Towing Heavy with a 1500 ... Who does it?

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Alan Eldred

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Something else to consider;
You can face serious legal consequences if you’re involved in an accident while towing an overweight trailer, in addition to substantial fines.
Most insurance companies will deny any claims, and you’ll be stuck footing the bill yourself.
 

VernDiesel

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Chris with my ED that would be 14 mpg at 65 mph. And if the in coil bags go bad try the Timbergrove axle to frame bags. Worth the extra money.

Alan fear won't overcome you to play it way conservative if you invest in a WDH and a few bucks and an hour at a CAT scale to A. Have the safest most stable setup for your family. And B have slips to show you are within Mfgr spec. Shows meets drive axle spec, steer axle spec, tongue weight spec, CVWR spec, and oh yea the least important but first to be exceeded GVWR.
 

nlambert182

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I generally try to stay within payload even if the truck can "technically" do it. A little different animal, but I once bought a 42' Toyhauler camper from an RV dealer in Bowling Green, KY sight unseen with the guarantee from the salesman that my 2500 would pull it with no problems. I mentioned my payload rating and he laughed. We were only 1,200 lbs over payload! No big deal with a Ram! So... against our better judgment we headed to KY to pick it up.

The trip home to Alabama was white knuckle to say the least. Power wise it pulled the rig just fine. Brakes were ok, but the drive was pretty horrible. It was windy and stormy coming home and at one point I was sure we were going to meet the ditch.

The dealership bought this one back the next day. I upgraded to a 3500 not long after that. Since that day I always spend a lot of time researching weights, etc.. to make absolutely sure I am within payload.

Our last camper was larger than this one and it pulled like a dream. Sizing the truck to the trailer (or vice versa) matters. If you need to modify the truck (aside from sway control) to handle the load safely, then you probably don't have enough truck. As they say... gotta pay to play. My 3500 spent more time as a daily driver than it did hooked to the camper, but it was well worth it. I could drive that rig with 2 fingers.
 

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Randy Grant

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It is all about setup.
Even a trailer that is under tow capacities will be dangerous and a white knuckle drive if improperly set up. But a slightly over weight outfit with proper setup can tow like a dream.
I pull heavy, and have no problems in wind, truck traffic, uphill or down. I even let my C3 do the driving on the highway. But, and there is always one, I have heavier rated tires on both the truck and trailer. I also installed the Hellweg to get rid of body roll. These two things made all the difference in the world for me. My 5.7 and 3.92's do just fine, even over the Grape Vine, but I never go over 65 unless passing, and generally run about 60. I always give myself and others plenty of room, and after forty years towing am pretty good at anticipating what other driver will do, and have rarely had an issue. I do not need to show everyone on the road that I can tow at eighty, and always get where I'm going without being in a big hurry. I have even had tire blowouts on the trailer (before I went to a heavier rated tire) with zero control problems.
The primary thing is setup. Then comes common sense. If you drive outside of your experience is next. And, always assume that other drivers are going to do something stupid and try to kill you and them, is last.
Have a safe and sane summer season.
 

mtofell

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Most insurance companies will deny any claims, and you’ll be stuck footing the bill yourself.
This is largely an urban legend. Towing forums have pages and pages of arguments about this exact topic and no one can ever seem to cite and actual instance of it happening. The whole concept of insurance is to cover people when they do dumb things. The general criteria an insurance company has to meet to deny a claim is to prove you willfully set out to defraud them. Towing overloaded isn't close to that.

The same argument gets made about unpermitted work on houses and insurance companies denying claims. 95%+ of older houses have some form of unpermitted work and the insurance companies still regularly pay out when Uncle Joe's wiring job burns the place to the ground.
 

nlambert182

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I tried to log into my insurance policy to read the coverage and see it it specifically states anything like this, but alas they have to mail me my policy jacket to read it so it will be 10 days before I get it.

I do know that when I changed insurance providers (Geico to Travelers) I found out that my fifth wheel camper had been uninsured for over a year with Geico, because they told me collision wasn't required because my 3500 truck had it. They claimed that as long as it was hooked to the truck, the truck's collision policy covered both. They would only sell me comprehensive, which only covered the trailer if it was sitting at a campsite unhooked from the truck and a tree fell on it, etc... I later found out that was not the case and I had to purchase collision separately.

Also when setting up my previous policy on my 3500 and my fifth wheel, the policy rep did mention that it was a large rv and that it looked like I had enough truck to pull it. It didn't get much deeper than that so that may have just been a rep chatting it up while he was putting my policy together, but it could have also been him checking. I honestly don't know. I'm curious to see what my policy says.

I do know that they grilled me on why I wanted to see the policy jacket to actually read how they determine coverage. They were not very forthcoming with the information. They did say that adjusters have a lot of latitude to decide if something is covered or not.
 

Random_Walk

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I do know that they grilled me on why I wanted to see the policy jacket to actually read how they determine coverage. They were not very forthcoming with the information. They did say that adjusters have a lot of latitude to decide if something is covered or not.

They were likely scared that you were about to jump ship. An insurance company that is confident in what they sell and service wouldn't be so on-edge about such a simple request, and would have simply asked how you wanted it and where to send it.

I dunno, man... if I got that kind of treatment in just asking for a copy of the fine print (w/o having filed any claims or complaints otherwise), I'd immediately start looking for another insurance carrier.

If they treat you like that over a simple request for documents that you are fully entitled to, imagine how they'll treat you if you have to file a claim.
 

JJEH

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Any real-world experiences?
Real world experience is that everything is fine until something happens. If you get caught being overweight you are screwed. But if you hurt somebody, God forbid kill somebody, while being overweight then you are done.

If you tow heavy on a regular basis then please buy the appropriate machinery for it. If you only tow heavy occasionally, then why not just rent one?!
 

Random_Walk

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Not really feeling taking out another mortgage to buy one of these new $$$$ trucks just for that. As well, the other 50-weeks of the year my truck is basically a commuter vehicle.

My 4th-Gen Hooptie Edition has among the puniest tow ratings alive for this forum (4400 lbs), and it is my grocery-getter, my homestead mule, and it occasionally gets pressed into service as a parade float dragger for my local American Legion post. So, yeah, I totally get it.

That said, instead of busting limits when I bought a trailer, I stayed below them (okay, barely, but...) My trailer is only 22' long, and weighs 3600 lbs dry. Gives me 800 lbs of room to play with (minus 240lb water and 60lb or propane, but 500lbs of food, dishes, and clothing is a pretty freakin' tall order to fill...) I suggest that you may want to do the same, for reasons that everyone else has articulated (insurance, -safety-, etc.)

Normally, you size the truck to the RV, but very few people do that (and neither did I, which is why I did it the other way 'round). Normally it's no big deal, until you go big ( >30' long ). If you truly need that really big 35' trailer, costing $$$$$($$!), you may seriously want to consider at least buying an old used 2500/3500 to drag it around with. Here's another reason why...

I could, on a practical front, get away with busting my puny 4.4k limit if I wanted to (I won't), because no cop is going to pull over a half-ton dragging a small trailer that doesn't visibly squat the bed. OTOH, a half-ton pulling a really, really big trailer is going to get the attention and notice of nearly every stater, deputy, and cop that is sufficiently bored and behind on his quota. You may find yourself getting pulled over, and either asked to produce a CAT receipt or get directed to the nearest weigh station if there is one. In Oregon, you get fined for every 100lbs over your GVWR/tow limit...
 
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nlambert182

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They were likely scared that you were about to jump ship. An insurance company that is confident in what they sell and service wouldn't be so on-edge about such a simple request, and would have simply asked how you wanted it and where to send it.

I dunno, man... if I got that kind of treatment in just asking for a copy of the fine print (w/o having filed any claims or complaints otherwise), I'd immediately start looking for another insurance carrier.

If they treat you like that over a simple request for documents that you are fully entitled to, imagine how they'll treat you if you have to file a claim.
They were actually the reason that I found out I was required to carry a different collision policy on my camper. Geico said no, and they showed me where it is a requirement in my state. I think their main thing was thinking that I may have had an accident that I hadn't filed a claim on and that I was trying to figure out if it were covered. Once I was finally able to articulate that I just want to know how they determine what is covered vs what is not they seemed to calm down a bit.

But I'm sure they're like most carriers. They don't want to give away the farm so they're only going to tell what they have to.
 

nlambert182

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My 4th-Gen Hooptie Edition has among the puniest tow ratings alive for this forum (4400 lbs), and it is my grocery-getter, my homestead mule, and it occasionally gets pressed into service as a parade float dragger for my local American Legion post. So, yeah, I totally get it.

That said, instead of busting limits when I bought a trailer, I stayed below them (okay, barely, but...) My trailer is only 22' long, and weighs 3600 lbs dry. Gives me 800 lbs of room to play with (minus 240lb water and 60lb or propane, but 500lbs of food, dishes, and clothing is a pretty freakin' tall order to fill...) I suggest that you may want to do the same, for reasons that everyone else has articulated (insurance, -safety-, etc.)

Normally, you size the truck to the RV, but very few people do that (and neither did I, which is why I did it the other way 'round). Normally it's no big deal, until you go big ( >30' long ). If you truly need that really big 35' trailer, costing $$$$$($$!), you may seriously want to consider at least buying an old used 2500/3500 to drag it around with. Here's another reason why...

I could, on a practical front, get away with busting my puny 4.4k limit if I wanted to (I won't), because no cop is going to pull over a half-ton dragging a small trailer that doesn't visibly squat the bed. OTOH, a half-ton pulling a really, really big trailer is going to get the attention and notice of nearly every stater, deputy, and cop that is sufficiently bored and behind on his quota. You may find yourself getting pulled over, and either asked to produce a CAT receipt or get directed to the nearest weigh station if there is one. In Oregon, you get fined for every 100lbs over your GVWR/tow limit...
This.

Buy once... cry once. In the grand scheme of things, it's not "that" much more expensive.

You can go around the world trying to figure out how to make something work and you might even find a solution that seems like it works for now but in the long run you'll come out miles ahead to get the right equipment. Whether or not insurance would deny your claim based on being overloaded, and regardless of whether there is a case floating on the internet where this has happened, do you want to be the first to find out that it's possible? It has to start with someone.

It's senseless to try and push the truck when it "could" (not saying it would) create a dangerous situation for you and others, or prematurely wear out the truck in the process. Find a truck that fits the trailer (or if you're like us and upgrade every few years) go ahead and size according to what you think you'll use down the road. That prevented me from having to change campers or trucks as often once I learned that, and I never once had a hair raising experience towing once I had the right equipment. Even if you only "plan" to tow it once or twice a year for 100 miles, that may change someday and a lot can go wrong in a 100 mile trip.

Obviously do what you want/can, but just offering some food for thought.
 

VernDiesel

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2 1/2 half years ago pretty sure OP has already done whatever he did. 9k while do-able with the right setup for a 4th gen really is far better suited to a 2500. 8k is more of a practical limit for the 4th gen 1500 after being properly setup with WDH & airbags. Two short flatland tows if truck & load is set up right and towed with some common sense should be fine and its understandable that he doesn't want to buy a truck for that. But really his or someone in the same shoes best and often most affordable option (time WDH airbags) is simply to go rent a HD for a few days from someone like Enterprise rent a truck.
 
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