Towing HEAVY

   / Towing HEAVY #11  
Snobdds said:
That is in that funny range of too big for a medium duty truck and too small for a heavy duty truck. I think your stuck with a class 8 semi truck.

OF3382-355-110F%20Trucks.tif.png
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That graphic is from sometime in the 1970s if I had to guess. Doesn't really apply for today's vehicles.
 
   / Towing HEAVY #12  
I like the single axle with day cab. Put a flat bed on it for tool boxes and slip tank. Either look at a pintle hitch trailer or smaller big trailer. You can even get a triple axel 12k deck over but a lot of times they are restricted to 30k for the ball and neck and for the money I'd rather have an air brake trailer.

I have been considering doing this for my tractor and trailer. It's not nearly as heavy but to have a dedicated tow rig would be great and I don't have to worry about being heavy

Brett
 
   / Towing HEAVY #13  
bdog said:
What is the smallest truck that can safely and legally tow around 35k (trailer weight plus load)? I have been hauling my equipment and my pickup to our jobs on a semi with a 53' step deck. It works but is hard to get into a lot of the places I need to get into and I got to thinking what if I bought a larger truck that could tow my equipment and still be able to use it as a work truck to drive back and forth to the job and such. My equipment weighs around 25k and would fit on a 30' trailer. I figure a 30' trailer that can handle that much weight is going to weigh close to 10k. I was researching the ram 4500, 5500, etc and while they have crazy payload capacity the are actually rated to tow less than the 3500 which is rated to tow around 30k. Seems strange to me the 4500 and 5500 are only rated to tow around 26k I think. The F-450 is rated to tow 31k and change. Is there something out there that is smaller than a single axle semi that can tow 35k and is small enough to be used as a normal truck? It would not really be my daily driver I have a another truck for that but when working I would drive it around 50 miles a day and would need to park it at motels, restaurants, etc so I don't want something huge.
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I don't think the Ram 3500 can tow 30K. I'm pretty sure that's a GCVW rating. I could be wrong.
 
   / Towing HEAVY #15  
bdog said:
Nope it can tow it. The 3500 dually with 4.10 gears and the Aisin transmission is rated to tow 30,100 in a crew cab 4x4 mega cab.

216 Ram 35 Dually Review: Towing 3, Pounds with "Only" 9 lb-ft Torque - YouTube
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I had a local trucker move a trailer for me last month and he pulls up in one of those in the mega version completely loaded. Looking at it it seemed more like a little semi than a 1 ton. All sorts of options on the air suspension and such. He said it pulled more like a big truck as well.
 
   / Towing HEAVY
  • Thread Starter
#17  
That is the trailer I was looking it but the truck and trailer fall short. 8,400 trailer + 24-25k load equals 32,400-33,400 gross load. It would be over the trailer rating and over the truck tow rating. Not by much but would be over.
 
   / Towing HEAVY #18  
   / Towing HEAVY #19  
I would think a medium duty type truck - think International 4400 or Freightliner M2 - with a daycab and a flatbed paired with a gooseneck trailer would be the best solution. It might be cost prohibitive, but a 40k gooseneck trailer with twin 20k axles with airbrakes could be bought/found/custom ordered. Here are links to a ball to mount in the flatbed and the trailer coupler that would be up to the task: Hitch Ball 3" x 2" x 3-1/4" Wallace Forge Balls 32M and Bulldog BX1 Gooseneck Coupler - Adjustable Height - Square - 3" Ball - 4, lbs Bulldog Gooseneck Trailer Coupler BD12892:(

While the medium duty trucks are definitely taller and appear much larger that a pickup, they can typically turn sharper and aren't any wider than a dually. I'm not sure about where you are working, but it is quite common for me to see power and tree trimming bucket trucks this size at restaurants and hotels and it isn't a problem. With their sharper turning radius, air-ride seat, potential air-ride suspension, and better view, assuming the engine is properly spec'ed to pull the trailer, a medium duty truck could be a very nice rig for driving around when necessary.

Rancher Ed
 
   / Towing HEAVY #20  
Seems like maxing out both truck and trailer is less than ideal. And a used class 6 truck is way cheaper than a newer dually plus built way heavier.

A flatbed or chassis cab truck could be made any way you want.
 
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