I need to pick up 900 pounds of floor tile. The specs on the car give cargo capacity in cubic feet but not pounds. How many pounds will this car carry?
That would be equivalent to you hauling around four other people who weigh 225 pounds each.
Perhaps that will help you visualize the issue.
Sure. Just spread the weight, be careful w/ driveways and such, and don’t drive like Steve McQueen, man.
According to the owner’s manual the total combined load limit (i.e. driver, passengers and cargo) is 905 pounds. I would make 2 trips.
From what I googled, the load capacity of a Camry is 900 lbs. So hopefully you weigh nothing. I think the hardest part will be finding a place to fit 900 lbs of tile in a Camry. As long as the wheels aren’t rubbing you could try and do it if it’s a short trip at slow speeds, with few bumps.
On the driver side door jamb there is a sticker listing the car weight and it’s gross vehicle weight. Looking online, a base model 2007 Camry has a curb weight of 3263 pounds, the listed GVWR is 4275 pounds, that leaves you 1012 pounds of cargo. So, unless you weigh 112 pounds, you’ll exceed GVWR.
Also, I’ve done this before when I had a 2004 Altima, had a lot of steel from a structure used to hold projector screens and the dynamics of vehicle handling were vastly different. I knew this as I grew up on a farm and am used to laden vehicles. So when I drive to drop them off at the destination, and the fact that I live in the DC area, I did the drive at 10PM when there are few people on the road. It took a long while to stop and handled very poorly. I also drove at 45MPH with hazards on.
My suggestion is to rent a truck from one of the big hardware stores, or a rental place, or ask them to deliver. Unless you do this often or have experience in carrying loaded vehicles I don’t think it’s worth the risk. You really want a vehicle that is designed for this, 900 pounds in a full ton vehicle is nothing, the truck is like “whatever”.
Lastly, a ten year old car. You might need to replace suspension after this if you hit a bump. Bushings will have been worn some by now. Yeah, way cheaper to go the route above.
How far are you traveling? If just a few miles I would probably do it. These kinds of numbers have a certain margin in them.
This. If the trip is short, low speed (40MPH or less), light traffic, and you know it to be devoid of potholes and other major bumps, I’d say go for it. Just make sure the load is distributed all over the car, e.g. 100 pounds in each of the four passenger seats, 100 pounds in each of the three passenger footwells, and 200 pounds spread across the floor of the trunk. Spreading the trunk load is important: years ago I had a Maxima with a cheap corrugated plastic trunk floor, and it caved in when I put heavy cargo right in the middle.
ehh… If it’s just a few miles. Make two or three trips.
Exactly. If it’s close enough to be safe (relatively) carrying the entire load then it is also close enough to just make 2 trips. If it is so far that 2 trips would be a big hassle, then that is probably too far to try it in one trip.
At a minimum braking and steering will be much less responsive, but the stress it puts on the tires and suspension on a 10 year old car could leave the OP stranded in the middle of the road with a thousand pounds of cargo. That would mean much bigger headaches than just making 2 trips or renting a truck.
Echoing the rest.
Can you? Sure.
Is it the most conservative option available? Heck no.
Is it survivable without damage if done carefully and luckily for relatively few miles? Probably.
After that it’s all a matter of your personal skill and risk vs. reward tolerance. If you do damage your aging car your insurance company will be very interested in skipping on your payout since the vehicle was operated illegally. Assuming you even have comprehensive insurance on it.
Coincidentally I rented a 16 foot Ryder box truck from Home Depot the other day. I only needed / wanted a pickup truck but those were all taken & I didn’t have time to wait. So I moved my 80 lbs of goods in this grossly oversized multi-ton capable truck. Cost me about $90 for four hours and 55 miles. But it beat my alternatives.
In the OP’s case that’d be cheap insurance.
Thanks for all the input, especially the owner’s manual, which I had not checked before posting. I also did not think to check the door frame sticker–I just check that for tire pressure.
I only need to drive 2-3 miles from the tile shop to my house. So two trips, or I can rent a flatbed from Home Depot with a capacity of about 3000 pounds for $20 for 75 minutes. But driving back and forth to Home Depot is more than two round trips to the tile shop.
Given such short mileage and decent roads I’d do it in two trips in the Camry. I’d also make sure my tires were properly inflated first.
It’s the tires that matter with pickup trucks. I learned that from a landscaper. He had a super duty pickup. We went and got several yards of top soil and 200 concrete landscape blocks. He was very worried driving back to my house. His super duty pickup was rated for the load, but he had cheap truck tires. Probably rated for standard utility pickups.
We made it. But he should have made two trips.
It won’t handle very flexibly. Don’t get into a chase or a shootout.
Also, hopefully there is no gas in the tank.
3 miles? Make 3 trips. It will be worth it on your back and your suspension.
Just reading the title I thought maybe you were going to give my ex wife a ride somewhere. 
Never, ever, rent the truck from Home Depot.
Your $20 covers the 15 minutes of paperwork and vehicle walk-around prep, giving you 60 minutes of actual rental, because you are on the clock when the paperwork first starts, and not when you drive away. With the remaining 60 minutes you also have to fill up the tank with gas at the end of the rental (you must have a receipt) because the truck only gets five miles a gallon, and do a post rental inspection and checkout (another 15 minutes). So you’re down to 45 minutes (including gas refill), if you’re lucky.
Find a friend with a pickup truck. Offer to pay for the gas and a case of beer. You’ll come out ahead.