Towin my new Gooseneck

[Arctic-Rodz]

I was on the hunt for several months for a gooseneck to tow my farm equipment, hay and whatever else i can put on it

Decided on a 22GN Big Tex 25+5 with MEGA ramps. LOVE THIS THING!

I almost got a 20+5 single wheel trailer but having towed what i have, i definitely needed more trailer than a single wheel.

This has me wanting, and needing a 3500 Dually!



Towed my brothers 2006 F250 6" lift 37" on 22" wheels from Houston to McAllen, TX. Truck was a bit too far forward so it had me sagging 1.5"


Week later took my JD 4430 with front loader and 7' shredder to my house for some much needed TLC and repairs.
So glad I went with a 25 foot deck. Had to put the tractor almost to the edge of the front of the trailer so i could close the ramps with the shredder attached to it.
Once i rolled it back I had only about 1" of sag. Tractor and trailer total weight Approx 18k lbs.



Over all very happy how my truck has performed, I do have a vibration feel when accelerating from stop with all the weight behind me. Accelerating a bit hard to pick up speed from stop or from 20mph getting it up to highway speed. Is that normal? Only under some harder acceleration

 

[SilverStreak88]

Nice trailer - sorry you had to haul a raggedy Ford...

 

[Jimmy68]

Nice deck. Company that owns the company I work for builds trailers like that and many other styles and sizes.
How much did it cost? Curious.

 

[tjfdesmo]

Nice setup. I have had a serious hankering for a gooseneck flatbed, just lacking $$$. SouthernBoy had a nice PJ I was admiring. It's a bit of a challenge for me to balance too much trailer versus useable payload with a 3/4 SRW 6.4 gasser.

 

[Arctic-Rodz]

Thanks, trailer with spare tire was about $9200

 

[drittal]

... and needing a 3500 Dually!

...Tractor and trailer total weight Approx 18k lbs.

Over all very happy how my truck has performed, I do have a vibration feel when accelerating from stop with all the weight behind me. Accelerating a bit hard to pick up speed from stop or from 20mph getting it up to highway speed. Is that normal? Only under some harder acceleration

Maybe because you were over towing limits.

Im glad it worked out and you like your trailer but this exemplifies one major reason I may never buy a used 3/4t diesel.

 

[avolnek]

Maybe because you were over towing limits.

Im glad it worked out and you like your trailer but this exemplifies one major reason I may never buy a used 3/4t diesel.

Do you really whine about everything? I have seen nothing but negative posts from you... cripes man... You're entitled to your opinion but this comment does no good to anyone, so why post it? In the grand schemes of things his truck is probably rated for 17,*** pounds as is my truck, so really he's "over weight" but that bit he'd be over is rather insignificant... give or take 3% overweight.

Running 80 mph in a 75 is 7% over... both are illegal and just as dangerous so preach all you want...


However, I too get a brief shudder/vibration accelerating from a stop occasionally... I notice it loaded and unloaded... I dont always feel it though...

 

[drittal]

that tractor ships at 10k. Add in the wheel weights(140#ea, looks like 2 per wheel), the loader and attachment, 7' shredder, on top of 6,000# trailer. 18k is probably pretty generous. Another weight factor is if the tires are ballasted. That could be a 1000lbs.

Shudder under acceleration could be many things, maybe a u joint angle.

 

[TrademarkCL]

Awesome trailer! Definitely well built work horse. As you can see we use ours hard and never had an issue.

 

[R/T_Fire]

Great trailer, used to haul around the exact same trailer with my 07 on the farm.... biggest load and first load we put on it was a CAT939 trackloader, and I constantly hauled around a JD710SG backhoe... we also had a set of 12.5 dexter axles on it though... Great trailer.. kinda miss heavy towing with the pickup..

 

[Arctic-Rodz]

that tractor ships at 10k. Add in the wheel weights(140#ea, looks like 2 per wheel), the loader and attachment, 7' shredder, on top of 6,000# trailer. 18k is probably pretty generous. Another weight factor is if the tires are ballasted. That could be a 1000lbs.

Shudder under acceleration could be many things, maybe a u joint angle.

Pretty close. Has 3 wheel plates per side. The shredder is in the 1000lb range and the front loader is about another 1500. It's really beefy. It's not an original front loader, not sure what john deere model it's from but it's not for this jd 4430.
Trailer is 6300lbs according to big tex.

So I'm pretty sure I'm over weight for my truck but not by much.

Hopefully will be making some round bales in a couple of weeks while there's still warmth in South texas.

I'll play around with how many I can fit on this. Theyre 4x5'

 

[drittal]

Pushing 20k by your weights.

This is why my original statement about vibration. 20k. Let's assume 15% tongue, 3,000. Your payload is in the 2200lbs range, tow rating just over 17k. The gooseneck spreads it pretty well, but suspension, both front and rear, is squatting. This means pinion angle is a degree or two shallower than normal.

You experience vibration/shudder under hard acceleration with 20k in tow. The force your cummins in exerting on the road is also trying to force the nose of the pinion up. Our 5 link does a pretty good job of preventing this, but still has bushings and a small twist at the axle tubes translates to much more at the pinion. An already shallow angle now goes the other way and can cause the ujoint to bind.

Not sure if this is your problem, but it could be. Did you experience it with the Ford in tow?

 

[Arctic-Rodz]

^ now that you mention it yes, I had some vibration under acceleration with the Ford on my trailer. Although, it was too far forward on the trailer making the rear end squat even more than with the John deere.

 

[avolnek]

My honest opinion of what is causing the issue comes down to the 3.42 gears. With the 3.42 gears the transmission is taking a brunt of the torque applied. With that being said and being at lower speeds where the torque converter isn't locked up i have a feeling it is allowing some slippage through the fluids...

My truck has done this same thing loaded/unloaded since day one. Seems to do it more so when accelerating harder empty or loaded...

just my thoughts...

 

[SouthernBoy]

Awesome trailer, I recently got a new PJ myself, but I opted for the 102" superwide low-deck.

 

[derag2]

Shudder has nothing to do with gears. I get it in my work truck which is a dually and 4.10s and I get it in my 6.4 with 3.73..... That truck will pull those weights no problem....

 

[avolnek]

Shudder has nothing to do with gears. I get it in my work truck which is a dually and 4.10s and I get it in my 6.4 with 3.73..... That truck will pull those weights no problem....

wasn't questioning whether it would pull the weight...

was offering up the suggestion that maybe the lower gearing was putting more stress into the TC... which it is, but per your statement isn't the only gear set doing it either...

 

[Jerry1984]

Just wondering if the op has air bags on his truck? I know it doesn't change the payload, but it would help with squat and stability.

 

[Jimmy68]

To address the shudder, maybe a band adjustment on the transmission is due.

 

[Arctic-Rodz]

Just wondering if the op has air bags on his truck? I know it doesn't change the payload, but it would help with squat and stability.

No airbags, all stock suspension. Given the amount of weight I was pulling I think the slight sag I had was ok. Which was about 1" drop.

I'm looking into Timbren suspension for to keep the sag in check.
Gonna be pulling round bales soon which I think will have more pin weight than I had with the tractor so I'm thinking it will sag more