I have an 06 2500hd w/8ft x blade, Fisher reccomends 500# ballast. Anyone have any ideas on:
good,
ez in and out,
clean,
non bed damaging,
cheap, ballast

thanks alot
p.s. I do have some access to some heavy equipment ie, loader, grapple etc..

Its only 500lbs so its not that big of a deal. I was also concerned about ez-in and out. and not bed damaging.

So what I did was bought 12 bags of 50lb salt, Or you can use Sand. I was scared about the salt making the bed rust pre-maturely, so I bought 2 tarps, put them together over the wheel wells, put the bags ontop the tarps, then folded the tarps over to prevent any moisture or leakage coming out of the bags.

I will leave mine in all winter, its only 600, it wont hurt the truck at all, it wont even know its back there.

Since you want to take yours out, you can most likely get one other person and just pull the whole tarp with the salt/sand bags on it.

Or.... I was thinking of getting some big buckets that will hold 50lbs each and get 10 of those and put sand in those and then throw those above the axle.

Hope this helps.

BTW: IMO 500 may not be enough, I have 600 in mine and I think in going to add another 250 or 300, maybe even 400 more.

 

Hey I too have a 2500HD with an X-Blade. I bought the ballast retainer kit from Fisher. They give you simple instructions on how to build a frame out of 2x4s. They supply you with a heavy duty steel frame that along with the 2x4s keeps all the weight behind the rear wheels and up against the tailgate. The dealer I bought the plow from had 66lb sand bags so thats what im using.
Go on Fishers Web site and look under install instructions I think....There is a picture of the kit. Well worth the money, For the wood and the Fisher part it is less than $150.

 

I'm sorry but are these things work trucks? If so thats what the beds are made for. Damage the beds now i've heard everything. Damn things are made to be scratched and dented. If your that worried have it line-X or rihno lined.

 

I'm sorry but are these things work trucks? If so thats what the beds are made for. Damage the beds now i've heard everything. Damn things are made to be scratched and dented. If your that worried have it line-X or rihno lined.

Once my truck is paid off, I wont mind as much, lol.

 

My truck isn't paid off either. But I sure aint going to worry about scratching or denting the bed. Like I said thats what there made for. If I was leasing then I might be a little worried. Then again I went that route and still didn't worry. Always figuired a work truck is ment to be used can't be worrying that I might scratch the bed.

 

My truck isn't paid off either. But I sure aint going to worry about scratching or denting the bed. Like I said thats what there made for. If I was leasing then I might be a little worried. Then again I went that route and still didn't worry. Always figuired a work truck is ment to be used can't be worrying that I might scratch the bed.

True I dont really care about straching or denting the inside of the bed, but I dont want to make it rust out quicker.

Your right, its a work truck, and *****'s gonna happen. Heck, first day I got my truck one of my guys strached the side of the bed up, and the third day I had it, my guy went to fill it up, and slammed the door on the guard rail at the station.

Your right though, the more time you spend worry about the truck getting messed up, the bigger dissappointment you will have when it does get strached.

 

I use cinder blocks, around 35 pounds each, you can line the bed with them so all you will lose is the height of the blocks, around 8" or so.

I leave them in all winter, easy to still use the bed because you can just put cargo on top of the blocks. I had somewhere between 30-35 of them in there last year, they dont slide around either.

Even though they say to use 500, the extra helps out especially when going site to site when you may not want to use 4 wheel drive because the roads arent all that bad

 

Mark I also hate the idea of scratching or denting my truck. But one thing I have noticed with new trucks is they don't rust like they used to. I have scratches in bed of truck that have been there for a year and it still looks fine no real rust. i think your guy that dinged your truck had the right idea get that first dent out of the way then it isn't such a concern. I know when I first get a new truck that first dent scratch or what have you is always the hardest. After that I start using like it is ment to be.

 

Mark I also hate the idea of scratching or denting my truck. But one thing I have noticed with new trucks is they don't rust like they used to. I have scratches in bed of truck that have been there for a year and it still looks fine no real rust. i think your guy that dinged your truck had the right idea get that first dent out of the way then it isn't such a concern. I know when I first get a new truck that first dent scratch or what have you is always the hardest. After that I start using like it is ment to be.

Ya, I have a 93 that is rusted all over wheel wells and all that. It has holes in the bed from rust its so bad. I dont want my 01 to be like that in 5 years. LOL. But I guess your right about not rusting like they used to.

Anyway, Let it snow!!!!!!

 

Yea Mark they treat them differantly now. I had a 99 Ford ranger that I backed into a guard rail hard and fast one night about 6 months after getting it. Had it for 3 years and never did anything to fix and it was still shinny metal.

 

it is galvanized. will rust eventually, but you really have to wear off all the galvy before the metal will start to rust. By then the truck will be worn out anyway. Smartest thing they ever did. I think they started galvanizing body panels in a big way around 93 or 94.

 

I use two car tires filled with concrete, weight will depend on the size of the tire. Mine are about 350# each, I also put a short pipe about 8" long x 1 1/4" dia in them flush with the top of concrete so they can be used as volley ball net stands in the summer, etc. I also put a short length of chain in the concrete leaving a few links out so they can be lifted with a hoist if needed. They can be rolled in or out of the bed rather easily and the rubber tire prevents sliding and denting the bed real bad.

 

I used sand tubes for years. They would freeze and become like cement. I put a 2x4 behind the rear wheels in the bed to keep them from sliding but, at some point they became missles. This year Itrying water softner salt bags wrapped in an extra garbage bag. They seem not to freeze up and in the spring I will use them in my softner - no storage issues, no disposale issues of the broken sand tubes.

 

Are there Menards's stores in your area? Menard's carries 70# tubes of sand. I just bought 4 for the back of my CJ5. They are in really heavy plastic bags (tubes) - the same material used for sand bagging floods.

If no Menards, maybe Home Depot or Lowe's will carry them.

 

There was a recent post on ballast that went way out and had a picture of a porche very entertaining. I made a frame out of 2x6 and use about 10 -5 gal pails filled with sand-- these are covered and wiegh about 60-70 lbs a piece. works pretty slick and have run this setup for at least ten years-- This way you can tweek where you want the wieght--I have a 4' x4' spread out over the rear axle. Works slick and I use radials that are mud and snow so they aren't the most aggressive thread out there and have never been stuck. Have fun! We went out on Turkey day up here!:bluebounc

 

I Bought The Ballast Kit From Western And Modified Secured It Through The Bed ,.. I Got 6 5 Gal Pails Filled Wit Concrete Works Perfect Easy In Easy Out With 2x4's Reinforcing It

 

I use the front suitcase weights 72# from a farm tractor, a 2x4 across the back of the wheel well. The weights are about 3" high laid across the bed,they take up little space, leaving the use of box for other things.
Happy Holidays

 

Uh, I use thing new stuff they have here, it's called ... sand.

I load it loose in the bed of the truck, can add and remove as needed.

I have a bedliner, so in the spring, I take it out, use rust reformer on any spots, and use black enamel paint (I have a black truck) with a paintbush to cover the rust reformer. Never had any problems.

I have a tarp-eze cover over the whole works, keeps out the majority of the weather, and never have to worry about it freezing, either.

I'm afraid of carrying missles in the back of my truck. Concrete, sand bags, steel, whatever. After you roll a truck (as I have) or have a head-on, you'd rething your choices. Do you want a cement block going through the rear window at 60MPH? Eeek, no thank you.

 

In case you guys havent heard there is a thing out there these days called a bed liner. It keeps you from scratching the paint all up. Gee I thought these things are supposed to be used. Good grief you guys are truck owners now act like one already.....Rob

 

Everybody has their favorites, but I would never recommend anything that can leave the bed or go through the back window in an accident (especially cement blocks). Never had it happen to me but have seen it, it will scare the s**t out of you.

I use loose sand that is held to the back end of the bed with a 2X8 framework.

 

get one of these for ballast purposes....:waving:

 

Yep those do work great for ballast!purplebou

 

get one of these for ballast purposes....:waving:

Talk about premateurily rotting out your truck!!! NEVER again in my trucks!

The key in ballast is "behind the real wheels" If you put it infront of or over the rear wheels you are not accomplishing what it is intended to do. Basic physics- levers and fulcroms.
I used to use the tube sand over the rear wheels (10 of the at 60 lbs each, sometimes 12 or 14 of them) they froze- no big deal as the didn;t leave the bed all season anyway. I made a frame of 2x4's with angles on the corners for reinforcement and chained the frame to the rear cargo tiedowns to prevent it from becoming a missle. No problems. Come spring I stacked them in a corner of the yard until next year- got 3 seasons out of a tube before it was too rotted to lift into the bed again. Just put them in 5 gal plastic pails and going to build a new frame.
This was all evenly spread in front of anf behind the rear wheel for traction and to counter itself (again physics).
I also use rubbermaid totes to carry my salt and sand for spreading on the customers (usually by hand stuff) against the tailgate which is where ballast needs to be. 2 totes full is about 200lbs each (4 50 lbs bags of salt in a tote) plus extra bags of salt in the middle. I can fit 4 totes across, 2 of each giving me over 500lbs at the gate all the time. This stuff stays in all season- the totes are not going to leak, and I bungee the lids on for safety (they do fly off on the highway if you don't)

 

if I roll my truck I dont think the cinder blocks are going to make that much of a difference

at that point I want it done for, I dont want any chance of it being fixed, im sure the window will blow out either way, 35lb cinder block wont hurt as much as the roof collapsing on my head.

Maybe Ill look into that sand thing, but what do you do with the loose sand in the spring time?

 

I buy 80# bags (Tube Shaped) of sand at Wallmart. They are packaged in a heavy duty weaved plastic type of material. They can be placed in and out of the truck easily. Plus, you have sand if you need it. They cost about $4.00 per/bag.
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