Opinions on towing overweight compared to vehicle weight rating.

onanysunday

onanysunday

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I know a lot of people do it but how much is reasonable and what you can get away with? Or do you just flat out weigh everything and make sure you're not going 1 lb over. Example right now is I'm looking at an '06-07 Duramax single rear wheel crew cab 2500 truck. Would like to put a toy hauler behind it with the Funco in it. In my other thread I used an example. That truck has a tow rating of 12,000 lb. Just one of the trailers posted came in at 8,500 lb dry. I have to assume that would be fairly normal weight for a toy hauler of that size. Weight rating on that particular trailer is a little over 14,000 lb and with the buggy and all the gear in it I could see it being easy to get it up to that weight. So how many of you think it is okay to tow a couple thousand over? Or not?
 
Vehicles will pull damn near anything if you can get it rolling. Biggest issue is controlling it and stoping it when needed. If you have to white knuckle it every time a semi passes you, you have the wrong equipment. Also think of a picnic stop or quick swerve to miss a road hazard.

Sure a 3/4 ton will do it but will it keep you and your family safe?

Yes we all have towed sketchy and lived. But the feeling of having the right equipment to do the job makes the trip that much better.
 
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A 2006 Chevy Duramax truck, specifically a Silverado 2500HD, typically has a towing capacity ranging from 12,000 to 18,100 pounds, depending on whether you're using a conventional trailer or a fifth-wheel/gooseneck setup. When equipped with the 6.6-liter Duramax V8, these trucks can handle around 12,000 pounds. With a fifth-wheel, the towing capacity can reach 16,000 pounds. For a 2006 K-2500 4x4 extended cab with a 6.6 Duramax, the GCWR (Total weight of truck and trailer) is 23,200 pounds when towing a 5th wheel.
 
Interesting comparing 2500 to 3500. Not as much difference as I thought. Of course the 3500 trucks are more money. Not sure I have seen a 2500 max tow for sale.
 
megadesertdiesel said:
Vehicles will pull damn near anything if you can get it rolling. Biggest issue is controlling it and stoping it when needed. If you have to white knuckle it every time a semi passes you, you have the wrong equipment. Also think of a picnic stop or quick swerve to miss a road hazard.

Sure a 3/4 ton will do it but will it keep you and your family safe?

Yes we all have towed sketchy and lived. But the feeling of having the right equipment to do the job makes the trip that much better.
Click to expand...
i was on the highway one time and bam all of a sudden everyone locks up. I look in the rear view mirror and see a crew cab dually pulling a triple axle camper and was bracing for impact. all the axles on the trailer were locked, tires smoking and he was set up so well, it was straight as an arrow and he didn't hit me. I was prepared to have my tailgate in the cab. That set up was dead spot on. Your right, anything will pull it, stopping is the issue.
 
I am in the camp that towing overweight is not ok.
I have weighed my trailer multiple times, different configurations with toys, water/no water etc.
Fully loaded triple axle Weekend Warrior with no slides, I am 17k lbs just in trailer weight.
3600lbs of that is pin weight, the rest are on the axles.
I tow with a F350 dually and am well within my tow ratings.
 
lincster said:
I am in the camp that towing overweight is not ok.
I have weighed my trailer multiple times, different configurations with toys, water/no water etc.
Fully loaded triple axle Weekend Warrior with no slides, I am 17k lbs just in trailer weight.
3600lbs of that is pin weight, the rest are on the axles.
I tow with a F350 dually and am well within my tow ratings.
Click to expand...
Im on the same page with you, much better to have a truck that is more than rated for what you are towing.
I pull a big 5th wheel that is loaded to the gills and I used to tow it with a single rear wheel F350 and stepped up to a dually and its a gamechanger. So much more stable and easy to tow and my trailer is around 20k. And i hate to be the one to say it but if you are in CA you are supposed to have a class a or non commercial class a to tow that much also. Most people dont but still something to think about
 
I cannot lie, i had at the time a 2002 country coach, 370 hp motor single rear wheel 36' the hitch was rated for 5 k i beefed it up seriously and towed a stacker behind it that i think trailer was around 15k. did Cali to Idaho, etc. it was really slow up the grades. i really had no other issues, brakes were huge on that coach but the biggest thing that could have happened was rear tires and axles were not rated for that amount. that was when i was younger and dumber. but it was the way i was able to later talk the wife into getting a dual axle coach that had a 525 cat motor in it to be "safe and legit"

i realized if i was in an accident i probably would have been denied a claim

now days i pay a lot of attention to weight ratings when towing
 
back in the day.... I had a Dodge 2500 and a 33ft WW 5th wheel, beam car or rhino inside. WW sticker was 14999 = 1lb below CA tow limits. That truck towed amazing no issues going or stopping. I never weighed the setup.

Then moved up to a MoHo Ford V10 and 22ft box trailer, that towed horrible no power and no brakes. Moved to another MoHo Workhorse Chevy 8.1l gas that tows great and the Dodge still worked. The dodge got sold and we got a 2022 1500 Chevy, which was rated for 10k towing but it would NOT tow the box trailer at all. Full squat, full sway, full dog walking, no stopping.... sold that real quick and got a 16' Ford F250 for cheap and tows fine. I haven't weighed this setup either.

So what I'm getting at is you can absolutely feel when you've purchased or are using the wrong equipment.
 
I towed overweight many years, it worked ok. Then I got a dually and it was night and day difference, truly amazing.

I think one thing we don't talk about with these big trailers is the sheer amount of wind you are pushing. As well, we are driving thru mtns and desert where winds can cause issues. These are big sails. When I towed my 15k 5th weel with my F250, had zero issues until it got windy or that semi passes you doing 80mph, then it became harder to drive comfortable.
 
I had a bad experience towing a rental utility trailer I inadvertently overloaded when I was much younger. Ended up losing two axle bearings catastrophically going down I-10 near Palm Springs. It swung my truck 180 from the right lane to the far left shoulder and now facing head on into traffic. By the grace of god nobody got hurt and everyone managed to stop and avoid my out of control U-turn across 4 lanes. I left lumber and building materials scattered all over the freeway. I'm certain if I wasn't in a 1 ton truck that was also loaded in the bed that trailer would have flipped me over.

I am a firm believer that tow ratings and trailer GVWR are there for a reason. It is advantageous for vehicle manufacturer's to have higher tow ratings. Why would they put a lower tow rating on? All the commercials you see of them bragging about their ratings and being 100 #'s more than the other guy. I believe they are already pushing the ratings. I do not believe in exceeding the ratings and really prefer to keep some margin for added measure.
 
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I use to tow so under weight it wasn't funny. I was towing a Super Light WW with a 3/4" ton Dodge with the Cummins. Truck would tow that trailer like it wasn't even there.

Then I towed my new FSC2800 triple axel trailer home from Glamis with that DODGE. I was worried as it would be the first time towing the trailer any further than just across the street. So I took my time kept it right at 55mph down the 78 thru the rollers it went great truck pulled it and stopped just fine. Then I got out onto the I-10 and knew I was going to keep it slow and easy thinking the hard part of the trip was over. Well every car and truck that passed me turned into a white knuckle one hand on the brake controller ass puckering adventure. It wasn't so much the weight of the truck but the wheelbase of the truck.

Changed out my DODGE with the Extra style cab with a short (6') bed to a F-250 with the true four door cab with a 6' bed, The 18-20" of wheelbase made all the difference in the world.
 
So dumb question. This unit look pretty nice for $50k. I personally like wood grain vs gray and white like a lot of these things have. This is a link to the specs on that unit. Payload capacity is 4571 lbs. I assume that is not counting fresh water in the tank. Buggy is 2500 lbs. I would want to add a fuel tank with at least 80 gallons. So call that 700 lbs including the tank. So I have about 1200 lbs left for tools,gear, food and all the crap that gets loaded into the trailer for the dunes. Seems pretty easy to go over the GVWR of the trailer. I would assume all of the newer trailers are like this? Maybe I just have to much crap?
 
So using the trailer in the previous post as an example. Let say I load it up to the max weight of 18,000 lbs. Really like the newer Chevy Silverados 3500 with the Duramax. 5th wheel capacity says 21,300 lbs for a single rear tire. Watched a few videos of these trucks this weekend and seem very capable. Really like the exhaust brake on the newer trucks as well. So it seems I would be well within capacities. Anything I am missing or should consider? This project is still a ways off. Just learning for now.

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You need to look at the GVWR, GCWR and GAWR to really look at tow ratings, if that matters to you.

A brochure/commercial etc will say 21,300lbs, but that doesn't mean everything.

GAW will be interesting to see, but for that, you have to know the rear axle weight empty and the pin weight of the toy hauler when fully loaded.
Or go to a CAT scale and weigh and see what you come in at.

If you can't do that, rough math is usually 15-20% of total weight is pin weight.

For example, my pin weight is 3400lbs fully loaded.
My trailer is 17,000lbs, so I am at 20% for pin weight.
But with my dually, I have PLENTY of GAWR to stay within my limits.
My rear GAWR of my truck is 9900lbs.

Same truck is a SRW has a GAWR of 6780lbs.

With a SRW, you might be very close or go over.

All of these specs are out there, just have to do some digging.

Ford has a sight called "Truck Body Builder Advisory".
 
like said above there are different ratings for different body styles, most of their top ratings are for a single can dually. When you add more doors, and different axle ratios the rating changes.
 
I did what you are talking about for 8 years. I had a 2006 2500HD, Fleetwood Gear BOX 335FS (14,300 GVWR), with a 4 seat SCU (No bypass turbo 3.5. Poule43's car). My drive was San Diego to the Dunes. I would tow to El Centro with no water and only 25 gallons of race fuel then fill everything up there. After everything was filled I hit the scales and was at 21,900 combined (Truck rating was 22K). The truck axles saw 10,200 (Truck rating 9,200) so 1000 lb over overall. Like Lincster said pin weight is the biggest issue, the rear axle was 1000 lb over the max rear axle weight and the front was just under. I had larger tires so I was still under the rating of the tires. It towed great and after that many years I had a handfull of hard braking events on the grade that all went fine. I bought the truck first and the trailer came later so I already had the 2500.

We had nothing but great times and very little issues with that whole setup and I never felt unsafe. But..... If I knew then what I know now.
I would get a 1 ton truck with an exhaust brake for sure, and probably a dually. Since you are starting from scratch getting everything to line up within the ratings of your tow vehicle is going to be a very small percentage of the cost of this lifestyle. You will be more safe and less exposed to liability. Having some payload for things like firewood in the bed and 4 adults in the cab would have been great. Also, not having to deal with a sliding hitch in the shortbed would have been nice. One other piece of the puzzle is your drivers licence if you live in CA. If your fifth wheel is 15,000lb gvwr or less you need a fifth wheel endorsement which was a written test. Over that is a Non Commercial Class A. Have fun!!!
 
And don't forget about tire and wheel load ratings. Especially if you go SRW and heavy pin box 5'er. If you plan to put on fancy, large diameter wheels the tire load rating drops significantly. Especially after you exceed 20" wheels.
 
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