Guys,
Anybody know where I can find the max length of a tow rig. I tow a 29' 5er and a 14' fishing boat with my CC SB in Michigan and I haven't been able to find if I exceed legal length or not. Everything I find usually has to do with an 18 wheeler. I see others towing 5er and boat rigs that look like my length or longer, so I am probably ok but I would like to know for sure. I think I measured out to 64' when set up.
Thanks

 

take your wheel base and multiply by 3 that is a safe limit. Just curious but how is your weight limit still within the GCWR? Just seems like a lot of weight.

 

I'm talking about legal limits for length as far as keeping the guys with the red light on top of their car away from me. Don't remember off the top of my head what my total weight is..... 5er is like 10k dry and boat can't be more than 700-800 pounds...

 

I would say your best bet is to contact DMV, and possibly DOT. In Va. they don't care how long you are, as long as you're not overloaded. BUT I don't think double trailers are allowed on anything but 18 wheelers.

 

Are you saying you tow the 5er with the boat behind that? If you did that in oz you would be burnt at the stake for crimes against humanity.

 

Double trailors are allowed in many states!! You can very well tow 2 trailors and not be over weight! you need to contact your local HP office and they will be able to tell you what length you can run. Some states require the lead trailor to use a King Pin and others do not. In ND our rules read that both trailors must have lights (brake, signal, and driving), saftey chains between all vehicles, and the lead trailor must be equiped with trailor brakes and a maximum length of 75ft. My truck, camper, and boat measure 71' from bumper to boat motor (pic in my gallery) for total GCWR of between 16k-17k lbs depending on how much garbage we pack! That IS within the legal limits of my truck in ALL aspects!!

 

OzFTrucker, thats a real nice F-350 extended chassis truck you've got, nice work!

 

SLE,
I can't believe you can tow a hitch mount travel trailer and then boat in ND, as far as I know and have ever seen it had to be a 5er behind you in order to pull a second trailer. Wow, does the boat get whipping pretty bad or can you just not see it? I know with my previous TT it would whip a little which would have sent a boat flying all over the road!

 

Yukon, the legal length in Michigan is 65'. That is bumper to bumper. Don't foget when figuring the length that 3-4' of the fifthwheel is in the truck, and you need to measure the total length of the boat and trailer.

Here is what I have guessed...20' for your truck 26' for you trailer(hooked to the truck) and 18' for the boat and trailer. Total 64'. Now make sure that you do not use my figures and just start towing, Michigan requires a recreational double endorsement on your drivers license to tow this. Also your 29' fifthwheel could be as long as 32'.

What type of trailer do you have and I can check in my guides and tell you over all length.

Toyman

 

My Jayco 285 is just shy of 29'. Do you have a site where you found the 65' limit?

 

Yukon, perfectly legal in ND, I wouldn't personally endorse it to someone that has done very little towing though. The way I have it set it up it has very little sway at 60mph, I generally run between 60-65mph because once you begin to near 70mph the boat likes to wag a little bit. The largest factor that I noticed is making sure my hitch wieghts are within reason and and making sure everything is dead level! I am however adding an anti sway bar between the boat and camper (within the month) to stiffen up that conection a little. other than an equalizer hitch and having it set up correctly there is nothing special about it.

Also your right on about not being able to see the boat behind the camper. The first trip I took with this setup I had to stop and make sure it was still back there. buy the second trip I rigged up some markers so I could see atleast what the boat was doing. Ideally a camera is the best option but there are other ways of doing it. RVpuller used a couple of antenas that he can fold against his boat trailor when he doesn't need them. I used a couple of small u-bolts and cut a fiberglass marker pole (used for marking curbs in the winter for the snow plows) to the right length that mount to the rear of the boat fender step. What ever you use paint it something that is high visability, like hunter orange, mine are yellow with red tips and they can be tough to see some days depending on the sun.

I will say that I have been looking at fifthwheels as they do handle better when towing double, there is no arguement there. They also alow you to tow a larger camper or boat without exceeding the length limit since you don't have a front hitch to count against you and the front of the fifth wheel overhangs the TV by 3-4ft allowing up to a 6-7ft longer camper or boat! Right now its not a problem for me but within a coupld of year I plan to buy a 18-20ft DC boat and it'll be pushing the limits for length!

One last note is to never try this with a single axle camper, it'll spell disaster in a hurry! Also your camper should outweigh your boat by atleast 2 times in order to keep everything stable. levelness and hitch wieghts make a large difference and don't do it without brakes. My next boat will have a trailor also equiped with brakes, in an emergency when things start swaying it may save you from a catstrophic ending! and what ever you do don't stand on the brakes if things go sour, it'll make it worse!! IF everything has brakes engages only the trailor brakes which SHOULD streighten things back out. when towing any of these large loads there isn't a one of us that has enough engine (diesel or not) to power out of it, I repeat do not try this unless your sure it'll work!!! Your best off to use your trailor brakes and ease out of it untill things calm down.

Sorry for the long post but I don't want to give people the wrong impression about towing double, there are plenty of hazards to it and its not for everyone! My dad tryed it once and said that was all he ever needed, he wont even try it again even though he now has a big dually, a large heavy camper and a different boat! The above is what I have learned from years of being around people that do this evey weekend all summer long, some haven't been as fortunate as others, but they make for good lessons learned!

 

It's in the Woodall's book and most of the other camping directories for sale.

I just remembered something else...you will have to have some sort of communication between the fifthwheel and the truck.

Toyman

 

The following link is a towing matrix of the laws in each state: http://www.towingworld.com/articles/TowingLaws.htm

 

Cloleson, thats a great link! I now have it bookmarked for easy use, thanks!

 

Communication??? For what purpose? Do you mean if someone is in the 5er? That won't be happening with my rig! Everyone will be belted in a seat in the truck and if we can't all fit in the truck then the wife will have to drive seperate.