Honda Car Forum

what is a maximum load bearing capacity of a 1998 honda accord? how
much weight can i safely carry in the trunk of the car?

yesterday i carried 15 bags of top soil (40 pounds per bag) over a
distance of 3-4 miles @ 30-40 mph. This is the first time I put this
much of a load on the car and I dont intend to do this again in the
near future. But I still wanted to check what the safe limit was.

Thanks for any info.

in article c1e1fcb6.0309251150.68593b8f@posting.google.com, MoJo at
mrmojo@indiatimes.com wrote on 9/25/03 3:50 PM:

> yesterday i carried 15 bags of top soil (40 pounds per bag) over a
> distance of 3-4 miles @ 30-40 mph. This is the first time I put this
> much of a load on the car and I dont intend to do this again in the
> near future. But I still wanted to check what the safe limit was.

There will be a load limit stated on the door jamb. The load limit is
probably about 700 - 800 lbs. This is not a magic number, beyond which the
tires will explode, but it represents a level at which the tires are
stressed enough to wear a bit more, even at full inflation pressure, and at
which the riding and handling qualities begin to be compromised. That said,
I do not believe that 600 lbs in the trunk is inherently unsafe. However,
that much weight behind the rear axle does make the car very tail heavy, and
perhaps very tail happy in snowy or rainy conditions. In Massachusetts, my
former home, sand bags in the trunk are used to augment traction in snow for
rear drive vehicles.
I should add that my Honda S2000 has a 400 lb load rating. My son and I
together slightly exceed that 400 lbs, as would any two decent sized males.
I don't believe an S2000 would be unsafe with two normal male passengers
plus a bit of luggage.

Did your car look like this with the load in it?
http://www.snopes.com/photos/lumber.asp
Otherwise I think you are ok with 600lbs....
TH
"Joe and Ruth Levy" <joeandruth@hargray.com> wrote in message news:BB98EC41.14CC5%joeandruth@hargray.com...
> in article c1e1fcb6.0309251150.68593b8f@posting.google.com, MoJo at
> mrmojo@indiatimes.com wrote on 9/25/03 3:50 PM:
>
> > yesterday i carried 15 bags of top soil (40 pounds per bag) over a
> > distance of 3-4 miles @ 30-40 mph. This is the first time I put this
> > much of a load on the car and I dont intend to do this again in the
> > near future. But I still wanted to check what the safe limit was.
>
> There will be a load limit stated on the door jamb. The load limit is
> probably about 700 - 800 lbs. This is not a magic number, beyond which the
> tires will explode, but it represents a level at which the tires are
> stressed enough to wear a bit more, even at full inflation pressure, and at
> which the riding and handling qualities begin to be compromised. That said,
> I do not believe that 600 lbs in the trunk is inherently unsafe. However,
> that much weight behind the rear axle does make the car very tail heavy, and
> perhaps very tail happy in snowy or rainy conditions. In Massachusetts, my
> former home, sand bags in the trunk are used to augment traction in snow for
> rear drive vehicles.
> I should add that my Honda S2000 has a 400 lb load rating. My son and I
> together slightly exceed that 400 lbs, as would any two decent sized males.
> I don't believe an S2000 would be unsafe with two normal male passengers
> plus a bit of luggage.
>

Todd Howard <dyolf_knip60@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Did your car look like this with the load in it?
> http://www.snopes.com/photos/lumber.asp
> Otherwise I think you are ok with 600lbs....

I immediately thought of the lumber car too!

I used to strap all sorts of things on to my 1974 Satellite.

Andrew

On 25 Sep 2003 12:50:37 -0700, mrmojo@indiatimes.com (MoJo) wrote:

>what is a maximum load bearing capacity of a 1998 honda accord? how
>much weight can i safely carry in the trunk of the car?
>
>yesterday i carried 15 bags of top soil (40 pounds per bag) over a
>distance of 3-4 miles @ 30-40 mph. This is the first time I put this
>much of a load on the car and I dont intend to do this again in the
>near future. But I still wanted to check what the safe limit was.
>
>Thanks for any info.

You are probably at or a little over the limit. I would be more
concerned with the concentration of weight in the trunk. I would keep
a close eye on compression of the suspension during loading and try to
avoid any big bumps on the road.

Better yet, just make two trips.