desparado, what truck and what specs, weight.
bluejaybee, no not really considering the weight of the truck and the fact that most times i am not putting more than 5k in the box but even at gross of 32,000 its less work than if i was dragging around a extra 1300 to 1700 # that a drop axle would weigh. plus if i did that i would be putting it down at a lower cargo weight than i can put in the box now therefor affecting fuel mileage both ways. one by having the axle on and two by having it on the ground. both would drop fuel mileage. i have a friend with the exact same truck, exact same specs w/a pusher and he gets 9 up and 8.5/.75 down. i know there are many different thoughts on this, but has i said we have run this truck for 6yrs this way and havent missed out on much and have been successful. plus the entire 8000# of cargo is easy to load. i could put it all over the rear axle and be fine. i just load from the rear forward depending on the number of skids. carting 30,000 around most of the time or less is no work at all for this motor. dont even know it there.