John,
I don’t think you need to space away. Although, from my experience, You’ll always add more weight with gear, people, clothes, etc. so, I’ve learned to just err on the side of caution and get the 350 or 3500 for piece of mind. But, there’s still hope for your current truck; think about the cheaper option, instead of buying a new truck, think about some upgrades. You’re not too far out of your payload. Look at installing airbags, which are a HUGE help. I will never run without them again. Also, familiarize yourself with forklift.com… look at their “stable loads”. The just preemptively engage your overload springs already without anything in the box. They help tremendously with sway as well. You can do other things like shocks and sway bars, but if start with the airbags and stableloads for now. You’re on the right track with the E rated tires, just pull the trigger on them. Nothing scarier than a tire blow out going down the road. I’m quite a bit over payload (too embarrassed to say) but with the upgrades I mentioned, my rig is sound as a pound. Hope this helps!
2015 GMC DENALI 3500HD
2000 Arctic Fox 990S
Torklift Tiedowns /Torklift Fast guns
Firestone Airbags
