I was wondering if anyone knows for a truck that is let's say a mid-90s f super duty rated at about 15,000 lb, does anyone know how much weight you can pull behind that truck if it's configured with a tow boom and a wheel lift?

I'm trying to figure out how large of a truck I could haul behind that size of a wrecker.

my second question is that I believe to be under CDL, the wrecker and the unit that is being towed has to be under 26,000. Is that correct?

I would like to know what size wrecker whether it's an F-450 or 550 or whatever it is that will haul the most weight up to 26,000 lb, and will be legal for the combination of 26,000 lb., under CDL.

I'm also wondering, if I had a truck like that whatever combination would take me to 26,000 lb, as long as I'm under 26,000 lb, can I tow in a semi trailer like a 28 ft pup or even a larger trailer as long as I'm not over the combination weight and I have air and brakes to the trailer?

 

Former tow truck driver, both light and medium duty. Tow trucks are a bit of a grey area when it comes to weight. Yes legally the truck and towed vehicle need to weigh less than 26k lbs for non CDL. However most of the time DOT didn't care what the tow truck weighed. We had a 5500 4x4 Kodiak that was plated for 21k and had a GVWR of 19500. Went through a DOT scale at 23k and they didn't care. I can't speak for every situation but they generally give tow trucks a bit of leeway as long as it is safe and the load is secure and below the 26k limit.

The issue is towing a vehicle on a wheel lift vs a trailer is 2 very different animals. Sure you can tow a truck that weighs 6000 lbs but half of that weight give or take is on your wrecker now(usually pull trucks backwards). A trailer that weighs 6000 lbs and is loaded correctly should have roughly 600lbs on the tongue using the 10% rule. You also have no brakes so it is all on the tow truck to stop the load.

The heaviest GVWR you will see on a F550 is 19500. Combined probably in the 30s but remember that is based on towing a trailer. If you are hauling another say 15k lb truck you have 5-7k lbs on your wheel lift severely overloading the tow vehicle by itself but still within the combined rating.

You cannot add air brakes to a light duty truck unless you add an air compressor system and a separate manual trailer brake valve and all the associated BS. If you were to tow an air brake semi trailer you would have to cage the brakes.

-Dan F

 

thank you for the reply.

here is what I do not understand.

when you are Towing with a boom or a wheel lift, how do they figure your gross weight? In other words is that considered a combination weight, or is that considered within the gross vehicle weight of the truck itself?

from your example, is it correct to say that a 26,000 lb GVWR truck can pull it and it's load up to 26,000 pounds on a wheel lift or on the Boom lift?

is there a situation that they consider combination weight?

 

DOT laws when it comes to tow trucks can be confusing.

Total gross weight is generally total weight of truck and the towed vehicle whether that be a trailer or another vehicle but that has nothing to do with GVWR. DOT can and will break it down into tow vehicle GVWR and combined weight of tow vehicle and towed load if they think there is a ticketable problem.

Yes that is correct. Basically never exceed the GVWR of the tow vehicle but that doesn't mean the weight of the truck AND the towed vehicle can't exceed it.

 

I understood everything except the last sentence.

if I have a 26,000 pound truck with a boom and a wheel lift, the weight of the truck and the weight of whatever I'm pulling has to be under 26,000 lb. That makes sense.

that means you're telling me that the laws regarding a boom and a wheel lift are regarding the gross vehicle weight rating of the truck doing the pulling. It has nothing to do with with the combination weight of the truck.

But your last sentence confused me. What does this mean?

"Basically never exceed the GVWR of the tow vehicle but that doesn't mean the weight of the truck AND the towed vehicle can't exceed it."

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Ok sorry for the confusion. So essentially make sure the weight of the tow truck and whatever is on the boom doesn't exceed its own GVWR and you'll be good. Think of weighing the 2 axles of the tow truck but leaving the 2 wheels of the towed vehicle that are on the ground off of the scale.

It doesn't matter what the towed vehicle weighs unless the combination of both is over 26k. Which honestly you'd be hard pressed to do unless you're towing F550 bucket trucks all day.

 

Not sure what state you are in OP, biggest thing would be to go to your DMV website and read, yes, a LOT of the laws/rules/regulations are confusing AF, you have GVW, GVWR, GCVW and a slew of other acronyms,

GVW = Gross Vehicle Weight GVWR = Gross Vehicle Weight Rating GCVW = Gross Combined Vehicle Weight and so on and on, for NON-DOT you have to be UNDER 26,000 of Gross Combined Vehicle Weight, once you cross over 26,001 #'s of towing vehicle and towed vehicle (GCVW), you ARE in CDL territory, and IIRC it is regardless of state, with some farm exceptions, but it is so extremely confusing digging into it.

Like AppleFord, I operated Light and Medium duty wreckers, and prior to that, in the Marines I operated the MK48-15 LVS vehicle recovery/wrecker which itself weighed in at 25 tons... guessing weights can get you in trouble. And yes, like Steve said, IME, the Chippers usually don't hassle the tow truck drivers IF... IF, you and your truck are clean, you look and operate like you know wtf you're doing, and even more so if you are there to assist them with an accident or breakdown causing traffic issues. If you are just some Joe blow tow truck driver with a grungy truck and look unsat and your load is sketch, you are axin for trouble.. IME!

Currently my work truck is a 2022 F550 CrewCab/4x with an 11' bed, rolling down the road I'm ~ 14,6k when I'm towing my Sno-cat I'm +/- ~ 25k just under the 26k (which is by design) CDL territory, I have my CDL, so it's not a worry for me, but... there's so much gray area, as stated by a CHP buddy, if they want to find a vio they will unfortunately,, depends on the officer and your and his attitude at that point and time.

Technically, since my trucks GVWR is 19,5k and my Sno-cat/trailer is 10k GVWR I could be at 29,5k GVW way past the 26,001k limit and into the CDL realm... see what I mean by gray area?

If your truck alone weighs in at 25,999k, you will need a CDL because whatever you tow, be it a smart car or a miata is going to put you over the 26k GCVW (truck/towed vehicle) confused yet?! LOL That's why on advertisements, they almost always show a RC (reg. cab) truck towing the max the lower your towing vehicle weight is (again, depending on config and specs) the "more" you can tow... even more wtf right?!

Again, in MY experience, CHP never bothered me when I drove a TT, and when I did interact with them for accidents/recoveries/tows I was always respectful, my truck and myself were clean (well, as much as I could be at the time) I was there to help them out and get traffic moving so it's a symbiotic relationship.

I have found, going to or searching out your local HP (Highway Patrol Officers) and talking to them will at the least get you some clarifications and some answers in your area.

F-450 vs. F-550: Towing & Payload

The Ford F-450 towing capacity is naturally higher than the F-550 because the Ford F-450 comes in a truck bed option while the F-550 only comes in a chassis cab option. That being said, the F-550 towing capacity is still impressive and can help you tow anything you need across the roads of Tempe. How do the levels of power compare?

We’ve outlined the towing and payload capacities of both options below:

F-450 Towing Capacity (Super Duty)

• F-450 Super Duty with Conventional Trailer: Up to 30,000 pounds
• F-450 Super Duty with Gooseneck/5th-Wheel Trailer: Up to 40,000 pounds

F-450 Towing Capacity (Chassis Cab)

• F-450 Chassis Cab with Conventional Trailer: Up to 17,500 pounds
• F-450 Chassis Cab with Gooseneck/5th-Wheel Trailer: Up to 26,200 pounds

F-550 Towing Capacity (Chassis Cab)

• F-550 Chassis Cab with Conventional Trailer: Up to 18,500 pounds
• F-550 Chassis Cab with Gooseneck/5th-Wheel Trailer: Up to 34,500 pounds

F-450 Payload Capacity

• F-450 Payload Capacity (Super Duty): Haul up to 6,457 pounds
• F-450 Payload Capacity (Chassis Cab): Haul up to 9,890 pounds

F-550 Payload Capacity

• F-550 Payload Capacity (Chassis Cab): Haul up to 12,770 pounds

 

The grey area is where they get ya. Yeah technically, at least in MN, our class D non cdl license states GVWR 26000 and under. So by law it means the GVWR of the tow vehicle and the trailer combined cannot exceed the limit and not the combined weight of the 2 or 3 but the actual rating. Your example is perfect. The problem I've always wondered is do they consider another motor vehicle being towed with at least 2 wheels on the ground a trailer? I mean it's not, it's self propelled just not at that moment. I have never gotten an answer out of anyone. Because if they do, then me using a F550 wrecker with a gvwr of 19500 and a curb weight of 15k towing a 1 ton with a GVWR of 12000 but it only weighs 8k could be illegal. The tow truck is probably under it's max GVWR and obviously an unladen vehicle being towed is under it's max, combined they'd weigh 23ish so well under the legal limit by just weight buuuuuut add the GVWRs together and boom 31500 definitely illegal. Never been tagged doing that even though it against the law.
Plus all the times I knew I was wayyyy overweight in the F650 rollback. Oooof that poor truck 😂.

-Dan F

 

There's a lot of confusion about gvw.

I know someone that is a consultant that has a resume of knowledge beyond what I've ever encountered anyone in trucking.

He says that if you have a 26,000 pound truck that is non-cdl, you can pull 10,000 lb behind it and you are not in CDL territory.

I'm not here to argue at all, but the regulations do tell you 26,000 pounds with a 10,000 pound trailer is not CDL.

I think anyone with common sense is not going to completely and fully max out at 26,000 and then pull a full 10,000 pounds behind it on a wheel lift.

maybe you're loaded to 22,000 or 24,000 and you pull 6,000 behind you, or something of that nature.

all exactly the same up to 10,000.lb.

I think the reason that small trucks get a combination weight is because of the 10,000 lb/26,000 lb rule.

you can either be 26,000 pounds with a 10,000 pound trailer as a maximum, or you can be a 12,000 lb truck with a 14,000 lb trailer and not be in CDL territory.

I couldn't even tell you if all the dot cops in all states would agree with that, but again I'm not saying anyone does not know what they're talking about, but this guy literally is the expert witness, in court cases.

I would tend to believe him, and what he says completely makes sense if you think about it.

 

And this ^^^ this is the reason we have so many stupid effing laws, because we have WAAAAYY too many idiots that are severely lacking in the common sense department. We, us, know (or pretend too) the law and USE common sense (most of the time ) we have laws and warning labels galore, because some idiot thought he could dry his hair in the bathtub! Then he sued the hair dryer maker because they didn't specifically tell HIM he couldn't use it in the tub (because of course they didn't, they expected too much from the consumer) and now, viola, everything has a warning label and laws to go along with it

 

That is class B cdl. Any vehicle with a GVWR of 26001 lb or above can only tow a trailer with a max GVWR of 10k lbs. Class D is single unit or combination or 26000 lbs GVWR or under. Yeah you could probably get away with towing a trailer behind a truck that has a GVWR of 26000, I've done it more than a few times but DOT is well within the law to violate you for going above your license.

 

DOT laws are based first on the GVWR of the vehicle and then the actual weight. You would think with a non cdl class D license I could drive around a semi tractor without a trailer because it only weighs say 20k lbs. Nope, since the tractors GVWR is probably 60k lbs or more it is illegal for me to drive. That has been verified by a MN state patrol CVI.

 

Just about every law and regulation that I've read uses the word "combination" to refer to combinations of tow vehicle and towed vehicle(s) including trailers and whatever else. They will often refer to trailers and semis or tow vehicles or tractors, but will refer to the combination of everything being towed as a "combination". I suspect this is intended to reduce ambiguity that might allow confusing loopholes like what we're discussing here.

 

I've read the FMCSA book and our laws in NH and both state "or combination" when referring to the 26,000 pound CDL limit. Moreover, the total towed vehicle weight cannot exceed 10,000 pounds. As everyone here has mentioned, the wording makes it so difficult to understand that everyone has a different interpretation, including DOT and police officers.

 

In general, I take most of them to mean that my motorhome can be 25,999 or less, and I can have up to 10,000 towed behind it if I am driving recreationally . . . but my motorhome is never going to be that heavy, and I'm limited to towing 5,000 pounds according to the stickers, so I should be good.