tomb1269

1st let me say it has been about 5 yrs since I was keeping up on DOT regs. However, there are some true possibilities to Franny K's posting here. But I'd like to start with how would and would not be under DOT / CDL requirements. 1st Federal DOT /CDL requirements are for commerical trucks used in the course of INTERSTATE i.e. crossing state lines commerce, i.e. doing business and making a buck. So if your hauling your own trailer for pleasure your fine. If a buddy is paying you to haul his that would be commerce (But I am sure your buddy won't same a damn thing so it would matter, just makine a point). Then there are state laws on INTRASTATE i.e. in state commerce and these vary. For example I can rent a 28 foot Penske truck in NJ but not in NY, nor can I legally drive it in NY regardless of why as it violates NY state DOT (interesting delema if you are moving your family in to or out of the new england states as you have to go thru NY State). As for the medical cards & possible RV liscensing I know have spoken with a campground owner in western PA back in 2005 that PA was looking into requiring med cards and special DLs for class A RVs and large recrational trailers. And it made some sense, from IMO I would not want my 65 year old dad or mom, who are good drivers hopping in 30 to 40 thousand pound bus (Class A RV is on a bus chassis) or hooking up 35 - 40 ft of trailer and bombing around the country without making sure that they can preform under the additional stress of the bigger vehicle and that they have had at least some training in proper operation and control. They may drive me crazy at time but I still love em and would not what them injured or killed in an accident with a large RV or trailer.

wintersucks

This as you said is your opinion...but I don't want pull a 36' bumper with a 3/4 or 1 ton either. They are miserable compared to 5th or goosenecks. The weight? It should move it just fine. At that length, speed, wind and road conditions are going to make you uneasy before the weight does with that length. Many 3/4 tons don't weigh much more than his platinum does, and they don't carry much more towing capability either. In fact, my 05 cummins carried the same combined rating, but lower trailer rating than a buddies '01. The new truck was heavier, but they never raised the combined so I technically couldn't tow as much as an older truck could with with a lighter frame and less power. I'd rather pull that trailer with a new eco than a 10 year old gasser 3/4 ton. An '02 f250 qd/4x4/6.5ft only weighs in at 6200lbs and only has a trailer rating with a 5.4/3.73 of 6900lbs! even with the V10/3.73 its only 9700lbs. Compared to a 10 year old gas Ford the only main advantage is in payload.
Who is really more capable when you look at the numbers? Lt/e rated tires and something like the RAS and it should feel great. Heavy rated tires take out most of the mushy feeling that 1/2 tons have loaded up. I've asked it somewhere else before, but did you really notice how many 1/2 tons were pulling larger loads back in the '90's and earlier? I bet you didn't. After they went to 2 different body styles you really pay more attention to what it is more than how well it is moving or how it looks loaded. Overloaded is overloaded I too understand. Just something to think about.

PistonPuller

So could I tow a 29ft TT with a dry weight of 6515?

2012 xlt 5.0 screw 4x4 short box with regular tow package. Manual says 9300 lbs trailer weight. Family of 4 weighs abut 500# so that with cargo I would estimate 800# of load in the truck itself

brulaz

As usual, the tow rating is not the problem. Most vehicles can tow more than they can carry.

Figure an extra 500-1000# in the trailer? So ~7500#, and maybe 12% of that on the tongue, so ~1000# tongue weight on the truck? That plus your 800# makes 1800#. What does your payload sticker say? The manual says ~1700#. Looks like you'll be right at the truck's GVWR, maybe over.

You'll want a good Weight Distributing Hitch (WDH) with that.

PistonPuller

Thanks for the reply. Tongue weight spec is 720 and I assume thats without batts and propane. So I assume tongue weight would be about 920. That would put me closer to the weight without being over. But your right, its right at the weight limit and not leaving me much room. Maybe the deal I got an the trailer wasn't as good as I thought if I have to get a bigger truck...lol

brulaz

You're not alone. There's a lot of guys who have been down this road. One reason we bought the F150 last year was because I discovered we were always running 350-500# over the GVWR on the old truck. That was an unpleasant surprise.

But it doesn't sound like you're in that bad a situation. And just knowing that you're close will help. Might want to head for a CAT scale once you get everything loaded up just to check. When you're that close to the GVWR, the GAWR's might be close as well.

Coord

Is there such a thing as a "bad" WDH? No trying to be a smart #%%^* or anything like that but as a newby I thought they all did pretty much the job asked of them?

brulaz

Yes, by "good WDH" I meant "properly set-up WDH".

There is a huge difference in WDH prices. And many of the most expensive have very sophisticated sway control systems. That seems to be the main difference.

My WDH is as cheap as they get with no sway control. But my trailer's tongue weight is 14-16% of the trailer weight, and the trailer is only 4000#, so sway has not been a problem with this truck. Otherwise, the WDH worked fine for weight distribution.

(Lately I've been working to reduce the tongue weight so that I don't even use a WDH. Still no sway problem.)

smokeywren

Well, maybe not "bad". But there is certainly good, better and best. They all do a pretty good job of distributing the hitch weight. The difference is in the sway control capability. Weight distribution is important, but sway control is much more important. Unless you've experienced severe trailer sway, this may not mean much to you. But trust me, you don't ever want to experience severe trailer sway.

Cheap WD hitches including the cheaper versions from Reese/Drawtite and others use friction sway controllers. Cost is about $260 to $400. They do help control sway under normal towing conditions, but they have their limitations. Under severe conditions you can still get into uncontrollable sway. And on some you have to disconnect the sway controllers before you back into a sharp turn.
http://www.etrailer.com/Weight-Distr...s/PS49903.html


Better WD hitches use a different concept for sway control. Reese calls theirs dual cam sway control. I have the Reese Strait-Line dual-cam WD hitch with built-in sway control. Works great - a lot better than the less expensive hitches.
http://www.reeseprod.com/content/pro...ID=1665&part=0

Here's mine that cost me around $625 including the adjustable shank. (Notice this one does not include the shank.) I ordered 800 pound hitch weight because my wet and loaded trailer has a hair over 650 pounds hitch weight, so the one for 600 pounds hitch weight wouldn't be quite enough, and the one for 1000 pounds hitch weight would be too stiff.
http://www.etrailer.com/Weight-Distr...e/RP66073.html

But any hitch that costs less than $1,000 is not as good as the best. The best guarantee absolutely no sway, but they cost a lot more than the lesser hitches. The oldest model of these no-sway hitches is the Hensley Arrow.
http://hensleymfg.com/products/the-hensley-arrow/

The updated version of the Hensley design, the ProPride 3P, was also designed by the same Jim Hensley. I'm saving my sheckles so I can buy one of these soon.
http://www.propridehitch.com/product...ol-Hitch-.html

Pullrite also makes an expensive no-sway WD hitch with a different design concept than the two Hensley designs. The big difference is the Pullrite attaches to the truck frame instead of the trailer frame. They work great too.
http://www.pullrite.com/pullrite.htm

And as someone else mentioned, none of them are worth a flip unless they are properly installed, set up and adjusted for your trailer's hitch weight. And the weight in the trailer must be properly distributed so you have about 12% to 15% hitch weight. Never even tow around the block with hitch weight less than 10% of gross trailer weight.

Coord

"And as someone else mentioned, none of them are worth a flip unless they are properly installed, set up and adjusted for your trailer's hitch weight. And the weight in the trailer must be properly distributed so you have about 12% to 15% hitch weight. Never even tow around the block with hitch weight less than 10% of gross trailer weight."

Great stuff guys, so how religious are you guys about adjusting the WDH as conditions change ie hit the road with different load conditions then original WDH setup ?