Nice trailer Gatorguy.
AZTim Sweet setup! Ive thought of getting an F450 and going with super singles. Also been looking at Midsota Trailers for a couple years. Didn't kow you could get 10k axles with singles. I have a 20k gooseneck flat with duals and it beats me to death empty. It doesn't look like it but do you have hydraulic jacks? We don't have a dealer close for that brand. Can you give us a rough idea on cost, $14k?
Just looked at prices. Maybe closer to $18k.
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Thanks, I am pretty excited about it! I went with a 3500 dually for quite a few reasons:
I tow way more than I haul weight wise.
It has it has a 14k gvw and 31k GCVW (Max Tow options), although the consumer grade pickups can be had with up to 38k GCVW with a lighter, less heavy built frame than the C&C, I was looking for longevity and a crewcab 9.5' bed combo with 34" frame rail spacing like my old 90's GM 3500HD.
I rarely put more than 5k on my pickup bed, so saving weight and gearing by sticking with a 3500 plus not having the wider 4500/5500 fender flares was going to look cleaner for the planned super single mod.
The rear axle is good for 10k, so either 245 or 265/70R19.5's can be had to meet or exceed that weight with single drive tires.
I wanted 3.73 axle ratio, but with max tow 4.10 is the fastest, so with putting the 10% larger 265's I gained a little ground clearance, broke even on tire load capacity, shaved about 160 lbs of unsprung dually lugnut/spacer/wheel weight & basically lowered the 4.10's back down to 3.73 effective.
3500 is cheaper & lighter, yet comes with same powertrain and a much nicer ride, I test drove a 4500 and 5500 before purchase and the heavier ones rode like garbage when empty and gearing options were not to my liking.
Plus, a single wheel setup stays in it's own tracks during winter yet seems to attract less attention from the specially authorized highway robbery types out in farm country where dual tires or triple axles are the quickly noticed easy targets for taxation without representation.
For the Midsota, jack legs are two speed manual and the high speed option sure makes short work of the cranking compared to my two older flatbeds with single speed jacks. I debated on the hydraulic option, but I couldn't see how an extra grand was worth it when I really need all the exercise I can get to stay healthy, and I don't need electricity to run them. The super single option is not standard on an FFRD, but that was another custom request they honored, including the 18 ply 6005 lbs rated tires. I towed this trailer over 150 miles empty to bring it home across small state highways and I-90 and it towed like a dream, straight, smooth and with no noticeable bounce unless I hit a jolting bump in the road that shouldn't exist anyway. It is much better than my old 40' PJ tandem dually that beat the snot out of me and the truck. I traded that out for the 30' H&H 14k which was about half as bad, but this 20' Midsota is in a whole different class for how it rides, and it tows a little nicer than the old 20' tilt aluminum bed gooseneck too.
The options, plus freight out to Idaho to my closest dealer added up a lot of extra nickel & dimes... so a little under 21k for this one, however I live in a no sales tax state which saved enough to pay for some of my extra options.
Options I forgot to mention: solar charger on the neck, stake pockets at 4 corner posts of box with the front two being used for the rollup tarp not seen in the pics, custom ramp storage under bed with longer than normal ramps, rear stabilizer jacks for equipment loading, double acting hydraulic lift, rubrails/stake pockets for flatbed, 2 extra D-Rings, spare tire rack under the flatbed center, etc, plus the stuff I already mentioned. Pretty much every option except the hydraulic jack legs.
Considering Midsota was the only trailer manufacturer of over 15 I called willing to build what I wanted, I figured a little extra to get the right tool for the money was worth it. Plus, the Rugby scissor hoist does its job no problem.
The the stiff tube frame has a 5 year warranty on it and they use PPG paint that will hold up much better than flaky powder coating for winter, just like the paint on my 11 year old tractor has. There is even a handy indicator module in the neck center mounted tool box that lets you see the lights blinking and measures battery voltage or brake amperage.
I think the horrible ride is due to the suspension not the duels. I have serious doubts about high rated single wheels riding any better. I want a F-450 but I haven稚 found anything I like for anything close to what I bought my topkick for so I probably won稚 have a 450 for a while. On the bright side the Topkick rides so bad I don稚 notice the trailer bouncing anymore. Hydraulic jacks would be nice. I usually set my pintle hook off with the loader.
I have been running high rated single wheels for over 10 years now and would not go back on anything under an 11k rear axle. The light truck tires with heavy loads would last me 30-50k and after over 70k miles of heavy hauling with my old 3500HD with super singles, all of the tires still have over 50% tread left. They ride a tiny bit stiffer due to stronger sidewalls, but they catch way less bumps on the rear with half the tire track. They corner way better and do not squat nearly as much under load. While I am not a fan of super singles on a semi tractor, they are awesome on trailers and class III trucks. If you watch what you drive over, they are also tougher in the rough stuff. I have had one puncture at a scrap metal yard and never on the road with zero blowouts. Heavy truck tires are just built to work. Eventually when I have funds I will replace these Vision cast aluminum wheels with hub piloted Boar 19.5 wheels, but I already have too much into the whole truck trailer investment this year.
I looked hard at an older GM topkick/kodiak, IH, Freightliner, Ford F600/800 etc for a big medium duty rig I could put a dump bed on and haul the tractor, but they are super heavy, 2wd and turn like a bus in the length I would need, plus get awful mileage/ride when empty. At least if my trailer gets stuck I can unhook it and go get the tractor to pull it out, and when I don't need it I can commute with the Ram for other things without mandatory CDL headaches/insurance silliness as I use it for farm use. I have a CDL, don't want the mess in my personal life. I would rather just have properly spec'd safe to use equipment and enjoy the simple life!
