Trailer towing advice needed

LBrown59 · Feb 21, 2009

loggskidder2 said:
Hey guy's been awhile since I posted. Just wanted you guys to know that I pulled the trailer once to cincinatti but didnt get a very big load. Truck did good. The bad news is Thursday I was headed to Atlanta nad went thru the weigh station and was pulled in to have a truck inspection done. They pulled me inside and said I need a Class A cdl to pull the trailer because the GCWR is 30200. They did not write a ticket but made me unhook the trailer and leave it until a CDL driver had to come get it.

Bet that wasn't cheap!

Builder · Feb 21, 2009

Diamondpilot said:
Don't he still have another problem here being that the GVWR's add up to 30,200#, way beyond his 22,000# GCWR of the 2500HD truck? It may just be a matter of time that he will get called on that one.

Chris

Absolutely! It's just a matter of time for him.....and anyone else who is crazy overweight.

Even if someone doesn't care what your GCWR is, if you're over on tires or rear axle, you're toast.

I think 1/2 the guys that get away with it are simply lucky. They get pulled over by a cop who isn't smart enough to look at a truck/trailer and know by common sense it's time to get the scales out.

loggskidder2 · Feb 21, 2009

What's the GCWR for the dodge dually. Are we over for it. The dodge GvWR
is 11,200 and the trailer is 21,000.

JohnDeere4300 · Feb 21, 2009

Builder said:
Absolutely! It's just a matter of time for him.....and anyone else who is crazy overweight.

Even if someone doesn't care what your GCWR is, if you're over on tires or rear axle, you're toast.

I think 1/2 the guys that get away with it are simply lucky. They get pulled over by a cop who isn't smart enough to look at a truck/trailer and know by common sense it's time to get the scales out.

Lord i hope LB doesn't end up like this.

Diamondpilot · Feb 21, 2009

loggskidder2 said:
What's the GCWR for the dodge dually. Are we over for it. The dodge GvWR
is 11,200 and the trailer is 21,000.

You will have to give me more info or look in the manual. I assume its a diesel but is it 2 wheel drive, long bed/short bed, stick/auto, rear gear ratio, cab style like reg/extended/mega/ect.

The best thing to do is look it up in the manual. If you can not find it give me all the info.

Chris

loggskidder2 · Feb 21, 2009

It is a 2008 2wd, 4 door, longbed, diesel, manual, but not sure on the gear ratio.

Turbys_1700 · Feb 21, 2009

Your dually should have either a 23K# a 26K# CGVWR. That's pretty typical of the newer 1 ton dually's.

To be legal you've got to stay under your axle ratings, your tire ratings, have enough tagged weight paid for on your vehicle, and have CDL's if your combined weight of the vehicle and trailer is over 26K#.

One caveat to that in NC and some other states is that a CDL is required if your trailer is rated over 10K# even if your combined weight of truck and trailer is under 26K#.

You are not illegal if you follow the law.

Now, it is illegal to go over your trucks CGVWR. No, if you adhere to the letter of the law.

Is it smart.

You be the judge.

Personally, I would not pull a trailer rated for 22K# with a 1 ton dually even though you can do it legally. That size trailer needs a F450 or F550 IMHO.

Builder · Feb 21, 2009

Turbys_1700 said:
Your dually should have either a 23K# a 26K# CGVWR. That's pretty typical of the newer 1 ton dually's.

To be legal you've got to stay under your axle ratings, your tire ratings, have enough tagged weight paid for on your vehicle, and have CDL's if your combined weight of the vehicle and trailer is over 26K#.

One caveat to that in NC and some other states is that a CDL is required if your trailer is rated over 10K# even if your combined weight of truck and trailer is under 26K#.

You are not illegal if you follow the law.

Now, it is illegal to go over your trucks CGVWR. No, if you adhere to the letter of the law.

Is it smart.

You be the judge.

Personally, I would not pull a trailer rated for 22K# with a 1 ton dually even though you can do it legally. That size trailer needs a F450 or F550 IMHO.

I'd doubt it's 26K GCWR.

You don't need a class A cdl if you're over 26K. You need a class A cdl if your combined is over 26K and your trailer is over 10,000 lbs. That's federal DOT standards. That's the minimum. Some states go even further/stricter.

For example, you can tow a 10K trailer behind a 25,999 truck with an ordinary driver's license.

Diamondpilot · Feb 22, 2009

From the info I have on hand it should be a 24,000# GCWR truck. So, in simple terms it really can not haul much more weight than your truck because I assume it weighs in at 7,500# or so being a 2 wheel drive model. So just because it has a 2,000# advantage on the GCWR the weight penalty on the truck itself makes it about a wash.

They list the max tow rating of the 5th wheel/GN hitch as 15,650#

Chris

Ken45101 · Feb 24, 2009

Turbys_1700 said:
One caveat to that in NC and some other states is that a CDL is required if your trailer is rated over 10K# even if your combined weight of truck and trailer is under 26K#.

If I understand what you are saying, it's illegal for me to bring our gooseneck horse trailer to NC? Most horse trailers with living quarters are rated over 10K. But ours is licensed (by Ohio) as a recreational vehicle.

I'm not sure about it, but I don't think one can get a CDL in Ohio without extensive training and the using a semi to pass the test with. I'm guessing they'd laugh at me and tell me to go away if I tried to get a CDL with a recreational horse trailer.

Ken