What do ya'll tow regularly with your 2500!!!

[CumminsPuller]

How much weight ya'll tow regularly with your 2500!!!

I am very interested to know how much ya'll tow regularly with your 2500 CTD. I am interested in pulling a 40 foot gooseneck as my way to make a living..... Anything I should watch out for?? All suggestions will be greatly appreciated as i seriously think about diving into this endeavour.









96' CTD, Club Cab, SLT, 4x2, auto(new transmission), 4:10, amsoiled throughout, TST #8, Gauges, 86,000 miles.

 

[Dennis Garrett]

I have a 16' tandem axle car hauler, not sure how I ever got along without it. I've hauled every other vehicle I own on it at one time or another. I have a restored Farmall 1948 Super "A", and a Cub, both have belly mowers. I've hauled both of them on it at the same time. Also have an enclosed 14' W-W tandem axle trailer, we haul antique furniture with it, & during June & July, we use both trailers to haul fireworks for two big tents the wife & kids operate.

 

[danandamy]

I regularly pull my 33' travel trailer with mine. 40' gooseneck? That's gonna be getting pretty big for a 2500 in my opinion. Might work ok if the trailer's a triple axle and you add some kind of overload set up to your rear springs otherwise I think it's gonna be too big.

 

[Don M]

I believe the 96 auto's have the Dana 70. I know my 95 auto had the Dana 70. I regularly pulled a 30 foot gooseneck (trailer alone weighed 4500lbs) we had everything from farm tractors to backhoes.

I can tell you we had all kinds of transmission,engine, and rear axle troubles after the truck was trailering alot. Granted the engine was a v-10 hince the engine failures. Transmission was the 47RH. Had three of them installed under the extended warranty before 70,000 miles.



The rear axle has been rebuilt twice in 160,000 miles.



The 3500 trucks have the Dana 80 and seems to hold up better, at least for us they have.

I have a 97 with 200,000 miles that hauls stuff everywhere all the time and no major failures except 5th gear twice from lugging.



What does your 40 footer weigh empty? I bet alot. High bulk, low weigh stuff for hot-shot is your goal?



Don~

 

[Jeff]

We have a 28' gooseneck (dual tandems) that weighs 7,000 MT. We then add 330 bales that weigh between 50 - 60 lbs. each. We gross in between 30 - 32,000 lbs. Nothing extra in the suspension. '95 5 speed, 4X4, CC. I've had a few repairs over the years, but this has been hands down the absolutely the best truck that has ever been on this farm. As long as you can get your load stopped when you have to... that is the MOST important thing about pulling heavy loads.

 

[CumminsPuller]

How Much ya'll tow regularly???

Thanks for your replies so far...



Jeff----Your 28' gooseneck weighs 7000lbs... . What is it made out of, is the deck steel or wood? My brother-in-law has a 40' gooseneck and it weighs 7000lbs.



Don M---Yes, i have the dana 70 rear end. And you are correct about the hot shotin'.



danandme---In the owners manual both the 2500 & 3500 the Max GCWR is 18000lbs. Granted the tongue weight for the 3500 is 300lbs more than the 2500, i could see that being a problem... When you said you thought the 40' would be to big for the 2500, did you mean once it was loaded or empty weight?

 

[danandamy]

Loaded weight, of course. Throw the GCWR rating out the window. This is company "don't sue us" loophole stuff. It's not hard to figure out that you can haul a heck of alot more weight with a one ton dually than a three quarter ton pickup. If not, than all you guys who bought duallys wasted your money Now don't get me wrong, you could load the snot out of the three quarter ton and use it in short spells, but in my opinion, which is worth exactly what you pay for it if you load down a 40 foot goosneck on a three quarter ton pickup repeatedly, one of two things is going to happen. 1. You are gonna start breaking stuff. 2. You are gonna have a wreck. Like I said earlier, if it's a triple axle, i. e. you're puting more of the weight on the trailer and you have an extra axle for braking power, and you give your rear springs some help with the load, you will stand a better chance.

 

[Strick-9]

Heavy hauling

I have a '94 2500 4x4 and tow something nearly everyday. We do construction work and have to move equipment from job to job. I gross about 25K regularly. We also have a '97 3500, but I usually pull the heavier trailer because I have more power.



Our trailer is a 25+5 tandem dually custom built for moving dozers and heavy equipment.



With a 2500, you'll just need to watch how the load is placed on the trailer a little more. You want enough weight on the truck to squat it slightly to prevent constant bucking, but you don't want to squat it down to the ground either.



It's nothing you can't work around. Buy a good brake controller designed for 6-8 brakes instead of the 2-4 brake models. The extra power during traffic is easily worth a few more pesos.



I've never had a rear end problem or any reason for wanting a 3500.



-Chris

 

[dieselburner]

I pull a 33' fifth wheel trailer with no power problems or braking problems. It weighs 13,000 pounds give or take. I did have a tread separation on my last trip on the right rear tire of the truck though...

 

[Patriot Diesel]

We tow our 32' carri-lite 5th wheel camper about every two to three weeks !

 

[CumminsPuller]

Thanks everyone for your comments so far.....



Strick-9... ... Thanks, you made me feel much better... . YOu said you regularly gross about 25k... . is that including truck or is that just your trailer and payload???



My plans so far were to go ahead and get a 40 footer, approximately 7000lbs..... but just not load anything on it that weighed more than 10000lbs, and then watch out how i distribute the weight. So that would give me approx. 17000lbs behind my 2500 CTD. Then later on get my one-ton dually..... and then its... . balls to the wall!!!!!!!!



You know of any good road tires, something that can deal with the weight and mileage i plan to put on, some thicker ply tires... ? Since it is not a dually, i have to really watch my rear tires.



By the way, what do our 2500 CTD, 4x2, Crew cab, SLT, Long bed trucks weigh??