New steer axle??? Overweight on steers empty.

[DVT873]

Been away from doing specs for a while so this may have changed. It used to 650#s per inch width of tread. In Ohio at least. So 11R22.5' would be 22 x 650 = 14,300. In big straight dump trucks the struggle is to get enough weight to the steer to take advantage of the 315s and 425s. OH usually just looks at the tires. There are trucks around here that have been converted from tractors. Guys put 315s or usually 425s on, beef up the springs and are getting 15, 16k or more on a 12K rated axle.

That WON't fly in PA. They will go off the MFG axle ratings. But weirdly for a long time did not limit overall gross per the Fed bridge formula. Soon a SA if you could get your load distributed you could haul it. Front and rear. Used to see a lot of 35k GVW SA in PA. 12 frt 23 RR. That went away when 12% FET started being applied to any straight (non tractor con fig) truck over 33k GVW.

As far as changing axles I don't know of any way to get that change legally certified. Back when CDL's came in there was a lot of paper getting slapped and pasted around to get higher rated straight trucks down to or under 26k. I had a way overaged new truck a few years ago that was 33k. If there had been a legal way that would be recognized in court I would have done it. This is all fun and games until there is an accident.

FWIW 4 things go into an axle rating. The axle rating from the axle mfg. The suspension rating, the brake rating and the tire rating. The lowest of those becomes the axle rating that your see on the spec sheet for GVWR. The overall GVW AND the brake system, air or hydraulic are coded into the front part of the VIN per Federal guidelines. Brake system endorsement can be a CDL issue on straight trucks.