Towed my heaviest load yesterday!!

[johncameron]

I towed around 11K which is the heaviest load ever for my Cummins. Each of the 3 pallets of deck stone were around 3000LBS. One in the truck and two on a flatbed trailer. The truck had plenty of get up and go to tow atleast 2 more pallets easily!! I did have a horrible vibration in first and second, kinda like spring twisting or axel twisting. I remember reading about it somewhere. Once I got up to 30MPH or so I could lay into the throttle and make the ol' Cummins do it's magic. My friend that was with me had never been in a Cummins powered truck before, well to say the least he is a believer now! I got 14MPG towing that load for 200+ miles.



Does anyone know about that vibration / hop in lower gears loaded?





John

 

[CUMMINZ]

Plenty of power

Now that we know you can pull it and with power to spare. Now the next test. Get it up to about 45 and drop one set of the rear trailer tires off the highway and then slam on the brakes. Still got plenty?

 

[NIsaacs]

Now that we know you can pull it and with power to spare. Now the next test. Get it up to about 45 and drop one set of the rear trailer tires off the highway and then slam on the brakes. Still got plenty?

HUH??



John, the vibration you are feeling is the tremendous power/torque generated in the lower gears. Use less power until you get in about 4th, then go ahead and use it! Nice level load, looks good.





"NICK"

 

[nps]

I think CUMMINZ is trying out his new weight police badge he got in his box of Lucky Charms. :-laf Even though a 11K trailer is well under the GCWR.

 

[TowPro]

one night I stopped by my neighors house. He was loading up his truck to head to his Dads (100 mile trip) to put in a side walk. he has 1 pallet of brick and 1 pallet of slate on the truck, then he had his dump trailer hooked up (probably 7000 lbs empty) and it had 2 more pallets of brick a wheel boro, some shovels a couple bags of cement and a yard of sand in it. This is a 98 F250! The tires looked like they were ready to pop on both the truck and trailer. He left around 4:00am the next morning and made it there with no problems.

 

[Foil Freak 1211]

one night I stopped by my neighors house. He was loading up his truck to head to his Dads (100 mile trip) to put in a side walk. he has 1 pallet of brick and 1 pallet of slate on the truck, then he had his dump trailer hooked up (probably 7000 lbs empty) and it had 2 more pallets of brick a wheel boro, some shovels a couple bags of cement and a yard of sand in it. This is a 98 F250! The tires looked like they were ready to pop on both the truck and trailer. He left around 4:00am the next morning and made it there with no problems.

That's one hell of a heavy trailer if that is its empty weight.

 

[johncameron]

Now that we know you can pull it and with power to spare. Now the next test. Get it up to about 45 and drop one set of the rear trailer tires off the highway and then slam on the brakes. Still got plenty?

I don't think even a dually would make a difference under your circumstances My setup the other day was not unsafe in any way. We did strap the pallets down well, I took the photo's before we did that. The trailer brakes were in perfect working condition also. Like all towing trips, always leave an extra 5 car-lengths ahead of you and drive slower than normal. With this load I never went over 65MPH on the highay and in 50 zones I went 50!



John

 

[JKinney]

John



I too have hauled 2 pallets of pavers in the dump trailer and had one in the back of the rig. But this weight puts me over my registered weight. Im always glad to be off the road without seeing a commercial enforcement vehicle. I have my rig registered for 18,000 lbs.

 

[Nate]

I take it your truck is a 2wd? (don't have a stupid tall block in the back)



My truck is registered as 5000 lbs. DMV takes the VIN and that's what their computer says. I think the gas Rams weigh more than that even. Doesn't say anything about GVWR on there though.

 

[Foil Freak 1211]

My truck is registered as 5000 lbs. DMV takes the VIN and that's what their computer says.

Not sure what you guys are talking about here. When do you register your truck for a certain weight? Is that a commercial thing?

 

[Nate]

It probably depends on the state.



I believe that's how Alaska comes up with the registration fees, is by how much the truck weighs (heavy truck is harder on the roads in theory). I just registered it today actually. $116 for 2 years.

 

[y-knot]

I'm not to sure about the vibration thing in 1st and 2nd gear. I tow a 16,000lb trailer and have never had any vibrations like you are talking about. The dually option would make a huge difference, not in accutall pulling, but in the stability and braking categories, not to mention the weight carrying ability of the two extra tires.

Please tell me you have brake on the trailer and you use them... ..... I belive every trailer sold should be required to have them. I have bought several trailers and always spec them for every axle. Safety is not an option, you own that to your fellow man.

Glade the girlfriend likes the Cummins, it would be a shame to have to ditch her.

 

[Nate]

I know what your talking about with the vibrations. We use Cummins trucks at work... "bobtails". Anyway, we pull tandem, and I've pulled just under 30,000lbs before.



I think it's torque convertor "shudder", as I would pull in 4WD normally (icy roads)

 

[JKinney]

Not sure what you guys are talking about here. When do you register your truck for a certain weight? Is that a commercial thing?

In Maine they required that I register my 2500 dodge with commercial tags, with reg inspection sticker the vehicle is legal fro 9,999 lbs. If you want to haul more than that you must be registered for the weight you desire to carry and must have a commercial inspection sticker. Campers are exempt from this regulation. And yes they want Money... ...

 

[Nate]

I didn't realize that and I grew up in Maine.

 

[johncameron]

I think it's torque convertor "shudder", as I would pull in 4WD normally (icy roads)

I have a 6 speed manual.

 

[JHardwick]

always leave an extra 5 car-lengths ahead of you

John

Thats easier said than done, LOL. I haul horses coast to coast and try to leave plenty of stopping distance, if for nothing else than to not slam the horses around. The more clear distance I leave the more cars crowd in ... ... ... I feel like I'm going backwards sometimes :-laf



Oh, well, I just light a cig, turn on some good tunes and remember that I am only passing thru that rat race and don't have to live that way

 

[johncameron]

Ya I guess I should have said "try to always leave an extra 5 car-lengths ahead of you"



I was mostly on back roads so that wasn't a problem. Morons passing on double lines was more of a concern to me than anything!!



The more I think about the shudder in 1-2-3, when we arrived home we unhooked the trailer and took the pallet in the truck to the neighbours down the road. The shudder was still there with just the pallet in the truck?? It must be something to do with the angles of the driveshaft and the u-joints. Any ideas?

 

[MRosinski]

Axle wrap I get a shudder w/the 04' when towing heavy.

 

[TX Gooseneck]

That's one hell of a heavy trailer if that is its empty weight.

Dump trailers are heavy! We build some dumps that are a rolloff style, they weigh in at around 8400lbs with a 24' box.