Why is da Weight Police so mean??!?

[Vinnie]

Courtesy of my friends at the Solano station of the California Highway Patrol

[travelin texans]

WOW!
Someone's RV salesman lied big time!!!!
Hope no one was seriously hurt?

[Vinnie]

It was, in fact, a non-injury collision. No other vehicles involved

[JRTJH]

Yep, 375 horses of sheer "turbocharged power backed by a 8 speed automatic heavy duty transaxle with full time all wheel drive".... It'll pull anything on the lot....

The small print: But with the unibody construction, light curb weight and limited wheelbase, any trailer over about 4000 pounds will "overpower the vehicle and you might wind up upside down with all 4 tires "safely protected from further road damage".....

[markcee]

I've 'heard' that bigger tires would have increased his truck's GVWR....too bad he/she didn't know......totally preventable.

[sourdough]

Having seen multiple scenes like that in real life, I am always amazed at some folks willingness to ignore established weight protocols, TV limitations etc. Some out of ignorance, some out of bravado, some out of "I just don't care"...take your pick.

The reality is that most of those folks that want to ignore being safe because they choose to believe something they read on a bathroom wall/dealer/salesman/"GM engineer" on a customer help line, saying they could pull the shuttle with an Explorer......have no idea and will fight to defend their choice. In many, if not most, situations those that ignore safety go on down the road having "iffy" towing experiences and think it's fine; other times we see what the picture shows.....everything OK and folks surviving just fine OR, I've seen the ugly end as well and there would be sheets outside those open doors....... Gamble, play your cards....it is 100% on the person towing.

[travelin texans]

If that's a Nissan Rogue laying on it's top I think we passed them in Oregon late last week.
We traveled from Seattle area back to Arizona this past week & saw countless inappropriate tow vehicles towing RVs they were never designed to tow. Thanks to Covid the highways are full of folks that have absolutely no business towing anything with the vehicles they're using.

[rhagfo]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Yep, 375 horses of sheer "turbocharged power backed by a 8 speed automatic heavy duty transaxle with full time all wheel drive".... It'll pull anything on the lot....

The small print: But with the unibody construction, light curb weight and limited wheelbase, any trailer over about 4000 pounds will "overpower the vehicle and you might wind up upside down with all 4 tires "safely protected from further road damage".....

Well John tap out of three isn’t too bad, light TV, and short wheel base of TV compared to length of trailer sure are contributing factors. The fact the TV was unibody had nothing to do with it. In reality a unibody is stiffer and stronger pound for pound, than body on frame.
One of the best TV I have owned for duty, was a 1964 Econoline van, that I stuffed a 302 V8, C4 auto and heavy duty rear axle. Used it to tow a 3,500# 20’ sail boat.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by rhagfo

Well John tap out of three isn’t too bad, light TV, and short wheel base of TV compared to length of trailer sure are contributing factors. The fact the TV was unibody had nothing to do with it. In reality a unibody is stiffer and stronger pound for pound, than body on frame.
One of the best TV I have owned for duty, was a 1964 Econoline van, that I stuffed a 302 V8, C4 auto and heavy duty rear axle. Used it to tow a 3,500# 20’ sail boat.

You might want to do just a little homework on unibody construction..... While there are "some" (not many) that approve of heavy duty towing, the majority restrict not only trailer weight, but many (maybe even most) recommend that NO weight distribution hitch equipment be used with their receiver. So.....

As for the "one of a kind, built at home" Econoline van that was "great at towing a 3500 pound, 20' sailboat, the "modern tow vehicle that's "protecting its tires from road rash" in the photo is towing significantly more weight and a longer trailer than that econoline with the major modifications..... BTW, did those mods increase the payload or the GVW ???

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by rhagfo

Well John tap out of three isn’t too bad, light TV, and short wheel base of TV compared to length of trailer sure are contributing factors. The fact the TV was unibody had nothing to do with it. In reality a unibody is stiffer and stronger pound for pound, than body on frame.
One of the best TV I have owned for duty, was a 1964 Econoline van, that I stuffed a 302 V8, C4 auto and heavy duty rear axle. Used it to tow a 3,500# 20’ sail boat.

I'm assuming the above is why every HD truck, or even 1/2 ton, runs with a unibody? Never heard that before and certainly never experienced it.

[LHaven]

I'm guessing from that spic-n-span roof that this is a pretty new trailer. First time out?

[rhagfo]

Originally Posted by sourdough

I'm assuming the above is why every HD truck, or even 1/2 ton, runs with a unibody? Never heard that before and certainly never experienced it.

There is a limit to it’s practically, but pound for pound is a stronger structure. Much like a truss can be made of smaller lighter components than a solid beam.
The reason many of the smaller cars caution against using a WDH is they are not designed as a tow vehicle. Their tow ratings are so low as to make a WDH not
Practical.

The car in the accident was simply a case of too much trailer for too short TV. The trailer in the accident was about 20’ a lot of trailer for small car.

[rhagfo]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

You might want to do just a little homework on unibody construction..... While there are "some" (not many) that approve of heavy duty towing, the majority restrict not only trailer weight, but many (maybe even most) recommend that NO weight distribution hitch equipment be used with their receiver. So.....

As for the "one of a kind, built at home" Econoline van that was "great at towing a 3500 pound, 20' sailboat, the "modern tow vehicle that's "protecting its tires from road rash" in the photo is towing significantly more weight and a longer trailer than that econoline with the major modifications..... BTW, did those mods increase the payload or the GVW ???

LOL, well most vehicles that are unibody are smaller compact and and SUVs, one of the draw backs is that because the is designed as a whole, the frame rails boxes are not heavy steel, but sheet metal not designed for point loading.
I installed a 2” receiver hitch on my DD Honda Ridgeline and the plates that attached to the factory attachment points were about 20” long the spread stress over a large area.
As to the Econoline I was about 21 years old when I built that beast. I had can’t remember the GVWR or what it weighed hooked up to the sail boat.
Never an issues towing that boat with it.

[notanlines]

U-Haul has a long history of sporadic renting to people with unibody vehicles. BIL's Explorer, maybe 2010-11 or so, U-Haul told us no way. It wouldn't even enter into their computer. Attendant told that was the reason.
On another note, we just ordered a '22 Ford Transit Titanium, WITH trailer tow package! DW and I are headed to the Airstream dealer to maybe trade our little Salem for the new 33 Classic.
I can see it now; Transit on its side sliding down the interstate, Airstream tumbling behind us, and Vinnie's friends getting it all on dash cam, readying it to be posted on Facebook!
God, I love this place!

[flybouy]

[B] "[Never an issues towing that boat with it."B]

I can only imagine the driver of the car in the photo saying something similar just before going "belly up". That's one of the problems with current industry practice of the "sure you can tow it" mentality to make a sale. Yup, I'll bet "he or she towed it just fine" just prior to the the event that resulted in that photo.

The next conversation (with the insurance adjuster) was probably "You were towing WHAT with a WHAT?". "Will this effect your rates?"

[JRTJH]

Doing a little "detective dog work" there's not a lot of hints on which floorplan or how big the trailer might be, but the roofline shows the shower skylight on the curbside forward part of the trailer. There are three 2020 Wilderness floorplans with that configuration:

2500RL, 32' long 7400 GVW
2575RK, 31' long 7400 GVW
3350DS, 38' long 9600 GVW

https://www.heartlandrvsource.com/sp...4210?year=2020

Surely, the driver in that photo wouldn't be trying to tow a 38' trailer..... Or would he ????? How could any salesman/service manager even consider selling something like this ???

[Laredo Tugger]

The CHP officer reached for his ticket book but the owner was quick to point out the "upgraded" (upside down) door sticker he had received in the mail from the vehicle manufacture. After airbags, Bilstein shocks and upgraded tires the owner/driver was able to avoid citation with his "new" payload sticker. People that believe this scenario are the same ones that back up to those trailers at the dealership of purchase, watch the team hitch it up and get a nice pat on the back from the salesman with a "you'll be fine" wink.
Until the real 'responsible party" the dealerships, are acknowledged and disciplined for their actions you will continue to see photos similar to post number one. The dealership is exempt because the owner approves the hook up is a BS excuse. IMHO
I did see one individual the other day that was towing a trailer a little larger than the one in the photo with a short wheelbase Chevy Tahoe. No WDH with the headlights poised to find aircraft and no sway control. He was doing maybe 45 MPH in the slow lane on the interstate with his emergency flasher signals on. All I can figure is after his first stomp on the throttle when he got it up to about 60 and almost lost it was his wake up call that his future trips were going to be "extended". Where was Ken when I needed him?
RMc

[rhagfo]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Doing a little "detective dog work" there's not a lot of hints on which floorplan or how big the trailer might be, but the roofline shows the shower skylight on the curbside forward part of the trailer. There are three 2020 Wilderness floorplans with that configuration:

2500RL, 32' long 7400 GVW
2575RK, 31' long 7400 GVW
3350DS, 38' long 9600 GVW

https://www.heartlandrvsource.com/sp...4210?year=2020

Surely, the driver in that photo wouldn't be trying to tow a 38' trailer..... Or would he ????? How could any salesman/service manager even consider selling something like this ???

I did the same search, with same results. I took the picture and loaded in another window and took a pice of paper and marked the 8’ width on it then used it to measure length. The result was a length of about 22’ max. The issue was that for all model lines only the longest units had a forward bath, all the short units were rear bath.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by rhagfo

I did the same search, with same results. I took the picture and loaded in another window and took a pice of paper and marked the 8’ width on it then used it to measure length. The result was a length of about 22’ max. The issue was that for all model lines only the longest units had a forward bath, all the short units were rear bath.

There is clearly a shower skylight on the curbside forward section of the trailer. The shortest Wilderness travel trailer built in 2020 with a bathroom in that area was 31' long with a GVWR of 7400 pounds. Trying to "measure and use proportions to get an estimated length based on a known trailer width so the length should be...." Just go to the manufacturer's website and locate the only floorplans with a skylight in that area and you immediately eliminate all trailers shorter than 31' because Heartland didn't build any with that skylight shorter than.....

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by rhagfo

Well John tap out of three isn’t too bad, light TV, and short wheel base of TV compared to length of trailer sure are contributing factors. The fact the TV was unibody had nothing to do with it. In reality a unibody is stiffer and stronger pound for pound, than body on frame.
One of the best TV I have owned for duty, was a 1964 Econoline van, that I stuffed a 302 V8, C4 auto and heavy duty rear axle. Used it to tow a 3,500# 20’ sail boat.

I was about 12-13 I went fishing with my Grandad, his usual tow vehicle for his 14' outboard boat was in the shop getting tires & serviced so they loaned him an Econoline pickup, I guess you'd call it a pickup it had a bed, we unloaded the boat, fished, loaded the boat on the trailer, now for reference this was a long steep ramp, but that "pickup" thing would only make a humming noise, it would not move that boat up that ramp, wouldn't even spin a tire on the wet ramp, finally got someone to tie on to it & tow it & the boat up the ramp, what a huge POS. That was my 1st Ford experience (unfortunately not my last) & my grandad's one & only Ford experience, his usual tow vehicle at that time was a '62 Buick Wildcat, that would've jerked that Econoline thing to pieces & drove Buicks til the day he passed.