Trailering question

[vicar]

Recent discussions have convinced me that if I want to trailer my BX24 with FEL BH, etc., I should be looking for a dual axle trailer with brakes. I saw one advertised rated at 7000# for a not unreasonable price. Here is my question: Can I legally pull a trailer rated at 7000# with my Nissan Frontier 4X4 rated to trailer 6100#. Even figuring that the trailer weighed 1500# or so, there's no way that my load would exceed 4500#. Is that legal? Is it safe?

The truck has a trailer package with a 6pin connector. Does that provide for control of the electric trailer brakes, or are there other considerations? So far I have only used it to pull my light utility trailer with no issues.

Thanks.

John

 

[wushaw]

Well I know in my state you can. You may need to ck your state requiremnts.

Yes the 6 pin is for trailer brakes and a charge wire for a battery.

 

[RichT]

Yes, the dual axle (tandem) trailer should work nicely. Before I sold my BX22, I trailered it around using my 7000# rated car hauler.

Using your figures, as long as your loaded trailer weight doesn't exceed the 6100# vehicle rating you should be fine. Make sure you position the load to keep the tongue weight between 10-15% of the load. This is an often overlooked, but critical factor in towing.

You'll need an electronic brake controller. It should work through the existing connector. Some truck manufacturers provide a brake controller hookup harness.

 

[Ductape]

Around here, if you ran into the right cop, you'd be in trouble. All you need to do is have the capability to excede your trucks limitations to get a ticket (and most likely, your trailer towed away). But...... with that being said, i'd go with the odds. And the odds are you'd never be bothered as long as you are not using your truck/trailer/tractor commercially in any way. You can, by the way, get a two axle trailer with a lighter rating to match your Nissan's towing capacity.... but you'd most likely need to order it as most dealers wouldn't want to keep something odd like that in stock.

As a side note....... be sure you use properly rated (and placed) tie downs with the ratings permanently affixed to them. Straps will have a tag permanently sewn onto them, and chains with a metal tag stamped with their ratings on them. Always go by the "Working Load Limits", and NOT the breaking strength. Alot of the big box stores have the breaking strengths in bold letters indicating the straps are rated much higher than they really are. Its terribly decieving.... look for the working load limits which keeps the maufacturers intended safety factors in check.

 

[mswlogo]

Get a load leveling hitch. Makes all the diffenrence in the world.

 

[Berniep]

Around here, if you ran into the right cop, you'd be in trouble. All you need to do is have the capability to excede your trucks limitations to get a ticket (and most likely, your trailer towed away). But......

I think this is ridiculous. Every semi truck on the road has the "capability" to exceed the trucks limitations. You can't go around punishing people based on what is possible. If that were the case then every driver would be ticketed for speeding the second they started the car.

 

[LarryRB]

I think this is ridiculous. Every semi truck on the road has the "capability" to exceed the trucks limitations. You can't go around punishing people based on what is possible. If that were the case then every driver would be ticketed for speeding the second they started the car.

not ridiculous. I am a mile from the Union CT scale house and they go out of their way to find smaller pulled trailers, busses, small rental trucks and the like that think they are exempt from crossing a scale,, They don't scale me when I cross, they do however come outside and make sure there is a schedule 70 chain with binder, one on each corner plus another around my backhoe crowd stick. I don't know where in NECT this guy is, that would tell a lot about what he can do..

 

[Ductape]

Berniep..... it is crazy, isn't it? But.... unfortunately true. Law enforcement officers today are trained to use every grey area in the laws to generate REVENUE ! Its not about reasonable responsibility or reasonable safety anymore.

Hopefully the original poster will stay away from Union Ct. at all costs. LarryRB is 100% correct about that area.....an area i know all too well ! When the law decides they want a look at your vehicle, 9 times out of 10, they WILL find something to write you a ticket for.

If this type of enforcement isn't yet going on where you live, don't worry, its coming. Its just the way police are trained nowadays. If you think this stuff is bad, wait till your state discovers the "view tax" !!

 

[LarryRB]

Duct

Is your "view" tax the same as ours where a home on a hill can "view" a body of water, it therefore adds ten grand to the value of the home? If you are aware of my area, and travel through, e-mail me, I am 75 yards off the first interstate exchange when you cross into CT on I 84

 

[KeithInSpace]

I just bought a trailer rated for 10,400# to accompany my Expedition rated for 9,400#. Every source available official source told me that there was not a problem with this configuration unless I actually LOAD the trailer to beyond the GVWR of the entire rig.

I only got the heavier trailer (vs. 7,000#) because of the deal I got, but it will be nice when I need to haul a few yards of sand or stone.

I've never considered stopping at a weigh station. Does a personal vehicle have to do that?

And regarding the APPEARANCE of the tow rig in general, that will probably go VERY far in keeping you out of any trouble for the slightly mis-matched truck/trailer combination. I have seen some TERRIBLE circumstances with folks with legal trailers and legal loads where the rear bumper of the truck is dragging on the ground and the trailer is all over the place. Bind the tractor down with chains and get a WD hitch to keep things nice and flat at all times and that would make a big difference in how the tow LOOKS. And I would think that would make someone less likely to look twice at you.

One think I will say, though: That WD hitch head is pretty ominous. It's HUGE! I'm not done mounting mine since the one that came didn't have enough drop, but I'll post some pictures. The combination of shank, head, and bars is probably pushing 80# alone. Makes me feel better, though...the entire hitch/receiver assembly would have to tear out of the back of my truck for me to lose the trailer, because that shank assembly sure ain't going nowhere.

 

[Berniep]

..., they do however come outside and make sure there is a schedule 70 chain with binder, one on each corner plus another around my backhoe crowd stick. ..

OK I can understand that part, it's the law. I am talking about someone who hasn't broken any law and is operating in a safe manner. His trailer is under weight for the tow vehicle and just because it is "RATED" for more then he gets a ticket and his equipment impounded. No one has the money or time to fight something like this over the relatively small fine and tow charge, compared to the many thousands you would spend on lawyers.
Maybe if I ever win the lottery I will make that my hobby.

I actually think Indiana should have a little more stringent enforcement policy than it does now. I drive a truck and you would not believe the amount of equipment that I go by on the interstate that is not tied down AT ALL.
But I don't want anything like you guy have up there in the North East.

 

[vicar]

Thanks for your input on this. What I get is that in addition to the trailer, I'll also need an electronic brake controller and a load-leveling hitch. Question: does this hitch replace what is factory installed on my truck, or does it mount to the existing receiver? I guess it would also be prudent for me to check that the factory hitch is rated for 6100#s, or is that a given? This trailer stuff is all new to me.

Larry RB, I'm in Windham, but can't currently imagine the scenario for towing my tractor through Union. But, if I do go through there with my little utility trailer, am I required to stop for inspection?

John

 

[KeithInSpace]

The Weight Distribution (load leveling) hitch is simply an item that slides into your 2" receiver.

I would presume your hitch is rated for whatever your truck is rated for. Once you get to a certain point, the ratings make less and less sense to me. Point: my 2-5/8" ball is rated for 7,500# (imprinted on the ball), but that is what they sold me to tow my 10,000# trailer. The normal (hollow) shank is only rated for 5,000#, but you see guys using them to tow heavy trailers all the time.

Everyone told me to "not worry" about the WD hitch setup, but Ford clearly states that my truck is only rated for 6,000# unless 1) you have the HD towing setup (which I do) and 2) you have a WD hitch.

The WD hitch will make the load much more "linear" to the front of the truck...in other words, it will help the rig wanting to naturally buckle at the ball under braking or other abnormal stresses. It will put some of the weight of the trailer (depending on your setup 1,000# or more) onto the FRONT wheels of the tow vehicle, making the entire rig more of a "unit" rather than simply the tow vehicle with a big anchor out back.

And get the best inertial brake controller you can. I have a Tekonsha P3, but the Tekonsha Prodigy or the Valley Odessey II are exceptional controllers as well. Makes a BIG difference in how the trailer "feels", so I've heard.

 

[LarryRB]

I've never considered stopping at a weigh station. Does a personal vehicle have to do that?
QUOTE]
This, sir, is exactly how Connecticut is raking it in a mile down the street from me,... Personal vehicles pulling trailers, a really big one is the smaller straight trucks such as Ryder and that type,, all busses, especially Peter Pan, Greyhound and FungWah that run Boston- NYC. Yessir,, it's almost like being at the casino..

 

[offcamber]

I been towing heavy trailers, campers ect for personal use and have never stopped at a weigh station nor have I ever been chased down. For none commercial use you shouldn't be harrassed as long as the tow rig and trailer appear safe. I have driven through CT many times and not had a problem but I didn't go through Union, mosty down I91 I95 and I84....

 

[LarryRB]

Larry RB, I'm in Windham, but can't currently imagine the scenario for towing my tractor through Union. But, if I do go through there with my little utility trailer, am I required to stop for inspection?

John

If you are moving around Windham and not much more, there shouldn't be any problem, even if a roving DOT team comes up on you... THey have the rovers at and around my house and down the lower part of 395 and 95. 99% of this is common sense.. Tie it down correctly, use schedule 70 chain and not straps, drive normally and no one will bother you.. THey can't very well wave me by when they pull in everything that comes close to a gray area ticket.. Therefore, a walk out of the scale house, grab a chain or two and walk back in... Looks good, I guess, and on the way I go...

 

[escavader]

How can an officer tell just by looking if its grade 70 chain?

 

[ampsucker]

to the poster with the 7500 hitch ball, the weakest link in the "chain" determines your load carrying capacity. that means, whatever is rated lowest (hitch, receiver, ball, safety chain, coupler, etc.) be careful and NEVER believe what the guy sells you is safe just because he/she says it is.

be carefull, do your research, and make sure you have what you need to haul down the road! it's your life and those around you on the line, not some sales person miles away and months back in history.

amp

 

[LarryRB]

How can an officer tell just by looking if its grade 70 chain?

my chains are stamped all over with a "70"., so no rocket science here..

 

[LBrown59]

Can I legally pull a trailer rated at 7000# with my Nissan Frontier 4X4 rated to trailer 6100#.
Is that legal? Is it safe?


Thanks.

John

No it haint safe :
You don't have enough truck to handle it.

I have 4 small pick ups like yours.
Nissan
Toyota
1986 Dodge D50
1989 Dodge D50
I was told over and over and over again on this and other tractor boards that they are to small to handle my BX23 on a trailer.
It was pointed out to me time after time that I needed at least a three quarter ton full size pickup to transport my BX23.