Towing Capacity

[RobS]

Mark, my 18' with twin 3500 pound axles weighs in around 1500.

Not sure what you meant about a different license for a heavier rig. You shouldn't need a CDL until 26000 pounds. You are right about needing a serious tow vehicle for serious loads. Lots of overloaded vehicles out there /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[MarkV]

Thanks Rob, I thought the CDL license started after you exceeded 10,000 pounds. Told you I didn’t know much about towing./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

MarkV

 

[RobS]

<font color=blue>Told you I didn’t know much about towing</font color=blue>

Yeah, but at least you're asking questions Mark. Lots of people out there towing with potentially dangerous combinations. 99.9% of the time they're fine, but in a panic/aggressive situation an improperly matched trailer can get real ugly, real fast. Keep it safe /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[RanchMan]

<font color=blue>Lots of people out there towing with potentially dangerous combinations</font color=blue>

You got that right! It drives me nuts that I see so many folks drive without safety chains! /w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif Such a simple thing to take care of...

 

[Golfgar4]

If you want to find out what bad things can happen when you're towing something, check out the thread in the Photos section called "How strong is your trailer hitch". Sorry, I haven't figured out how to post a direct link yet /w3tcompact/icons/sad.gif.

 

[DocHeb]

Type in:

{url=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=photos&Number=119893&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=7&fpart=}How Strong is your Trailer Hitch?{/url}

except in the four spots where one of the curved brackets { } are used, use square brackets [ ] in their place. I actually don't type all that in, instead I use Ctrl-C to copy the url from the address bar on my browser, and Ctrl-V to copy it to my reply page. This will show up like:

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=photos&Number=119893&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=7&fpart=>How Strong is your Trailer Hitch?</A>

You can use any title for the web link. In this case I used the title of the thread, but it can be here.

 

[Golfgar4]

Thanks Chris /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif. The next time the situation presents itself, I'll give it a try.

 

[edt]

Mark didn't see it in the post but may wan't to go with a transmission cooler for the heaver loads keep an eye on cooling hoses and anti freeze and temp good luck boy all you guys are vey smart this is a great sight first i check in the morning
thanks for the knowledge

 

[MarkV]

Ed, good point about the tranny cooler. I should have mentioned it when I described my van. Amongst the other heavy-duty options from the factory, I did get extra transmission cooling and extra oil cooling units.

MarkV

 

[forestcreature]

is there a standard for when you need a CDL, or does this vary by state like the other traffic laws?