How much weight can I tow?

[Doupe]

Someone please explain this to me. The sticker on the door opening says never exceed combined people, and cargo 2743 pounds, the gross of the truck is 9900 pounds, the rear axle is I think 6900 pounds, the tires are rated at 3750 each. It's a 3500 long bed SRW, with a 48RE trans. I want to get a 5th wheel soon, I would like something in the 35 foot range, it will have somewhere in the 3000 pound hitch weight, I think, plus the 70 gal fuel bed tank I have, 3 people etc, it looks like this truck won't work, or do the rating numbers mean nothing? What in the real world can this truck tow, I am very confused, thanks

 

[jelag]

Our 04 dually tows a trailer that weighs 20K lbs most of the time... the truck now has 245K miles and is still going strong..... We use a goose neck hitch rated at 30K lbs and have exhaust brake, air bags and air horns on the trucks...

All of our trucks either have a 130 gal bed mounted tank or underbed tank on the flatbeds... . We do have a DOT # and our drivers have CDL's

If we towed with auto's I know I'd have to add additional transmission coolers and filters... .

 

[BHolm]

The truck will easily pull the load. The real question is are the tires cpable of handling the wieght. Run the truck across the scale with everything but the trailer and see where you are at for a starting point. Then add in the pin wieght of the trailer and you need to come out slightly below 3750lbs x 2.



I have also towed beyond the manufacturers ratings and done it with automatics and no failures. A dually would be better from a load carrying point of view but I have hauled pretty heavy with srw trucks and had no issues. Just don't overload the tires.

 

[Crunch]

The big question is: How much can you carry and get away with if you get pulled over and questioned by the cops? The maximum safe load and maximum legal load aren't always the same.

 

[diesnov]

where is the water pump seep hole located on a 2001 5. 9 liter diesel engine?

 

[Missouri Mule]

Look in your Owner's manual to find out combined weight capacity.

In Florida you can declare a higher GVW but you also pay for it, you mite be a able to do it CA.

My GVW is 8800 but I have declared at 9999.

 

[J&LRam]

to stay dot or state legal we can load our trucks per the axle ratings on the door tag. The truck GVWR is a recommendation only as states have uprate GVWR tags/stickers/etc available for commercial and non commercial use. My state has a 15000 max GVWR for my 2500 legal GVWR. Your 3500 SRW RAWR is 6900 lbs. Our trucks weigh around 2800-2900 lbs rear emptye weight which leaves around 4100 lbs for a legal payload. Now the problem is the 3750 lb capacity times 2 is 7500 lbs for the tires on a SRW. You have the axle capacity but not the tire capacity. Thats why longhaul/hotshot folks prefere the DRW truck when their hauling dot legal. Your asking to much for a SRW truck unless you go with 19. 5 wheels for higher capacity tires to match the 6900 RAWR numbers.

JIM

 

[tgordon]

Also wath your CGVW (Combined Gross Vehicle Weight). That is the max that DC has designed the truck to tow. If they decide to scale you and you are over that you get a roadside campsite until you get it light enough or find another way to move it. Bear in mind that does not mean the truck can't handle more that is just what they designed it for.



Troy

 

[BHolm]

Also wath your CGVW (Combined Gross Vehicle Weight). That is the max that DC has designed the truck to tow. If they decide to scale you and you are over that you get a roadside campsite until you get it light enough or find another way to move it. Bear in mind that does not mean the truck can't handle more that is just what they designed it for.



Troy

Depending on where you are, as mentioned above, you may or may not be correct. The two states I have lived in, Colorado, and Minnesota, as well as ND, SD, IA and NE which I have hauled through disagree with what you have written. The vehicle manufacturers GCVWR means NOTHING to the guys enforcing the laws in these states. The ONLY thing they check at the wiegh staitions in these states is proper tire capacity. As mentioned the GCVWR is a reccomendation. I have hauled back and forth across the listed states many times at close to 25k combined. I called to check with all of these states DOT's and know this to be the case. Now some of the anal retentives on the east and west coasts may have different rules about this, so it is wise to ask first.



Generally, anybody hauling an RV is pretty much exempt from most carrier rules. The accident investigators may or may not check any of the above. I know that I ran pick-ups well beyong GCVWR's for 10 years commercially and never had a moments trouble, that include LOTS of trips through the scales, and LOTS of petty fix-it tickets, NEVER a ticket for exceeding the manufacturers reccomendation. My experience has been that it is all about the tires

 

[wcjp]

Last week a friend was hit by a cement truck. Lots of finger pointing by the drivers involved. State Patrol weighed the cement truck. He was over his limit. He received the ticket and liability.

 

[BHolm]

Last week a friend was hit by a cement truck. Lots of finger pointing by the drivers involved. State Patrol weighed the cement truck. He was over his limit. He received the ticket and liability.

Over WHAT limit exactly? The limit he was licensed for? The load limit on the tires? The axles? The truck itself?



A cement truck is a completely different ball game. Depending on the configuration of the truck he could be able to haul 80k lbs per the manufacturer, or over 25 tons of cement. Again, I seriously doubt it pertains at all to the manufacturers ratings. I would bet anything the ticket was for being over the wieght he was licensed for, nothing more.



In Colorado, trucks like ours are licensed by empty wieght, as are trailers. You can carry as much as you dare. The CO troopers and DOT check tires.

 

[Doupe]

I am starting to get the picture. First the Gross combined weight of my truck is 21000 pounds, I think I will be about there. The GAWR on the rear of my truck is 6200 pounds per the sticker, the rating is based on the 265 tires that came on the truck, I now have 305 tires, with a rating of 3640 @65psi. The rear of the truck weighs about 3200 pounds with the bed tank filled, I will have to weigh it to verify this. So from what I understand if the axel is 6200, the rear of the truck is now 3200, that leaves me 3000 pounds to use for pin weight. The tires are 3640 each, X2, and that is higher than the 6200 rear GAWR, so I would think the 6200 is my starting point, not the tires at 7280. Did I compute this correctly?, I think I did.

 

[BHolm]

I am starting to get the picture. First the Gross combined weight of my truck is 21000 pounds, I think I will be about there. The GAWR on the rear of my truck is 6200 pounds per the sticker, the rating is based on the 265 tires that came on the truck, I now have 305 tires, with a rating of 3640 @65psi. The rear of the truck weighs about 3200 pounds with the bed tank filled, I will have to weigh it to verify this. So from what I understand if the axel is 6200, the rear of the truck is now 3200, that leaves me 3000 pounds to use for pin weight. The tires are 3640 each, X2, and that is higher than the 6200 rear GAWR, so I would think the 6200 is my starting point, not the tires at 7280. Did I compute this correctly?, I think I did.

Pretty much. I wouldn't let the axle rating stop me though. It is essentially the same axle the dually trucks use so it is rated as such based on the tires as you rightly mention. I would personally USE the tires extra capacity.

 

[TCDiesel]

BHolm is Right about MN, I cross the scales at Shamrock @ 29,122lbs with my tridem axle Trailer ,Commercial Enforcement right their, ask me to pull over and show Lic and Health Card, look at the DOT#s on Door,Check Plates for weight, Trailer is lic for 18,000 truck 12,000,Look at the Door Tag then ask if any modifications were done to truck,I show him the extra leaf added to the springs and he reply OK, look at the tire ratings and size Did some calculation's, than said OK you are under the 600 Per,Sq,Inch... The Dummy Behind Me ,Had NO health card,CDL, No DOT#s,Wrong Plates Overweight,No Name on the Vehicle or trailer, the Brakes on the Trailer did Not work, the lights did not work on the trailer, He had No tarp, the wheels on both truck and trailer failed inspection,and that"s only what I remembered. and to top it off he pull off the scale to the Street, instead of staying on Shamrock Property which is private... and would have avoided the Tow Bill.

On Edit 2003 SRW 3500

 

[BHolm]

BHolm is Right about MN, I cross the scales at Shamrock @ 29,122lbs with my tridem axle Trailer ,Commercial Enforcement right their, ask me to pull over and show Lic and Health Card, look at the DOT#s on Door,Check Plates for weight, Trailer is lic for 18,000 truck 12,000,Look at the Door Tag then ask if any modifications were done to truck,I show him the extra leaf added to the springs and he reply OK, look at the tire ratings and size Did some calculation's, than said OK you are under the 600 Per,Sq,Inch... The Dummy Behind Me ,Had NO health card,CDL, No DOT#s,Wrong Plates Overweight,No Name on the Vehicle or trailer, the Brakes on the Trailer did Not work, the lights did not work on the trailer, He had No tarp, the wheels on both truck and trailer failed inspection,and that"s only what I remembered. and to top it off he pull off the scale to the Street, instead of staying on Shamrock Property which is private... and would have avoided the Tow Bill.

On Edit 2003 SRW 3500

Must say, I don't miss having to go through that hassle anymore. Lots of i's to dot and t's to cross. Seems like they can always find something if you catch them in a bad mood. Fact is though, that GCVWR really means nothing to the law. If scaling at 29k doesn't prove, I don't know what will.

 

[Cattletrkr]

3/4 ton p/u's are a different ballgame. 3/4's are restricted to what the manufacturer says. 1 tons are restricted by the tires. That's it. It's that simple. Ignore the door sticker on your 1 tons.