It amazes me the unsafe way people haul stuff....

[Coyote machine]

Thanks for all the helpful hints, like I said this was my 1st time tieing something down on a trailer. I ordered my Doolittle special cause it is hard to find brakes on a 16' landscaping trailer, much less brakes on both axles. That's why I ordered it special wanted brakes on both axles. My truck has a brake controller in it, but is old and don't think it is working properly I have adjusted it all the way and don't think it is engaging the brakes. What's a good brake controller? My truck has a lot of power when not pulling a trailer it don't have the stock motor in it rather a 327 bored 30 over with a 4 barrel holley and headers on it, but when pulling this trailer with the gate up it seems like it is all it can pull, I can't pull out in front of someone but once I get up to 65 mph it pulls fine. Any ideas on that?

What's rated towing capacity for your truck?
It could very well be that your brake controller is not working. Do you have disc or drum brakes on the trailer?
Check www.easternmarine.com They have technical people who may be able to advise on how to verify the controller or they can get you a new one for your truck.

 

[Ken45101]

Well for first time, you are doing great, better than most of us did at first.

I haven't kept up with brake controllers but I have a Prodigy unit and they are very good. You want something with at least "proportional braking" which senses the truck slowing and applies the brakes depending on how hard you are braking.

A lot of towing power depends on the rear end ratio. But no matter what engine/rear end you have, towing something heavy means making adjustments to how you drive. Leave plenty of time and room for acceleration.

 

[denverdave66]

I will prolly have a bunch of comments now, I am not sure what the capacity is rated for my truck, it is a 1/2 town and the guy that owned it before me use to pull a camper trailer with it I am sure it weighed more than my little tractor and trailer. My trailer has drum brakes, The controller lights up but when I hit the brakes it don't turn to red sometimes it does sometimes not. It looks like a cheap controller from wal-mart they sold 20 years ago. I just wanted recommendations on a good brake controller and go buy a new one.

 

[bandaidmd]

my trailer is real finicky about the ground, if the ground gets weak the brakes just dont act right. I leave my jumper cables coiled around the toung jack and clamp them between the trailer and truck.
I keep those little bungee ball cords on the handle of my binder, works like a charm to keep them from popping open.

 

[Deere Dude]

I will prolly have a bunch of comments now, I am not sure what the capacity is rated for my truck, it is a 1/2 town and the guy that owned it before me use to pull a camper trailer with it I am sure it weighed more than my little tractor and trailer. My trailer has drum brakes, The controller lights up but when I hit the brakes it don't turn to red sometimes it does sometimes not. It looks like a cheap controller from wal-mart they sold 20 years ago. I just wanted recommendations on a good brake controller and go buy a new one.

I would begin by getting a new controller because they are cheap enough. Then if it is erratic I would start checking all the wires for the brakes including the ground. Check the connections, the ground and wire sizes to make sure the wires aren't spindly little things. It is miserable and hard on the truck brakes when the trailer brakes don't work consistently.

As for the difficulty pulling with your truck, it may have a 327 and all that, but how much torque does it have. For instance I had a 3/4 ton Ford all jacked up, big tires, 390 engine with an RV cam installed, headers and glass packs. The truck was the nicest sounding thing I had in 30 years. It was impressive. I pulled my 32' fifth wheel for a few years until I got a new diesel dually for the camper. Then I realized how sluggish the Ford was actually. Empty it was great but with 10,000 pounds it was a pooch.

 

[tessiers]

10-15% is what I meant to say is required.

I would hesitate to say required, recommended by trailer manuf. maybe. requirements are very specific for weights on tire groups.

I believe (and this will vary by state) the DOT regulation is no axel group can exceed 60% of the total GVCW, meaning if the truck and trailer weigh 20k the trailer can't exceed 12k plus tongue weight. or something along those lines. That is why you don't see pickups hauling tag trailers, goosenecks allow more weight on the truck distributing the weight more evenly. 14k trailer on 7k truck with 2k on tongue is 12k on trailer, 6k on rear truck and 3k on front or thereabouts meeting the regs. Add all that up and there is no pickup that gonna handle 2k on a rear mounted ball and handle well.

Sorry for the rant but a lot has to do with what the truck can handle.

 

[Coyote machine]

I would hesitate to say required, recommended by trailer manuf. maybe. requirements are very specific for weights on tire groups.

I believe (and this will vary by state) the DOT regulation is no axel group can exceed 60% of the total GVCW, meaning if the truck and trailer weigh 20k the trailer can't exceed 12k plus tongue weight. or something along those lines. That is why you don't see pickups hauling tag trailers, goosenecks allow more weight on the truck distributing the weight more evenly. 14k trailer on 7k truck with 2k on tongue is 12k on trailer, 6k on rear truck and 3k on front or thereabouts meeting the regs. Add all that up and there is no pickup that gonna handle 2k on a rear mounted ball and handle well.

Sorry for the rant but a lot has to do with what the truck can handle.

Recommended or required - I was meaning to say that trailer manufacturers state what is recommended for their specific trailer(s), and then the truck/vehicle owner is responsible to make sure it matches the tow vehicle capacity. It's not particularly difficult, but it's not child's play either. I'm sure you like most here see stuff that's way out of sync with the truck or trailer or load- I know I cringe often on the road seeing what some do.

 

[PILOON]

Normally the C.G. of an empty tractor is about where the steering wheel is. So to me, that looks like it's too far forward on the trailer.

The jack is down in these pics, so we can't really judge the balance.

YES, and that shows that he is heavier on the hitch, Looks OK to me!

 

[NICKB304]

I have never actually measured the tongue weight to see if I was in the correct range. All the trucks I have had have a little bit or rake front to rear. I always set my hitch up to where the truck and trailer are level when the load is applied. I just drive the tractor/jeep/whatever forward on the trailer until it is level. Always feels stable and rides nice so I never questioned what I was doing. it probably is about right % wise with something heavy like the tractor or jeep but could be over % on the tounge with a skid of of blocks or something like that on the front of the trailer only, like i would normaly do to avoid the fenders when loading and unloading.

 

[Renze]

The photos remind me of the cold plane operator who used to park his bicycle on the lowboy when the cold planer stayed on the jobsite, chained with heavy chains. People kept staring and pointing at the bicycle when they were overtaking on the highway, every time