I have a bradford small truck v-box,its is .85 yds struck,1 yd heaped.It weighs 400 lbs empty.I have it in a 3/4 ton LD GMC.The truck is only a 7200 GVWR.If I had an 8600 or larger truck,I d definetely get a 1.5 yd.My truck weighs 6250 ready for sand with me in it,so 950 lbs and im overloaded,so im always overloaded,unless im almost empty.If i run sand,its pretty heavy,and im sure its overloaded,but with salt its not bad at all.If it were bigger,Id put more in,so its a good thing its not bigger.As far as legal,unless you have an F550 with a 2 yder,they all will be illegal with sand in them,if you fill them.Take my friends new Ford F250HD,it weighs 6350 empty,its a PSD,he has a 8 ft western plow-820 lbs,and an airflow spreader 700 lbs,its a 1.7 yd.with him in it,it weighs 8150 at the scales,with the spreader empty,the GVWR is 8800.700 lbs of sand is about 1/4 a yd.So you will be overloaded big time.Its one of the things you are going to have to deal with.So use a 3500 if you have it,and drive carefully,add helpers if needed,keep rear brakes adjusted good.Stay away from heavily cop traveled areas at peak times.According to the literature that came with my spreader,a yard of wet ,coarse sand weighs 3100 lbs,and a yd or salt weighs between 1250 and 2100 lbs depending on how course it is.
[Edited by John DiMartino on 01-22-2001 at 11:46 PM]