trailer safety factor

[Birdhunter1]

Dodge says 4800 with 3.55 gear and 6000 with 3.70 gear. Guess I'm out of luck on this one.I have the 3.55 gear and class 3 hitch.Thanks for the help anyway.

Honestly you still won't have a problem towing that load with your truck with the 3.55 gears.

 

[Highbeam]

Your traditional class 3 hitch which is very common as standard equipment is labeled to bear 500 lbs of tongue weight/5000 lbs of trailer weight without a WD hitch. It is also labeled to bear 1000 lbs of tongue weight/10,000 lbs of trailer weight with a WD hitch. Some of the newer GM class 3 hitches move up the non WD hitch rating to 750/7500 but I am confident that anyone that has used a WD hitch will prefer to use one even if the hitch is loaded lightly enough to be used without a WD hitch. If your GM hitch is the type that has bolts attaching it to the bumper-REPLACE IT with a standard box type receiver mounted to the frame as there have been many documented failures of this poor hitch design. GM screwed up on this one, I'll admit it even though I own nothing but GM trucks and SUVs.

Now the hitch is the easy part, you can buy a hitch off the shelf to meet your loading needs. The GVWR as labeled in your door jamb will usually be the first rating exceeded when towing heavy with your half ton.

For example, my truck weighs 5700 lbs all loaded up for work. I add 700 lbs of trailer tongue weight and am now in excess of my stickered GVWR of 6200 lbs. Whether or not you choose to tow loads in excess of your ratings is your choice, some say illegal and some say not. I say you at least owe it to yourself to know the ratings and whether you've exceeded them.

 

[Soundguy]

Whether or not you choose to tow loads in excess of your ratings is your choice, some say illegal and some say not. I say you at least owe it to yourself to know the ratings and whether you've exceeded them.

I guess it boils down to what you are tagged for, when it comes down to the legality issue..

Soundguy

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I guess it boils down to what you are tagged for, when it comes down to the legality issue..

Soundguy

Well, sort of that way anayway. I've got my truck and trailer TAGGED in excess of what it is rated. Trailer tires are rated for a little over 12,000. Trailer is rated at 14,000.

When the Vehicle Enforcement Officer has his say, it's which ever one is the LOWEST is the max allowed.

Truck/trailer (disregarding tires) is rated at a combined 22,884 lbs.

Take tires into consideration (both truck and trailer) total drops to 20,775

Tags say 22,000lbs

Police bring me no joy over 20,775 (with appropriate weights on truck or trailer axles) regardless of tags.

All is irrelevent, as the load I generally carry is well under 17,000 total.

I like a "saftey net" when hauling. Truck/trailer/chains/tags/ect ALL need to be rated "over-kill" to satisfy me. Taking a loaded truck right to the limit is akin to Russian Roulette in my book.

 

[Soundguy]

I agree. Obviously your tires will be the weak link.. when i meant tagged.. I also meant as otherwise in compliance. I.E... you wouldn't be using a class II hitch.. etc.. etc..

Soundguy

Well, sort of that way anayway. I've got my truck and trailer TAGGED in excess of what it is rated. Trailer tires are rated for a little over 12,000. Trailer is rated at 14,000.

When the Vehicle Enforcement Officer has his say, it's which ever one is the LOWEST is the max allowed.

Truck/trailer (disregarding tires) is rated at a combined 22,884 lbs.

Take tires into consideration (both truck and trailer) total drops to 20,775

Tags say 22,000lbs

Police bring me no joy over 20,775 (with appropriate weights on truck or trailer axles) regardless of tags.

All is irrelevent, as the load I generally carry is well under 17,000 total.

I like a "saftey net" when hauling. Truck/trailer/chains/tags/ect ALL need to be rated "over-kill" to satisfy me. Taking a loaded truck right to the limit is akin to Russian Roulette in my book.

 

[unreconstructed]

A couple of years ago I took my wife up to the Toyota dealership to pick up her new Highlander. I was in my F250 which is unadorned with anything other than a tranny and an air conditioner. The salesman, sensing opportunity, hit me up to buy a nice pickup this time. I told him we thought highly of Toyotas and might be interested in a new truck if he had one that would pull my trailer loaded. He just grunted and said "some day".

Anyhow, I am sold on a 3/4 ton now. But, as most of the posters who have replied to you have said, whatever works as long as the vehicle will handle the load.

Good luck.

 

[roxynoodle]

Well those Ford F-250s can tow a lot! Mine had a manual transmission with a creeper gear, V-10 engine, the 4.30 (I think) rear axle and extra leaf springs on the back and could tow near 14,000 lbs. I loved that truck but sold it when I got divorced since the lazy ex hubby left me with bills up the wazoo. I replaced it with a used Dodge Ram 1500 and it towed my horse trailer just fine. 2 years ago I bought a new truck and went back to look at the F250s but got a much better deal on a new Dodge and it tows in excess of 8000lbs so it does what I need it to do. Besides, my old Dodge was good to me, still running great at 213,000 miles when I sold it. I say buy what you like as long as it will do the job. You do need to anticipate though what you will need as far as tow capacity in the future if you plan to still own the truck. Also, if you tow a lot, I would recommend you buy a truck that seems like more than you need. Nothing is harder on a truck than towing.

 

[Nissan197]

If I had the money I would go buy a 3/4 ton if I am going to be doing any kind of heavy trailering. A few times a year is fine for my Nissan Titan, which has the tow package. I pull nothing over 8,000 and the trailer does at least have one axle with brakes, which helps.

 

[Dargo]

I've towed at the max rated towing capacity on many trucks (and over at times), and I've towed with larger trucks where I was well under the max towing capacity. There is a HUGE difference in the control, feel and safety when you are not pushing something to the max. The difference is not only in power, braking, but also in steering and the general ability to handle the load without pushing you all over the road.

Since I've owned and towed with a Chevy diesel, Ford PowerStroke diesel, and Dodge Cummins diesel, I'll tell you that I like the in line 6 Cummins by a large margin for towing power. I suppose that is why you don't find V8 diesel engines in any over the road semi trucks that run for over a million miles. There just seems to be something about the flat and very powerful torque curve of the in line 6 engines. I'm sure that it doesn't hurt either when my Dodge put out over 1000 ft. lbs. of torque at the rear wheels on the dyno either.

 

[jcmseven]

I would say that it would be a challenge for many a 1/2 ton truck to tow a load much over 7000# regularly. My dad has an F150 7700 GVW truck and pulling my trailer and tractor which are around 7500# (I know we are not talking the same ratings-just that my dad's truck has the heavier suspension) his truck looked like an ant in front of the trailer and tractor combo. It pulled like one too. I realize ants are strong for their size, but to say it pulled the load well would be incorrect, even though that truck is rated 8000# for towing capacity. I know posters do well with less, but I have thought getting a little more than you need if it is financially doable was a better thought. My F250 diesel tows very well the same, or even heavier loads. Like Dargo, I have a modfied truck but the biggest difference in the ability to handle the weight is the frame and brake strength. I personally prefer Fords for this fact, one look at the frame tells us they are made well, but regardless of brand, going with a 3/4 would be a better option, at least until Toyota comes out with its new truck. I like the Chevy 2500 trucks fine, but one concern I have about them is that physically they are not much larger than the 1500 series, and as one poster mentioned could theoretically have some ride trouble with really heavy loads. That said, plenty of folks use them for heavy towing and seem to do OK. I know our county's EMS has had frame problems from the four it has in service, where the Ford chassies seem to have had no problems. For heavy towing, at least for now, I would stay Dodge or Ford.