trailer safety factor

[Birdhunter1]

Dodge says 4800 with 3.55 gear and 6000 with 3.70 gear. Guess I'm out of luck on this one.I have the 3.55 gear and class 3 hitch.Thanks for the help anyway.

Honestly you still won't have a problem towing that load with your truck with the 3.55 gears.

 

[Highbeam]

Your traditional class 3 hitch which is very common as standard equipment is labeled to bear 500 lbs of tongue weight/5000 lbs of trailer weight without a WD hitch. It is also labeled to bear 1000 lbs of tongue weight/10,000 lbs of trailer weight with a WD hitch. Some of the newer GM class 3 hitches move up the non WD hitch rating to 750/7500 but I am confident that anyone that has used a WD hitch will prefer to use one even if the hitch is loaded lightly enough to be used without a WD hitch. If your GM hitch is the type that has bolts attaching it to the bumper-REPLACE IT with a standard box type receiver mounted to the frame as there have been many documented failures of this poor hitch design. GM screwed up on this one, I'll admit it even though I own nothing but GM trucks and SUVs.

Now the hitch is the easy part, you can buy a hitch off the shelf to meet your loading needs. The GVWR as labeled in your door jamb will usually be the first rating exceeded when towing heavy with your half ton.

For example, my truck weighs 5700 lbs all loaded up for work. I add 700 lbs of trailer tongue weight and am now in excess of my stickered GVWR of 6200 lbs. Whether or not you choose to tow loads in excess of your ratings is your choice, some say illegal and some say not. I say you at least owe it to yourself to know the ratings and whether you've exceeded them.

 

[Soundguy]

Whether or not you choose to tow loads in excess of your ratings is your choice, some say illegal and some say not. I say you at least owe it to yourself to know the ratings and whether you've exceeded them.

I guess it boils down to what you are tagged for, when it comes down to the legality issue..

Soundguy

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I guess it boils down to what you are tagged for, when it comes down to the legality issue..

Soundguy

Well, sort of that way anayway. I've got my truck and trailer TAGGED in excess of what it is rated. Trailer tires are rated for a little over 12,000. Trailer is rated at 14,000.

When the Vehicle Enforcement Officer has his say, it's which ever one is the LOWEST is the max allowed.

Truck/trailer (disregarding tires) is rated at a combined 22,884 lbs.

Take tires into consideration (both truck and trailer) total drops to 20,775

Tags say 22,000lbs

Police bring me no joy over 20,775 (with appropriate weights on truck or trailer axles) regardless of tags.

All is irrelevent, as the load I generally carry is well under 17,000 total.

I like a "saftey net" when hauling. Truck/trailer/chains/tags/ect ALL need to be rated "over-kill" to satisfy me. Taking a loaded truck right to the limit is akin to Russian Roulette in my book.

 

[Soundguy]

I agree. Obviously your tires will be the weak link.. when i meant tagged.. I also meant as otherwise in compliance. I.E... you wouldn't be using a class II hitch.. etc.. etc..

Soundguy

Well, sort of that way anayway. I've got my truck and trailer TAGGED in excess of what it is rated. Trailer tires are rated for a little over 12,000. Trailer is rated at 14,000.

When the Vehicle Enforcement Officer has his say, it's which ever one is the LOWEST is the max allowed.

Truck/trailer (disregarding tires) is rated at a combined 22,884 lbs.

Take tires into consideration (both truck and trailer) total drops to 20,775

Tags say 22,000lbs

Police bring me no joy over 20,775 (with appropriate weights on truck or trailer axles) regardless of tags.

All is irrelevent, as the load I generally carry is well under 17,000 total.

I like a "saftey net" when hauling. Truck/trailer/chains/tags/ect ALL need to be rated "over-kill" to satisfy me. Taking a loaded truck right to the limit is akin to Russian Roulette in my book.

 

[unreconstructed]

A couple of years ago I took my wife up to the Toyota dealership to pick up her new Highlander. I was in my F250 which is unadorned with anything other than a tranny and an air conditioner. The salesman, sensing opportunity, hit me up to buy a nice pickup this time. I told him we thought highly of Toyotas and might be interested in a new truck if he had one that would pull my trailer loaded. He just grunted and said "some day".

Anyhow, I am sold on a 3/4 ton now. But, as most of the posters who have replied to you have said, whatever works as long as the vehicle will handle the load.

Good luck.

 

[roxynoodle]

Well those Ford F-250s can tow a lot! Mine had a manual transmission with a creeper gear, V-10 engine, the 4.30 (I think) rear axle and extra leaf springs on the back and could tow near 14,000 lbs. I loved that truck but sold it when I got divorced since the lazy ex hubby left me with bills up the wazoo. I replaced it with a used Dodge Ram 1500 and it towed my horse trailer just fine. 2 years ago I bought a new truck and went back to look at the F250s but got a much better deal on a new Dodge and it tows in excess of 8000lbs so it does what I need it to do. Besides, my old Dodge was good to me, still running great at 213,000 miles when I sold it. I say buy what you like as long as it will do the job. You do need to anticipate though what you will need as far as tow capacity in the future if you plan to still own the truck. Also, if you tow a lot, I would recommend you buy a truck that seems like more than you need. Nothing is harder on a truck than towing.

 

[Nissan197]

If I had the money I would go buy a 3/4 ton if I am going to be doing any kind of heavy trailering. A few times a year is fine for my Nissan Titan, which has the tow package. I pull nothing over 8,000 and the trailer does at least have one axle with brakes, which helps.

 

[Dargo]

I've towed at the max rated towing capacity on many trucks (and over at times), and I've towed with larger trucks where I was well under the max towing capacity. There is a HUGE difference in the control, feel and safety when you are not pushing something to the max. The difference is not only in power, braking, but also in steering and the general ability to handle the load without pushing you all over the road.

Since I've owned and towed with a Chevy diesel, Ford PowerStroke diesel, and Dodge Cummins diesel, I'll tell you that I like the in line 6 Cummins by a large margin for towing power. I suppose that is why you don't find V8 diesel engines in any over the road semi trucks that run for over a million miles. There just seems to be something about the flat and very powerful torque curve of the in line 6 engines. I'm sure that it doesn't hurt either when my Dodge put out over 1000 ft. lbs. of torque at the rear wheels on the dyno either.

 

[jcmseven]

I would say that it would be a challenge for many a 1/2 ton truck to tow a load much over 7000# regularly. My dad has an F150 7700 GVW truck and pulling my trailer and tractor which are around 7500# (I know we are not talking the same ratings-just that my dad's truck has the heavier suspension) his truck looked like an ant in front of the trailer and tractor combo. It pulled like one too. I realize ants are strong for their size, but to say it pulled the load well would be incorrect, even though that truck is rated 8000# for towing capacity. I know posters do well with less, but I have thought getting a little more than you need if it is financially doable was a better thought. My F250 diesel tows very well the same, or even heavier loads. Like Dargo, I have a modfied truck but the biggest difference in the ability to handle the weight is the frame and brake strength. I personally prefer Fords for this fact, one look at the frame tells us they are made well, but regardless of brand, going with a 3/4 would be a better option, at least until Toyota comes out with its new truck. I like the Chevy 2500 trucks fine, but one concern I have about them is that physically they are not much larger than the 1500 series, and as one poster mentioned could theoretically have some ride trouble with really heavy loads. That said, plenty of folks use them for heavy towing and seem to do OK. I know our county's EMS has had frame problems from the four it has in service, where the Ford chassies seem to have had no problems. For heavy towing, at least for now, I would stay Dodge or Ford.

 

[bones1]

Your traditional class 3 hitch which is very common as standard equipment is labeled to bear 500 lbs of tongue weight/5000 lbs of trailer weight without a WD hitch. It is also labeled to bear 1000 lbs of tongue weight/10,000 lbs of trailer weight with a WD hitch. Some of the newer GM class 3 hitches move up the non WD hitch rating to 750/7500 but I am confident that anyone that has used a WD hitch will prefer to use one even if the hitch is loaded lightly enough to be used without a WD hitch. If your GM hitch is the type that has bolts attaching it to the bumper-REPLACE IT with a standard box type receiver mounted to the frame as there have been many documented failures of this poor hitch design. GM screwed up on this one, I'll admit it even though I own nothing but GM trucks and SUVs.

Highbeam,I have a 2006 1500 Chevy and the manual says it's rated to tow 7700 lbs. It has the towing option but maybe you could tell me if it has the correct hitch for that load.It is bolted through the bottom of the bumper with bolts but is also bolted to the frame rails with 3 bolts on each side.It doesen't look as heavy as the old Reese hitches im used to but it is attached in 8 places.The sticker next to the trailer plug says 5000#s and under that 12000#s with WD setup.Just bought the truck ,100 miles ago and I tow a 7000# package. Haven't towed anything yet.The dealer says 7500#s ok but I'm not sure at all about this.I guess my question really is...can I hook to this setup and pull my tractor safely.So 5k, 7.5k ,12k??? Sorry can't work the quote button.

 

[roxynoodle]

This is what is ridiculous about these hitches. You buy a truck that can tow more than 5000 lbs but get a hitch that can only tow 5000lbs! Depending on the weight of your tractor/trailer combo, you will either have to install the weight distributing hitch also or take that hitch off and put on a class IV or V. When I bought my last hitch I was told there was no such thing as class IV but those are what you get with a Ford F250 so I know they exist. When I came home I checked the Ford info I had just to make sure. So I put on a class V, which was what was on my last truck. It is rated to 10,000 lbs. More than the truck can safely tow, but more is better than not enough. And if you have a truck that can tow more than 10,000 lbs the only safe way to do that is with a gooseneck trailer anyways.

I would see what is the more economical way to go: putting on the class V or the WD hitch. The WD hitch is nicer to tow with though.

 

[George2615]

In reply to Bones1, You answered your own question basically. The manual says you can tow 7700#. The hitch is proper and standard for most 1/2 ton trucks. You have a hitch rated for 5000# or up to 12000# with a WD hitch. That does not mean you can tow up to 12K, thats just what the hitch is rated for. Your truck is only rated for 7700#. If you go over the 5000# hitch rating you will need the WD hitch to assist the hitch up to your truck maximum of 7700#.

 

[Dargo]

And if you have a truck that can tow more than 10,000 lbs the only safe way to do that is with a gooseneck trailer anyways.

I always thought that a gooseneck trailer was "ugly" and didn't like them. However, after further review , I'd have to agree with you. I can easily put 2000 pounds of tongue weight on a gooseneck trailer and tow it fine without my dually squatting much. If you put 2000 pounds of tongue weight on a bumper hitch...., well, let's just say that you're asking for trouble. I way overloaded a car trailer with oak firewood because I didn't want to make a 2nd trip. The truck I had at the time was a 3/4 ton and was squatting big time. I thought that since I was going to be mostly in the interstate that there would be no problem. I missed.

Have you ever noticed that you sometimes make a nice bounce when going over one of those small bridges on an interstate? When I did that with my overloaded trailer it came off. Oh yeah, nice feeling. There was a loud noise and the truck seemed to run better. I look behind me and my trailer, with my wood all strapped down, is moving into the left lane like it wants to pass me, but it's slowing down instead. It proceeds into the median with the nose plowing the entire way and fortunately didn't hit anything. All I recall was hearing my dad yelling the slang word for poo really loud over and over.

When I got back to my trailer, it had my entire hitch still attached. Safety chains were both still on and attached to the hitch. A lot of good they did. The hitch still had all the bolts in it where it attached to the frame of my truck. As a matter of fact, also included was nice chunks of my truck frame that were ripped off of my truck. Yeah, that's when I decided that gooseneck trailers weren't so ugly.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Dargo, You'll find the occasional "bumper hitch trailer owner" who'll say he's switching to a gooseneck. You'll be hard pressed to find many gooseneck owners who'll willingly switch BACK. They're safer as you eluded, safer in many ways. Not least of which is I feel they give you much better "highway manners", not wanting to bob up and down with every bump.

Your experience is why I whole-heartedly believe in "over-kill" on trailers and hitches. With a built-in margin of error, towing isn't the gut wrenching experience it can be.

 

[Dargo]

With a built-in margin of error, towing isn't the gut wrenching experience it can be.

Yup, that's just how I like my towing experiences; uneventful. That kind of goes along with the saying that the older I get and the more experiences I have, the more I realize I don't know enough, and I used to know even less.

 

[roxynoodle]

Wow, that's a scary experience. Glad no one got hurt!

 

[mchasal]

When I got back to my trailer, it had my entire hitch still attached. Safety chains were both still on and attached to the hitch. A lot of good they did. The hitch still had all the bolts in it where it attached to the frame of my truck. As a matter of fact, also included was nice chunks of my truck frame that were ripped off of my truck. Yeah, that's when I decided that gooseneck trailers weren't so ugly.

Glad no one got hurt! This part of your story makes me wonder if it would make sense to have the safety chains mounted somewhere else instead of on the trailer hitch. They way it always is now, the hitch is a single point of failure. Mount the chains somewhere else on the frame, and maybe it would help, though it doesn't sound like it would have in your situation.

Mike

 

[XT6Wagon]

With my 2004 F150 super crew I've personaly towed a combined vehicle wieght of 15,960lbs... with less than 1/4 tank of gas. So... good thing I recalled where all the wiegh stations were and rolled past them under 1/4 tank, as many on that trip had a 16K lbs "please stop" limit.

Now... that was a bad bad trip in many ways as this is MORE than the F150 is rated for, on the bleeding edge of what the trailer was rated for, and thanks to just flat not being able to get the wieght where it needs to go, was on the limit of the rear tires load limit. Oh and 1,200lbs more than the rear axle was stickered for. The main issue is the TRAILER was near worthless at its limits. Brakes were marginal, tires were flat not good at thier limits, etc.

Point I am comming to is that Towing isn't about whats printed on some paper, but careful prep of you, your truck, your trailer and your load.

The trip with the same basic load a month later went much better...

why?

Moved a good bit more wieght up on the front axle of the truck. Ran closer to 20% tongue wieght instead of 10% or so. More personal skill with driving that heavy.


If you plan on getting a 1/2 ton.... The F150 is currently the best IMO. The Hemi does have more power than the 5.43v... but I never ran out crossing a ton of mountians. The 5.4 3v gets the same milage but w/o needing the cylinder deactivation stuff to do it. But the F150 has a TON more brakes than others in the class (unless the latest and greatest dodge got more than the last model). The Frame is way over built. Hitch is "integrated" into the frame/bumper structure.

Certainly give the Titan a miss for towing as in many ways its little more capible than the Tundra, which is a "city truck" and very much a perfect truck for many people.

If going for a F250 new... might look at the F450 w the low GVWR springs. Tons of upgrades over its "lighter" version. Otherwise much the same truck. Never ridden in one to tell if its passible ride wise for daily driving.

 

[ahoude]

Don't want to hijack this thread, but have had this question for some time. What are the advantages of a gooseneck over a fifth wheel hitch. It seems to me that for a person who pulls a fifth wheel camper (not yet) it would be more convienent to have a utility trailer with a fifth wheel hitch. I don't think capacity is big issue. I kmow a gooseneck has in freedom of movement, but a little rough terrain with a fifth wheel hitch wouldn't be too detrimental.