Need help formulating plan to transport dumbells in car safely
Posted by amoebaman234@reddit | Autos | View on Reddit | 19 comments
I am going to be picking up: 2 85 lb dumbells, 2, 90 lb dumbells, and 2 95 lb dumbells. A total of 540 lbs.
I don’t know much about our cars so apologies if this is dumb but. I am Concerned about wrecking something on the car so I was wondering if there was a good way to disperse the load somehow with where I load ( mix of trunk and backseats/ front seat, all fine in the trunk etc.)
The car is a Buick lacrosse.
GlassBoxGoose@reddit
People saying dont put them in the trunk because of weight being taken off the front tires dont understand cars any better then you... however, the weight isnt the concern here, you have plenty of headroom on payload. Worry more about them moving around while you drive or if something like an accident were to happen. Long drive? Strap some of them in the seats and put the remainder you can't belt in, in the trunk, or put them all in the trunk, or put a couple in the front and the rest in the rear floorboard. Its really up to you, and matters a lot less than you're being led to believe by others replying. Its the weight of two medium-large people. Its not that big of a deal and theres no need to overthink the weight aspect beyond your own safety in an accident from them being loose inside the car in the case of something like a rollover type accident. Theyre heavy enough to stay put in the floorboard during any other type of accident and during reasonable driving. Happy lifting.
IfIWntdHmmrCalnUrSis@reddit
Thats like...only one fat chick. You'll be good.
spadedracer@reddit
That’s the size of 2 average Americans, you’ll be fine.
cshmn@reddit
500 lbs is fine, even in the trunk. It will affect handling so you will need to drive/corner a bit slower than you might without a load, just like you would if you were hauling weight in a pickup truck.
One potential issue is that your trunk floor is plastic. Because of this, it may be better to put the weight in the rear passenger floorboards.
crappyroads@reddit
I don't have any advice other than to follow what other people said. I just wanted to say, as someone who has been doing dumbbell workouts for over two months and can barely do a circuit with 30lb dumbells...95lbs?! Holy shit, dude.
amoebaman234@reddit (OP)
🤣 it’s a good deal I couldn’t resist even if I don’t use them right away. Plus my adjustables currently only go to 70 and I’m almost pushing that much on db bench for my working sets and rdls but they are heavy asf. Maybe shrugs but those could bother my back. Maybe one day soon I’ll work up to weilding them for my workouts haha.
All just depends what excercises you are doing/ where you are on your journey and what you’re training for I guess, but for me they may be a little too heavy yet.
MarkVII88@reddit
Apology accepted. Thank you.
amoebaman234@reddit (OP)
Apology for what?
newoldschool@reddit
spread it around like 180lbs front passenger 180lbs driver rear seat 180lbs on the other back seat and the rest in the trunk
that should replicate a family of 4 and luggage
bse50@reddit
Perhaps this, but don't put them on the seats. That would be extremely dangerous even in a minor collision.
The best solution would be to put some plywood in the trunk to spread the load, and secure them with proper straps.
smokinbbq@reddit
Put them on the seats, but actually buckle them in.
CoffeeDetail@reddit
Drive like you have a baby in the car.
mr_lab_rat@reddit
The car can do it as far as weight.
Distributing the weight by putting them in the floor where each passenger would sit is best for handling.
Making a “pallet” for the trunk from strong plywood and using very large zipties to tie the dumbells to it would be safer in an accident
Subieworx@reddit
Click it or ticket. Seriously
compman007@reddit
Rear floorboards, drive carefully and don’t flip the car over. That’s the only real risk you would be taking is them flying around the car if you flip upside down.
Just drive carefully, don’t be stupid, you’ll be fine!
gheiminfantry@reddit
If you are actually worried about safety then make 2 trips. It's the only way to do it safety with your car.
compman007@reddit
The car can safely hold 5 humans. it can hold 540 pounds and a driver with zero issue just putting them in the floor of the back seat would be perfectly fine, just drive carefully and don’t flip the car over, that’s the only time that they could become a potential problem
AWDChevelleWagon@reddit
Putting them on the floorboards of each seat is the best for it not affecting handling. The trunk would put all the extra weight behind the rear axle so it would take weight off your front tires.
kmbxyz@reddit
I just looked up the payload capacity of a second gen (2010-2016) Buick Lacrosse and it's 900 lbs. It does seem like if all of the weight was in the trunk it might not be the best thing. It's possible that your tires would rub when you drive over bumps or that the driving dynamics of the car would be somewhat compromised since the front tires, which do the steering, accelerating, and braking, would just have proportionally less weight on them.
Realistically, I think you'd be fine even if you put them all in the trunk, but to be on the safe side I'd probably try to put them in the foot well of the back seat. Then the weight is closer to the center and I wouldn't expect any issues.