Vehicle Weight check points

[wildcatter]

Originally Posted by ependydad

That KILLS me. What a difference 2 years makes: I have a 2012 RAM 3500 DRW CCLB that has a CCC of 4300 lbs!

I don't know my towing capacity offhand, though.


Sorry, off on a tangent.

I know it right, I have seen some newer 2500's that are close to what my weight limits are. I know my weights, but I don't think I would push it, I would just go to a newer dually and be happy.

[doc73]

Originally Posted by BandJCarm

Post #7 I asked a question that these lengthy discussions never answer. The main two reasons for the 'weight police' seem to be A) it's the law some places and B) you might get sued post facto accident-o.

I get both those. But it's not my question. My question is simply "What SPECIFICALLY will it break if I am over.......maybe WAY over..........on payload weight"? Forget laws. Forget tickets. Forget lawsuits. Forget accidents. I am not disagreeing with those at all. But it's not what I want to know.

I want to be able to discuss this with other NON-gearheads.......City Boys.......Desk Workers........like me.........that know a little but not much, and who think they can pull anything on earth with a 3/4 ton short bed. I want to be able to tell them exactly what damage this is causing. "It stresses your vehicle more" is not good enough, at least it hasn't been.........and I Know since that's what I've tried!!!!

No one can seem to find a case of one of these lawsuits after an accident, and it appears to me that no one can find a case of some kind of mechanical breakdown or wear out due to excessive trailer payload.

That's what I'm looking for. Not stifling the other........carry on with that.......but surely would like to find my info somewhere.

I did answer what I THOUGHT might fail a few posts up. But it is my thoughts.. Again no one ever admits to being sued or breaking ground their truck by being over weight! Haha

[doc73]

Originally Posted by wildcatter

I have a 2014 RAM 3500 SRW CCLB, it has a max towing capacity around 17.5K, with a CCC of 4300lbs, my truck would handle the weights but I would personally move up to a DRW.

Yes your numbers are becoming typical, they do seem to be coming out with some MONSTER hauling trucks. So you can tow the trailer, but the end point t was you'd need a special license in PA. You'd probably be able to tow that monster trailer fine with a payload of over 4k.. Most trucks run out of payload long before they'll hot their max tow # which to me is mostly a sales ploy

[primo20]

ill just throw in an opinion...and its merely that. i wouldn't pull a fifth wheel with a half ton. even a half ton towable...sure the motor can pull it..yes maybe the brakes can stop it...but its extra wear and tear on a half ton. especially todays half tons...soccer mom trucks. sorry if i offend any of you in the half ton category. my 96 ram 5.9 half ton, sure, it would pull a house down and had ALL the equipment to potentially tow that weight...my 2014 sport? not a chance.

i have a 3/4 ton single rear axle diesel and have put lots of thought into moving to a fifth wheel...for me, and again, just for me, i wouldn't go fifth wheel without a dually and a 3500 - mind you my tow vehicles have all been dodges. no leaf springs until 3500. again, just me, but my family is always int eh rig with me. i cant be careful enough and could never forgive myself should something happen. is it possible - sure...anything is possible...is it responsible? I'm not sure, but I'm not willing to take the chance.

[Murbella7]

Originally Posted by doc73

I did answer what I THOUGHT might fail a few posts up. But it is my thoughts.. Again no one ever admits to being sued or breaking ground their truck by being over weight! Haha

What will break if you are over the limit...

1: your truck suspension
2: your truck brakes.
3: As a consequence whatever you hit will break, into many parts.
4: Your van brakes will fail.
5: Your van suspension will fail (flatten springs, wreck shocks, etc).
6: Your tires will blow/explode, on truck and trailer.
7: You hitch may fail.
8: Your safety brake system (breakaway) will fail, the van will not stop after coming adrift from your truck.
9: As the van hits the tarmac, the pinbox will probably break off from the nose of the van, leaving a big hole.
10: Electric cables, of all designations will be ripped out by exploding rubber, flying underbelly coverings, flying metal bits, etc.
11: Gas lines will rupture and if you heed the advice of many on the forum and drive with the LPG still running, (a really stupid thing to do), you will cause a massive explosion that will incinerate everything in 50 feet circle.
12: Your bones will break as the tow vehicle tumbles across the highway.
13: Your bank balance will break when you start getting the bills.

Need I say more..?
:beat deadhorse:

[spock123]

Originally Posted by Murbella7

What will break if you are over the limit...

1: your truck suspension
2: your truck brakes.
3: As a consequence whatever you hit will break, into many parts.
4: Your van brakes will fail.
5: Your van suspension will fail (flatten springs, wreck shocks, etc).
6: Your tires will blow/explode, on truck and trailer.
7: You hitch may fail.
8: Your safety brake system (breakaway) will fail, the van will not stop after coming adrift from your truck.
9: As the van hits the tarmac, the pinbox will probably break off from the nose of the van, leaving a big hole.
10: Electric cables, of all designations will be ripped out by exploding rubber, flying underbelly coverings, flying metal bits, etc.
11: Gas lines will rupture and if you heed the advice of many on the forum and drive with the LPG still running, (a really stupid thing to do), you will cause a massive explosion that will incinerate everything in 50 feet circle.
12: Your bones will break as the tow vehicle tumbles across the highway.
13: Your bank balance will break when you start getting the bills.

Need I say more..?
:beat deadhorse:

That’s kinda funny, I have yet to see these things happened. This must be a joke that I missed

[BigH]

Originally Posted by BandJCarm

Post #7 I asked a question that these lengthy discussions never answer. The main two reasons for the 'weight police' seem to be A) it's the law some places and B) you might get sued post facto accident-o.

I get both those. But it's not my question. My question is simply "What SPECIFICALLY will it break if I am over.......maybe WAY over..........on payload weight"? Forget laws. Forget tickets. Forget lawsuits. Forget accidents. I am not disagreeing with those at all. But it's not what I want to know.

I want to be able to discuss this with other NON-gearheads.......City Boys.......Desk Workers........like me.........that know a little but not much, and who think they can pull anything on earth with a 3/4 ton short bed. I want to be able to tell them exactly what damage this is causing. "It stresses your vehicle more" is not good enough, at least it hasn't been.........and I Know since that's what I've tried!!!!

No one can seem to find a case of one of these lawsuits after an accident, and it appears to me that no one can find a case of some kind of mechanical breakdown or wear out due to excessive trailer payload.

That's what I'm looking for. Not stifling the other........carry on with that.......but surely would like to find my info somewhere.

First let me say this...on some 3/4 tons the only difference to dually is spring rate and aside from handling issues with an overtaxed suspension and provided one stays within the tire limitations nothing 'major' is going to come unglued on that type of truck. Screw up the springs...yes. My dad and I broke a spring stack on a 3/4 with a load (overload) of oak firewood.

A good friend of mine is a state trooper and he pulls folks over for being overloaded and has a commercial vehicle inspector weigh them. He did say that it has to be obvious or he won't waste anyone's time. What would happen in an accident where the guilty party is overloaded? They are in deep do do if someone is hurt because it will be in the report...easy money in court.

An acquaintance of mine has worked (managed) at the same (very large) dealership with multiple sites for more than 30 years that sells trucks for the big three. He told me every year he sees at least one knucklehead come in with a broken drive axle on a 1/2 ton. Many have tried to sue when it wouldn't be covered under warranty...the overloaded owner has lost every time without exception.

[spock123]

I use to be a part time beekeeper and I brought a Ford courier pickup that maybe you could haul 500lbs. I put helper springs on the rear springs. I ran recaps. I would load 1500lbs on the truck and I never had any problems with the truck. I didn’t take good care of changing the oil so the engine finally quit at a little over a 100,000 miles. I installed another engine from the junk yard. I never had any axle problems or spring problems. After 55 the truck did tend to sway some, most times I didn’t carry a spare. I always ran recaps. About every campground I go to I see overloaded trucks pulling to big campers and I never say anything to anyone about pulling to much camper. I bet you could use a half ton Ford to pull my Cedar Creek, it has disk brakes so there wouldn’t be a problem stopping the camper. My motto is have fun camping. Just my opinion

[doc73]

Does make life easier to just enjoy life!

[zmandunk4]

Just as an aside, when I was in patrol I actually handled an accident involving a travel trailer. At no time did I even consider asking what the weights were or even think to look. This was at no time covered in my academy class in the traffic section. While I assume there are some restrictions out there, I can assure you the average patrol deputy doesn't know them. Now the troopers, that may be a different story. But again, in my 13 years as a police officer I've never seen nor heard a trooper pull over a camper (now the semis, thats a different story). I ran this debate by my traffic guys today and not a one of them had written someone pulling a TT for weight, either in an accident or on routine patrol. This is here in IL and other state's laws may vary. Take it for what it's worth.


Z

[BigH]

Originally Posted by spock123

I use to be a part time beekeeper and I brought a Ford courier pickup that maybe you could haul 500lbs. I put helper springs on the rear springs. I ran recaps. I would load 1500lbs on the truck and I never had any problems with the truck. I didn’t take good care of changing the oil so the engine finally quit at a little over a 100,000 miles. I installed another engine from the junk yard. I never had any axle problems or spring problems. After 55 the truck did tend to sway some, most times I didn’t carry a spare. I always ran recaps. About every campground I go to I see overloaded trucks pulling to big campers and I never say anything to anyone about pulling to much camper. I bet you could use a half ton Ford to pull my Cedar Creek, it has disk brakes so there wouldn’t be a problem stopping the camper. My motto is have fun camping. Just my opinion

A college buddy of mine had one of those and beat the snot out of it.

Just for curiosity I looked up the payload...it was 1400lbs.

[doc73]

Originally Posted by zmandunk4

Just as an aside, when I was in patrol I actually handled an accident involving a travel trailer. At no time did I even consider asking what the weights were or even think to look. This was at no time covered in my academy class in the traffic section. While I assume there are some restrictions out there, I can assure you the average patrol deputy doesn't know them. Now the troopers, that may be a different story. But again, in my 13 years as a police officer I've never seen nor heard a trooper pull over a camper (now the semis, thats a different story). I ran this debate by my traffic guys today and not a one of them had written someone pulling a TT for weight, either in an accident or on routine patrol. This is here in IL and other state's laws may vary. Take it for what it's worth.


Z

Your experience is the same I have had.

[BandJCarm]

So...............

It seems that:

-Lots of potential breaks from pulling overloaded, but not a single case of anyone actually experiencing any of said breaks.

-Some beliefs that cops are gonna get you for being overloaded, but actual cops say they couldn't care less.

Now......I am NOT going to personally pull at 16K trailer with anything less than a dually, and I do wish for more!! And I'm not going to advocate same.

BUT........I am having some issues with actual, real world examples of these catastrophes actually occurring.

[doc73]

Originally Posted by BandJCarm

So...............

It seems that:

-Lots of potential breaks from pulling overloaded, but not a single case of anyone actually experiencing any of said breaks.

-Some beliefs that cops are gonna get you for being overloaded, but actual cops say they couldn't care less.

Now......I am NOT going to personally pull at 16K trailer with anything less than a dually, and I do wish for more!! And I'm not going to advocate same.

BUT........I am having some issues with actual, real world examples of these catastrophes actually occurring.

I agree, there seems to be none...

[BigH]

Originally Posted by BandJCarm

So...............

It seems that:

-Lots of potential breaks from pulling overloaded, but not a single case of anyone actually experiencing any of said breaks.

-Some beliefs that cops are gonna get you for being overloaded, but actual cops say they couldn't care less.

Now......I am NOT going to personally pull at 16K trailer with anything less than a dually, and I do wish for more!! And I'm not going to advocate same.

BUT........I am having some issues with actual, real world examples of these catastrophes actually occurring.

I broke a spring pack due to overloading.

My friend, a cop (state trooper) of 20 years (this year) whom I asked, will and does pull people over for obviously overloaded. No believing about it. Is he odd? He doesn't like to give speeding tickets...so maybe. I don't doubt his answer though. I just asked him due to your question.

[olemax]

Originally Posted by Keith_Schumaker

Many things, I have seen bent and broken class 3 hitches because of a tounge weight that was too much. Transmission engine and rear end failure from all of the excess heat, bent axles on the trailer. Just about every part of a truck or trailer will go bad faster as you put more weight in on or behind it.

When I was younger the person I worked for didn't know anything about towing capacity. We pulled our bobcat and equipment trailer with 80's and 90's half tons. Sometimes it was downright scary with the loaded 86 f150, the front tires barely touched the ground, and I remember looking at the coolant gauge of my 00 Silverado in the red after a hill that was barely a half mile long.

Now that was the far end of the spectrum seeing as we were thousands over not just hundreds, but I am a bit of a stickler for the numbers now because of it.

I have personally witnessed a bent frame on a half-ton pickup towing an overweight trailer with no WDH, sitting beside the highway. I'm sure this was not an inexpensive repair, likely not covered by insurance.

[bedubya]

Last summer, northbound I-29 south of Sioux Falls, the message board directed me into the scales. I didn't even come to a complete stop when I was green- lighted.

[howellma]

They do weigh rv's this was discovered this week!
http://www.sunherald.com/news/local/...203745029.html

[zmandunk4]

LOL. That was definitely a whisper stop if I've ever seen one. Someone talked. Pulled over for going 7 MPH over? Those interdiction guys know their stuff......

Z

[doc73]

Originally Posted by howellma

They do weigh rv's this was discovered this week!
http://www.sunherald.com/news/local/...203745029.html

Man.. Stopped for 7 over on a highway, Texas is rough. On 202 we won't even blink until your at 90 on the 55 road... And I cannot ever get into park before the next one comes through!