barrel of salt 44 gals worth at the end all strapped down and covered.

I was talking with a guy who used to plow and that is what he used, the only problem with my ballest is it takes up too much usable room ,but with my tires i need as much ballest as i can get LOL.

 

[derekbroerse]

LOL I didn't say buy one, I said hey lookie what I found! :rolling

As for cargo they are said to be able to handle 500lbs on top of them... I'd think keeping the sharp stuff off them would be a good idea though!!

 

[iakentdoz]

I still have some old tires that my dad filled with concrete. Worked good, just roll up the ramp and lay it down. The rubber fron the tire side walls would keep it from moving around much, but still had 2"x10" between the fender wells to keep them from moving around in a quick stop.

 

[PSDFordMan]

This looks like a good solution for someone not physically able to load 100s of pounds into the bed. As in like.. grandma or grandpa can just hook up the garden hose and turn the nozzle on.

 

[Wizard]

How much balast do you keep on the truck at one time? Right now I have 1000# of bagged ice melt/Salt. Also, I like to keep the weight just behind the back axle just because I have a spreader and snow blower to lift out of the truck.

I generally have about 1k behind the rear wheels, which on the crew cab should be enough with the lopro. I also have the spray tank which weighs an extra 650lbs up against the front of the box. So total, with blower and gas, I'll be 250 lbs short of a full ton of ballast in the bed.

 

[Snowboy]

The sloshing is a problem when it isn't frozen,and they do tend to slide around once they do freeze.There are better solutions out there.

Whatever you use,just make sure it properly secured.

The 350 I plow with has one. Its got nothing against an 8611 low pro. Too warm last year and the straps they give you to tie a cord to.. What a Joke.

One of those with sand possibly be better and stronger tie down point and not the plastic. They should know plastic is not going to hold up.

Save it for the beach and fill it with air and you have a square air mattress or floating table.

 

[Runner]

When I had my 2 wheel drive truck, I built a frame type thing out of 2x4s that slid into the back of the bed. It covered the whole length of the bed, but had a separate square toward the center (but more over the axle), that held 6 or 7 bags of tubesand. I then covered the whole thing with a sheet of plywood and used deck screws to hold it down. It was like a false bottom in the back of the truck, but was able to haul stuff easily. With my other trucks now, I just have bags of salt in the back I keep for the spreaders.

 

[Markford14]

Just built a form for my steel to day. 1/2 sheet ply wood cut to fit, and 2- 12ft 2x6. Its got at two areas one that steel goes in and one empty. Its the same design we used on 96 with had. 4 - 135 steel plates plus 4 seasonal tires plus tools and 2 bags of salt.