Most wrong load in a vehicle, what've you done you really shouldn't..

[bangernomics]

36 x 4m lengths of 8x3 timber hanging out the arse of a berlingo. Sat on two pallets in the boot so it was level. Drove from south manc to northwich whilst only turning right at roundabouts as I stupidly couldn’t see out of the passenger window as it was that full.

[Markeh]

Does 170 scrap laptops in an X-Trail count? The weight in the rear is definitely noticeable.

At least this lot was below the height of the seatbacks. I used to have the Qashqais filled to the rafters all the way to the back of the front seats, which did lead to an unusual incident at one point - it's a strange feeling to be hit in the shoulder by a small form factor desktop PC as you brake for a sharp turn off the A1...

The boot boards in the Qashqai were rated to something like 75kg allegedly. There was some deformation after chucking 18 bags of slate in there but nothing that flipping them over and using them upside down for a bit didn't sort.

I had a rather large (easily 5ft by 3ft) marble coffee table kindly gifted to me by my uncle when I bought this house. It did fit perfectly fine in the rear of my old J11 Qashqai but bloody hell yu felt it in the corners and on roundabouts!

[Jazoli]

I used to regularly carry 150 x 20 litre full water cooler bottles in my 3.5t Sprinter, when I say regularly I mean twice a day, 5 days a week for 3 years, that was about 3t, I had uprated rear springs fitted so it didn’t drag its arse and ran the rear tyres at 60psi, braking down some of the steep hills in the lakes was interesting.

wouldn’t do it now (I couldn’t lift 12t a day for a start)

 

[meshking]

I carried the flattened kitchen carcasses of our old kitchen in the back of my Citroen Dyane once. I used to commute from south Croydon to Horsham in that car, and thought I would kill two birds with one stone and drop the waste at the tip in my lunch hour. The car had very light steering due to the load - looking back it was a bit stupid to drive with that much load unsecured behind me on the motorway. 

[Lord Sterling]

No pics, but back when I had the 407, I transported a double-sized mattress on the roof without a roof rack/bars. It was held to the car only by a pair of bunjee cords and our hands on the front. It was for the old chav neighbour who was moving out to Kidderminster. 

Also, more recently, I transported a 3 seater sofa in the back of my Vectra B. Think the pic below but with an extra bit hanging out the back and a couple of bungee cords holding the sofa and boot down over the bit hanging out. Again, thankfully, it was only a few miles.

I've transported Ma_Sterling to and from the Isle of Wight packing the Micra to the absolute limit, but it wasn't anything as dangerous as some here.

This very Micra has transported 6 passengers with 1 in the front passenger, 4 in the back and 1 in the boot. I was young and reckless. I wouldn't do it now, of course.

[AnnoyingPentium]

6 minutes ago, Lord Sterling said:

Also, more recently, I transported a 3 seater sofa in the back of my Vectra B. Think the pic below but with an extra bit hanging out the back and a couple of bungee cords holding the sofa and boot down over the bit hanging out. Again, thankfully, it was only a few miles.

I can beat* that. Bought a brand new bed frame on marketplace and honestly I should have borrowed a van... but I didn't. 

Safety first... it was wedged between the boot lip, the roof, and the inner wheel arch where it needs the floor of the boot. It held in remarkably well.

Then there was the time I gave a Yamaha electric organ to @reb...

I was meant to go up with my mate in his V70, but he'd taken not well. Instead I phoned someone else to give me a hand loading it into the Vectra. Due to the size of it and the relative size of the boot, the only way it would fit is if the organ was lifted up to the height of where the glass would be, and lowered in. Much smashing of interior trim when I dropped it, but it fit, just. Of course, you noticed the weight - especially as I nearly put the car on its door handles at a roundabout near Stirling. 

[High Jetter]

It was a free shed if I could remove it. Rude to say no.

[Markeh]

Who needs proper bungee cords? When we were moving a two seater sofa that really did not fit into my third year room at university (went from a massive Victorian terrace where I had the front room to a much smaller one!) we had to improvise to keep the boot of mum's PT Cruiser closed.

[wuvvum]

This was probably mine.

A Saviem SG2 tipper on a Brian James tilt bed trailer, being hauled by a SWB Isuzu Trooper 3.1D.  As you can see, the trailer tyres didn't particularly appreciate the weight they were being asked to carry.

Other one that springs to mind is when I picked up the Innocenti from Rugby - I went over with a mate in the Legacy estate I was driving at the time, and on the way home the Subaru's clutch went on the A11, so I had to tow it to the next services (fortunately not too far away) using the 659cc 30bhp Innocenti.  That was memorable.

[wuvvum]

3 hours ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

Then there was the time I gave a Yamaha electric organ to @reb...

I was meant to go up with my mate in his V70, but he'd taken not well. Instead I phoned someone else to give me a hand loading it into the Vectra. Due to the size of it and the relative size of the boot, the only way it would fit is if the organ was lifted up to the height of where the glass would be, and lowered in. Much smashing of interior trim when I dropped it, but it fit, just. Of course, you noticed the weight - especially as I nearly put the car on its door handles at a roundabout near Stirling. 

 

I can beat that - I managed to fit a Yamaha HE-8 organ in the back of a Kia Pride-shape Mazda 121.  I also picked up an 88-key electric piano in the same car, although that had to come through onto the front seat and I had to push it with my hand every time I went round a left-hand bend so it didn't land on my lap.   Which became a bit awkward when I stopped off on the way home to view a Renault 25 Monaco and the seller led me at very high speed down some very twisty back roads to where the car was stored.

[JJ0063]

Nothing overly impressive compared to some of you.

 

I did once pick up a full single Divan bed in my Vectra C hatchback which fitted fine with the boot closed but had to put the drivers seat as far forward as it would go, and wound forward so I could barely turn the steering wheel as it was digging into my chest. Dangerous in hindsight but didn’t have far to go.

 

[EightMegs]

A Toyota 4A-F and some miscellaneous suspension parts in the boot of a 1.1 litre Hyundai Getz is up there but by far the worst thing I've done is moving house in one go from Ireland to the UK in a Carina II.

The back box dragged on the ramp getting off the ferry in Fishguard.

[Datsuncog]

Quite a lot of concrete blocks and sand in the back of the Forester.

This was with new uprated Sachs springs just fitted!

Only travelling about half a mile from the builder's yard; I know I should have split the load but was overly keen to crack on with laying some foundations.

Didn't do it again.

Transporting 8x4 sheets of plasterboard on the roof of the Corolla.

A fairly shonky setup involving some cheapo Paddy Hopkirk roofbars with a 50kg load limit, bits of timber offcut to act as supports, tarps plus ratchet straps in an effort to stop the whole assembly flying away.

Made multiple journeys to collect enough sheets to complete the kitchen, through rather wet and windy weather.

For the next house project, I just paid the delivery fee and got the yard to drop everything off.

Sometimes, it's not worth the hassle.

I've a picture somewhere of my Volvo 240 estate with 5m lengths of skirting board hanging out fore and aft, but can't find it right now.

[Imhotep]

No photos and not even half as great as some of the stuff on here but I towed a 1.1 litre 206 with 5 people in with a 1.0 Citroen AX, also with 5 people in. Acceleration wasn’t a thing. 

[wuvvum]

2 hours ago, Imhotep said:

No photos and not even half as great as some of the stuff on here but I towed a 1.1 litre 206 with 5 people in with a 1.0 Citroen AX, also with 5 people in. Acceleration wasn’t a thing. 

On a related note, I wasn't there at the time but when I was in 6th form one of my mates managed to fit 12 people into a Citroën AX.  One of them did end up with two cracked ribs, but one doesn't care about that kind of thing when one is 17.

[wuvvum]

Not me, but this would seem to be the appropriate place for this classic.

 

[beko1987]

Probably moving house in my xm... The suspension hid all semblance of weight of the load. I was doing a trip with probably 10 boxes of books, 3 items of flat packed furniture and other stuff. Was the only time in my ownership it ever slipped the autobox but it did it 3 times... The suspension was the most amazing I've ever felt it though 😂🤷

Most normal cars have the decency to sit on the bump stops as a visual aid to how much shit your loading... 

[All-Cisterns-Go]

No photo alas, but a walk-in bathtub in (& mostly hanging out) the back of a Chevrolet Matiz with a full size double bed & mattress strapped to the roof at the same time whilst doing a run to the local dump.

[Cavcraft]

Pretty sure a 735 BM I scrapped years ago would have been on the back of my 3.5 tonne Transit. 

It got so bad, I had to make a few miles detour round the lanes to avoid the VOSA yard on various weighbridge missions.

 

[Metal Guru]

Not me, but in the early 80s my parents were getting an extension built and had employed a bunch of cowboys.

As they finished the brick laying part of the build, they realised they’d be about 50 bricks short of what they needed. So the boss decides a quick trip to the builders merchants is necessary and it’s only a few bricks so he decides to go in his own car, a rusty Mini. 
An hour or so later he returns , and the second he stops outside our house, the whole floor fell out of the Mini and the bricks sat on the road.

[GeorgeB]

21 hours ago, warch said:

Takes 1000 litres 

I'm still none the wiser.

[warch]

1 hour ago, GeorgeB said:

I'm still none the wiser.

Intermediate bulk container - Wikipedia

Essentially a ton of water, plus the weight of the trailer constituting three times the maximum trailed weight and twice the weight of the vehicle.

[Fraz]

@dome - I feel your trip to collect the Saab engine would be worthy of a mention 

[comfortablynumb]

MK2 son sold a honda 250 dream engine a while ago, big ungainly lump, heavy too.

Mateyboy turned up on a 50cc trials bike on L plates, hoping to strap it onto the rack and ride home!😱

Fortunately my lad didn't want to see him get squashed on the way home with impossible handling, and delivered it the 10 miles for a clear conscience 🤕

[catsinthewelder]

Loving this thread.  About 15 years ago I moved house and had to move my 14x8' shed.  Flat packed the roof wouldn't fit in the Luton bodied LDV Convoy I'd hired  so I borrowed the pick up truck from work and tied it on the top.  It was a Daihatsu HiJet so with it far enough forward to avoid hitting the ground at the back, the front was hanging right over the cab.  You couldn't see any part of the truck from the back and any motorcycle stupid enough to tailgate me could have done a credible Evil Knevil impression when I braked for bends.

I then needed a new base for it so bought some council slabs from an eBay seller in Malvern.  Didn't quite consider the weight so went to fetch them in a 1974 VW camper which was one way to find out what it would look like lowered.  I also found out that Malvern is famous for hills so did a mile in 1st gear getting out of town.

The poor victims.

[Soundwave]

Not quite as extreme as some of the other posts, but my Rover R8 carried a few loads it perhaps shouldn't have when I was helping my friends renovate their house. It carried an entire greenhouse, in kit form, including the glass - those long bits were simultaneously pressing against the windscreen and the inside of the tailgate when I closed it. I'm surprised I didn't put them through the windscreen on the bumps.

And this one was pretty dumb. Turns out wood flooring is actually a LOT heavier than it looks, was dragging the tail all the way to the tip with this lot...

[Cavcraft]

Oh God, motorbikes.

Got my mate to ride a Honda C70 home from the other side of Wrexham. No MOT, no tax, no insurance. Stopped for a fag on the bypass, coppers pull in behind us two minutes later questioning the legitimacy of the bike. 'Its's OK, we had it in the boot of the car' I said. They didn't believe us so we some how stuffed in the boot of my Peugeot 405. They still looked unhappy but couldn't do anything.

[Christine]

Greenlaning as a passenger in a  mates classic range rover .. mid wales, february,  in the snow..a while back .

 There's a military shooting range near Llandrindod wells and a byway goes through it . You go up a steep track and there's a gate and MoD sign saying don't enter if the red flag is up. Well all that was flying was a bit of red string , so we went in . The was about 10 vehicles in our group .  Up and up ,  eventually  you end up in that fake town / village the army use , its been on Top Gear ...  And there's tanks , aircraft , armoured cars , lorries etc , all littered aout the place , with shell holes, bullet holes , total blow ups ..amazing !  We stopped for a look...and pics ...  and sitting on a tank was a shell, about 3" diameter.. Phworrr . What a trophy eh,  for the mantlepiece ? So i nicked it and slid it under the passenger seat in the RR .. Off we set , again  rocking and rolling  across this waste land , and this shell was going  donk ,donk,   donk , rattling about under me seat!  I bent down to stop it , picked it up and showed it off again to my mate  who was driving . On closer inspection , it looked to be unexploded! Fuck that  ! I undid the window and lobbed it out !   The CB crackles , and the guy behind asks why i've chucked it out ?  " It was still  live !"  Says I .. " Huh , thats a real smart way of getting rid of it ....i'm right behind you! "   

Lucky i did get rid of it ,  as the Military caught us and we got into a lot of  trouble.. but that's another story..

[Pauly.22]

75bhp

i think the trailer was enough for it. 
two bags of gravel it didn’t like that. Luicky it’s not a navara. 

[Datsuncog]

Oh yes, there was the greenhouse too.

I'd forgotten about that one.

6' x 8' aluminium job; all the glass and wooden staging fitted inside the car.

Not a very smart idea, but it was offered out free locally and speed was of the essence to collect it...