how will my truck tow this?

[bpete]

Thanks Gary for posting my pics.



I don't want to be misunderstood. . I agree that the stoping of my and other over loaded rigs is dangerous. I just enjoy the conversation. LOL



If you ever get the chance to hook to a trailer like the second pic... . stopping IS NOT a problem!



Did I neglect to state to those wanting to tow these heavy loads that I have straightened my front axle three times. lol



stay cool

stay safe

Brant

 

[Pit Bull]

Originally posted by bpete



Did I neglect to state to those wanting to tow these heavy loads that I have straightened my front axle three times. lol

Brant

Brant, no offense but man I would not want to buy your used trucks :-laf

 

[jhurst]

 

[bpete]

I meant trailer axle has been straightened. That pickup has 160k on it and I have changed wheel seals once and rear leaf springs once. That is all on the rear half.



Really I wouldn't buy any pickup that has come off a farm, especialy a high plains irrigation farm such as ours.



brant

 

[The patriot]

I always knew you farmers were a few sandwiches short of a picnic. :-laf

Eric

 

[illflem]

Originally posted by The patriot

I always knew you farmers were a few sandwiches short of a picnic. :-laf

Eric

Guess so when we buy $200,000 combines then park them for 50 weeks out of the year.

 

[NVR FNSH]

Originally posted by bpete

I meant trailer axle has been straightened.

Now I'm really worried. You're bending the axle on a 3 axle trailer? Not only is your truck grossly overloaded so is the trailer. Seems that everyone that tows these huge loads with a CTD always falls back on the fact that the trailer is overbuilt & that the truck/trailer combo stops better than the truck alone. Sometimes I just have to shake my head... .



Brian

 

[bpete]

The axles on this trailer are 7000# spring x 3=21000 if you look at my above post in the split weight is 30000 on the rear. I had checked into other axle options, but were not feasable. Dual wheel axles that are usually rated @ 10k won't fit under my trailer, I wanted to put three 10k ales under it. Single wheel axles for 10k# are very expensive and speacial order only and oly with 19. 5 rims and tires.



If I were to buy another trailer it would have tandem dual wheel torsion axles.



I will take some pics of my current trailer and tow rig and try to post them later this week.



We may not have a enough food for a picnic here in BFE, but we don't have to put up with all the tree hugging yuppie ferries dictating when and where I take a crap. lol

brant

 

[NVR FNSH]

Originally posted by bpete

We may not have a enough food for a picnic here in BFE, but we don't have to put up with all the tree hugging yuppie ferries dictating when and where I take a crap. lol

brant

Haven't been to Northern CA or the central valley have you? Get rid of Sacramento, Bay Area & LA/San Diego and the rest of California is fairly consevative. There are some parts of CA that make SW Kansas look positively urban



BTW the tree hugging yuppie fairies don't tell you when/where you can take a crap they just tell you you can't use a paper product to wipe your ass.



Brian

 

[bpete]

cheers!!

 

[QRTRHRS]

Originally posted by bpete

If I were to buy another trailer it would have tandem dual wheel torsion axles.

Brant, I was looking at a PJ gooseneck dually at the PA Farm Show. I crawled under and noted that this one had leafs. The 14k I used to have had torsion. What's are your thoughts on torsion vs leaf?

 

[pdolan]

QRTRHRS (and others):



I tow a 26k equipment van behind an F450 tractor (we use all pintle hitches on our CTD 2500's). Brakes are a really big issue, especially in the mountains. Axles are right behind.



The first venture with this trailer had 3 x 7k Dexter tor-flex with electric 13" drums. Axles ran about 18k most of the time. Tire wear was catastrophic. One side is a few hundred heavier than the other, and it showed in a hurry. G159s in load range "G" don't come cheap, and I had the market cornered! Torflex axles may be RATED for some number, but they are not useable at that weight because the rubber bushings deflect enough to give the tire really bad camber (and a bit of toe). Went to 8k Dexters, pout in a lighter genset dropping axles into the 16k range (5,500 each) and now tire wear and life is "normal". For those who are limited by wheel stud hole size, you can get a "7,200#" torflex that has stiffer bushings in the same hardware as a 7k.



Electric drum brakes are another thing. They may be fine for meeting the legal requirements, but they don't even come close to slowing down the load!! When I went up to the 8K axles, I added a Master actuator and Kodiak discs and, now, the damn thing stops like no other commercial vehicle I have ever driven. Adjustment is also eliminated (a big deal in mountain towing). There have been a few maintenance issues in getting to know the Kodiak/Master setup, but things are pretty stable and predictable now. BTW, I do coast-to-coast emergency service calls with this thing.



Hope that helps light the way for those who are going to do very heavy hauling with these light/medium type of trucks. It can be done (even legally), but you want to be VERY conservative on believing the equiment manufacturer's ratings.



Pat

 

[TBOB]

OVER LOADED

IF YOU EVER GET TANGLED UP WITH ANOTHER VEHICLE WITH AN OVER GCW SET UP, YOUR INSURANCE WON'T COVER YOU AND YOU COULD END UP IN JAIL. FOOD FOR THOUGHT. TBOB

 

[bpete]

Personaly I like torsion axles. Springs are fine but in order to take the heavier weights over time, it should have a crossmember welded in. This is a little hard to describe so be kind. Spring axles have hangers welded to the frame fore and aft of each axle. To beef up this system it needs a crossmember installed from side to side on each spring hanger. This will keep the hangers from flexing as much under load during turns.



I have a very well built car trailer that has never been within 3000# of load rating. One trip with 8k# net load I had turned a corner and started to accelerate with the wind behind me I could smell burnt rubber. I inspected the trailer tires and found one rubbing. This was caused from the flex and slight wear ind the spring hangers. I started out again and swerved the trailer the other direction and it stopped rubbing.



I have pulled several trailers and have found (IMO) That torsion axles ride better, are easier to swap out, and require less maintnance (sp).



Brant

 

[speedracer]

One thing to consider nvr fnsh, there's a big difference between towing heavy on 580 in Oakland and doing it on the back roads in SW Kansas. I've never pulled anything heavier than a bobcat with the dodge, but I've spent a fair amount of time running across SW Kansas(usually on US54) in the big truck. There isn't much traffic and there aren't many obstacles to hide cars sneaking in on side roads to potentially pull out in front of you. I'm not saying it's totally safe or the best idea in the world, but it's pretty much a fact of life in rural farming areas and not nearly as dangerous as it would be in an urban area.

 

[QRTRHRS]

Brant, the reason I asked was I had noticed your load of course. As I understand it, when you go heavy on torsion, you can stress the axle on uneven terrain because one wheel may take on more load than it is rated for. With springs however, the load will remain equally distributed. Plus, if you do muck something up you won't end up replacing the entire axle which is not uncommon with torsion.

 

[bpete]

You are correct that the walking arm with spring axles is to distribute the weight.



I have several spring axle trailers (stock, flatbed,& car haulers), I am disatisfied with all and all have bent axles!



I also have a 40' g/n trailer to haul swathers (see edge products web site) with three 7k torsion axles with no problems or abnormal tire wear.



Brant

 

[Mel Fuelling]

Have you ever noticed that just the sight of a pickup or a semi tractor pulling a heavily loaded trailer causes some people to watch the spectacle for a while and then pull right out in front of the lucky driver pulling the load? Sort of like the moth being drawn to the flame?



I wonder if any of our scientists have studied this phenomena?



Mel

 

[pdolan]

QRTHRS:



You bring up another point I forgot to mention: the total travel on torsion axles is very short, so the same thing that causes a temporary overload on uneven ground (which doesn't seem to bother anything - I have had 3x design load on an axle doing this with no damage) is a big problem with tri-axle setups if you can't keep the trailer dead level. I counter this with air suspension on the tractor, but a spring suspended truck with that pulls different trailers or widely varying hitch loads could drastically overload the tires on one axle.



Pat

 

[rkressg]

Originally posted by CATCRACKER

can i tow a 450G john deere dozer weight 17,500. 03 dodge 3500 srw 3. 73 ho 6 speed? i know this is over the limit but does anyone tow this kind of load.

I moved a 60 Series Massie Fergison Backhoe 1 mile at work one day. I thought I was going to die. :{ The trailer was a dully tandom axle with electric brakes. 4wd lowrange and I barely moved it. I gave up and went back to the shop to fix the 10 ton.

BTW a 60 series is about 30,000 and the trailer was about 12,000. :-{}