Being a little of a devil's advocate here. While I agree there should be some consideration in regards to the legal payload capacity of the truck, does anybody have any first or even second hand experience with legal issues? I always hear people state it's illegal and you could be held liable, etc, etc....but have never heard any real examples. I'm not talking about getting pulled over at a weigh station because you are pulling a commercial hotshot car hauler, but I'm talking about somebody getting pulled over in their private pickup truck that is hauling a slide-in camper or was somehow involved in an accident? Let's think about it, if you cause an accident on the freeway and somebody else gets hurt you are liable and responsible for that regardless of the payload. So if you kill a bus full of nuns are you somehow in the clear as long as you weren't over the payload rating of the truck? Do you get sued more or less based on the payload you are carrying? In regards to the comment that states even if you didn't cause the accident you could get in trouble if you are over payload. It's not like the other party's insurance company can come in and simply say "well, you were over the payload rating of the truck so our client is not responsible" and the judge strikes the hammer and says case dismissed. They would have to somehow prove that you being overloaded was the actual reason for the accident and not the actions of their client.
I doubt many people have personal or semi-personal experience with it, BUT, the thought exercise is pretty simple. It's not even about getting sued or ending up with a ticket for it, it's more about opening yourself up for liability. If you're over your legal payload, and you are involved in an accident, if an involved insurance company finds out there is a high probability that they're going to wash their hands of your claim, even if the other person was at fault, because insurance companies LOVE to find a way not to pay.
So if we continue this exercise, you've now opened yourself up to at minimum not getting your stuff repaired unless you pay out of pocket. If you're operating your vehicle outside of its rated capabilities, regardless of its ACTUAL capabilities, and the other person finds out (even if they head-on hit you after crossing the centerline), they have grounds to sue on. You may win the case, you may not, depending on how the case plays out - sure, you never left your side of the road, they caused the accident, but YOUR vehicle being outside its rated capabilities CAN and WILL affect how well you could have avoided the accident.
The closest I can come to this isn't about being over payload, but a drinking and driving case. A friend of my dad's stopped at a bar one night after work, had a few drinks, and was driving home. He was going the right way, at the speed limit, on a one-way street. A car full of drunk kids turned the wrong way, speeding, leading to a head-on crash. Long story short a couple of the kids ended up dead. My dad's friend is the one who spent 8 years behind bars for it, simply because his blood alcohol level was higher than the survivors of the other car.
The man can no longer legally own firearms, and won't touch alcohol, because he made the choice to have a couple beers before going home.
It's not the same case, but the thought process is the same: do you really want to open yourself up to the liability?
