Dustin said:
I have a Ford F150, and I wanted some opinion on my plans of hauling a 6,000# tractor with it. Do you think the truck will not be able to handle the weight of the tractor? It's about a 500 mile trip. What do you think?
First, let me preface this post with my saying I'm not hellbent on going overboard on saftey. I just try to be SAFE. I've got too much to loose by NOT being safe. In all likelyhood, so do all of you.
Throughout this thread, and all the others that have touched upon this topic, I keep hearing "phrases" like, "Plan your stops", "Start slowing down earlier than you would if the truck was empty", ect.
What happens if someone else on the highway does something you didn't "plan on"? They might not know your "plans". A 1/2 ton truck just doesn't have the brake capacity for loads in excess of it's intended cargo. Trailer brakes, in most cases are intended to help slow their intended weight rating, but won't stop quickly in a panic by themselves. They rely on the trucks brakes to do the lions share of braking. Exceed the trailer brake rating and you'll wonder if the trailer even has brakes in most cases.
Most any truck will finally get a load up to speed. It might burn up the tranny. It might wear out the engine. It might do a dozen things. What it WILL DO, is NOT STOP SAFELY in an emergency.
Then let's go to the over-matched suspension components. Shocks, springs, ball joints, frames, ect, are barely enough WHEN THE TRUCK IS NEW. Throw 50,000 miles on a pair of now worn shocks and what happens when you have to swerve to miss a muffler laying in the road? How about that 4" deep chuckhole you didn't see until it was too late to move over? Can that over-matched AND SLIGHTLY WORN suspension handle it? Maybe...maybe not. Are you willing to take that risk? How about mom in the minivan with a load of kids going to soccer practice that's right next to you? Are you willing to bet THEIR lives? If you are, you don't need to be on the highway at all, MUCHLESS towing an overloaded trailer with and overloaded truck. (or even one loaded to with-in ounces of it's capacity)
Tires? SOME 1/2 ton trucks will have adaquate tires for a reasonable load. Most I've seen DON'T. A good many will have no more than typical passenger car tires. And most of the time, those tires AREN'T new. Anyone care to tell me how a worn tire has the same carrying capacity of a NEW one? What about when that worn tire hits that muffler we were talking about earlier? BOOM! And now you have an undersized truck with a blown tire, pulling an overloaded (or at least loaded to the absolute max) trailer at highway speeds. Even an expert driver won't generally fare well in that scenario.
It's not about being able to tow a load 99.9% of the time without mishap. It's not about "can I get away with it?" It's about the chance your cutting corners might kill someone else.
The DOT is slowly beginning to crack down on commercial and NON commercial vehicles towing trailers. It's taking time. Eventually they'll limit or prohibit unsafe or marginally safe towing with light duty trucks. There's a reason why the DOT (on federal AND state levels) are doing such. And it ISN'T about you wearing out your transmission.
It's about deadly highway accidents.
IT ISN'T SAFE.
Hire someone with a truck/trailer that's big enough, or even a wrecker service with a rollback. Don't fall for the "well, it's only this one time" excuse. It only takes one fatal accident to up-end YOUR life or the life you take.
