6.7 Towing 23.5K

[DPrew]

Wow, I decided to push my luck a little today and see if my three month old 6. 7 could handle about 23. 5K on the hitch. I was a little nervous hitting the road with about 5900 lbs of trailer and 17. 5K of mulch but it pulled really well.

I don't think I'd dare to hit any of the 12-15% grades like City Park Road in west Austin but the rolling hills weren't bad. This is my first truck with an auto (68RFE). I'd be interested to hear from fellow gear heads what mods are needed to handle a Smarty in the top HP settings. I'm assuming a torque converter and valve body type mods are a given. I'd like to eventually have a Smarty on this truck for towing but don't want to have to do a ton of mods like input/output shafts. My 02' towed great with my Smarty on #9.

I used to my 02' NV5600 that only needed a SB Con ofe ( OK two Con ofe's) to handle an extra 800 ft lbs of torque and 350 HP. My 02' would handle 17-18K on the steep grades but I don't think it would have handled this 23. 5K load.

 

[Simplysmn]

23. 5 is not as hard on the newer truck's as you think I pulled 25,500 through Nev on my way back home to Ca and never had any troubles on any of the passes or hill's

 

[EricBu12]

Boy! these loads make my 15. 5K trailer seem light... I do have another Utility trailer I hook to behind the toyhauler and total is 26K. .

Cant wait to see how my new 09 does.

 

[HBarlow]

25,500# gross combined or trailer weight? That would be close to 35,000# gross combined weight and quite a load for a Dodge 3500 not to mention DOT regulations.

 

[mpaulson]

I frequently run at a total weight of 34,000# when I haul my JCB zoom boom on our 36' goose neck and I do this in fifth gear (auto with 3. 73) with no problems at all. The Edge is set to #2 tow mode and on flat ground at 110km/hr I'm at about 60% load. This is the some load levels that I get from pulling my 8000# travel trailer with the quad deck on and three quads, 2 canoes, dog kennel and kyak all on the deck and racks. A total weight of 23,750#, but lots of wind drag.

 

[HBarlow]

I know they are capable of doing it. I've seen lots of Gen II Dodge dually hotshotters several years ago pulling flatbeds loaded with heavy cargo that were probably grossing 35-40k, back when I was on the roads also.

It is interesting that the load created by a travel trailer pushing the wind is the same as a much heavier load that presents less wind resistance.

The laws of physics can't be broken or ignored.

 

[DPrew]

I'm talking about simple trailer weight. I'm not even sure exactly what my 3500 dually Quad Cab 4x4 weighs. I keep meaning to peek in my owners manual.

 

[EricBu12]

Your truck should weigh a little over 8000# when full of fuel and you in it.

 

[DPrew]

Online shows 7,444 lbs, plus me 200, plus fuel 280 lbs, plus tool box and a few other items maybe 200 lbs more. That pretty much puts it right at 8K.

 

[NIsaacs]

I know they are capable of doing it. I've seen lots of Gen II Dodge dually hotshotters several years ago pulling flatbeds loaded with heavy cargo that were probably grossing 35-40k, back when I was on the roads also.



It is interesting that the load created by a travel trailer pushing the wind is the same as a much heavier load that presents less wind resistance.



The laws of physics can't be broken or ignored.

The above posts are all true stories. If you have never hauled with an old F600 straight truck you are not a true trucker



The physics you have to overcome on an 8' wide platform is huge. The issue is the weight placement versus spring mounting on an 8' wide axle. Most spring mounting is about 4' wide. The weight factor generated outboard of the spring mounts is the physics. Hauling cows on a snow packed narrow two lane highway that is also sidling will age you in years!



Yet if you double that load and haul it on a small semi, (single axle truck and single axle 34' trailer) you can't feel it. The load is now carried in board of the spring width, about 24" fifthwheel.



Nick

 

[wcjp]

I know the local Commercial truck inspectors are starting to pull over pickup trucks that are above 26k GCVW.

 

[DPrew]

I'm just hauling short distances off the highways so I don't have to worry about the issues long distance haulers do. Here in Texas they changed some of the business tax laws to my disadvantage. I now have to pay taxes on all of the equipment I own every year. Last year it cost me an extra $750. Because of this I registered my new truck in my name and have it free of company signage because I don't want to pay an extra $300 or more a year to drive my truck. Now I just look like an average joe pulling my trailer which will draw even less scrutiny from officials. Damn taxes!

 

[RVTRKN]

Almost a thousand dollars for my 3500 C&C, for up to #25999, (#1 under 26K class) Komifornia just keeps on taxing us. I just reregistered it for a standard 3500 non commercial use, commercial plate (all pickups here have commercial plates) and saved a whole $210. 00 I wont pull commercially anymore, after my first experience, and don't need the extra registered weight. My 2500, is costing me $537. 00 and is required to have a smog test. Komifornia is broke from all of the socialist programs we have here, and just adds on more taxes, with no regards for our lives. #@$%!

 

[HBarlow]

Steve,

There are still highways leading out of the Great Socialist State of California aren't there? Last time I was out there the north or east lanes of I-5, I-8, I-10, and I-15 were still open as well as a couple of US highways.

Whenever I read posts similar to yours I pat myself on the back for my decision in 1988 to escape rather than participate in the fraud that is liberalism/socialism.

San Diego is a beautiful city and in many ways a great place to live but if you add up the cost of living, even just add up the cost of registering cars, trucks, trailers, etc. the benefits don't match the price you pay.

My wife has a car and I own a truck. I also own a fifth wheel, a tandem axle dump trailer, a tandem axle flatbed trailer, and an old car. Annual CA registration on those items would bankrupt me.

I paid less for my brick three bedroom farmhouse with two car garage on five acres in the country than California victims would pay for a filth-littered vacant lot in a gang-infested, ghetto neighborhood next to a drug house or loud thug's bar in LA.

No thanks. You lucky residents of the golden state can have it. IMO, the gold color proudly proclaimed by CA residents results from being urinated upon.

I can still visit San Diego when the urge strikes but with the rising enforcement attention on light trucks and RVs I hear about I may never return. I don't want the hassle of being stopped and jerked around for my 3500 C&C towing a fiver even though it has every OEM emissions component intact and functioning normally.

 

[EricBu12]

Im with you harvey. !

I moved out of Ca. in '98. At the time, I had a toyota p-up, gas was a lot cheaper here in Salt Lake City. Taxes too. . Currently our sales tax is 6. 8%. Gas is around $2. 89 right now and Diesel is from $2. 89 to $2. 99. $302 at the cheveron. The only down side to our sales tax is it is on the food as well. . There is some food that is only 3% Sales tax

My new 09 dodge Ram Registration is not too bad out here as all vehicles are age based, not value. . My 36' toyhauler is only $161/yr and it is only 5 yrs old... so a new 50K truck is the same as a Honda civic. . . sorta. . but close.

 

[RVTRKN]

Steve,



There are still highways leading out of the Great Socialist State of California aren't there? Last time I was out there the north or east lanes of I-5, I-8, I-10, and I-15 were still open as well as a couple of US highways.



Whenever I read posts similar to yours I pat myself on the back for my decision in 1988 to escape rather than participate in the fraud that is liberalism/socialism.



San Diego is a beautiful city and in many ways a great place to live but if you add up the cost of living, even just add up the cost of registering cars, trucks, trailers, etc. the benefits don't match the price you pay.



My wife has a car and I own a truck. I also own a fifth wheel, a tandem axle dump trailer, a tandem axle flatbed trailer, and an old car. Annual CA registration on those items would bankrupt me.



I paid less for my brick three bedroom farmhouse with two car garage on five acres in the country than California victims would pay for a filth-littered vacant lot in a gang-infested, ghetto neighborhood next to a drug house or loud thug's bar in LA.



No thanks. You lucky residents of the golden state can have it. IMO, the gold color proudly proclaimed by CA residents results from being urinated upon.



I can still visit San Diego when the urge strikes but with the rising enforcement attention on light trucks and RVs I hear about I may never return. I don't want the hassle of being stopped and jerked around for my 3500 C&C towing a fiver even though it has every OEM emissions component intact and functioning normally.

I made my first responsible step last Aug to get the hell out of here, retiring is not easy in this economy. My C&C was part of that plan, only to have the economy and then Obama rain on my parade. I had to go back to work for pennies that I"m worth, to support two mortgage payments. Although the Vegas Home has little mortgage to pay, there is no work there either as a contractor and we had to rent it out. My wife makes the money in this household as of now and she is 15 years from retirement. It is easy to say drop everything and leave, but then everything we have worked for would be lost. Unless the economy turns around we wont be able to move into the Vegas home for awhile.

 

[FFeiller]

my wife and i were to retire this year, we have lost all of our retirement, plus some. we also have two homes one in NM for retirement and one here in San Jose. know the feeling well, i too am a contractor.

 

[HBarlow]

I regret your losses, for each of you. I understand your predicament. During the good times the sale of an appreciated CA home can provide a retirement fund if you move to a lower cost area. During the bust cycle you are probably stuck waiting.

We bought a home in the south bay area of SD in 1985 for $115k. In '88 when we moved away I was offered $185. We kept it as a rental through a long CA bust cycle and finally sold in it 1998 for $190 as the market was recovering. Two years later I was told it was worth about $400k by my friend and former neighbor who was retired Navy also and a broker. In the mid-'90s he told me it was probably worth close to $600k. Sure made me sad I had sold it for far less but I had no crystal ball. I'm glad I don't own it now. It might not sell for $190k today.

 

[EricBu12]

Same thing on our house in El Cajon. . had a 35 yr old house we sold for $150K and several years later found out it was going for over $400K. . came up here and bought a split entry house in '98 for $117K.

 

[HBarlow]

Even though both of us sold our CA homes at a price lower than they might have brought later I figure we're still ahead. We don't pay CA taxes or endure their lunacy and don't have to be there for the collapse which is surely coming.

CA is only a memory for me. I enjoyed living in San Diego but am grateful to have escaped.