Too Much Trailer?

BlackZ71Silverado · July 14, 2014

I'll forgive your ignorance. Bless your heart.

Only pointing out the obvious. Things like this happen all thd time. People fail to buy the proper equipment then try to justify their purchase on the forums.

Ignorance??? Maybe you confused my post with another?

Take this truck/trailer situation as a lesson learned and next time, get a truck that will handle the job better. Better to buy bigger and have more power than you need.

Sent from my crappy iPhone5S

using Tapatalk

Wasax3 · July 17, 2014

Adding factory brake control is NOT possible. Not being rude but you bought the wrong truck to tow with. Knowing you need to tow, why get the 4.3L?? Doesn't make sense. Instead of asking for a brake control when you take it back, ask for an engine

This is true. A friend of mine just bought a new '14 with out the intergrated controller. The salesman told him it wasn't a problem, and that he could just install it later... WRONG!

He took it back to the dealership and they told him you can not install the intergrated trailer breaks because the trucks computer is not set up for it. You will have to by the old aftermarket brake controller like we use to.

06_GMC · August 12, 2014

Well I can say I am a little disappointed in everybody's response. This forum is not about flaming people for the truck they bought. Yes it may have been better to buy the 5.3L when he bought the truck but he didn't. So in my opinion what we as a group of truck lovers and gear heads should do is help him make the right choice. I know the OP has been a little reluctant to take the advice to run from that trailer. I will say I had a trailer just like it when it came to the unloaded weight and I pulled it for 2 miles on a private road with my old 2000 4.3L reg cab short bed S10 and it was stable with all the stabilizing crap on it and stuff. Now once I bought my old 2500HD and went camping for the first time I wouldn't have towed it with anything less than what I had. It's not only weight, you are towing a sail so please consider that. Hopefully you can find something a little less in weight which will make your trips much more pleasant. Like previously said there are plenty out there. I would opt for the Tekonsha P3. They make bitchin stuff. Also in the end it is your decision no matter what has been said on here. Good luck

CKNSLS · August 12, 2014

It's not about knocking his truck. It's about keeping him, his family and the rest of us safe on the road.

Sometimes-you have to tell someone what the real deal is.........

That's why we told him it's too much trailer for his truck.

SierraPhoto · August 13, 2014

It's not about knocking his truck. It's about keeping him, his family and the rest of us safe on the road.

Sometimes-you have to tell someone what the real deal is.........

That's why we told him it's too much trailer for his truck.

There's a difference between telling someone the real deal... and flaming.

This forum flames.

However, you need not worry. We ended up not buying the trailer. We went to pick it up, and while the truck did in fact pull the trailer, it pushed my truck a little harder than I was comfortable with. I'm sure it would have been fine for the type of trips that we are planning on taking, but we ended up finding a better deal on a smaller trailer that was only 4100 lbs. it tows better, it fits in my driveway better, and I'm not chancing my truck warranty.

CKNSLS · August 13, 2014

Congrats on your travel trailer. I hope you and your family gets many years of enjoyment out of it.

I still put the blame on the Truck manufacturers, they mention tow ratings w/o any mention of PAYLOAD, a number more important than tow ratings......

I just went back and reread this thread, I really don't feel any posts were made in the spirit of flaming......sorry you feel that way.

music · August 14, 2014

I've never read a single US state law for private vehicles that mentioned manufacturers payload. Anyone care to share one?

txab · August 14, 2014

There's a difference between telling someone the real deal... and flaming.

This forum flames.

However, you need not worry. We ended up not buying the trailer. We went to pick it up, and while the truck did in fact pull the trailer, it pushed my truck a little harder than I was comfortable with. I'm sure it would have been fine for the type of trips that we are planning on taking, but we ended up finding a better deal on a smaller trailer that was only 4100 lbs. it tows better, it fits in my driveway better, and I'm not chancing my truck warranty.

j-ten-ner · August 14, 2014

Just because a engine is rated for max 6000rpm would you run it all the time at this speed? No-one does.

You can. Short term. The engine is designed to withstand this speed for a short period of time.

That's how I interpret the max tow ratings. The truck is capable of towing a trailer with a max weight of x. He can bring it up to highway speed, drag it over the hill and bring it back to a safe stop. That's it. The truck's MAXED OUT.

Anyway, Congrats to your trailer. Enjoy it and have fun.

so long

j-ten-ner

CKNSLS · August 15, 2014

I've never read a single US state law for private vehicles that mentioned manufacturers payload. Anyone care to share one?

If you operate your vehicle over the payload you are doing so in an unsafe manner. It is against the law to operate your vehicle in an unsafe manner. You could use several vehicle laws to interpret this. It should be noted that even passenger cars have a payload. For an outlandish example-If you were driving a Chevrolet Cruze with nine people in it and you ran in to me and caused serious injury I could sue you stating that much weight was affecting the handling characteristics of said vehicle (and way over vehicle payload) which contributed to the accident. AND YOU WERE NEGLIGENT IN DOING SO!

See-

http://www.equipmentworld.com/know-your-limits-towing-more-than-5k-pounds-with-a-half-ton-pickup-is-against-the-law/

It talks about exceeding payload.

Good enough?

music · August 15, 2014

If you operate your vehicle over the payload you are doing so in an unsafe manner. It is against the law to operate your vehicle in an unsafe manner. You could use several vehicle laws to interpret this. It should be noted that even passenger cars have a payload. For an outlandish example-If you were driving a Chevrolet Cruze with nine people in it and you ran in to me and caused serious injury I could sue you stating that much weight was affecting the handling characteristics of said vehicle (and way over vehicle payload) which contributed to the accident. AND YOU WERE NEGLIGENT IN DOING SO!

See-

http://www.equipmentworld.com/know-your-limits-towing-more-than-5k-pounds-with-a-half-ton-pickup-is-against-the-law/

It talks about exceeding payload.

Good enough?

I read the article, but saw no mention of rated payload. Your example is reasonable as an unsafe condition, but has no bearing on the relative safety of being right at the rating, or 5 lbs over. A small company, as the guy seemed to be discussing, is in an entirely different boat than a guy pulling a RV for personal use. Depending on weights and purpose, he can easily find himself regulated by the DOT, and treated as a commercial entity.

A guy could be 3k lbs under the rating, but have crappy tires, worn brakes, a crack in the hitch, and more, and somehow be safer than a guy that has excellent equipment, but 1 lb over the rating? A driver will not feel or otherwise notice 300 extra lbs on the truck when they're starting at 7000+ to begin with, assuming the proper equipment is being used. Wreckless endangerment is usually a pretty obvious condition, and can happen by a multitude of means.

To be clear, I'm not advocating folks ignore ratings, and i use them myself, but legal liability for an accident is not related to those numbers, that I'm aware.

CKNSLS · August 16, 2014

Wreckless endangerment is usually a pretty obvious condition, maybe - or maybe not. I have no idea when the semi running down the freeway had his brakes checked last. I have no idea if the guy pulling his travel trailer is 1,000 pounds over weight. If he has a properly adjusted weight-distributing hitch, it will not be obvious.

However, if he runs in to me and causes death and/or injury-me and my lawyer will be smart enough to calculate payload numbers.

And if you do not think that will be a determining factor-you obviously have never been to court.

NOBODY and MEAN NOBODY comes on this forum who wants to run one pound over their rating. It's always up to or over the rating. The posters who come on here usually know they are at or over the limit and don't wish to explain to their wives they can't tow that mini-condo. And they want some validation from the rest of us it's OK, and then when they are told what they DON'T WANT TO HEAR-they get a little agitated. Then others like yourself come on this form and say point out a specific law pertaining to payload, some how implying there is a loophole or free pass for using your vehicle in an unsafe manner. And that is just encouraging people to tow more than they should.

LongrangeLauber · August 16, 2014

Pretty sure it comes to this- the numbers are in place for everyone to be safe. No need for everyone to keep saying the same thing over and over

Sent while in 'Murica...

j-ten-ner · August 16, 2014

...and don't wish to explain to their wives they can't tow that mini-condo...

love this

so long

j-ten-ner

Jon A · August 16, 2014

Personally, I am waiting for someone over their PAYLOAD to run in to me. I need a payday to buy a 2014 Silverado.

Excellent attitude. I hold people like you in the highest regard. A guy with a good ambulance chaser on speed-dial looking to cash in at somebody else's expense is my kind of person. You're the kind of guy I'd love to have a beer with (after you sign the disclaimer, of course).

I really hope you don't own a swimming pool, or are ever tardy shoveling the snow off the sidewalk in front of your house, or ever have guests and give them coffee that might be a little too hot. I'd hate for you to have a run-in with somebody just like you--you probably wouldn't like him very much.

And if you do not think that will be a determining factor-you obviously have never been to court.

And since you obviously have, you ought to have plenty of examples you can point to from which we can all learn. Please do so. Cases where a private citizen, towing recreationally, who exceeded the sticker on his door by a couple hundred pounds but was otherwise using good judgment and being safe, maybe even had a few upgrades on the truck to make it even safer under load....was thrown in jail forever! Or got sued for ONE MILLION! DOLLARS!!! after a simple accident.

You ought to have thousands of examples, right? Hundreds? Tens? A couple? Could you at least point to one? It's amazing how something that happens "all the time" on the internet (by the 3rd or 4th hand accounts) seems to be non-existent in the real world.

In all seriousness, nobody is advocating anybody do anything that's unsafe. But in the long list of things that help determine just how safe somebody's actions are in the real world, strict adherence to the letter of some somewhat arbitrarily derived numbers on the door or in the owners' manual are pretty far down the list unless exceeded by a ridiculous amount. As a guy who tends to worry about what matters most before worrying about what matters little, if a guy is in the ballpark of those numbers I know there's a long list of things that matter more--driving too fast for the conditions, following too closely, not paying close enough attention to mirrors, having old tires, brake pads, having the WDH adjusted incorrectly, etc. You know, stuff that really matters.

Sorry, but I personally find attitudes such as shown by CKNSLS repugnant. Not just on this subject, but to life in general in this country. People like that make nearly every product you buy more expensive. They seriously hamper our healthcare system, they damage our economy to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars a year...but I digress.

If CKNSLS was in charge likely 1/2 of the farmers and ranchers in this country could be thrown in jail. The things the average farmer or rancher (not the big corporate guy who can have the biggest best latest and greatest trucks, but the regular guy who makes due with what he can afford) does with his 15 year old 3/4 ton would make CKNSLS's ambulance chaser friend's eyes light up with dollar sign symbols.

Of course that tends to imply that in the real world the average guy exceeding his payload capacity by a bit isn't nearly as lucrative for CKNSLS's ambulance chaser as he seems to think it is. Otherwise a pretty large portion of rurual society would have been shut down years ago. If small family farmers and ranchers were forced to trade in their 15 year old 3/4 tons for the latest, greatest F-450 just to accomplish the same tasks they accomplish now, most would go out of business.

And we wouldn't be any safer. But CKNSLS and his amulance chaser might feel better.

I have no idea if the guy pulling his travel trailer is 1,000 pounds over weight. If he has a properly adjusted weight-distributing hitch, it will not be obvious.

And this tells me you don't know how to "properly adjust" a WDH. You might be ambulance chaser-bait and not even know it!

Poetic justice?