Roger Shoaf wrote:

"Pete C." wrote in message
. net...
Yes, but for a pickup in particular, the braking gets better with more
weight due to the much improved rear wheel traction.

The problem is not between the rubber and the road, it is in the brakes
themselves.

A brake converts the energy of the rolling vehicle into heat, and the heaver
the load, and the faster the vehicle is rolling, the more heat gets
produced. When the brake exceeds the ability to dissipate the heat that is
built up, the brakes cease to function.

This is why they have those runaway truck ramps on steep hills.

That is not the issue with a pickup. The rear brakes on a pickup have
far more capacity both in braking action and in heat dissipation, than
the tires they work on have traction to the road surface without cargo
in the bed. Add significant weight in the bed and that braking capacity
becomes available.