Towing Question??

[gilbertmsg]

A good friend of mine has a 06 Chevy 2500 diesel that weighs about 6700 lbs. He has had transmission problems and needs his truck towed about 200 miles to a shop that will install built tranny. I have a 18 foot dove tail car hauler with 7000 lb axels. The trailer weight is 2026 lbs. That puts gross weight over about 1700 lbs. I understand that is overweight, but how much is too much. I have a 08 Dodge 2500 Cummins to tow with, so I'm not worried about towing his truck, just my trailer. Both good and bad comments appreciated.

Thanks!!

Eddie

 

[LD1]

To cut to the chase (I'll explain later)... I think you will be fine for a one-time shot.

But I wouldnt make a habit of it.

Now on to the explination: You are not as much overweight as you think.

These are just rough numbers because I dont know the weights for sure.

FIRST, the axles are 3500lb axles. THAT means they can carry 7000lbs combined. The trailer weighs ~2000lbs, BUT the axles arent carrying their own or eachothers weight. So everything that is NOT sprung, doesnt count. Axles, wheels, tires, brakes, springs, etc. So just guessing here, but ~ 300lbs per axle for a total of 600lbs now brings you down to only 1100lbs overweight.

SECOND, the tongue weight is NOT carried by the axles either. So it too gets deducted. With the proper hitch and setup, you could easially and saftely run 1000lbs on tongue weight. Now you are only talking 100lbs over.

Again, these are just estimates, but you get the idea.:thumbsup:

 

[Duffster]

To cut to the chase (I'll explain later)... I think you will be fine for a one-time shot.

But I wouldnt make a habit of it.

Now on to the explination: You are not as much overweight as you think.

These are just rough numbers because I dont know the weights for sure.

FIRST, the axles are 3500lb axles. THAT means they can carry 7000lbs combined. The trailer weighs ~2000lbs, BUT the axles arent carrying their own or eachothers weight. So everything that is NOT sprung, doesnt count. Axles, wheels, tires, brakes, springs, etc. So just guessing here, but ~ 300lbs per axle for a total of 600lbs now brings you down to only 1100lbs overweight.

SECOND, the tongue weight is NOT carried by the axles either. So it too gets deducted. With the proper hitch and setup, you could easially and saftely run 1000lbs on tongue weight. Now you are only talking 100lbs over.

Again, these are just estimates, but you get the idea.:thumbsup:

What he said. :thumbsup:

 

[Diamondpilot]

I personally would not do it but go ahead if you want. I fix trailers every week that have been overloaded. It plays havoc on axles, spindles, bearings, and most of all the tires. If the trailer has 205 or 215 6 ply tires with my luck I would not make it 20 miles. 200 miles is a long way to haul a Dmax with a bad tranny on too little of a trailer.

Chris

 

[bcp]

Tires carry everything the hitch doesn't. Make sure they are up to the job.

Bruce

 

[Diamondpilot]

Yep, tires will be the first area that will show their weakness.

Chris

 

[mbrule]

Probably be OK, but you are taking a chance.

I once hauled an 8200 lb dump on my 7000 lb trailer (dump had some wet gravel in the back, likely 9k! total). Made sure tires were hard, loaded it towards the front, went VERY slow with 4 ways on. Went about 5 miles.

Was a bad idea, and I would not recommend it, but the truck was given to me if I could move it right away!!!

Does your friend or anybody he knows have AAA?

 

[gilbertmsg]

The trailer is about 1 year old, with 200-300 miles on it. I use it to haul round bales 8 miles round trip for our horses. Thanks for the replys.

Eddie

 

[powerstroke444e]

To cut to the chase (I'll explain later)... I think you will be fine for a one-time shot.

But I wouldnt make a habit of it.

Now on to the explination: You are not as much overweight as you think.

These are just rough numbers because I dont know the weights for sure.

FIRST, the axles are 3500lb axles. THAT means they can carry 7000lbs combined. The trailer weighs ~2000lbs, BUT the axles arent carrying their own or eachothers weight. So everything that is NOT sprung, doesnt count. Axles, wheels, tires, brakes, springs, etc. So just guessing here, but ~ 300lbs per axle for a total of 600lbs now brings you down to only 1100lbs overweight.

SECOND, the tongue weight is NOT carried by the axles either. So it too gets deducted. With the proper hitch and setup, you could easially and saftely run 1000lbs on tongue weight. Now you are only talking 100lbs over.

Again, these are just estimates, but you get the idea.:thumbsup:

:thumbsup:What he said or just call a wrecker you would be suprised how cheap they are sometimes.

 

[Duffster]

Tires carry everything the hitch doesn't.

Come agian?

 

[Egon]

Could depend a lot on your driving habits.

 

[bcp]

Tires carry everything the hitch doesn't.

Come agian?

All the trailer & load weight that is not on the hitch is on the tires. Tires carry the most.

Trailer frame carries the load; springs carry the frame and load; axles carry the springs, frame, and load; tires carry axle, springs, frame, and load.

Bruce
________________

 

[Duffster]

All the trailer & load weight that is not on the hitch is on the tires. Tires carry the most.

Trailer frame carries the load; springs carry the frame and load; axles carry the springs, frame, and load; tires carry axle, springs, frame, and load.

Bruce
________________

Thanks I wasn't reading it right.

 

[slowzuki]

I wouldn't do it, pretty high risk of a blow out. I'd got 10 miles on it, but not as far as you want to go.

 

[2458n]

Tires usually blowout from heat build up. Newer equipment I would not worry. Run down the road and eat lunch ,let things cool alittile and finsh the trip. Most of my blow outs have come after many miles and high speeds or heat.

 

[CompactTractorFan]

I would not, for the reason that it's most likely illegal...:thumbsup:

 

[Dmace]

You would have to get as much tongue weight on the truck as possible (15-20%) but you should have no problem since you'll be running that trailer right at or just a couple of hundred pounds over and the roughly 1500lbs on the trucks hitch should be fine as well if the hitch is rated for it. Also, depending on the hitch you might need a WD setup.

As mentioned before, go easy on the truck, make sure the truck and trailer are in top shape, take breaks every 50 miles to check everything and make sure it's strapped down properly.

If you do it, you must post pictures since having one truck towing a broken down truck from another manufacturer is quite a topic starter.

 

[timswi]

Not saying to do this, but I've done far worse. Just need to take your time and be really careful.

 

[two_bit_score]

..............

If you do it, you must post pictures since having one truck towing a broken down truck from another manufacturer is quite a topic starter.

Cant wait to see the pics!

 

[IronHog]

A good friend of mine has a 06 Chevy 2500 diesel that weighs about 6700 lbs. He has had transmission problems and needs his truck towed about 200 miles to a shop that will install built tranny. I have a 18 foot dove tail car hauler with 7000 lb axels. The trailer weight is 2026 lbs. That puts gross weight over about 1700 lbs. I understand that is overweight, but how much is too much. I have a 08 Dodge 2500 Cummins to tow with, so I'm not worried about towing his truck, just my trailer. Both good and bad comments appreciated.

Thanks!!

Eddie

Make sure you have a spare and a bottle jack and go for it.......hafta be a pretty sorry car hauler to not make the trip as long as the bearings are good.


But 6ply trailer tires and this heat do not do well together......I lost a boat trailer tire 2 weeks ago. Good tire and it just imploded.