half ton towble.

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half ton towble.

Postby roon101 » Mon Aug 08, 2011 9:56 am

alright i am in the position to buy a toy hauler i have a heavy half ton truck woundering what you guys think would be max legnth for half ton truck
i was thinking no longer then 24--28 feet not sure if that is to much or i am undercutting my self on space
i want no less then 20-21 foot thoughts and idea's would great?

good and bad of each..
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Re: half ton towble.

Postby EigerMike » Mon Aug 08, 2011 5:23 pm

hey roon check out this post!

toy hualers and towing


you might find some info there :D sory dont know how to post the link :roll:


very cool you got the ok to get one! =D>
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Re: half ton towble.

Postby hemingray » Tue Aug 09, 2011 10:21 am

Length isn't going to be your issue - weight is. Check what your truck's load limits are and stay under them, no matter what. The chassis/engine/transmission combo will determine just how much you can haul behind it.
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Re: half ton towble.

Postby hemingray » Tue Aug 09, 2011 10:22 am

EigerMike wrote:sory dont know how to post the link :roll:
Mike - just copy it from your browser and paste it into the message you're typing.
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Re: half ton towble.

Postby Ken » Tue Aug 09, 2011 3:12 pm

hemingray wrote:Length isn't going to be your issue - weight is. Check what your truck's load limits are and stay under them, no matter what. The chassis/engine/transmission combo will determine just how much you can haul behind it.
X2. Length means nothing.

It's all weight. 1/2 will be relatively low, compared to 3/4 or 1 ton. I'm guessing you'll need to be at or UNDER 10,000lbs. A 3/4 ton diesel by comparison is 16,500, IIRC.
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Re: half ton towble.

Postby roon101 » Tue Aug 09, 2011 5:30 pm

is there a site that i can check my load limit to my spacific truck on? i assume the longer the trailer the heavyer it will be
is not always the case with toy haulers?
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Re: half ton towable.

Postby hemingray » Tue Aug 09, 2011 8:24 pm

I think he'll be WELL under 10K. I believe my F-150 with the 5.4L engine and the tow package is around 7,900 - 8,400 lbs.

Really, the length means nothing. You HAVE to know the weight of the trailer including all the crap you put in it.

There are two important elements - the trailer's tongue weight, which adds a "load" to your truck's chassis - and the weight of the trailer itself - again, including all the junk you're carrying. You also have to include what you load your truck's bed with (and technically, passengers and stuff in the cab) too. The tongue weight is important because you are loading your truck itself with that weight and your drive train and brakes have to deal with your truck and it's cargo, plus whatever that weight is. Also, the weight of the trailer is important because your engine, drive train and brakes have to deal with that mass as well. Trailer brakes help with the stopping, but don't help with the pulling (the engine and drive train), so you don't want to exceed what the manufacturer says for trailer weight. Don't forget to figure up the trailer weight with ATV(s), gas, all your gear etc. etc. etc. as you plan to load the trailer (by the way, how much does your ATV weigh? :-)

Clear as mud? :-) Try Googling your truck - example, something like "2005 GMC 1500 towing capacity" and see if you can get some gross numbers for what you can handle. (Ignore the posts by guys who say "oh, I can easily pull 12,000 with my half ton", their transmission just hasn't failed yet. You can do about anything for awhile, but eventually overloading will result in some expensive damage) When you shop for a trailer, have the numbers for your gear ready to add to the empty trailer and see if your truck can handle it.

Try this web site for lots of gory details: http://www.hitchinfo.com/index.cfm?even ... eceid=5146

You might be able to go to a dealer for your truck's brand and get them to look up the specs based on your VIN number. When you're shopping for a trailer, it should have a plate or sticker which has all the weight info on it. Then you have to do the math... :twisted:
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Re: half ton towble.

Postby blm510 » Fri Aug 12, 2011 7:18 am

ROON
SELL YOUR 1/2 TON AND BUY A 3/4 OR 1 TON the brakes transmission engine axels and everything will be safer and the LIFE YOU SAVE MAY NOT BE JUST YOUR OWN!
sorry to be so blunt but you are not getting the hint a 1/2 ton is good total vehicle weight of say 9000 # your truck being 4wd is 5000# before you put your stuff in the closer you get to the 9000# the less brakes you have. even with trailer brakes your asking for problems. Truck brakes are definately where BIGGER IS BETTER.

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Re: half ton towble.

Postby hemingray » Fri Aug 12, 2011 7:39 am

Absolutely - brakes are maybe even more important than anything else in terms of overloading.
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Re: half ton towble.

Postby Ken » Tue Aug 16, 2011 6:53 pm

hemingray wrote:Absolutely - brakes are maybe even more important than anything else in terms of overloading.
Yeah...you look at the brakes on a Chevy 3/4 ton....the pads are like 3/4" thick when new. I have 80,000 miles on my brakes...and they're like 1/2 way. They are monsters, because stopping 17,000 pounds...is no joke.
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Re: half ton towble.

Postby roon101 » Tue Aug 16, 2011 7:31 pm

my main concern is stoping after barrowing a freinds toy hauler puting some junk in it and hauling 50 miles i am relizing there is more to deal with then i thought about i wanted to test it so i took a friends 24 foot toy hauler just out to see how my truck handle it up some hills and around corners and down the same hills i didn't do to bad but i dont like the idea of the stoping part it was pretty hard on my brakes even with a manul transmission

looks like toy hauler might be out i am not gonna buy a new truck to tow a toy hauler.
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Re: half ton towble.

Postby Mr. Green » Tue Aug 16, 2011 11:07 pm

i tow a toy hauler with a 1/2 ton, i wish i had a bigger truck but it does fine with it.

I also tow a lot for work, so maybe just use to it?

I have no idea about your truck but mine has several key components that are equal to many 3/4 ton trucks (brakes being one of them). My limit is still around 10,500 for towing but if i was going long distance id never want to go over 80% of that.

You can easily get one for a 1/2 ton just most people have no idea how to load a trailer properly so issue's appear much sooner in 1/2 tons since there more unforgiving. You need 10%-13% of total trailer weight on the tongue (or directly down on your hitch), 60% of the total weight on the front half (this is for a tow behind type not a goose neck). Call me and ill gladly spend some time talking to you about towing with a half ton.... but i wont disagree the better more efficient way to tow is with a 3/4 1 ton truck not to mention safer.
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Re: half ton towble.

Postby hemingray » Wed Aug 17, 2011 5:46 am

Just don't end up like this (the Durango towing it is jacknifed behind the trailer against the guardrail). Since it's a straight stretch, I'm guessing he piled on the brakes for some reason. Brand new trailer, beginning of Memorial Day holiday, end of his weekend....

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Re: half ton towble.

Postby roon101 » Wed Aug 17, 2011 7:21 am

there is no way i would tow somthing that long and heavy i think after my little test run toy hauler is out of the quistion safty comes first
i dont plan on geting any hurt it's not worth it.
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Re: half ton towble.

Postby Kodiak » Wed Aug 17, 2011 11:31 am

or this could happen
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=2192134356727

what an idiot!!
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