Do I have enough truck?

[hankaye]

Howdy All;

Broken record here .....

It ain't so much the Pullin' it's the STOPPIN' ya need to think about.
Your ability to stop the rig before ya run over someone or into the vehicle in front ...in a panic stop! or will the breaks whimp-out and ya sqursh what/whoever is there.......

Remember the Strongman contests ... they can pull a locomotive with their teeth, But ya never see one of'em STOP the dang train, do ya ?????
Nope ... they jump, crawl, scramble.....out of the way.

hankaye

[smiller]

Dodge 2500 vs. 3500... same brakes. Exactly same brakes. Exactly. As in identical. Also the case with many Ford/Chevy trucks. The only difference would be in the traction of the extra two rear tires, but there is a limit to how much the tow vehicle can do in any event, brakes on the trailer are very important (and don't know whether the tow vehicle has 4 or 6 tires.)

Bottom line, ability to stop is of course very important, but there isn't going to be a whole heck of a lot of difference between HD pickup truck models, or at least not due primarily to the number of rear tires.

[mhs4771]

I bet many of you would be very supprised to find out how much everything you're add actually weighs. Don't forget that dry weight is without any options. Add an AC, Awning, Slide toppers, pots, pans, that generator for emergency use and on and on. And I bet you eat up that cargo capacity a lot quicker than you think. All computation for towing should only be using the Gross Weight not the empty weight and guessing you won't add anything. I'm sorry if I get carried away, but it's not just your safety, it's the safety of everyone else out there on the road with you.

[X-Treme]

Originally Posted by SteveC7010

Most of us run Load Range E tires and pretty much all 3/4 and 1 ton trucks come stock from the manufacturer with Load Range E. So, unless there has been an upgrade in the tires, it is fairly safe to say that pretty much any SRW truck is not going to have a max rear axle capacity that exceeds 6,084# at 80 psi. These numbers are from the Michelin charts, but I don't expect that other manufacturers' numbers for Load Range E would vary much.

OK, I probably spent too much time explaining things, but the bottom line for SRW's is that there is every possibility that the tires are the real limiting factor.

Fwiw, my truck came with Michelin 18" tires rated for 3525# at 80 psi. And my rear axle rating on the sticker is 7050#.

I swapped out for 20" rims and tires, and they're rated for 3305# at 80 psi.

Just thought I'd throw some more numbers out there.

[dave-g]

lets really have some fun- what oil should he use?

Your numbers are going to be close-may be slightly over weight,
for the most part 250- and 350 are the same truck other than spring and gearing. My truck picks up 1500 lbs of tow capacity with 411 gears, the breaks and springs are the same. So much of tow ratings are smoke and mirrors. I can not figure our how the manufactures do it.

I have a f250 crew- short bed pulling a cougar 325srx, and I can max out in a hurry. Keep an eye on what you put in it, you will hit 1500-2000 lbs in a hurry.
If you own it take it to a scale- most junk yards, scrap yards will let you on. Make sure you do not go over you max axle rating/tire rating.

Good luck- be safe.

[jje1960]

Lot's of good points here. However, does anyone actually believe that an F250 short bed is going to have the same capability as an F350 or F450 DRW in stopping with a 5Ver being towed? I find that hard to believe.... However I could be wrong, would not be the first time!

[smiller]

You're throwing in additional issues... I didn't say an F350 or F450, why not throw in a big rig as well... I was commenting only on the more common 'everyman's' 2500/3500 or F250/F350, bigger trucks are obviously a different discussion. And yes, a longbed will probably do somewhat better than a shortbed (in fact I wonder what would be better, a SRW longbed or a DRW shortbed?) But again, I think any notions of some huge difference in braking ability between HD 3/4 and 1-ton pickups is not well supported, especially in the very common case where the hardware is virtually identical.

[f6bits]

Does this mean that a trailer’s brakes aren’t adequate for stopping a trailer’s gross weight?

[SteveC7010]

Originally Posted by smiller

But again, I think any notions of some huge difference in braking ability between HD 3/4 and 1-ton pickups is not well supported, especially in the very common case where the hardware is virtually identical.

I agree. The braking systems on 3/4 and 1 ton trucks are pretty much the same. Depending on exact configuration, they are probably identical much of the time.

I don't think we've never been talking about the TV's ability to stop the rig all by itself anyway. (Although there's one or two that claim to have towed for years without a brake controller. Bad, bad business, IMHO.) It's always the TV plus the TT's brakes. That's the norm and 99.9999% of the driving situation for all of us.

I would agree that one of more of us might face an unusual situation of loss of all trailer brakes, but depending on the situation, it's possible that no amount of TV brake capacity would fully compensate.

I think it would be more debatable if we were comparing 1/2 and 3/4 trucks due to the payload differential, but that would only apply to truck vs. truck and not include a trailer. Again, the trailer's brake have to be taken into account. But even 1/2 vs. 3/4 is not really the question, is it?

[alpine 1]

And if you a jake brake;lol

[Oscar]

The gist of all this is, that one has to do it by the numbers. It's not a wag game, it's a math game. Look at all the stickers and do the math.

That said, as many pointed out the wild card is the "stuff". Take it to the scales. Load it up for a trip and pull off at the next truck stop and pay the few bucks to have it weighed. Now you know.

Me, I'm a 70% of max numbers guy......

So when I get my 5ver, I want me one of these, 40.000 pound tow rating Of course the budget will have to improve first.......:

[JRTJH]

Hey Oscar.

Noble wish list you have there !!!!

One question though... Is that monster rig parked in front of a "doublewide" ????

[Oscar]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Hey Oscar.

Noble wish list you have there !!!!

One question though... Is that monster rig parked in front of a "doublewide" ????

No idea where that is...... pulled it off their site. Looks like an industrial building. Hey.....it doesn't hurt to dream........

[smiller]

Originally Posted by sdayman

Does this mean that a trailer’s brakes aren’t adequate for stopping a trailer’s gross weight?

No, they are usually quite adequate in terms of power, but brake power isn't really the issue since most modern trailers can lock their wheels at just about any speed and additional braking power past that point won't do much good. At that point the limiting factor becomes traction, not power. Since the tow vehicle and trailer are more-or-less rigidly tied together the tow vehicle adds 4 (or more) additional tires/contact patches into the equation, resulting in a much shorter stopping distance for the vehicle combination.

[smiller]

Originally Posted by Oscar

That truck doesn't need to tow an RV... its is an RV!

[hankaye]

Howdy All;

Originally Posted by smiller

That truck doesn't need to tow an RV... its is an RV!

Yep, and it tows the "Guest House"

hankaye

[2011 keystone]

Hey RON is this going to be you next TV

[f6bits]

Originally Posted by 2011 keystone

Hey RON is this going to be you next TV

That’s *only* a two-door. Ron’s next would probably a tandem axle, just because you can never have too much. Over Christmas, I did see someone who had a full-on Peterbuilt parked in front of their fiver. It was even labelled as Private RV, Not For Hire.

[Festus2]

SAlexander......
Wondering if you have had enough feedback from our members to have your question about the capability of your truck sufficiently answered? Some acknowledgement of their input would be appreciated. Thanks.

[hankaye]

SAlexander, Howdy;

Yea, how 'bout it ...

What Festus2 said ... We have a lot of Canadians onboard here
and he's only asking that you do the polite thing (it's in their genetic make-up ), and acknowledge something about what has been said.

hankaye