You plainly stated what trailer you were towing... the 40' Alfa that is 17,999 pounds dry. Then you continued on about how you were speeding and how the four wheelers were in your way.

You Sir, are correct about truckers going faster to make it easier to make it up the other side, I know this as I have a Class A CDL. Atleast 20 mph over the posted limit and complaining about cars in your way with your truck overloaded is not one of the times you should implement this strategy.

You may be able to handle your rig and the terrain, but as kwikkordead stated its the things you can't see or can't control that pose the biggest risk.

Thanks for putting everybody else at risk, I just hope you don't seriously injure or kill someone!

 

Ok, fine with me.

Wrong, you clearly stated you were towing a 40' Alfa with a 17,999 lb dry weight and you don't know what it weighs loaded and you dont want to know either. That implies that you know you are way over the capacity of your truck.

Wrong again, you have an '05 F250 4x4 Crew 6.0L. The legal towing capacity of that truck is no more than 15.5k (according to the '07 towing guide, your '05 may even have less capacity). Your trailers dry weight easily exceeds your trucks rated capacity let alone the trailers loaded weight.

Everbody else was not towing close to 20k with a truck that is not rated to tow that much. All it takes is one of the other drivers to swerve in front of you or slam on the brakes and its over before you can even react.

I have towed in the mountains hundreds of times and I have done this occasionaly but not with an overloaded truck, with other vehicles around and definately not going atleast 20 over the posted limit. It is too much to risk just to save a couple of minutes.

Wrong again good Sir, I am posting this to possibly shed some light on how unsafe it is for you to be doing this and how something that you can't control or can't see can very quickly cause a serious accident injuring or possibly killing your fellow motorists.

Sorry for the long post.

 

I believe legal capacity is what his truck is registered for

 

Thank you Jake . The point I was making went over his head anyways.

He never thought that might be a typo on my weight either. 18k thats one heavy trailer.12,999 if you don't want to look it up.
That is what the OP asked 12k+5R Towing Experiences but he didn't put those two together.
I quess I could have a moderator come and change that so someone else doesn't think the same thing.

But hey he made two post about so he must be right.

Wonder why he didn't look up the weight of my trailer . He looked up my towing capacity and doesn't know what gear ratio I have. Towboss seems to ring a bell.

Oh well quess he had to get that off his chest.

BTW I speed all the time but havn't seem to get a ticket or been in an accident because of it.

Luck ? Maybe
Driving experiences ? Prob.

 

Matt, just because some States allow you to register a vehicle for any weight you would like, does NOT "Magically" change the mechanics and design perameters of that vehicle. The brakes, tires, wheels, axles and drivetrain are still only designed for the Manufactures Stickered GVWR & GCWR.

Towing a heavy load is easy, stopping and controlling a heavy load in an emergency situation is a whole different story.

Kinetic Energy = (1/2Mass) x Velocity(squared)

So as speed increases, the Kinetic Energy increases exponentially.

I looked at your original post and did not question 18,999 dry weight, why would i or anyone else?

12,999 "Dry Weight" rating by the manufacture is one heavy trailer also, not to mention that "Dry Weight" ratings on an RV are for the base model before any options are added, and Alfa states on their website that the "Dry Weight" ratings are approximate.

Your statement that you don't want to know your actual trailer weight and your Gross Combined Weight just re-enforces the postitin that safety is not a high priority for you and shows total dis-respect for the other drivers on the road around you.

What does the number of his posts have to do with anything? You have made 4 posts on the subject, does that make you right?

Why would "Tow Boss" ring a bell. If you look at your Signature & Profile, you have an F250 DRW. Ford did not make this combination, But which information are we supposed to GUESS is incorrect in your earlier posts, the F250 or the DRW?

BTW 05 F350 Tow Boss, FMC design parameters GVWR= 13,000; GCWR = 26,000; Max trailer weight 15,000lbs



Matt you have many good posts on FTE but this post is really lame.

Openly addmitting to constant speeding and reckless driving with little regard for the others that share the highway with you, is NOT the sign of an "experienced" driver. It is definitely the sign of and "Inmature & Unsafe" driver putting others on the highway at undo risk.

I have driven commercially for many years and that does not mean that one can dis-regard safety and ignore the basic rules of physics. Sorry that you feel you are ABOVE all this, but if you want to take a cue from guys that are experienced professional drivers, just look at race car drivers. Every weekend some of the best drivers in Nascar end up in the fence due to a mechanical failure or by someone around them making a mistake.

Sorry Matt but you cannot control all the things around you when you are driving down the highway, and any one thing goes wrong, it can all turn BAD in a heart beat. Killing or injuring you, your passengers or innocent people that get caught up in your mess.

You have been very lucky so far, and it has nothing to do with driving experience. Kwik said it very well "It only takes one nut to scatter it all over the road."

I have a good friend who was driving home with his wife two weeks ago, less than two miles from home, a car coming the other way crossed the center line and hit them. It killed his wife instantly and he is still in a coma and the doctors do not know if he will make it. They were only 43.

Matt do everyone that shares the road with you a favor, respect their life and right to live a long life, get your rig weighed at a CAT scale, keep it within safe manufactures limits, and slow down and drive responsibly. The life you save may be mine or my families.

 

Yes in many States you can register your P/U, Van, Straight truck for whatever GVWR you want to pay for.

However, you have only legally increased the GVWR of your P/U you have Not increased the GAWR or GCWR, these are still at the manufactures ratings.
Do not confuse GVWR with GCWR.


So when you have a trailer hooked up or a loaded truck, you could very easily be within your Registered GVWR rating but exceed the GAWR, GCWR or both. Exceeding any of these ratings is an overweight violation and can get you a ticket and your rig parked until something else can come along and legally tow or haul your load.

Some States are lax on enforcement of weight rules, but many States are very strict on weight enforcement.

 

I have yet to see this first hand, Everytime a weight limit/what can I tow post pops up, Someone states what "can happen" but no one on this forum has ever provided first hand proof of it happening.

 

First I want to apologize to Wheatnia for getting into a stupid disscussion and hi-jacking his thread . Some people feel its their duty to lecture people about things that they have no idea of who I am or where I have been in my life.If you feel that it's so important to tell me how unsafe I am or that I'm driving over my head please do it in a PM . I was reponding to a question to the orignial post and somehow you took that as an invite to lecture me . This site is about helping people with problem and if you really feel the need to lecture start your own thread.

 

Oh BTW Herbie posted this in another thread. Maybe we should practice what we preach.

But hes ok because he didn't speed while being overloaded and unsafe.

Keep it under 70mph and good to go.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

<TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width="100%">You should have no problems towing your 5er with that truck. Yes you are over but only a little bit over. As long as you are smart about it especially on the downgrades you will be fine.

Look at what I tow with my '02 F250... my 5er is over 14k lbs. dry and over 18k lbs. GVWR. I am way over what a F250 is rated for but it tows it just fine.

As long as your are familiar with towing heavy trailers, your truck is well maintained, tires are in good condition and properly inflated, truck is properly equiped (trailer brake, guages) and you have the trailer weight distributed for proper tongue weight you will be fine.

*Disclaimer* so I dont get flamed to bad... I have a Class A CDL and have been driving big trucks for over 15 years. I know my current setup is overweight so I make sure everything is setup perfectly before I put the trans in D and recheck it at regular intervals during my trip. I have even had Cali State troopers compliment me on my rig while conducting my checks. With all that being said I am going to upgrade to a higher capacity truck very soon because I am just too far out for my liking.

Have fun and good luck! Sorry for the long post.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
__________________
'02 F250 7.3L Lariat Crew 4x4

'06 NuWa HitchHiker Champagne 37 CKRD 5er

'02 Alfa Sun 33 RLTS 5er (SOLD)

Pruchasing a '06 or '07 F350 DRW Tow Boss as soon as I return from deployment to tow my 5er beast!

 

Sorry you don't feel it ever happens, but it does. On the West coast for example being asked to be weighed is not uncommon. In addition Florida has started severely cracking down on RV's and requiring all of them to stop at the weigh stations.

For the last 4 years or so Texas has gotten very picky on over weight vehicles and will pull you over if you are pulling a trailer with dual axles. Also Ohio is pretty strict on weight rules and pulls over vehicles frequently. I have been in these States and have witnessed this or was asked to pull in and be weighed.

So bottom line many states are very strict and if you get pulled over and are over weight, you will get a citation and your rig parked until it is within spec.

 

I never said that I don't feel it never happens,

What I have yet to see is someone overweight (by mfg standards) but Not overweight by LEGAL registration recieve a ticket.

 

You have to understand the LEGAL Registration definition. You legally registered to have a higher GVWR. NO where in this paper work did it address increasing the GAWR or GCWR of your truck or van. GVWR and GCWR are not the same thing. You can be within the LEGAL registered GVWR of your truck and still be over on the GAWR or GCWR and if you are over on the GAWR or GCWR you can get a citation.

My cousin got pulled over in Texas not to long ago, was well within the Legal registered GVWR of the truck but over on the GCWR. Guess what, he got a citation and was told to park the trailer and have a bigger truck come and get it. BTW he was in an 02 F350 DRW 7.3

 

Interesting,

I've inquired to the secratary of state police at my local DMV about GCWR, They told me that they don't care how much I pull as long as I'm plated for it...

I've read over the illinois vehicle code, and done some extensive searches, I cant find anything that states that MFG sticker is the law as far as gcwr is concerned

 

Since I am supposed to be a mind reader or read between the lines, maybe you should do the same Matt. Your story seems to change though, just yesterday you had a F250 listed in your sig now you have a F350 DRW Tow Boss?!?!, trailer weight changes from 18k to 13k, seems funny to me all the changes you made and I am not the only one to catch your coverups see the post above. I am not sure where to start or what to believe with your threads so I responded too what you had written.

My current truck is going to be replaced really soon (read my sig) and it was used to tow the 33' Alfa 5er it only towed the new 5er once. I purchased my new 5er just before I deployed to Iraq (I return in 3 weeks) and did not have the time nor the money to buy a truck capable of towing it at the time (it was a last minute deal). My new 5er has only been towed from the selling dealer to my residence during Southern Californias rush (3) hour traffic I hit 45 mph when the traffic (going 55 plus) finally opened up at Camp Pendleton the rest of the time less than 20mph) and I made numerous stops to check everything out. Is it right? NO, but alot safer than what you seem to think is ok and practice. My truck pulled the trailer fine, but I would hate to see what would happen if I had to make an emergency stop or emergency lane change at speed or going downhill even with my vast and knowledgeable driving experience helping me.

I clearly stated I was over as you did too, but the difference is you think its ok for you to tow over and drive recklessly thinking your driving experience is going to get you out of a manufacturers design limit or any number of other uncrontrollable things. See the "Am I being realistic" thread for further evidence of how a driver is somehow magically capable of controlling a overloaded truck courtesy of Matt.

Yes we are BOTH wrong, you just more so!

In my post I stressed safety numerous times and driving within the speed limit especially going downhills and so has alot of other posters in this thread. The way I look at it most people are going to tow over their vehicles limits and not upgrade their truck. If they are going to tow over we should use our experience to help them and stress speed limits and safety, we should NOT promote or encourage people to also speed or drive recklessly while towing over.

We do agree on one thing, Hijacking this thread. I appologize to Wheatina and everyone else for doing so. This will be my last post to this thread unless I have something constructive to add to help others. PM me if you have more to say on this matter, thanks.

 

jake00,

Here is the catch 22 in all of this. Some States are lax on weight and towing rules and some States are very strict. It appears that IL treats GVWR and GCWR the same. But by every definition out there GVWR and GCWR are very different ratings and most states are registering a straight truck for GVWR not GCWR. So if you are towing in a State that is more strict and follows both the GVWR and GCWR rules you could be cited if you are over on one of them. I am not saying you will, i am saying you could.

The confusion usually comes from the fact that a Semi usually has a GVWR & GCWR that are similar if not equal, because they only work by towing a trailer. Problem is with a straight truck and trailer the GVWR and GCWR are very different. So it does get a little confusing.

Here is a link to the differences between a CDL class A & class B license. Look at the difference in the type of vehicles and that class B vehicles are "Straight Trucks" where they look at GVWR and class A vehicles are "Combination Vehicles" (Semi). Class A vehicles use GCWR while class B vehicles use GVWR and GCWR. And yes i am well aware that we are dealing with non-commercial vehicles. Just using these pictures and definitions for illistration purposes.

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regul...sr/547411.htm#

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regul...ction_toc=1331

Bottom line know your states rules and the rules of the states you tow in.

http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/lw/Publ...s/mcs9/383.pdf