30 footer vs. GVWR

The biggest problem with towing a long trailer on the half tons becomes your payload capacity. Suggested tongue weight is 10-15% of trailer weight. What I have found personally, is that ideal percentage goes up with the trailer length. More tongue weight helps naturally control sway. Instead of trying to get a perfectly level trailer, I try and get the nose down about an inch. I also load front heavy as much as possible. Both of those things combined with a sway control hitch make for a very stable tow.

On the flip side, I would like to see even one example of someone having a problem with the law or courts for overloading.


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jjump said:

DCSC??

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Sorry- yeah. Reese Dual cam sway control. It's about as good as it gets for regular hitches. I'm saving for a Propride P3 now.

TRCM said:

The truck, and all it's limits are tied into the VIN and how it was built.

YOu can't change it, and niether can the dealer.

So, even if you change the gears, or the suspension, or even the engine, it will still legally only be able to carry the weight it is rated for in it's as built by dodge configuration.

IE, yes, you can change these things, but if you are ever in an accident and it is found out that you were towing over the capacity it was rated for as it was built, you will be in big doo-doo. Just like adding air bags to level it when towing, yeah, they have a 1000 lb rating, but they DO NOT increase the load you can legally carry.

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This.

If something bad happens the lawyers will be scrabbling for your scraps while you rot in jail. Even if you avoid criminal prosecution, defending yourself in the civil suit will ruin you. And you will lose the suit. Don't go beyond the truck's rated GVWR, which is the sum of truck, cargo, and trailer.

RangerGress said:

This.



If something bad happens the lawyers will be scrabbling for your scraps while you rot in jail. Even if you avoid criminal prosecution, defending yourself in the civil suit will ruin you. And you will lose the suit. Don't go beyond the truck's rated GVWR, which is the sum of truck, cargo, and trailer.

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I don't advise towing overloaded. Not only is it dangerous, but it's hard on your equipment. However...


Find one, just one, single example of someone being criminally prosecuted for being overloaded.



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NewBlackDak said:

Find one, just one, single example of someone being criminally prosecuted for being overloaded.

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Outside of commercial, I have never heard of it. In fact, in all my time on all the forums I am on and all the seat time I have had in my truck, not once has anyone been able to produce any credible proof of this happening, and this very question comes up a LOT. A while ago a hoax made its rounds about some guy supposedly getting prosecuted but it was researched and found to be fabricated- likely by the weight police on some forum- to scare people.

Not to add fuel to the fire, but proof (not speculation) of an actual accident due to being over payload while towing an RV seems to be non-existent as well.

if you look at the threads about any kind of RV accident, the immediate knee jerk reaction is "oh he was likely over his payload" when quite often- I bet he wasn't, or was just unlucky enough to hit a pothole wrong. I have never heard of MOT or the RCMP coming onto the scene of an accident and picking up the pieces of the trailer to weigh it. Hell, I have buddies in the force and we laugh about this whenever it's brought up (both are members on another forum). Can you imagine the gong show if this were true? Every farmer around here would be in deep ****. Loading to the bumpstops is how it's done. If you're in an accident and are at fault, it doesn't matter if you're overloaded or driving a prius or the space shuttle. You're still at fault. Same if you are not at fault. As long as your rig is within the registered total gross weight.

EDIT: I'm not condoning overloading- things will break eventually and you are putting yourself in a situation where you have removed one variable from your control. We have to take two ****** vehicles just so I am not overloaded, but with all the threats of lawyers, gloom, doom and killing the puppies- nobody has been able to produce any credible evidence that this has ever happened. Speculation- yes- but no evidence.

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You gotta look out for lawyers like this one:

Scottsdale RV Accident Attorney | Motor Home Wreck |

Good legal advice for towers here:
http://www.randolphwolf.com/blog/towing-liability-for-overweight-loads/

You say your truck is used as a daily driver. I will tell you that my 2500 with the Cummins motor gets better mileage than my 1500 with the 5.7. If you go to a three-quarter ton truck you may want to consider diesel if you're looking for gas mileage.

smurfs_of_war said:

Outside of commercial, I have never heard of it. In fact, in all my time on all the forums I am on and all the seat time I have had in my truck, not once has anyone been able to produce any credible proof of this happening, and this very question comes up a LOT. A while ago a hoax made its rounds about some guy supposedly getting prosecuted but it was researched and found to be fabricated- likely by the weight police on some forum- to scare people.

Not to add fuel to the fire, but proof (not speculation) of an actual accident due to being over payload while towing an RV seems to be non-existent as well.

if you look at the threads about any kind of RV accident, the immediate knee jerk reaction is "oh he was likely over his payload" when quite often- I bet he wasn't, or was just unlucky enough to hit a pothole wrong. I have never heard of MOT or the RCMP coming onto the scene of an accident and picking up the pieces of the trailer to weigh it. Hell, I have buddies in the force and we laugh about this whenever it's brought up (both are members on another forum). Can you imagine the gong show if this were true? Every farmer around here would be in deep ****. Loading to the bumpstops is how it's done. If you're in an accident and are at fault, it doesn't matter if you're overloaded or driving a prius or the space shuttle. You're still at fault. Same if you are not at fault. As long as your rig is within the registered total gross weight.



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In my younger days working with grandpa, we would regularly load 17 round bales on the flatbed gooseneck. I have no idea how much that trailer weighed. The hay alone weighed around 18.5K lbs, which is well above what the old big block '85 F350 was rated for.
3 cuttings a year(4 in good yrs, 2 in bad), and it took 8-10 trips to get it all out. That truck lasted 12 years being worked like that with 1 transmission replacement.

For the farmers and ranchers, sometimes they don't have much choice.


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