I am considering purchasing a 53 foot Haulmark 5th wheel style race car trailer with living quarters. Our tow vehicle is a 2002 F-350 CC dually 4x4 with a 7.3 PS, ZF 6 speed, 4:10 gears. The truck is well maintianed and has 46K miles on it. We have owned it since new. My hitch set up is a B&W 30K gooseneck with a B&W Companion 18K 5th wheel set up that attaches to the gooseneck hitch.

The trailer is a 53 foot unit with triple 7K Dexter axles, and electric brakes on all six wheels. The trailer is supposed to weigh 7K empty. It has 34 feet of deck space for hauling and 19 feet of RV space in the front. I will be hauling two Trans AM show cars, each one weighing 3300 lbs. So for rough estimates, 14K of trailer and cars, plus another 2K for fresh water, food, other supplies, tools, and stuff. Roughly 16K. We could load real light, and maybe keep it at 15K. I know that this is a heavy load for this truck.

We drive the truck about 4K per year, and the trailer will probably get towed 400 miles a year. The trailer will sit most of the time, providing an enviromentally controled place to store the cars. We won't be pounding the highway all of the time. What are some thoughts about this set-up.

1) Safety? Legality?

2) Wear and tear on the truck? Damage, and or breakdowns?

3) Too much weight, or maybe we can get away with it?

I have seen and even driven F-350's pulling horse trailers that weighed 30K, so I know that it is done. That does not make it a wise decision. I'd like to hear what others think.

Thanks for the feedback,

Charles

 

Well I am going to throw my 2 cents in here. As far as I am concerned, you are good to go. But to be clear, it will depend on how much weight is forward of the tri-axles. Pin weight is where I may get concerned. GCWR I believe is around 20k for that year and the max 5th wheel weight is around 14k. I go to dirt track races most every weekend and I see teams with this length of rig all the time pulling them with 250's and 350's. Another thing to consider is length. Are you legal in your state or any other state you will be traveling? 65 ft is a common as max length. I have no doubt the truck will pull it. I have no doubt you can pull it and no one will think twice. If you are in an accident, the insurance company may look at you and think twice.

 

Thanks Gearitis,

So the truck should be OK.

I can probably adjust the pin weight by loading the cars more forward, or more towards the rear of the trailer. I could also back the first car in, so that the weight of the engine is closer to the trailer axles then the pin.

I had not thought much about the length.

North Carolina 60 feet

Georgia 60 feet

Alabama 65 feet

Tennessee 65 feet

Something to consider.

It does not seem like most of the southern states are as hinky about tow lengths as some of the eastern, northern, and western states are. It onl;y takes one incident to cause a big problem though.

I used to tow a bass boat behind a 36 foot Holiday Rambler 5th wheel, and no one ever questioned it. My dad, who is a retired truck driver says that DOT is pretty tough on commercial trucks, but has no jurisdiction on private vehicles such as RV's. The state and local LEO's don't seem to pay a lot of attention.

I had thought about buying a 28 foot gooseneck RC trailer with three 7K axles, and tag my 24 foot Pace Shadow behind it. The thought around this part of the country is that states are on the verge of cracking down on double tows as it is not illegal in all four states that we travel in.

Insurance may be a problem.

 

Just be careful if you go this route and be safe. I think you are ok and I would not hesitate according to the weights stated. Just have fun and use common sense.

 

I am glad that you mentioned the length limit, as I had not considered it.

Measured Big Red yesterday AM when I got home from work. From the 5th wheel hitch pin to the front bumper it is roughly 18 feet. The trailer has about a foot of overhang in front of the pin, so that means 52 feet behind the pin, plus 18 feet in front of the pin = 70 feet. The 65 foot states might not notice it, but the 60 foot states probably will notice 10 feet over length.

It looks like I am going to have to come up with a different plan. That trailer would work perfect, as we could haul the cars and use it as an RV when we go to the lake. About the only way I can stay under 60 feet is to haul a short slide in camper, and buy a 36 foot bumper pull Race Car trailer for the cars.

 

Now are these total lengths or bridge lengths mean front axle to center of rear axle on trailer.

 

Total length of truck and trailer from front bumper to the rear of the trailer.

 

The Federal DOT doesn't have jurisdiction - and they don't generallty get involved in enforcement even for their own rules, but each state has their own DOT (sometimes under a different name), some states leave enforcement to the regular state police, others have their own DOT folks working the scales but leave on-road enforcement to state and local cops; others have their own DOT people doing the scales AND on-road enforcement in addition to regular state and local cops. In states that have state DOT personnel doing on-road enforcement, they typically DO HAVE jurisdiction over all vehicles even though they generally pay little attention to cars.

In KY, "Vehicle Enforcement" (DOT cops) most certainly will pull over any vehicle if they think something looks unsafe. On the other hand, I've seen them pass up a 1/2 pickup hauling a load of hay most of us wouldn't try to stack on top of an F450 flatbed.

As others have suggested, it sounds like your F350 is adequate if well maintained and loaded properly, but you might be cutting it awfully close on the overall length limit in some states. And, of course, you have to pay a LOT more attention to hills, crosswinds, and all those other AW S#!T things that can come up on the road.

 

Something isn't adding up here... I know that tractor-trailer rigs run through all those states. The standard length for a commercial trailer is 53', and an Over The Road long-nose sleeper-cab is certainly longer than your F350 CC from king pin to front bumper. Are those lengths only for non-commercial vehicles.

Whatver the actual details, it looks like staying legal is going to be a bigger issue than the mechanical ability of the truck to haul the load.

 

check this website out:
RVSafely.com

 

The truck would do it without an issue as long as you don't have too much weight up front.

You're length is probably the issue like you guys are talking about. I think this is why you see some of those big freightliner (and other brands) RV/towing machines out there. They put you in a different category and you can have a longer total length and weight.

 

The empty pin weight on the trailer is 2000 lbs. The front 19 feet of the trailer is an RV and the cars load almost center with the axles, so the pin weight will not change much from loaded to unloaded. it may gross out at 3K depending on how it is loaded.

Checked with the NC DMV. If I get a CDL license and register the truck as a commercial vehicle it is no problem. Then I will have to have commerical insurance also because of the length. Not sure that it is worth the expense and bother.

In NC a private individual can license an F-350 like a car with a max stated weight. Mine is licensed for 12K, even though the truck is 11,500 GVW. Over 10K, and the weights jump in 1K increments, so there is no such thing as an 11,500 tag.

We drove it around for 8 years licensed for 6800 lbs which is the way they were licensing them in 2002. The problem was that with even a small payload, a driver, and a tank of fuel and one was overloaded.

 

On designated truck routes, CMV's over 60-65 feet are legal. That includes most Interstates, one exception is I75 through Atlanta, they don't want big trucks there, hence the I285 long way around. US routes, and most state routes are legal as well.
Private vehicles get away with all kinds of things that would get a big truck in trouble.
One state that is especially nasty towards over 65' length is Virginia. They like to wait until you have no choice to violate their 65' restriction, then it's ticket time. I suspect they likely turn a blind eye to an RVer.
If you're concerned about where you can go as far as length, get a Motor Carriers Atlas. They show truck routes, so you should be good to with that info.

As far as a truck to pull this? I likely believe in overkill, but to me a 450 something would be minimal.

 

Seen this thread so thought I'd try to help if I could. First off a 53' trailer even without LQ is not gonna weigh 7k "supposed" or not. Maybe an all aluminium non LQ might be in that range but would be every bit off. I have a 48' Pace non LQ with some alum cabs, lights, gen etc & it is 14k empty. My trailer does have 30" of extra H but still a standard 6'6" interior H trlr would have a hard time staying under 10k. You would need to put it on the scales to be sure but I'd assume this trlr in question would be in the 11-12k range empty. You add water, supplies, normal amenities & as you said can easily gain another 2k. So now add 6600lbs of cars & where are we setting?

I'm not trying to give you a hard time but just trying to be realistic. I believe you are going to be sitting around 20k once your loaded up & ready to travel. I pull my trailer with a 08 F450 but would also do it with any newer 1 ton dually. As the guy said before to have things where they "should" be would really need a 1 1/4T or larger truck.

I understand your situation though & I'd tow that trlr with ur trk. Just make sure the trlr has good brakes on it & u have a brake controller that is adjusted properly. Good E range tires is a must & overload springs/air bags if needed. I've towed WAY heavier than what my truck was rated for but always tried to be cautious. Of course that does not make it any better in the eyes of the law...

You guys are in a different part of the country but here it is 65' non-com & 75' com max length. Also any trlr registered over 10,000 lbs is considered Com & requires a Class A to pull & the tow vehicle has to have the weight of the trlr on the registration to be "legal". If it is registered as an RV(your trlr would qualify for that here) then that would not apply but you would have hefty yearly registration fees...

Good Luck, keep us updated