So, I've never actually had 2.5tons on the truck before.

[tm america]

2.5 tons you wont even notice its there start in second in high .wont need to use first till you get over 5 tons on there i fill mine up over the troop seats with gravel and can start in second in high unless on a hill

 

[Rolling_Eudaimonia]

That's an option... I don't know I don't like starting in second I prefer first. Everything is smoother.

 

[kurtkds]

I had 4.8 tons of 5/8 crushed rock in mine last Saturday and the only time I put the transfer case in low was pulling a long grade. And that was transfer case in low running 4th and 5th gear to keep me at 30-35 mph.

The scale at the quarry was showing 23,640 Pounds..

I did have a winch for the Deuce sitting in the back of the truck that I had picked up earlier in the day so that's why I was over weight... LOL

 

[Rolling_Eudaimonia]

I'm surprised you got it up to 30mph in 5th low.

 

[Rolling_Eudaimonia]

So I got the truck loaded to about 3.7-4.0cu yards of clay that was unfortunately wet. Perhaps too wet and too heavy. The truck was fine accelerating but decelerating the truck kinda shimmed as the rpms dropped perhaps I didn't shave enough speed off but I think the truck was lacking power to haul the load properly... Still the truck made it 30miles up grades down grades at 50-53mph no problem...

 

[Floridianson]

Driving a large truck does not come from a book or another person's thoughts.
You use what gear is best for the truck to limit clutch wear and ease drive train jolt.
I can haul 2 1/2 ton of hay and use 2 low 3 low 3 high 4 high 5 high.
I also do this without a load to get up to speed quick as you only shift 5 times.
Check the dash chart and you will see your ground speed will be faster with 5 shifts than 6 shifts.
Remember you drive the truck it does not drive you.

 

[roscoe]

Long story short. Don't bog it, don't overrev it and don't make it shake. Just stay smooth and in the recomended rpm range. Thats all.

 

[Rolling_Eudaimonia]

Driving a large truck does not come from a book or another person's thoughts.
You use what gear is best for the truck to limit clutch wear and ease drive train jolt.
I can haul 2 1/2 ton of hay and use 2 low 3 low 3 high 4 high 5 high.
I also do this without a load to get up to speed quick as you only shift 5 times.
Check the dash chart and you will see your ground speed will be faster with 5 shifts than 6 shifts.
Remember you drive the truck it does not drive you.

It only shook when down-shifting... shifting through the gears up was fine. I used 1-3low and shifted from 3low to 3high hit 27mph and then went through the gears 4H-5H. The shifting from fifth to fourth was okay, and even 3rd was okay but going to second it shook a bit. Not much and I was keeping the truck in the correct 1400-1800rpm range for downshifting.

The truck was alot more responsive than I thought it was doing 50-53mph in fifth high up some nice grades. It didn't smoke much at all except when accerelating up the hills, and was not so bad on the fuel consumption.

I need to practice more with weight on it. I usually drive it around empty.