Photo: Family Car Load Capacity: Some Important Tips (Getty Images) Author: Konstantin Shirokun
It's very easy to overload a car – sometimes you don't even have to fill the trunk to the top. What can you do to make sure your car can carry more cargo and doesn't fall all the way to the asphalt?
Read about how to increase the load capacity of your vehicle while observing safety regulations in the RBC-Ukraine article.
Unfortunately, the capacity of the body and the load capacity are two very different categories. And very often a full cabin and trunk mean overload – that is, exceeding the passport 350 – 450 kg, which the car manufacturer allows to transport in most middle-class cars. At the same time, uneven distribution of luggage in the car actually also means overload, because the negative consequences will be the same.
Why Overload Is Bad
All the characteristics of the car are calculated by the designers for its specific weight. And when the car weighs more than it is supposed to, it will not be controlled properly, and its main units will not work as they should. Accordingly, the car will wear out faster, and it will be more difficult for the driver to control it safely. In addition, there are risks of damage to the body and chassis due to the fact that the overloaded body will drop excessively on the suspension and can catch on unevenness of the road.
But there are situations when the owner decides to take these risks – and in such cases there are several solutions that will reduce or neutralize such threats.
All unnecessary things – out. The first and easiest way to increase the load capacity of a car is to remove things from the trunk that are constantly in it. If the trip with a large load is planned to be short, leave the spare tire, jack and reserve bottles of oil, antifreeze, shampoos and polishes at home, do not fill up the tank and do not take your large toolbox. Each of these items by itself weighs little, but together they can add up to half a hundred kilograms.
Restructuring and optimization. Almost every factory manual says that you can't put more than 50-80 kg of weight in the trunk – given that the total load capacity can reach half a ton. This means that it is fundamentally important to distribute the load evenly throughout the entire car. To place something heavy, you should use not only the trunk in the rear, but also the entire space of the cabin – in the feet of the passengers in the front and back, as well as the seats themselves. This will allow you to evenly load the suspension of each wheel – and perhaps, in reality, none of the four will feel the overload. It is advisable to secure heavy objects placed in the cabin, in particular, with standard passenger seat belts – this will help to avoid additional injury to the driver in the event of an accident.
Spacers for springs. The method is bulky, but more reliable, because it will not allow the body to “fall” to the road itself on the suspension springs compressed to the stop. For almost all common car models, you can find so-called spacers on sale – thick rubber or plastic washers that are placed under the rear suspension springs. As a rule, this is an almost standard part that separates the spring and the plate – the area on the body where the spring rests.
To increase the load capacity, you will be willingly offered this part in a special version – thicker, even in two or three versions of increase. The suspension spring, having thus a greater preliminary tension, becomes more rigid and withstands a greater load. The downside of such tuning is worse comfort for passengers and the need for partial disassembly of the suspension to install new spacers.
Reinforced springs. Instead of tightening the standard springs with spacers, you can buy ready-made, stiffer ones, the so-called “reinforced” ones. These are produced for most popular car models. First of all, we are talking about the rear springs, since we most often pile up heavy luggage in the rear part of the body. And replacing the front springs is usually much more difficult – you have to disassemble the entire complex front suspension. The disadvantages of such tuning are the same: less comfortable driving and the need to go to a service station.
Larger diameter tires. This method is simple, but the least effective. Certain tire models have a larger outer diameter with the same seat diameter. The increase is not very large, but on a bad road, even those extra 1.5 cm of clearance will not be superfluous. Of course, it is unlikely that anyone will buy large tires before planned cargo transportation, but if you already have such wheels in your garage (for example, a second seasonal set), this option can be considered. The downside of this method is that the ability of the chassis to withstand a large load does not change. The suspension will still be maximally compressed, it’s just that the body will be one to one and a half centimeters higher above the road.
Short
Talking about increasing the load capacity of a passenger car is only possible as a temporary measure. After all, no method will change the key parameters responsible for the load capacity – the strength of the body and suspension joints, the kinematics of the levers, the elasticity of the shock absorbers. Not to mention the efficiency of the brakes and steering. Consequently, abnormal loads will still negatively affect the service life of the car and its controllability. This means that you cannot abuse the use of a passenger car with excessively heavy luggage.
In preparing this article, materials from Autobild and Autocentre were used .
Let us recall that RBC-Ukraine recently reported why pedestrians are not always right.