Re: car trailer load question
[Re: moparmikethree]
#1287405
08/18/12 04:15 PM
08/18/12 04:15 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,784 Corpus Christi, TX
shanker
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weight of the load should be on the towing vehicle...if you notice that's the reason why most Freight Hauling trucks trailers are setup with the axle's so far back..
Most all double decker cattle trailers have the axles at the extreme rear of the trailer so that most all the weight is on the truck towing the trailer.
Its safer....that is unless your towing too heavy of a load meant to be towed with your vehicle..
The Federal Government has not yet learned that you cannot legislate morality
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Re: car trailer load question
[Re: shanker]
#1287406
08/18/12 06:01 PM
08/18/12 06:01 PM
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Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 12,271 Overpriced Housing Central
RobX4406
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I Live Here
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Quote:
weight of the load should be on the towing vehicle...if you notice that's the reason why most Freight Hauling trucks trailers are setup with the axle's so far back..
Most all double decker cattle trailers have the axles at the extreme rear of the trailer so that most all the weight is on the truck towing the trailer.
Its safer....that is unless your towing too heavy of a load meant to be towed with your vehicle..
So my 3000# car on trailer should put the tongue weight of around 3K on my tow hitch?
I don't think so.
You want the weight balanced over the axles of the trailer with a slight bias forward to apply proper tongue weight so the "tail don't wag the dog", trailer making the tow vehicle buttwag/sway!
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Re: car trailer load question
[Re: 340SHORTY]
#1287408
08/18/12 07:36 PM
08/18/12 07:36 PM
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 27,347 Today? Who Knows?
1_WILD_RT
Management Trainee
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Today? Who Knows?
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Rule of thumb is tongue weight should be 10% of trailer weight, so a 3,000 lb trailer should have a 300 lb tongue weight...
"The Armies of our ancestors were lucky, in that they were not trailed by a second army of pencil pushers."
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Re: car trailer load question
[Re: 1_WILD_RT]
#1287411
08/18/12 11:43 PM
08/18/12 11:43 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 6,354 Aurora, Oh.
max_maniac
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Quote:
Rule of thumb is tongue weight should be 10% of trailer weight, so a 3,000 lb trailer should have a 300 lb tongue weight...
correct ----- remember the trailer is like a wagon - easier to pull it then carry it ![](/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbs.gif)
Russ
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Re: car trailer load question
[Re: shanker]
#1287413
08/19/12 12:10 AM
08/19/12 12:10 AM
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Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 12,271 Overpriced Housing Central
RobX4406
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So 500-750 is most of the 5K load gotcha... ![](/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif) The axles for a single car trailer carry most of the weight, not the tow rig. Tongue weight varies by trailer design attachment as well. Gooseneck and 5th wheels can apply more tongue weight because of where that weight is loaded to the tow vehicle, right over the rear axle, not on a lever 3 feet behind it. You want to see poorly loaded trailers... come out during the winter and watch the I-10 as sand buggy guys tow toyboxes out to Glamis. Talk about a hitch almost dragging the ground! Tow vehicles pulling the front tires off the ground.
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Re: car trailer load question
[Re: B5 Bee]
#1287415
08/19/12 10:20 AM
08/19/12 10:20 AM
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 5,746 Ontario, Canada
Dodgem
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Quote:
Tongue weight of approx 10% is what I shoot for.
I measured how much drop my truck has with weight on the hitch. A 200lb person standing on the ball drops the bumper height 2/3", or 300lbs per inch.
So with a trailer and car weight of 5000lbs, I load the car forward till the bumper drops ~1.7" which should be near 500lbs.
Too much tongue weight causes the front suspension to extend and throw the alignment out, causing the vehicle to wander.
Then get a set of these and level your truck nice for the bed weight and tong weight! You can load up to 3000 extra pounds on the back of the truck let them down to 5 lb for normal driving http://www.summitracing.com/search/?keyword=riderite&dds=1
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Re: car trailer load question
[Re: shanker]
#1287416
08/19/12 11:35 AM
08/19/12 11:35 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 28,078 Irving, TX
feets
Senior Management
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Senior Management
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Irving, TX
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Some of you guys are scaring me. 10% tongue weight is the rule.
5th wheel and goose neck hitches do not allow you to put more load on the tow vehicle through load balancing. They allow you to pull a heavier load while maintaining the 10% tongue weight rule. Do not exceed the capacity of the tow vehicle.
Air bags DO NOT let you add an additional 3000 pounds to the two vehicle. That is lunacy! The tow vehicle has a weight limit that should NEVER be exceeded. The chassis limits are the chassis limits and stuffing balloons in the suspension is NOT going to change that.
Some vehicles have lighter springs than you want for towing. Hitch a 5000 pound trailer to a SportTrac and the 500 lb tongue weight nearly bottoms the vehicle. That's when you can use load springs or air bags to level the vehicle. A 1/2 ton truck does not become a 1 ton truck after the installation of air bags.
You guys need to be careful how you word things. A newbie is likely to read that stuff, take action, and hurt someone.
We are brothers and sisters doing time on the planet for better or worse. I'll take the better, if you don't mind. - Stu Harmon
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Re: car trailer load question
[Re: feets]
#1287417
08/19/12 11:42 AM
08/19/12 11:42 AM
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 5,746 Ontario, Canada
Dodgem
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you miss understood me the air bags can hold up to 3000 more pounds Just what instructions say. I have a 24 foot enclosed assuming 700 to 750 lb tongue weight allows the truck to ride dead level and is way more stable over dips and bumps in the road. In my case with 30 lb of air in the bags!.
Plus at night my headlights are not blinding other folks.
Last edited by Dodgem; 08/19/12 11:43 AM.
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Re: car trailer load question
[Re: feets]
#1287418
08/19/12 12:21 PM
08/19/12 12:21 PM
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,357 central Florida
VL21
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Just to hijack a little... I see one ton pickups and cab/chassis trucks pulling 3 and 4 car trailers to the auction, or where ever, if the gcvw of the truck is, say, 12000 lb, how is this legal? I thought gcvw was total, all in, everything added in, weight. The truck weighs easily half that. Then trailer weight. And even if they are flyweight cars, they are still 2k apiece. Just curious, I don't have a dog in this hunt. ![](/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shruggy.gif)
It takes gasoline to interest me.
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Re: car trailer load question
[Re: VL21]
#1287419
08/19/12 12:44 PM
08/19/12 12:44 PM
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 5,746 Ontario, Canada
Dodgem
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GVW is the weight of the truck including tongue weight added to the truck weight plus any cargo and passengers in the truck. combined weight is different and hole list of different rules and licensing at different combined weights, weights on the trailer wheels and so on a 3500 truck is probabaly allowed to tow up to 18,000 but you made need to upgrade the licence plates (more money)
Last edited by Dodgem; 08/19/12 12:48 PM.
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Re: car trailer load question
[Re: VL21]
#1287420
08/19/12 12:50 PM
08/19/12 12:50 PM
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Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 10,228 Colleyville
3hundred
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Quote:
Just to hijack a little... I see one ton pickups and cab/chassis trucks pulling 3 and 4 car trailers to the auction, or where ever, if the gcvw of the truck is, say, 12000 lb, how is this legal? I thought gcvw was total, all in, everything added in, weight. The truck weighs easily half that. Then trailer weight. And even if they are flyweight cars, they are still 2k apiece. Just curious, I don't have a dog in this hunt.
The manufacturers tow rating is NOT a legal limit. It's simply the manufacturers recommendation.
Here's an example because I owned both these trucks. '96 3500 4x4 Cummins auotmatic 180 hp, 3.54 gears, manufacturers rating, 9,700 lbs. '01 3500 4x4 Cummins 6 speed, 245 hp, 4.10 gears, manufacturers rating, 14,300 lbs. The only real difference, power.
I ran the '96 commercially, cab card for 40,000 lbs. Most guys ran them at 36,000, I wanted a little leeway. In Florida I was legal to 54,000 lbs.
Robert
'68 Fury Convertible '69 300 Convertible '15 Durango 5.7 Hemi '16 300 S Hemi
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